There's a terrific article in the Sept. 29 issue of Sports Illustrated on "Virgina's Boy Wonders." It discusses the development of a couple of AAU programs in southeastern Virginia that produced six current major league starters in a span of eight years, including the Uptons, Ryan Zimmerman, and David Wright. It's a great article and I highly recommend it. Wish I could post a link, but it's not available online.
One of the AAU program founders, Towny Townsend, taught his proteges how to hit by using thin cool whip and coffee can lids during BP. Before he died, he developed a plastic disc for hitting practice, which his widow currently markets and sells. Sure wish I had those when my son was younger. It sounds like a great tool for teaching eye-hand coordination.
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