Archive for the ‘Bats’ Category
Practice, Practice, Practice
For me the most effective way to practice hitting is to use a batting tee and a bag of wiffle balls. Tee it up and start hacking. The sooner you can hit a wiffle ball cleanly off a tee, the sooner you will become a better hitter. When you hit a wiffle ball off a tee correctly, it acts like a knuckleball. You can hear the air going through the ball. When you don’t hit it correctly, you create spin on the ball and it goes all over the place. When the ball spins alot, I make adjustments to correct my swing.
Since I’ve joined a local softball league, I’ve started breaking out the tee and wiffle balls. It’s not the most exciting thing, so you have to be creative. I put my headphones on and listen to my favorite music while I concentrate on my hitting technique. The weight of softball bats is distributed differently, so it has taken some getting used to. If you find using a wiffle ball slightly embarrassing, you could still use a standard tee.
Very few softball pitchers have the ability to blow the ball right by a batter. Although it matters to an extent in baseball as well, the art of the finesse pitch is crucial to a softball pitcher’s success. By mixing up the speed and spin imparted on the ball, the pitcher can keep batters guessing. As soon as the batter starts to get a read on the pitcher’s habits, it becomes easy to predict when to swing.
From a hitter’s perspective, you should observe an opposing pitcher intently while your teammates are up to bat. This will help you to get a read on any physical ticks or tells. Make a mental note about the pitcher’s “stuff” – how many distinct pitches he or she possesses. Watch your teammates as they swing their Miken softball bats, and by the time it’s your turn to step into the batter’s box you’ll be ready to wallop one.
Softball, like its cousin baseball, is a very popular team sport in the United States. It was originally intended to be a way for baseball players to keep in practice during the winter months. For a long time, it was referred to as Indoor Baseball.
Softball bats are used by the batter and are made of metal, wood or composite materials (carbon fiber, etc.). Sizes may vary. In fast pitch softball, wooden bats are not allowed.
In baseball, pitchers are typically divided into two categories: those who pitch for contact and those who go for strikeouts. Slow pitch softball places the emphasis squarely on the former variety of pitcher. The ball won’t be coming at a batter with much speed, but there are still plenty of ways for a pitcher to get an advantage. She may vary the height of the pitch, for instance – from 6 to 12 feet off the ground.
It’s also smart to alternate the spin applied to the ball upon its release. Great pitchers will mix up their delivery, pitching for speed at certain stages of the count and throwing in a curveball or a high, arcing pitch for variation. By keeping opponents off guard, a pitcher can increase the likelihood of slow pitch softball bats whiffing time and again. And even if you don’t get many strikeouts, you can still find ways to induce groundouts.