Pre Game Batting Warmups

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Looking for some good pre-game batting warmups/drills/etc. This would be for a 10U team.

Thanks

 

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We no longer call it pre-game. It's practice. And we use the tees with wiffle balls and lite flights (usually working the low outside pitch or the high inside pitch), the game balls with soft toss from other players, and our special bunting station (Ryan Minney can tell you about that )

You have to have enough tees (we have at least two hitting stations off of the tee) and wiffle balls/lite flight balls. And for a 10U team, I think tee work would be great. With few exceptions, that ball coming from the pitcher is either going to be a clear ball, or it is going to sit up as though on the tee.

Sometimes we also play pepper.

 

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We have started using the TCB balls as a warm up station. I tested them for Howard Carrier( hitter) and Jim Clark and I bought 6 each for our team. They are an excellent pracitce / warm up device and gives kids instant feedback. You do not need a net or much room to use them. We have found doing recent drills that they really help. We have been using them with slappers and getting good results. We also use whiffle balls , hitting them with the whiphit. Each drill enforces good hitting mechanics , like Carol stated. It is practice not warm up.

 

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What are the TCB balls? Those balls that do not carry but have some weight...?

 

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http://www.game-ex.com/vb3/showthread.php?p=300763#post300763

A discussion

 

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Yes, to the TCB balls. They are the best thing in 40 years. I no longer have to carry the nets, if I don't want to.

 

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We have started using the TCB balls as a warm up station. I tested them for Howard Carrier( hitter) and Jim Clark and I bought 6 each for our team. They are an excellent pracitce / warm up device and gives kids instant feedback. You do not need a net or much room to use them. We have found doing recent drills that they really help. We have been using them with slappers and getting good results. We also use whiffle balls , hitting them with the whiphit. Each drill enforces good hitting mechanics , like Carol stated. It is practice not warm up.

Saw those balls at ASA Nationals in Chattanooga for 10U. Those are really cool. A lot of the CA and GA teams were using them. So of course, a coach went out and bought some. They are awesome!

 

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Just bought a dozen TCB balls. What's the word on using the "good" bats with them. Obviously no denting, but what about the extra weight?

 

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Love them.. been using them about evey night with my DD. She has a bat that is about 2 months old - she has hit prob 1500 TCB balls with it .. last weekend we noticed a split /crack where the taper meets the 'flat' part of the bat... hmmmm... I have no idea if it is the TCB balls or what but makes we wonder.

 

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I've watched many softball/baseball teams do pre-game soft toss drills where it literally looked like a fire drill! No emphasis on proper mechanics or technique - just toss and "ugly swing" as fast as you can. What a waste - that time could be spent far more productively. Even if players are tossing, they can be taught to use proper tossing technique.

One thing to remember: It's not the QUANTITY of swings, it's the QUALITY of the swings you take! Slow down and do these drills WITH A PURPOSE. Each player should pick a certain pitch they need to work on, and have the tosser give them a good mix of those tosses to simulate that "problem pitch". It's as much mental prep as physical. As to how to go about simulating those "pitches" with soft toss, ask Hitter.

 

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I've watched many softball/baseball teams do pre-game soft toss drills where it literally looked like a fire drill! No emphasis on proper mechanics or technique - just toss and "ugly swing" as fast as you can.

Funny you say that.. I sat and watched a team run all their girls thru softtoss like that last weekend in columbus and it was rapid fire, wrists roll, bat wrap around their waist, bat snaps back and do it again. I was stunned that anyone would actually think that was a good drill

 

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Funny you say that.. I sat and watched a team run all their girls thru softtoss like that last weekend in columbus and it was rapid fire, wrists roll, bat wrap around their waist, bat snaps back and do it again. I was stunned that anyone would actually think that was a good drill

EXACTLY!! Sometimes I have to restrain myself from walking over and whispering "Slow down... slow down..." The sad thing is the coaches are oblivious to what is happening, or how hard it is to unlearn that junk!

One of my DD's pitching coaches always stressed to approach a practice pitching session (lesson) with a purpose; a plan. Don't just mindlessly throw pitch after pitch, but each pitch should be a feedback mechanism. Did you get the desired result? Did the pitch drop or curve? What do I do to fix that? Same way with soft toss. Did I weight shift properly? Did the ball go where I envisioned it? (you did picture the ball going somewhere didn't you?) Did you finish and follow through? It's called perfecting your practice motions, so your GAME motions will be just like them - only automatic.

It sounds "anal", but if drills are done sloppy, the game performance will be sloppy. It's a discipline that should be learned by any kid wanting to advance their game.

 

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EXACTLY!! Sometimes I have to restrain myself from walking over and whispering "Slow down... slow down..." The sad thing is the coaches are oblivious to what is happening, or how hard it is to unlearn that junk!

One of my DD's pitching coaches always stressed to approach a practice pitching session (lesson) with a purpose; a plan. Don't just mindlessly throw pitch after pitch, but each pitch should be a feedback mechanism. Did you get the desired result? Did the pitch drop or curve? What do I do to fix that? Same way with soft toss. Did I weight shift properly? Did the ball go where I envisioned it? (you did picture the ball going somewhere didn't you?) Did you finish and follow through? It's called perfecting your practice motions, so your GAME motions will be just like them - only automatic.

It sounds "anal", but if drills are done sloppy, the game performance will be sloppy. It's a discipline that should be learned by any kid wanting to advance their game.

Sammy, Your advice is pretty much always "spot on". I find myself relaying your posts to my dd, and hoping that she will take these words of wisdom to heart. Sometimes, or even often, it is hard to get through to 13 year olds, especially as a parent. But maybe, just maybe, they will listen to the sound advice of someone who has been there before, and knows what they are talking about.