Practiced all Winter: Play same Teams, Hitting Down

[softballphreak]

How fast/hard should/can you throw a TCB ball toward the batter? How does the weight of the ball affect the bat or batter if thrown hard? Is it safe for a player to pitch?

 

[Amy in AZ.]

It would depend on the player. Normally, the TCB ball flies off the bat like a wounded quail and goes about 4 feet. Then, the player adjusts their swing, so that they can get a better hit and the ball could go 20 feet or so. They die when they hit the ground.

The small weighted ball has no effect on the bat. It is safe and will not damage your bat. I toss the ball as hard as I can from about 20 feet. My batters are usually somewhat skilled and I have never hit anyone. So, I don't know if it would hurt too bad to get hit by one.

I do know that my 12yo niece fouled one off into her face and after the initial scare, was fine. It is on tape.

 

[starsnuffer]

It's safe to throw them hard from 20' or so, they are heavier then softballs but the impact with the bat is absorbed. You do want to limit the batter to about 15 pitches or so at a time to preserve younger batters wrists. I have had batters with previous wrist injuries complain about hitting the TCB balls, but they also complain about doing push-ups. I use the hole-balls for these individuals.

 

[MsDinosaur]

I throw them from about 10'. I'm too inaccurate from any farther away. I don't throw very hard, but I try to vary the speeds a bit and I try to hit spots so that she also gets a mix of inside and outside/low and high. Even when I zip 'em in fast (for me, LOL) I don't get many past her anymore, darn it. We started off only doing a few at a time, but we're usually doing two to three repetitions of a dozen balls now.

By the way, I made the mistake of throwing her a meatball this week and it actually went all the way out onto the street and was run over by a passing car. --It appears to be unscathed; I was really surprised that it stood up to that!

How far do the hole-balls fly? Can I use them the same way or would we need more room?

 

[Amy in AZ.]

The hole balls fly almost as far as a normal whiffle ball.

 

[InsidePitch]

I decided to take the bull by the horn and put DD in a hitting camp run by a respected coach in the area. 4 days of hitting, swing evaluation, stance etc...Since Tuesday she has been smackin' the ball and is now reaching the fence on one or two hoppers. Now I just have to keep our coaches out of her head.

 

[softballphreak]

I decided to take the bull by the horn and put DD in a hitting camp run by a respected coach in the area. 4 days of hitting, swing evaluation, stance etc...Since Tuesday she has been smackin' the ball and is now reaching the fence on one or two hoppers. Now I just have to keep our coaches out of her head.

Who was the coach/hitting camp?

 

[InsidePitch]

The coach is Steve Kania, former HS coach that now teaches out of Grand Slam in Edison. Can't beat it for the price and the instructor/camper ratio is like 5-1.