Back Spin Tee

I'm in the market for a new tee. Initially was looking at Tanner and Jugs tees, but been seeing ads for the back spin tee. Anybody using it and what are pros / cons?

I don't buy the "backspin myth". To me it's only real application is in Slow Pitch. If it is possible in fast pitch, I think there are very few, if any hitters under 18 that have the skills and discipline to be able to execute it well enough to see any benefit from it. I would be concerned that for the other 99.9%, hitting off this tee would develop a swing that would be subject to pop ups against live pitching.

Ted Williams thought it was BS. "The Physics of Baseball" noted that while backspin may keep a ball aloft longer, it still has to be hit hard enough to make it out of the park, otherwise it's just another outfield fly.

That said, the facility where DD trains employs former college players and they tried the backspin tee out. These kids hit well in college but none of them had any success with it except for Lauren Haeger, who hit the living snot out of the ball. She had a field day with it! I bet Lauren chamberlain could hit well with it as well, but I would go with the tanner tee.

Also, that training facility I mentioned earlier is always trying out new products and finding ways to incorporate them into their training programs, but they passed on this tee.

Obbay, agreed. Slicing through the ball to create backspin is a swing flaw, not a goal. Why do (mostly old school) baseball instructors tout creating backspin as a goal for creating power and distance when other sports -- like golf with pitching wedges and tennis with backhand slices -- use back spin to create high, soft, limited distance shots? Want to hit a tennis ball (obviously not a typical goal in that sport) or golf ball far and long -- hit it square. Same with a softball.

I do not believe in backspin line drives. The most tattooed line drives that go out often look like they have little or no spin imho. I personally don’t believe that using this tee creates backspin line drives. It MAY be a way to reinforce hitting just below the middle of the ball.

I hate ground balls. I personally hate them more than long fly balls and OBVIOUSLY prefer laser line drives.

This article talks about reducing ground balls:

https://hittingperformancelab.com/baseball-batting-cage-drills-backspin-tee/

My buddy bought one of these for his team. It is in my shed right now and we use it on an occasional basis. I like it for low in the zone pitches. I do not have the angle attachment but think that might be the ticket for working on hitting low outside corner. (I picture being able to match bat/shoulder angle to angle of the cup that holds the ball to encourage contact to rip the ball oppo on that low outside pitch.) I never have it set up higher than belt high. We did not do a scientific test like Joey did but in our use of this tee after using the backspin tee we “thought the result was” harder hit balls on a regular tee and front toss.

This tee is far from “must have” but it may be mildly beneficial and I doubt it is detrimental at all if used with some thought and planning.

I've seen this tee in Facebook. Thought it would be nice to try out. I was wondering it if was adjustable to hit different pitches, such as low, outside pitch.

obbay said:

Also, that training facility I mentioned earlier is always trying out new products and finding ways to incorporate them into their training programs, but they passed on this tee.

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Sounds like a very good place to train! As a gadget geek that loves to try stuff out, (and most hitting aids are monumental failures), I’m curious- are there are any products or applications they really like?

i use a muhl tee with success. I like the design and it helps recognize casting. You can move it to the inside or outside of the plate easliy

I'm not as against backspin as it seems others are. It isn't something I focus on, but to me, ideal contact will be slightly below center. And hitting a ball in that place will impart backspin naturally. I could see the backspin tee being beneficial in other ways. First of all, one of the most common swing flaws I see with younger hitters is a downward barrel path into contact. I think the backspin tee would help introduce the "behind and through" path that I prefer. That said, it would be difficult for me to justify the price difference between this and a tanner tee.

. Sounds like a very good place to train! As a gadget geek that loves to try stuff out, (and most hitting aids are monumental failures), I’m curious- are there are any products or applications they really like?

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https://launchangletee.com/cf-lat
This Tee is something they've been experimenting with. I know they use it with private lessons.
I posted this and accidentlly deleted it so I'll be brief this time-
They were using the Zepp when it first came out. They have introduced us to Axon Fastpitch (Video pitch recognition training), DK swing tracker to follow up on who is doing their homework, but the thing I really like is the HitTrax! They hit live and a computer program on a flatscreen shows them where in the ballpark the hit went, what kind of hit and how far.
Pitching is where they really push the envelope, sometimes inventing a training device for one class and not using it again.

Will check out the launch angle tee. I have an old tanner tee that I could buy the adapter and try out.