Front Toss Batting Practice

[FiveFrameSwing]

Absolutely nothing wrong with your preference. I just dont believe that it would be wrong for another coach/teacher/hitter to do it a different way.

Well ... and that goes back to my point that there are advantages to head-on soft-toss over side soft-toss.

Mike Candrea demonstrates a side soft-toss drill in addition to head-on soft-toss ... but it is the head-on soft-toss drill that he repeatedly places as one of his top 2 drills.

Will I do side soft-toss? ... sure, if for whatever reason I can't perform head-on soft-toss, then I'll consider side soft-toss as an option. Even here, I prefer an angled version of side soft-toss over a version where the side tosser is oriented square to the hitter ... for the same reasons as the impact on the quality of the loading pattern.

 

[CycloneSoftball22]

To each his own is all that I am saying. Nobdody is completetely right or wrong on this subject

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

To each his own is all that I am saying. Nobdody is completetely right or wrong on this subject

Yet there are differences, and those differences do "matter" to some of us. My point is, know the differences and then determine what is best for you or the particular situation you may have to deal with.

 

[LeftiesDad]

My DD, a decent hitting IMO, prefers head on soft toss to side soft toss for many on the reasons FFS has posted. It is harder to load and swing properly focussing on the side instead of in front and watching for someone to just toss the ball up. There is little, if anything, to time one's load. She has expressed this many times, especially in game prep when it is team mates doing the tossing. The toss is often too low or tossed poorly as to not really be hittable.

 

[softballphreak]

To each his own is all that I am saying. Nobdody is completetely right or wrong on this subject

That depends on the objective of the drill. If you are working on loading, tracking, striding, point of contact, for example, then front toss has a huge advantage over side toss.

In that case it shouldn't be a matter of to each his own if you are trying to develop those particular skills.

Side toss does have its place, as do many other techniques. And I believe that is what you are saying. But there are good, better, and best; depending on what you are working on. Side toss is better for warming up in small spaces, for example, than front toss. That's not a matter of preference, that's a matter of fact.

 

[CycloneSoftball22]

My DD, a decent hitting IMO, prefers head on soft toss to side soft toss for many on the reasons FFS has posted. It is harder to load and swing properly focussing on the side instead of in front and watching for someone to just toss the ball up. There is little to time. She has expressed this many times, especially in game prep when it is team mates doing the tossing. The toss is often too low or tossed poorly as to not really be hittable.

I agree with this. If you use your players to be the feeder , they should know how to do it properly and understand that they are responsible for the success of the drill.

 

[SBFAMILY]

Like everything you do , you must do it correctly. I disagree with the statement that it is harder to load and go to toe touch if you soft toss from the side. I do agree it is , if that person doesn't do it correctly. One of the big issues , they let the kid look at the hands of the person that is about to toss the ball from the side instead of keeping the eyes forward, where the pitcher would be located. Plus if you don't use the correct sequence the hitter doesn't have time to load correctly. It is an art that some can do and some can't. It is kind of funny that most of the kids complain to me all the time that my coach or dad just doesn't soft toss to me like you do. For that reason I always have the parents watch me .
YOU can destroy a hitters timing for a game If you do not do this drill properly, that I do agree with. . First move your wrist down , so they can load and go to toe touch, before you toss the ball. Next you must toss the ball over the area you intend them to hit, not in at them. Always use a plate. Those are some of the mistakes I see.

 

[softballphreak]

Like everything you do , you must do it correctly. I disagree with the statement that it is harder to load and go to toe touch if you soft toss from the side. I do agree it is , if that person doesn't do it correctly. One of the big issues , they let the kid look at the hands of the person that is about to toss the ball from the side instead of keeping the eyes forward, where the pitcher would be located. Plus if you don't use the correct sequence the hitter doesn't have time to load correctly. It is an art that some can do and some can't. It is kind of funny that most of the kids complain to me all the time that my coach or dad just doesn't soft toss to me like you do. For that reason I always have the parents watch me .
YOU can destroy a hitters timing for a game If you do not do this drill properly, that I do agree with. . First move your wrist down , so they can load and go to toe touch, before you toss the ball. Next you must toss the ball over the area you intend them to hit, not in at them. Always use a plate. Those are some of the mistakes I see.

This is just not a good way to work on timing. For one, the batter looking forward would have to see the ball sequence using peripheral vision. If they could track the ball it would be coming in at best from an angle.

It's just a poor drill when used for that purpose. It's ok for warmup or maybe when space is tight but it's definitely not a good substitute for front toss.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

FFS, attacking Howard on this site really doesn't win you any friends.

You are the one that suggested that Howard doesn’t perform “front soft-toss”. Hence the recommendation that you broaden your horizon. That’s not an attack, it’s a recommendation that you get out more and consider “front side-toss” as the valuable drill that many others find it to be.

Most are aware of how many college softball players he has produced. More than I can count.

Your inability to count does not impress me. Rather than continue to advertise your particular favorite hitting guru, how about sharing information. Many of us have helped girls obtain collage scholarships. It really isn’t overly difficult.

No my source is not Howard, but others on here that know the truth.

You truly should consider different sources of information … as many of your recent guesses have been incorrect. If your intent is to spread false information, while at the same time pretending to serve as a sounding board for Howard, then that reflects poorly on the two of you.

Don't forget I have honored your request to not post who you are on this site.

I get a kick out of this.

You honored a request to keep things technical and drop personal information. How big of you.

In many of your prior posts you took it upon yourself to take a technical discussion off track and wage a personal attack. If you truly do represent Howard, then understand that you have represented him poorly.

As an FYI … I did honor the request to stop posting video clips of Bustos that contradicted notions that Howard didn’t agree with. I personally considered that technical information … but I can understand that certain people do not appreciate the Hanson Principle being applied.

So lets drop the personnel attack stuff.

Now here’s something we agree with. Yes … try to keep the discussion on the technical side.

I have been to more college camps and clinics with former theam team USA players and coaches than I can count.

Again, your inability to count does not impress me. Many of the college camps and clinics I’ve attended have had a “head-on soft-toss" drill station … to me anyway, it seemed pretty routine to see high-end players performing "head-on soft-toss" ... I even saw Team USA players performing “head-on soft-toss”, and that includes Bustos. Yes … Bustos performs “head-on soft-toss”.

I do it to increase my knowledge about the game and to become a better coach and teacher

This is good … then you should understand why it is important to share information with others.

I think that is why most of us are on here, not to impress others on how good we can set at work and post videos off the internet.

Perhaps I got that last comment wrong. If you are not confident with your information, then it understandable why you don’t wish to post videos and detailed information. Perhaps that will change, and instead of complaining about information being posted, you might instead make some worthwhile contributions. The choice is yours of course.

 

[Jim]

Before reading this, understand that I look at and analyze a ton of video.

This is just my opinion and I understand all of the perspectives on this topic, but the Hanson Principle can be misleading and sometimes dangerous in the realm of coaching hitting and pitching. Do baseball pitchers put effort into making their throwing arm pronate on every pitch? The Hanson Principle says they should try to do so, right? If a pitcher said that they tried to just stay behind the ball with their hand, the Hanson Principle should then make them out to be fools that do not know what they are talking about? Right?

Letting some of the aspects in the swing happen naturally for the hitter is the art in coaching. We don't need to tell or show them every aspect of the swing that we know.

Video shows what happened, it does not show what the hitter felt in the swing. Both are important and not one more than the other.

I take that back, feel may be more important.

Coaching requires the ability to adjust in and of itself. Some players need to feel one portion of the swing more than others and vice versa. Just because something happens in someone's swing on video doesn't mean that everyone should focus and feel that as well.
Heck, that hitter may not even know that he/she was doing it in the first place.

Coaching is more an art than it is a science. Knowledge is needed, but knowing how and when to use the knowledge is the art.

Just my opinion.