was planning on trying this, but preliminary inquires (not to my team, just friends, our draft is the 21st) is that used tennis balls dissappear really quick, kids use them for all types of games, get used for dogs, cut open and put on things as protection, etc. will try. also gonna try play it again sports, closest one is 45 minutes for me, but will take a trip one weekend coming up I think.
obtaining equipment
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was planning on trying this, but preliminary inquires (not to my team, just friends, our draft is the 21st) is that used tennis balls dissappear really quick, kids use them for all types of games, get used for dogs, cut open and put on things as protection, etc. will try. also gonna try play it again sports, closest one is 45 minutes for me, but will take a trip one weekend coming up I think.
Personally when I started gathering my gear I started cheap. Search yardsales, thrift shops, craigslist. I got scored big on Craigslist got a bow net, 2 buckets of balls, a dozen wiffles, and 2 buckets for $85. I found a tee at our local thrift shop for $5, but they always have tennis rackets, balls, bat etc for a steal. I don't know if there is one around wherever your at but one of the best places I find stuff at is 5 Below (I've gotten overload and underload hit sticks, conditioning equipment, the paddle gloves whenever im shopping in the area of one I stop in to check these finds are random but Ive gotten lucky quite a bit). Another thing go to the local high schools at the start of the season they get new equipment and typically toss the old stuff but most would be willing to donate it.
I've found now that instead of buying everything I make what I can thanks to this website and a clinic I went to where a bunch of the college coaches showed you all their equipment that was made from random stuff. turns out to be cheaper and your not as mad when it finally does break because you didnt spend $$ on it. My favorite make is the homemade G-Tee, Occasionally I have to replace the tee and the wood but the pipe lasts so replacing a broken tee is only $10 at most instead of $30 - $100.
I've found now that instead of buying everything I make what I can thanks to this website and a clinic I went to where a bunch of the college coaches showed you all their equipment that was made from random stuff. turns out to be cheaper and your not as mad when it finally does break because you didnt spend $$ on it. My favorite make is the homemade G-Tee, Occasionally I have to replace the tee and the wood but the pipe lasts so replacing a broken tee is only $10 at most instead of $30 - $100.
wow, pleasantly surprised at how agreeable DW was to my saying I needed some gear for this season for younger DDs team. She even grabbed 2 dz tennis balls and cheap racket at Walmart for me! Then the real shocker came. After older DDs field hockey tourney this weekend, she wanted to take girls to Longstreth, sporting goods store dedicated to the women's game, specifically women's lacrosse, field hockey, and softball, which was 10 min away from tourney site. had gotten older DDs FH goalie gear from their online store in fall. DW and both DDs went upstairs to look at field hockey stuff. I looked around softball section. After a few minutes, I did warn my DW she did not want to leave me alone down there too long, she had fair warning. Guess being in a store dedicated to women's sports (with female staff) helped my cause, along with a 15-20% clearance sale. Also, sales staff was very helpful, letting me open boxes to look at things, younger DD to try on catcher's gear, etc.
I ended up with:
-Big mouth Bownet
-bucket with padded lid for my aging rump
-8 SKLZ impact softballs
-Schutt travel tee (real bargain on this)
-SKLZ target trainer
Younger DD got a starter set of wilson youth catcher gear and a rolling bag for it. Older DD got a rolling bag for her FH goalie gear (both rolling bags on clearance), and both girls got tee shirts with cute graphics relevant to their sports, and wife and I got reflective car magnets (FH goalie and softball catcher for each of our vehicles)
now only need:
-to replace my missing thick rubber bases (relatively cheap, but this will actually be hardest sell to DW, will catch heck about losing 2 of the three I had)
-SKLZ bolt balls for lightining bolt machine (machine without the balls is useless)
-small cones (I want cones because at this age girls tend to "cheat" with each turn through starting points for drills, etc., not realizing that "winnin" a drill is not the goal, improvement is, but they will come around, will try to stress this to them).
-rope with knots at 35', 40', 60', and 84'10" for spacing pitching rubber, bases at local school fields
and I checked, this all does fit nicely in the trunk of my Jetta (target trainer is bent, but otherwise no issues), along with my three buckets, team bag (league issued catcher;s gear, spare batting helmets, first aid kit, couple of bats) will be a squeeze, but I will make it work.
my wife and I joked that Fh coach cannot schedule us for tourney's at that site again, too expensive to be that close to Longstreth!
I ended up with:
-Big mouth Bownet
-bucket with padded lid for my aging rump
-8 SKLZ impact softballs
-Schutt travel tee (real bargain on this)
-SKLZ target trainer
Younger DD got a starter set of wilson youth catcher gear and a rolling bag for it. Older DD got a rolling bag for her FH goalie gear (both rolling bags on clearance), and both girls got tee shirts with cute graphics relevant to their sports, and wife and I got reflective car magnets (FH goalie and softball catcher for each of our vehicles)
now only need:
-to replace my missing thick rubber bases (relatively cheap, but this will actually be hardest sell to DW, will catch heck about losing 2 of the three I had)
-SKLZ bolt balls for lightining bolt machine (machine without the balls is useless)
-small cones (I want cones because at this age girls tend to "cheat" with each turn through starting points for drills, etc., not realizing that "winnin" a drill is not the goal, improvement is, but they will come around, will try to stress this to them).
-rope with knots at 35', 40', 60', and 84'10" for spacing pitching rubber, bases at local school fields
and I checked, this all does fit nicely in the trunk of my Jetta (target trainer is bent, but otherwise no issues), along with my three buckets, team bag (league issued catcher;s gear, spare batting helmets, first aid kit, couple of bats) will be a squeeze, but I will make it work.
my wife and I joked that Fh coach cannot schedule us for tourney's at that site again, too expensive to be that close to Longstreth!
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