The Natural

Nothing was going to stop Roy Hobbs from fulfilling his boyhood dream of baseball superstardom. Robert Redford stars in this inspiring fable that begins when 14-year-old Hobbs (Redford) fashions a powerful bat from a fallen oak tree. He soon impresses major league scouts with his ability, fixing his extraordinary talent in the mind of sportswriter Max Mercy (Duvall), who eventually becomes instrumental in Hobbs' career. But a meeting with a mysterious woman shatters his dream. Years pass and an older Hobbs reappears as a rookie for the New York Knights. Overcoming physical pain and defying those who have a stake in seeing the Knights lose, Hobbs, with his boyhood bat, has his chance to lead the Knights to the pennant and to finally fulfill his dream.
Customer Review: Inferior version of classic baseball movie / Good documentaries
Some movies are better left untinkered with. The original film version of "The Natural" is a beloved sports masterpiece, no matter how muddled the opening scenes may appear. For some reason, Director Barry Levinson re-worked the entire opening sequence and created a completely different feel for the movie closer to his "original vision". For those who have never seen the original version, this version might be adequate. But being familiar with the original, this version comes across to me as a lame attempt to cash in on a 25th Anniversary Edition. Several classic, important shots and lines are scrubbed from the original and replaced with new footage, giving the movie a chopped-up feeling that never goes away. And the opening sequence is still not easy to follow. I would have been OK with this new version if it included the original as well, but instead you're forced to hang onto both versions for the time being. Watch them both and compare, but in the end you'll reach for the original version every time you're in the mood to watch this great baseball film about life's redemptions. One positive, the bonus disc provides excellent insight and footage into the making of this film, and is worth the price alone.
Customer Review: Great Movie!
This is definitely a movie you can enjoy as a couple, great story not only for baseball fans but also for the love story fans. I love this movie!

I'm sure most of you have worked with batters who constantly bail out of the batters box no matter what. It seems that this player will begin his bail out before he even really knows where the pitch is going. Here is a drill to try that may have some impact; I'm not saying it is a cure for this problem. It will get the hitter to look first at least before they start their getaway.

Start out using tennis balls for this drill. Have the batter get into the box, and throw some pitches behind them. This should get the batter to realize that they can't just blindly back out of the box, because in youth baseball, they will see pitches behind them, only not on purpose! This will give the timid batter some level of comfort by making them feel safer at the plate. This will get the hitter to really focus on the ball, which is what we want them to do anyway. Throw lots pitches to them, this is not a quick fix method but it should begin to help. After some time, the hitter will begin to notice that they don't have to duck away from good pitches. They will stay put and try to hit the ball instead. You can also have the hitter take a bunch of short strides toward whichever side of the field you need them to. Have them over compensate to begin with, because you know when a pitch comes they will most likely start to move back out in to middle which is closer to our goal anyway.

You can also have the batter just stand in the box when you have a pitcher and catcher warming up. Tell them just to follow the ball into the catcher's glove. This will let them relax some with out the stress of having to hit the ball. Learning how to hit a baseball is a difficult skill to master anyway. When your player is afraid of the ball is makes it much harder to learn to hit. Youth baseball players will respond to good teaching techniques when properly applied. Make sure not to embarrass the player, and do not tolerate any other players doing so.

Coaching youth baseball at any level is great privileged, so get all the info you can. Make sure you are kind and patient even if you don't feel like it at the time. I commend anyone would will take the time and responsibility to coach youth baseball, we need more like you.

Thanks Coach Chip Lemin 440 465 3337

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Things such as parents, travel baseball, getting parents to help out, how to communicate better to parents and players, just to touch on a few. This course will help to organize practices like an elite coach. How to motivate players and other coaches with your positive attitude. It really is not very hard to be a great coach when you know what to do.Best of all you will learn how to have fun with these great kids that you have the privilege of coaching. Do yourself a favor and check it out, it's free,you will get 1 part every couple of days in your e-mail. Coaching can be fun and rewarding if you have a plan in place first, and you have an idea what you are doing. I would like to help you.

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