Reading the ball off the bat

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Apr 20, 2018
4,581
113
SoCal
THIS!!
Bryan Pack @ USC Upstate does this at all of his camps, and to me it's one of the highlights of the camp! He's hitting absolute pissrod lasers and talking pure junk to every girl that steps in at 3B! He's very good at it, the man could put a tennis ball in a tea cup! It was always fun to watch!

Also, how are her eyes? Maybe a checkup is in order?
Tennis balls are also good for infield flies. I can place them much better than a softball. You can practice the outfielder calling off the infielder or the 3rd baseman calling off the catcher, etc.
 
Oct 26, 2019
1,375
113
Tennis balls are also good for infield flies. I can place them much better than a softball. You can practice the outfielder calling off the infielder or the 3rd baseman calling off the catcher, etc.
A few other tennis ball benefits.

-gotta catch them just right and soft or they pop out.
-less fear factor for young kids.
-I love using them when it is windy. Much more challenging.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
A few other tennis ball benefits.

-gotta catch them just right and soft or they pop out.
-less fear factor for young kids.
-I love using them when it is windy. Much more challenging.
I’ve taught all my kids to catch using tennis balls. First just by playing catch in the house with no glove and then as they got a bit older (3 or 4) with a glove. My 4 YO currently loves trying to track towering popups that I hit to him in the yard (hasn’t caught one yet but he has come close..lol) It is good bat control practice for me too as I have to try and make sure I don’t hit it into the neighbor’s yard 😂
 
Oct 26, 2019
1,375
113
I’ve taught all my kids to catch using tennis balls. First just by playing catch in the house with no glove and then as they got a bit older (3 or 4) with a glove. My 4 YO currently loves trying to track towering popups that I hit to him in the yard (hasn’t caught one yet but he has come close..lol) It is good bat control practice for me too as I have to try and make sure I don’t hit it into the neighbor’s yard 😂
That is funny I think we might live in the same house because I used to take a tennis racket and hit tennis balls from my front porch across the street while my daughter and the neighbors kids tried to catch them. I may or may not have even shot them across the street using the pitching machine.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
That is funny I think we might live in the same house because I used to take a tennis racket and hit tennis balls from my front porch across the street while my daughter and the neighbors kids tried to catch them. I may or may not have even shot them across the street using the pitching machine.
My son wanted to pitch to me the other day and because I am not going to let my kid get the best of me I hit a bomb into the neighbors yard (over their fenced in yard)..we have yet to receive our tennis ball back 😒
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
Please... Unless you don't have any peripheral vision or aren't paying attention, it's not hard to know when the pitch is coming. For older age groups, the time from delivery to potential contact is often less than a second. The point is to not focus on the pitcher and then try to follow the pitch to the batter. At 3B, that is a sure way to not see the ball off the bat. Further, watching the batter will tell you much more about where the ball is going than looking at the pitcher.

Missed this first time around, but since it's been bumped recently, thought I'd reply.

I think this post clarifies the one I originally replied to. I don't think we're really disagreeing. I interpreted your first thing to pretty much be a guess of when the pitcher is throwing the ball. I do think most players should be able to follow the ball the entire way from pitcher to bat at 2B/SS (since it's not exactly straight on, but you can track with minimal eye movement), but maybe not at 3B/1B.

What I was thinking about was that the timing of the ready position, especially something like the Auburn hop, absolutely requires the fielders to start out focusing on the pitcher. You can't time the landing with the bat making contact with the ball without watching the pitcher long enough to know when the ball is coming out of her hand.

I really thought you were saying to just not look at the pitcher at all, so I'm glad you explained what you meant.
 

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