I've heard some coaches say in practice the only ball their players hit are "smalls balls" (tennis balls, golf-ball sized plastic or foam balls, etc.). Reasoning is when they get in a game the softball will look much larger and conceivably easier to hit. Is this good or a combination of small & regular sized balls? Thanks.
Small balls
- Thread starter SCflashes
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- Oct 25, 2009
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What I have observed is players can hit the small golf-size whiffle balls with a broomstick-handle bat much more accurately than they can a softball. I believe the reason is they have to focus more because of the smaller target, smaller bat.
What I haven't seen is much benefit as far as seeing the softball better. I believe the reason is they don't focus on the softball because they believe it is big enough that they don't need to focus.
I have used the cue to see the small center of the softball as if they were hitting the golf-ball size ball.
I have wondered if a larger ball was used for practice would that cause them to focus better on the smaller ball. The opposite logic.
What I haven't seen is much benefit as far as seeing the softball better. I believe the reason is they don't focus on the softball because they believe it is big enough that they don't need to focus.
I have used the cue to see the small center of the softball as if they were hitting the golf-ball size ball.
I have wondered if a larger ball was used for practice would that cause them to focus better on the smaller ball. The opposite logic.
- May 1, 2011
- 350
- 28
I have to agree w/Sofballphreak on this one. Our team has a bucket full of those little whiffle balls, and I think it makes the girls think more along the lines of "well, I hit that small thing good, so this should be easy." I used to give golf lessons, and we would start by hitting a beach ball, and then a big bouncy ball, followed by a tennis ball, and finally a golf ball. Same sort of method, but more of a reverse application(the ball not moving helps). It seemed as they eventually got to the golf ball, they were even more focused. We've actually quit using them.
We use a small ball workout and I found that if you hit a small ball with a standard bat you don't get the same benefit as you do using a small diameter bat. We have some small diameter bats that weigh more than the standard bat and ones that are lighter and we will rotate between the two.
One other thing I noticed is that if you don't actually pitch the ball you don't get the same benefit. We tried soft toss with them and found no significant improvement in the hand eye for the hitters.
One other thing I noticed is that if you don't actually pitch the ball you don't get the same benefit. We tried soft toss with them and found no significant improvement in the hand eye for the hitters.
We use a baseball pitching machine, not a softball pitching machine. Soft toss mainly softball size.
- Dec 28, 2008
- 386
- 0
To me hitting is about confidence. If players can hit a teeny object with a broom handle, mentally they can believe they can hit better. So I definitely do drills with small things to force focuse and boost confidence when needed.
I wouldn't agree though that its the only kind of practice that should be done. You can't really just proper timing and real power by hitting a wiffle ball (regardless of size) you have to do some drills with real balls (or TCB balls) to real ensure that the player is connecting and driving through the ball. Nothing like that crisp "THUMP" sound on a real softball to relay immediate feedback to player if they are connecting solidly and following through correctly or not.
I wouldn't agree though that its the only kind of practice that should be done. You can't really just proper timing and real power by hitting a wiffle ball (regardless of size) you have to do some drills with real balls (or TCB balls) to real ensure that the player is connecting and driving through the ball. Nothing like that crisp "THUMP" sound on a real softball to relay immediate feedback to player if they are connecting solidly and following through correctly or not.
- Jul 26, 2010
- 3,553
- 0
I find the little wiffels work great at younger ages, 10u and so on, and maybe 12u rec. Wiffles, in general, loose a bit of functionality because it's impossible to throw them fast enough to simulate game-speed (let alone on a windy day). You can end up getting a lot of kids hitting on their front foot or lunging if you use them too often. I love the TCB balls in lieu of wiffel balls. I call them "truth serum balls" because you can learn a lot from hitting them, and you can pitch them in straight lines instead of arcs to simulate game speed.
I think that hitting small balls with a small bat certainly increases hand-eye coordination in GENERAL, but I don't think it applies directly to the art of hitting.
-W
I think that hitting small balls with a small bat certainly increases hand-eye coordination in GENERAL, but I don't think it applies directly to the art of hitting.
-W
The new TCB whiffle balls are great. They work better in the wind and won't break. I use the softball size as a warm up with the whip hit bat.
I have a set of balls that have a golf ball sized red dot on them. I start off with them doing T-work with them. They have to focus on the little red dot. It then is used for toss up and coach pitch.
I also tell my girls that the game balls have these on them. Most of the figure it out pretty quickly but they're all very focussed on that ball.
I also tell my girls that the game balls have these on them. Most of the figure it out pretty quickly but they're all very focussed on that ball.
