Batting Training Equipment
These are all products that I have found to be extremely helpful. If you want any of these items and if you appreciate the information I’m sharing with you, I would appreciate if you’d use these affiliate links for your purchase. It helps us keep the doors open.
Skinny Bats
If you include skinny bats in your training and warm-ups, it really helps players focus in on the ball. After using a skinny bat with a little whiffle ball, it becomes easy to make solid contact with a normal bat and ball! Here’s one that also is a little heavier than a normal bat, which makes the regular bat easier to swing.
Total Control Balls TM
These balls are heavy, soft, and squishy. They hardly go anywhere unless you give them a very solid hit, with load and follow-through. I’ve had wonderful results with using these training balls to increase batters’ power. Even batters who have trouble following instructions will often improve with these training balls.
Soft Toss
I personally have used this occasionally with my teams. Where it really has helped a lot is at home, with my son. For those who can afford it, I highly recommend this for home practice. It’s a great way to spend a half hour when there’s no one to play with. Now my son doesn’t have to wait until I’m available to pitch to him, to practice his swing. Plus, he can get a lot more repetitions in a short time with the Soft Toss Machine than with a live pitcher. This doesn’t mean it totally replaces a live human pitching the ball to him. It’s a really great supplement, though. Now that my son’s been using the soft toss, it seems like he’s hitting more consistently. He used to run hot and cold. Fingers crossed. If you use the soft toss, one important thing is to pay attention to their form. You want to make sure they’re using it with good form, so they aren’t teaching themselves bad habits. Here’s a package that includes a screen, to save time chasing down balls.
Heavy Duty Tee for Tee Drills
I like to change around the warm-ups to keep things interesting, and sometimes I include a tee station. There are all sorts of tee drills to accomplish a wide range of goals. Basically, it’s a great way to work on batting mechanics and on bringing the bat around to make contact at the spot where your eye sees the ball.
It’s hard to find a tee that can tolerate a certain amount of abuse. They don’t last. I like this one, because it’s heavy duty. Plus, it has a 360 degree rotating base, simulating a wide range of pitches.
Little Whiffle Balls
For use with the skinny bats. These are cheap and easy to find locally, but if you’re placing an order with the same supplier anyway, the link is here for your convenience.