BP without a cage

[Jesse]

We practice on a field without a batting cage. Actually we have the cage, but no net...don’t ask. Anyway, what I want to avoid is the scenario where the whole team stands around in the field while one player takes BP. Unfortunately, you almost have to do this during live BP to avoid injury, especially with strong hitters. I’m looking for some creative ideas for BP that avoids people standing around.

Obvious solutions:
Remove players to another field where they can hit freely without worrying about injuring anyone (not feasible when space is limited).
Use Incrediballs or rag balls, tennis balls, etc. for BP (I like this one).
Have coaches throw grounders etc. to the fielders between pitches (can be distracting and dangerous).
Run drills in the OF during BP, but alert them whenever a strong hitter is up. I’m not crazy about this one for…psychological reasons, I guess.
Soft toss, tee work, etc. Good but not a substitute for live BP IMO.

What else? I think live BP is important, but hate when girls are just standing around. How do you handle this when you’re limited on space and resources?

Thanks,

Jesse

 

[quincy]

Sounds like you are talking about outside practice.

It also sounds like you have a field but no other room. Do you have a backstop? Do you have at least a little room off the field?

 

[Amy in AZ.]

There are various balls that you can use. TCB balls are the best, but marshmallow type golf balls are good, golf ball sized whiffle balls, those colored McDonalds play pit balls are good, too. Just go to Toys R Us and look around. Skill also makes a golf ball sized ball.

 

[Jesse]

Sounds like you are talking about outside practice.

It also sounds like you have a field but no other room. Do you have a backstop? Do you have at least a little room off the field?

We have two fields and a soccer field, so there's plenty of space, but we also have roughly 14 teams vying for practice time (from T-ball to 12U, boys and girls). It gets pretty crazy, and we can't count on being able to find room off the field. Most drills are no problem, but live hitting is different.

There are various balls that you can use. TCB balls are the best, but marshmallow type golf balls are good, golf ball sized whiffle balls, those colored McDonalds play pit balls are good, too. Just go to Toys R Us and look around. Skill also makes a golf ball sized ball.

Thanks, I'll take a look. Incrediballs are expensive...

 

[softballphreak]

Agree with Amy about the TCB balls. Order at least a dozen; you can effectively run 4 stations with a dozen balls in an area a bit larger than an infield, depending on the power of your hitters. Under 14 years old just an area the size of the infield would work for 4 front toss stations with the TCB's. A dozen TCB balls are about $100 (expensive) but solves (sort of) the live pitching issue.

You can buy a bag of about two dozen balls of the McDonalds type at Walmart for about $2.

As far as the net for the batting cage, that's the least expensive part of the cage. Surely 10 families can get together for a net; or have a pancake breakfast one Saturday morning to raise the money.

 

[RichK]

Any good/bad experiences with rag balls? My older DD played on a team that hit rag balls to good effect in warmups -- but that was quite a few years ago. I haven't seen anyone use them recently.

 

[quincy]

We were in the situation you are in but found a hole in the wall park to be able to practice on. If you can find a place that has a lot of room, even if it is all grass without a backstop. Wasn’t too worried about our Team but needed to pay attention to all the other Teams out there to make sure our Players did not get hurt.

I like the batters being able to hit a real ball and see where it is going, since this needs the most room I start from here and work backwards. Backstop, soccer net, hammer throw fence, anything is great while doing this but not required. If you do not have anything to stop the pitched balls have someone stand far behind the batter or better yet rotate catchers thru. If the ball gets by them, have them leave it go.

It is also great to have batters being able to hit the ball into something, anything were you can control were the ball is going. With any sort of a backstop you can do a minimum of 2 drills and live hitting.

This thread has quite a few drills that do not take up to much space, or equipment, to perform.

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/sof...tial-work-stations-team-hitting-practice.html

 

[KevinC]

The TCB wiffle balls are less expensive than the heavy ones and they work great for front toss.

Depending on how much help you have you can have:

• One batter hitting live pitching at home plate,
• A bunt station,
• Front wiffle ball toss or side toss into a net,
• Two or three hitting long tee from deep foul territory towards CF,
• Remaining players with helmets on collecting balls in OF.

Rotate every few minutes and there is not much standing around.

 

[Jesse]

This is all super helpful stuff. Thanks.

 

[hen]

We do a setup similar to the one KevinC suggested: 2 live hitters (screen between the two hitters), bunt station, soft toss in a net. Usually ends up having 5/6 people in, 8/9 in the field. We usually go 8-10 cuts and rotate individuals rather than groups. They know to rotate across the outfield, ball collector (behind a screen behind 2B), to pitching for bunts, to bunting, to soft toss, to one side live, to the other side, then back out. We often use the time to work P in bullpen or take a girl or 2 to the side and work with them on the tee for more in depth instruction.

More girls we'll add in a TCB station, tee station, grounders on the side, etc.