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Baseball Hitting Aids For Any Back Yard

By Agnes Dickson


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.

The simplest of these aids is the common batting tee. Essentially it does the same thing a golf tee does but comes with a stalk to hold the ball higher, usually adjustable and ranging between just below thirty inches to nearly four feet. This places the ball right within most young hitters' sweet spot, letting them repeat a well-balanced swing.

With a portable screen added to hitting practice, a batter can not only use the tee all afternoon but won't have to interrupt practice by spending time going out after the balls he or she has crushed. Many nets also have brightly colored targets that are stitched into the net to show the player where and how well they are nailing the ball. Screens and tees are useful for practicing both baseball and softball, and are typically built to stay put on windy days.

The problem of netting the struck ball is avoided altogether with the use of a swing tee. With these tees, the ball is affixed to a swinging arm that is parallel to the ground. Once the batter strikes the wall it whips around on that stalk but snaps back at the end of the rotation so it can be batted again.

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.

One might look to buying protection nets for the back yard, looking like rooms or hallways woven out of fishing nets, for practicing with a pitching machine or with a practice pitcher. Those who don't mind something more pricey can look to the packages of equipment, quite often sponsored by a big name star. With packages one does see more of a difference between baseball and its cousin, 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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