Has anyone found a routine that seems to help develope hitting when you really dont have someone to pitch to you.

Seems like too much batting cages is counter productive.

Seems like too much side Toss is not good either as well as Tee Work.

Seems like there needs to be a happy balance of all of these ways to work on hitting.

I think hitters need to learn to get the bat on balls that are not perfectly pitched as I think cage work tends to groove your swing to much if you go to the cages too much.

I wish I was a whoop butt pitcher that could pitch to my son all the time so we could work on all of this but my shoulder is shot, no arm left.

In Season, I hate it also that the high school practices so much that if we want to work on something at home that needs to be addressed then you stand a chance of putting too much stress on the wrists and arms from taking additional swings at home as the HS practice are already taking alot of swings. I think you can tell when a kid has over worked as they have no zip on their swing. I see alot of the MLB hitters into the season are taping their wrists for support.

Any thoughts out there?

Parent2011,

In my opinion,

There is nothing better than live BP, but like you my arm is in worn out. I would encourage your son to add self toss to his regime. Both of mine used it all the way through college ball.

http://hsbaseballweb.com/eve/f...371044472#5371044472

What is wrong with tee work?

How is too much cage work detrimental to a swing?

I rarely pitch live to any of the other hitters I work with. We do 15' underhanded front toss.

Too much stress on the wrists and arms with additional swings? Never heard of that one before either.

I suspect Major leaguers eventually get some stress on their wrists from all the swings everyday in practice sessions. I figure thats why they would be taping their wrists, I suspect for some support so as to lessen the wear and tear. But granted you can over do it. I have seen it first hand. Bronson Arroyo had an isse this year that playing his guitar too much was messing with his pitching wrist as he thought he was getting carpal tunnel.

And for the question whats wrong with tee work. Nothing is wrong with tee work but if you dont have some other avenues to be able to get like some live pitching so all you do is tee work, and lets say you just set the tee in one place, you gonna create a habit of one kind of swing, I heard a coach the other day say to a kid that you got the same kind of swing for every pitch location. I saw the kid hit and he did, he would swing the same and not adjust his swing for like a low out side corner pitch. He was swinging like the pitch was right down the middle. I will say this that Barry Bonds was really good at getting a pitch for his type of swing which was a beauty of a swing. But you never saw him to much reaching over to hit one low on the out side corner. So if its just Tee work all the time I think its gonna have an effect you got to mix it up with all kinds of hitting , you especially need live pitching to get your timing. I even think when they set up the L-screen 30 feet in front of the batters it isnt so good for timing. I like the ball pitched form 60 feet. The majors set the L screen up at like 50 feet.

parent2011,

wrists - If your theory were correct, EVERY MLB player would have taped wrists. Taped wrists have very little to do with hitting.

tee work - Can't you move the tee around? Does the tee always have to be the same pitch in the EXACT same spot?

I have heard that Japanese players do a lot of dry swings maybe a hundred a day.

My guys have done a lot of dry swings also in front of a mirror. Sometimes without a bat in their hand. They just focus on perfecting their mechanics. It has not hurt them.

Floridafan;

How are you and your son?
Did you know that Japan has a short 18" bat for their hitters. Actually as you know when a hitter has a "bad" day in the game, he returns to the hotel room and takes BP on the hotel lamp with his SSK 34" bat.

Now Japan makes the 18" bat for taking swings in the hotel room.

Yes, the Japanese hitters and pitchers use the "full length" mirror [one in each high school locker room].

Good hitting practice is everything, not necessary daily.

"High tee", soft toss, pitching from 20'; pitching from 30', pitching from 50', squeezing a rubber racquetball, light weight work and running, running and more running.
When you photo or watch a hitter - "cut him in half"

Bob

Hey Bob,

My guy is doing great. He throughly enjoyed the trip to Australia by the way. He is playing Shortstop on his JUCO team as a freshman and made All-Conference.

Floridafan:

That is great news!

Bob

quote:

Good hitting practice is everything, not necessary daily.

"High tee", soft toss, pitching from 20'; pitching from 30', pitching from 50', squeezing a rubber racquetball, light weight work and running, running and more running.
When you photo or watch a hitter - "cut him in half"

Bob,

Thats my thoughts also, basically not any one type of practice is bad , its just that you got to make sure you get a little of all the types of hitting practices. You hear all the time that MLB players goe back ot the Tee when in a slump, well that makes perfect sense because they get live batting practice all the time everyday before every game. So the logic is that getting regular batting practice from live pitching is the one type of batting practice your can loose track of swing mechanics if you dont pay attention and its the Tee work that focuses you back just on he swing mechanics. On the other hand if you dont have the opportunity to get live pitching batting practice everyday you dont have the opportunitiy to bat and learn how to adjust to all the different pitches and variables in live batting practice. Redbird has a good poinnt that I didnt elude too and that is you not supposed to set your tee in one spot but I have seen many coaches do it at the younger levels.

Bob,

Got a question for you, I have seen high school coaches use the high tee when doing tee work, some use high tee most the time. Is there something special about doing High Tee Work, What's the reason of doing so? Just working on high pitches?
Thanks

Parent 2011;

Did not focus this AM. Thinking about your question.

The "high tee" drill was presented to me in the 1980's by Mike Diaz [former MLB and Japan pro player] who lived in Santa Rosa. Mike and I conducted several baseball clinics in the local area.

He learned the "high tee" drill from Bill Virdon and Mike Schmidt *Phillies*.

You can call me or I can paint a picture.

1. Place the top of the tee chest high in front edge of the plate.
2. Use the normal batting stance and hand position.
3. You will elevate your hands upward to a position above the ball.
4. Try to hit the inside half of the baseball and you drive the bat. Do not "patronize" your swing.
You are trying to destroy the ball.
5. The goal is to create "backspin" which develops "carry" on the ball.

In the old Ted Williams video, he is using a "high tee" at Fenway Park.

Where do you live in the mid west?

Bob Williams
<www.goodwillseries.org>

Thanks Bob for the info.

I sent you an email.

You may want to try this soft toss machine. www.shop.beebesports.com Video and information are on the site.

The ball will actually pop up higher than it shows on the video. If you adjust the toss height to the highest adjustment, it will toss up baseballs and softballs high enough so the batter will have time to load up and be ready to swing when ball comes down to strike zone. A person can practice hitting on their own and it's fun to use.

Live BP, Tee work and some soft toss drills are what helped me.
Try doing a soft toss drill where you toss up 2 balls at a time and shout out top or bottom so he tries to hit one of them, it's good for creating more focus on the ball and it's a great contact drill. When he gets good at it you can add a 3rd ball and then there's top, middle or bottom, it will make it more challenging, make sure the balls are aligned vertically when you toss them.

It's also fun to try some with 4 balls it's more challenging and instead of top or bottom call out the number of the ball, 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th.

It's a fun drill that does a lot of good, also soft toss from behind helps develop a short compact swing that will really help him at the plate.

Besides saying the obvious "a lot" doe anyone have a routine that helped a young ballplayer make it to college?

Just looking for some idea(s) on what and how much batting per day. Something to gauge if what my son is doing is not enough, too much or just right.

Thanks in advance.