Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Whiffle Ball BP and Soft Toss

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 1
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous template Next
  • #1

    Whiffle Ball BP and Soft Toss

    Looking for opinions on using whiffle balls for BP. Good idea or bad?

    Also, looking for thoughts on soft toss but tossing the ball (underhand with some zip on it) from the FRONT (behind L Screen of course....) with players in the field (making the plays/outs) opposed to soft toss into screen/net from the side. You think tossing the ball from the front accomplishes the same is as live pitching/BP?

    Benny Blades
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Originally posted by Benny Blades View Post
    Looking for opinions on using whiffle balls for BP. Good idea or bad?

    Also, looking for thoughts on soft toss but tossing the ball (underhand with some zip on it) from the FRONT (behind L Screen of course....) with players in the field (making the plays/outs) opposed to soft toss into screen/net from the side. You think tossing the ball from the front accomplishes the same is as live pitching/BP?

    Benny Blades
    Benny,
    Whiffle balls and tennis balls are good for side toss. - you set up off the batter at about 45 degrees about 10 feet out. The timing of soft toss (and front toss is critical) Present the ball with your first two fingers under the ball, thumb on top. When the hitter is ready it's a flip to the front side of the hitter. You want to keep the ball even with the front side mid chest to knee high.

    I do front toss by sitting on a bucket with the screen turn so the high side protects me, usually about 25-30 feet away. I sit behind the screen a few feet so I can rotate my throwing shoulder behind the screen. I learned my lesson here with a HS #4 batter. After a night in the hospital.... getting off topic...

    At 50+ years old I can no longer pitch a full BP. Moving the screen in shorter and throwing is not a problem and saves a coaches arm. For Small field getting the screen just in front of the mound is about as close as I would recommend.

    Another tip for BP. Have a bucket at first and a bucket at 2nd. Anything in the infield goes to first, anything in the outfield goes to second. Do not have the players throw the balls in. It's amazing how much time is wasted by throwing in the balls versus running in the buckets during a rotation. I get through about three batter with a full bucket never giving the hitters more than 10 or so swings. After that the only thing they are doing is creating bad muscle memory.

    Use a rotation- this keeps the kids busy and gets them to play different positions - I recommend Hitter-9-8-7-5-6-bucket-4-3-on deck-hitter. If you have a bunch of players use 5or 6 outfielders and rotate them left.

    Hope this helps..
    "He who dares to teach, must never cease to learn."
    - John Cotton Dana (1856–1929) - Offered to many by L. Olson - Iowa (Teacher)
    Please read Baseball Fever Policy and Forum FAQ before posting.

    Comment

    • #3
      To those who are coaching LL or other youth teams. I have recieved several PM's about warming up youngsters... I do not have my team jog at all. We only do dynamic warm-ups and found Jon Doyle's 7-Minute Dynamic Baseball Warm up to be the best I have found.
      "He who dares to teach, must never cease to learn."
      - John Cotton Dana (1856–1929) - Offered to many by L. Olson - Iowa (Teacher)
      Please read Baseball Fever Policy and Forum FAQ before posting.

      Comment

      • #4
        Jake...so if the ball goes to third....does 3B throw to 1B (the bucket) or roll it over there? Same Q with OF...ball hit to LF, thrown to 2B standing by bucket or rolled in?

        About whiffels..I see HS teams/players pairing up and standing 8-10' away throwing the balls to the batter.....do you do this drill as well?

        Comment

        • #5
          Originally posted by Benny Blades View Post
          Jake...so if the ball goes to third....does 3B throw to 1B (the bucket) or roll it over there? Same Q with OF...ball hit to LF, thrown to 2B standing by bucket or rolled in?
          You can place a bucket at both corners. The problem is third base side has an increase risk of the player getting hit when turning to field the ball. The safest is a bucket behind a screen at the corners and at second.

          About whiffels..I see HS teams/players pairing up and standing 8-10' away throwing the balls to the batter.....do you do this drill as well?
          Only as a side toss. You would not want to take a whiffle ball off the chops...
          "He who dares to teach, must never cease to learn."
          - John Cotton Dana (1856–1929) - Offered to many by L. Olson - Iowa (Teacher)
          Please read Baseball Fever Policy and Forum FAQ before posting.

          Comment

          • #6
            I would like to hear about your night in the hospital! I took one off the chest last year in the cage...I had the L-Screen, was throwing BP from close range and took a liner off the middle of my chest (that area where both pecs end and upper stomach meets)...I thought I was going down for good! Long story short, I had a nice sore bruise for a few weeks!

            Comment

            • #7
              Originally posted by Benny Blades View Post
              I would like to hear about your night in the hospital! I took one off the chest last year in the cage...I had the L-Screen, was throwing BP from close range and took a liner off the middle of my chest (that area where both pecs end and upper stomach meets)...I thought I was going down for good! Long story short, I had a nice sore bruise for a few weeks!
              Long story short - #4 hitter HS - line drive off the elbow - had a knot on my elbow the size of a tennis ball. Out of commission for four weeks.
              "He who dares to teach, must never cease to learn."
              - John Cotton Dana (1856–1929) - Offered to many by L. Olson - Iowa (Teacher)
              Please read Baseball Fever Policy and Forum FAQ before posting.

              Comment

              Previous template Next

              Ad Widget

              Collapse
              Working...
              X