FiveFrameSwing
Banned
FFS - Have you ever used a TCB ball or seen one demonstrated? To me, the real benefit of the ball is not in the fact that they weigh a little more than two x the weight of a regulation softball, but in the way they react when not hit correctly. I think they are a valuable tool in that regard.
In my experience the girls that have bad mechanics won't drive these balls for crap. In fact, it will just reenforce the fact that they have crap mechanics.
If a girl has good mechanics they will drive these balls and drive them hard. There are girls on my daughers team who can hit these balls 50+ feet and they are the best hitters on the team. There are girls on the team that can at times hit a regulation ball 200+ feet that can not hit these balls for crap.
JAD ... no, I have not used a TCB ball, or one of the similar balls that also weigh 2-lbs.
They don't "weigh a little more than two x the weight of a regulation softball" ... they weigh almost 5x the weight of a regulation softball.
So let's talk about hitting heavy objects ... because that is what we are discussing here. At 2-lbs, these balls weigh 50% more than a basketball.
My whole point is with what the "objective" is when hitting heavy balls. What is one trying to accomplish? What is one trying to enhance? Softballphreak mentioned muscles ... and when I ask coaches and hitters to point to the muscles they think they are developing with the exercise of hitting heavy balls, they often point to their arms and/or wrists. What I hear all too often as a goal here ... from both coaches and hitters ... is, IMO, not a good goal.
I'm not saying that hitting heavy balls isn't useful ... but the goal listed on the TCB website should be better clarified IMO.
The advantage of hitting a heavy object is not to develop strength of the arms/wrists as they push through extension. It isn't to develop arm strength at all ... and it certainly isn't to develop sore wrists. The benefit IMO, is taking a swing that has been trained to be initiated at transition, so as to establish connection, and to entice the hitter into exploding more forcefully with the lower body action at transition. That's the area that I want strengthened. That's what leads to 'extension' as a 'result'. That's what leads to bursting through the point of contact and training a hitter to "swing through the ball". I wouldn't give a kid the objective of building arm strength by hitting heavy balls ... as I personally believe that's a faulty goal/objective when hitting heavy balls. Personally ... I'd encourage deep contact when hitting heavy balls, and the favoring of amplifying the enhancement of the explosive action at transition ... and not the building of strength in the arms through extension.
Can there be a benefit to exploding into a heavy bag? Yes. But I bet these balls are a lot more fun.