Any young batter will seek the right equipment as he or she tries to make the most of natural talent. It doesn't hurt if the youngster is gifted with cat-like reflexes and sharp eyesight, but there is no substitute for a balanced, economical swing. Only repetitions hone this sort of swing, and without baseball hitting aids it is quite difficult getting those kind of repetitions when batting is interrupted by collecting balls from over the field.
A good place to begin might be with perhaps the simplest aid of all, the everyday batting tee. It does just what a golf tee would do but holds the ball higher, usually between thirty and forty-five inches high. This is a good range for younger hitters just perfecting their stroke.
To keep the ball close after hitting it hard, one can supplement the tee with a portable screen that nets the ball once struck. Some of these nets have targets stitched inside them so the batter can practice placing the ball. Like the tees themselves, the screens are perfect for baseball or softball as well, and can be weighted and designed not blow away or tip over when it is windy.
A swing tee lets one avoid the whole problem of netting the struck ball after it has been struck. With a swing arm tee the ball is firmly fixed to the arm that itself is designed to swing around while rooted to an axis. The ball just springs right back after being whipped around in a tight circle once the young hitter crushes it.
Several types of batting tee work to sharpen a young hitter's swing by making maximum use of repetitions. Sadly, there really is no replacement for a live pitcher, especially for development of both timing and eye for the strike zone. The pitching machine is invaluable at helping develop these facets of good hitting.
Many automatically think of the automatic pitching machine as something likely to be expensive, priced to where one wouldn't own one unless running either a batting range or a ball club. Today, however, home-appropriate pitching machines just for younger smaller players are readily available. Many are almost as inexpensive as the glove or the bat, constituting some of the least expensive, but most valuable, pieces of hitting training equipment.
There are protective nets, looking like elongated rooms made out of mosquito netting, built to contain the batted balls when they are pitched, either by a pitching machine or by a cooperative practice pitcher. On the higher end of the price scale come the packages of equipment, often represented by famous major league players. With these packages also comes a good deal more differentiation between baseball and softball.
There is a lot more equipment once reserved for the practice field that is now available for home use. All of it is conveniently scaled down for smaller athletes, but sturdy to withstand those shots that are sure to come as their skills sharpen. This equipment is quite possibly sharpening the skills of future batting champions every day.
A good place to begin might be with perhaps the simplest aid of all, the everyday batting tee. It does just what a golf tee would do but holds the ball higher, usually between thirty and forty-five inches high. This is a good range for younger hitters just perfecting their stroke.
To keep the ball close after hitting it hard, one can supplement the tee with a portable screen that nets the ball once struck. Some of these nets have targets stitched inside them so the batter can practice placing the ball. Like the tees themselves, the screens are perfect for baseball or softball as well, and can be weighted and designed not blow away or tip over when it is windy.
A swing tee lets one avoid the whole problem of netting the struck ball after it has been struck. With a swing arm tee the ball is firmly fixed to the arm that itself is designed to swing around while rooted to an axis. The ball just springs right back after being whipped around in a tight circle once the young hitter crushes it.
Several types of batting tee work to sharpen a young hitter's swing by making maximum use of repetitions. Sadly, there really is no replacement for a live pitcher, especially for development of both timing and eye for the strike zone. The pitching machine is invaluable at helping develop these facets of good hitting.
Many automatically think of the automatic pitching machine as something likely to be expensive, priced to where one wouldn't own one unless running either a batting range or a ball club. Today, however, home-appropriate pitching machines just for younger smaller players are readily available. Many are almost as inexpensive as the glove or the bat, constituting some of the least expensive, but most valuable, pieces of hitting training equipment.
There are protective nets, looking like elongated rooms made out of mosquito netting, built to contain the batted balls when they are pitched, either by a pitching machine or by a cooperative practice pitcher. On the higher end of the price scale come the packages of equipment, often represented by famous major league players. With these packages also comes a good deal more differentiation between baseball and softball.
There is a lot more equipment once reserved for the practice field that is now available for home use. All of it is conveniently scaled down for smaller athletes, but sturdy to withstand those shots that are sure to come as their skills sharpen. This equipment is quite possibly sharpening the skills of future batting champions every day.
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