Hardball Academy conducts professional baseball & softball instruction with players ages 6 through professional level. Hardball Academy has 2 locations; League City 4807 Hwy 646 and Pearland 3201 Hamm Road (right off of 518)
info@hardballacademy.com www.hardballacademy.comCheck out the pitching video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JzlIxz9Uqw Hardball Academy has 10 professional instructors that have extensive backgrounds in baseball and softball! Likewise, all instructors have been trained in the necessary areas that are important for teaching baseball and softball. These areas include: Educational teaching stratagies, human kinetics, motor learning, sports psychology, coaching theory, and more. "Playing and teaching at a high level are two very different things."
Hardball Academy has been around for over 10 years and have helped players from little league to professional baseball. We also put a priority on hardwork, dedication, sportmanship, and other character traits that help kids have success in baseball and life!!!! Take a look at what some parents have to say about our organization:
May 28, 2005
To Coach Beard,
We would like to let you know what an exceptional job you and your staff do at Hardball Academy. Hardball Academy has been very instrumental in helping our son, Austin; continue to take baseball to the next level. Thank you for you dedication and support. You have been such a great inspiration to Austin. We would like to share his success story with you and to other's who have a child with a passion for baseball.
Austin has taken pitching and batting lessons from Coach Beard and Hardball Academy for many years. He started in little league, through high school, and still continues today as a college player. Austin was part of the Friends wood High School baseball team, where he was a starting pitcher his senior year and named MVP and All-District in 2003. He now plays for Texas Lutheran University. He played an active roll this year in pitching the championship game to win the American Southwest Conference and named on the All Tournament Team. He went on to play the Regionals in California and came one game away from going to the College World Series.
None of this came without a lot of hard work and commitment. Throughout little league and early into high school some coaches questioned Austin's talent, but Austin was not going to give up his dream and he was determined to improve. After getting advice from others we contacted Richie Beard. Hardball Academy was invaluable in teaching Austin ways to improve his pitching technique, teaching him exercises critical for pitching and increasing his speed. They assisted Austin in personalizing the right training program for him. We definitely could see an improvement in his pitching. Coach Beard not only taught him many baseball skills and strategies, but stressed the importance of being a team player and a good leader. He was always very positive and encouraging. We knew with Austin's and Coach Beard's passion for baseball that Hardball is where we wanted to be.
The experienced staff is committed to helping young kids be the best baseball players they can be. We would recommend Hardball Academy to any baseball player.
John and Rori Yager
We first found Richie Beard 7 years ago, before Hardball Academy came into existence. I was impressed with his style and methods then, and have become more impressed as time goes on. He makes an effort to keep up with the latest techniques and theories and works to keep his entire staff using the same language and teaching the same concepts. You can move from one teacher to another at Hardball, secure in the knowledge that there will be no conflicting ideas or differences of opinion. The hitting instructors reinforce what the pitching instructors stress, and all are focused on one major issue: making your student fundamentally and mechanically sound so that he can progress to the highest level his innate ability and his willingness to work will carry him. This emphasis on mechanics and fundamentals also greatly reduces the chances of sustaining a season or career ending injury, as many serious injuries are due to flaws in the mechanics placing greater stress on the body The staff at Hardball Academy is aware that the physical aspect game is important, but not the total picture. They also represent many years of experience, both playing and coaching at different levels and are able to give valuable insights to the mental game and pass along tips and tricks that simply cannot be learned any other way. Our time at Hardball Academy has been well spent, and has been almost without interruption. Off-season is just as important if not more so than time spent during the season. It allows for different areas of focus and fine-tuning new elements or new techniques.
My son started baseball along with hundreds of others when he was 6 years old. He progressed from T-Ball, through machine pitch, to kid pitch, into the minors then the majors in Little League. After that, came two years of Pony League and on into High School baseball. Along the way we played with several select teams in both the fall and summer. At each step we noticed some of the kids dropped out and some were not selected to continue. Now we are going to try our hand at college baseball and we notice the number has dwindled from hundreds to just a handful. If I had to choose one thing that helped us get here, 1 would choose our association with Richie Beard and Hardball Academy.
Steve Ruff
"My 10 year old, Kyle, and my 13 year old, Cody, have been taking lessons at The Hardball Academy for 2+ years and it shows. Their confidence level has increased along with their production level on the field. Whether it is pitching or hitting, the coaches at Hardball have help to instill the correct mechanics so that their skill level has improved tremendously. It makes a dad proud to have other parents from the opposing teams come over and ask "Where did he learn to play like that?" Without hesitation, I can say "From the guys at Hardball!"
Perry Thomas
Bayside Little League
"Hardball Academy has professional coaches that care about kids. They research their drills and will back them up with video. They do not expect every kid to be the same. You will not find any better pitching or hitting instructors. This is the best program that I have seen."
Charlie Hart
"Joe told me he learned more in his first session than he has his entire career from age 6 to 15. Thanks for the help and motivation."
David Brouillard
OUTSTANDING! It was professionally run. After many instructional organizations in the Houston area, Hardball is clearly "head and shoulders" above the rest. Why the difference? The instructors are not only extremely knowledgable, but also know HOW to teach the game.
Gary not only displayed an outstanding knowledge of hitting, but performed an accurate and detailed evaluation of Chris during the first session. He spent time with both player and parent at the beginning of the session in order to gain background information on Chris' baseball history, and to go over his approach for assessing skill. After the lesson/assessment, Gary effectively met with both player adn parnet to communicate in detail his observation and recommended approach to trianing within hitting. Gary designed a specific training program that was tailored for Chris towards improving specific hitting skills and performance. Gary effectively communicated his plan in a professional way. Best hitting program and methodology I've seen in the Houston/Bay Area. Very impressed as a parent!!!!
Richie performed an initial assessment of Chris' pitching ability and mechanics, then designed a specific training program that was tailored for him towards improving specific pitching skills. Richie effectively used a building-block approach to teaching and training that aided skill retention.
Rob Kelso
WE HAVE REALLY LEARNED ALOT FROM OUR INSTRUCTOR. OUR HITTING HAS GREATLY IMPROVED AND FEEL FORTUNATE TO BE ABLE TO SPEND TIME WITH HIM WEEKLY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ART OF HITTING A BASEBALL. HIS ENTHUSIASM AND POSITIVE ATTITUDE IS SECOND TO NONE. WE ARE LEARNING SOMETHING EVERY WEEK AND NOW HITTING THE BALL WITH AUTHORITY AND REALLY STARTING TO DRIVE THE BASEBALL!!!!!!!!!!!
JSS
In the last 7 years it has been a real pleasure assoicating with you and your staff. I found the degree of expertise and professionalism to be excellent. All of your instructors have the player's best interest at heart in all situations.
Thanks,
Glenn Sheffield
