Self Toss

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Mar 28, 2014
1,081
113
Started self toss early on.
Over the years developed more and more control hitting different things.
Grounders
Line drives
Fly balls
Directional hitting
helps how to adjust on pitch/ball location to create power in that spot.
Increasing power zone.

View attachment 19416
Can't begin to describe how much fun we had with those giant bats growing up. When you squared one up, it would GO!
 
Sep 17, 2009
1,637
83
I think almost every so-called 'game' helps. And they are 'exposers' -- if you don't do them something's missing from your *feels*. Self-toss is huge for sequence, especially if you are trying to hit outfield fungo for distance. You should also be able to hit to every infield spot without turning your body much if you understand lag, bat path and direction. And if someone tried to hit fungo out of sequence they will both fail and look really bad. I like pepper for the same reason. Control the ball (direction AND speed) with your hands. If you don't know how you are going to look terrible (seen grown men coaches fail miserably at pepper). Same with hitting a machine. It's easier to say machines are bad for you then acquire a keen understanding of timing and load mechanics to help you cheat hitting a pitch without the full timing trigger of a pitcher windup...
 
Apr 28, 2019
1,423
83
I recently had
What is your guys opinion concerning young hitters learning to self toss to improve on being able to flow through mechanics or just improving hitting in general?

I recently had my girls start doing self toss into a net. I believe it’s beneficial from what I’ve seen so far.
Most of the girls get bored easily with just regular tee work.
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,713
113
One of the best hitters I have ever been around grew up by a golf course.

When she was young, she and her dad loved to go pick up golf balls. They cleaned them up sorted and sold them etc.

The junky balls were disposed of by dad and dd using “beater” bats and hitting balls at trees etc as a game.

That was at a very young age. I believe they moved before any travel ball. Her dad however credits those early experiences.

Also, at least one SEC program had a self toss station at camps. I believe they use it occasionally at practice.
 
Dec 5, 2017
514
63
When we hit at home I have dd start every session by self tossing a bucket and then a 2nd bucket where I call out a location to hit, grounder or line drive. She mostly slaps in games but I still think it's a good warm up before slapping. Sometimes she uses the skinny bat and golf ball sized wiffles to make it fun.
 
Aug 30, 2020
21
3
I was born and raised in Alaska, where there’s a gravel pit and lake every 50 feet. My parents let me keep a simple wiggle ball bat in the car and anytime we’d at someone’s house or out and about and I got bored, I’d grab that bat and go hit rocks into a lake.

My obsessive nature kept me working on hitting the rock as far as I could. I didn’t even know it at the time, but I was learning how to place hit, adjust my swing to the ball (rock), build fast hands, make contact on the sweet spot of the barrel, etc.

When I started coaching I had the girls do this at a young age. Most didn’t keep up with it, you tell which ones have when they play. It works on many levels and is worth doing it. Now I have the girls hit their own infield practice. That alone has increased their contact rates across the roster.
 
May 12, 2016
4,338
113
I was born and raised in Alaska, where there’s a gravel pit and lake every 50 feet. My parents let me keep a simple wiggle ball bat in the car and anytime we’d at someone’s house or out and about and I got bored, I’d grab that bat and go hit rocks into a lake.

My obsessive nature kept me working on hitting the rock as far as I could. I didn’t even know it at the time, but I was learning how to place hit, adjust my swing to the ball (rock), build fast hands, make contact on the sweet spot of the barrel, etc.

When I started coaching I had the girls do this at a young age. Most didn’t keep up with it, you tell which ones have when they play. It works on many levels and is worth doing it. Now I have the girls hit their own infield practice. That alone has increased their contact rates across the roster.
LOL.. too funny, grew up next to the ocean, spent a lot time hitting rocks.
 

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