Can Fungo Improve your hitting?

DD's instructor told her the key to the drill is maintaining good mechanics, which she showed she could not do for quite awhile.

CycloneSoftball22 said:

There is actually a University of Oklahoma You Tube video in which they have incorporated the fungo with a defensive drill. I will try to find it later and post it

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This is the video I saw with the players hitting fungo. Though , these are only grounders.

Fielding Drills With Patty Gasso - YouTube

I remember as a kid hitting rocks trying to hit telephone poles or trees while waiting at the bus stop (obviously free of adult supervision). And when we got bored, we hit left handed. nb I went back to where I grew up several years ago and clocked the distance from my house to the bus stop - it was a true 1/2 mile along a wooded, dirt road (and up hill both ways).

Doing any sort of hitting as opposed to doing no hitting at all will help your hitting. Hitting an object, whether its a SB, BB, wiffleball, golf ball, rock, rotten apple, with a composite, metal, wood, plastic etc. bat/paddle/broomstick during fungo, self-fungo, pepper, etc. promotes a better feeling of bat control and an understanding of how a swing can influence ball flight. How many of today's players have ever played pepper? I'm 100% convinced that I'd be an elite slapper (if I was 30 years younger, in shape, fast, talented, and ever played FP).

Greenmonsters said:

How many of today's players have ever played pepper?

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Or "Hit The Bat", "500" or "Hot Box"??

mfoster said:

As a kid we were always tossing a ball up to ourselves and hitting fly balls or grounders to our friends as a game. I see this in boys, but I very seldom see young girls tossing the ball up and hitting. I have a 10 year old DD that I am trying to help become a good hitter. She plays 10u Travel ball now. My question is do you think that the skill of being able to toss the ball to yourself and hit it where you want it to go translates into better hand eye coordination and subsequently helps to make a better hitter? I am interested in what some of you knowledgeable guys on this forum have to say.

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IMO, self toss is a very good way to learn how your body works with hitting. It also helps with bat control.

GOINGDEEP said:

When we were young and went to visit my grandparents they had a gravel driveway. My brother and I would toss rocks up and hit them into the field for hours. Our old wood bats looked like a bear had been chewing on them. Heck I'm not sure if it helped, but it sure was fun.

I still say ping pong it a great hand/eye coordination builder.

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Ping Pong is outstanding. My son played a lot. He had great hands hitting and in the infield. I am pretty good at Ping Pong and he was kicking my butt one day. So obviously I wasn't too happy, kind of competitive. As the game was winding down. I realized he was playing left handed the whole time. This put me over the top. Couldn't believe he beat with his left hand.

My point, besides bragging about my son, is play with both hands. Playing with his left hand help tremendously with fielding and gave him quick hands on double play feeds and just getting the ball out of his glove. "Bad" hops were a thing of the past because of his quick hands. He was a 2B.

CycloneSoftball22 said:

There is actually a University of Oklahoma You Tube video in which they have incorporated the fungo with a defensive drill. I will try to find it later and post it

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We do a drill in HS called you, me's. One player from each position hits fungos to the other player. Then they switch. I don't know if that is what you are talking about.

HYP said:

Ping Pong is outstanding. My son played a lot. He had great hands hitting and in the infield. I am pretty good at Ping Pong and he was kicking my butt one day. So obviously I wasn't too happy, kind of competitive. As the game was winding down. I realized he was playing left handed the whole time. This put me over the top. Couldn't believe he beat with his left hand.

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Well you wouldn't want to play me then. I play left handed, blindfolded, and standing on one leg just to make it fair for others.

There was a thread on here a while ago about hitting pinto beans.
When I tried it they kept falling into my tee, guess I should have tossed them.

GOINGDEEP said:

Well you wouldn't want to play me then. I play left handed, blindfolded, and standing on one leg just to make it fair for others.

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Bring it on!

When you boys finish your little ping pong challege, just let me know and I'll teach you how table tennis is played.