Does throwing a baseball up to yourself and hiting it help improve hitting skills?
Question:Does throwing the baseball up in the air and hitting it help improve hitting? Is it a good drill? because im 14 and it one of the only easy drill i can do just by myself. Is it a good drill to do or will it not help me at all?
Answers:
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I'm saying probably not, I did this a ton as a kid & as a coach now, I don't see much of a benefit besides the fact that you are working on making contact. I advice either tee work, or get one of those swing away devices you can put around a pole. When you throw the ball up & hit it, you aren't seeing the ball in the direction it would come in, & you aren't in a stance in which you would hit it. Using a Tee or a Swing Away will give you a chance to set up your stance & work on the correct techniques, such as level shoulders, throwing your hands at the ball, & rotating your hips. If you have someone to work with you, even if they can't pitch, you can have them throw soft toss to you, & that will help you with location of pitches, just tell them where you want the ball to be. Even a young child could do this one for you, but I advice you to hit wiffle balls, its also a lot easier to pick up when you are done. Hope this helps.It is always good to improve your hand-eye coordination, and this is an okay drill in trying to do so. But if you would like to improve to the utmost possible, i would suggest a product such as Hit-A-Way:
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I think this is a bad idea. When you throw a ball up to yourself, you're hitting it as it comes vertically downward. This is not the way you'd see it in a game situation. What ends up is that you start training yourself to aim under the ball (because that's where it will be by the time your bat gets there), and that's going to be a big problem when you're facing pitches (which are not coming vertically downward).im 13 and i do that a lot, i can usually hit really far when i do it, it helps because it helps you hit the ball further, thats how it helped me, it also helps your hand eye coordination, BUT, when i have my little brother pitch for me it feels way different, because when you throw it it goes exsactly where you want it to go and how far away from you, but it got me really confused when i got it pitched to me by someone else.
good luck
it depends on what you need to improve in particular. If your timing is an issue, then this is one of the worst things that you can do. That being said, if you want to make better quality contact with the ball, it can help you see the ball more clearly when it is in motion. It can also help your mechanics if you come at it from the right perspective. Know that if you toss the ball up and it goes really far in the air, you probably swung in a way that would pop up an overhand pitch. When you toss a ball in the air, the goal is a quickly sinking line drive-this is evidence of a quick and level swing. The final asset of this exercise is that it familiarizes you to what it feels like to hit the ball out in front of the plate as opposed to letting it get past you and hitting behind it. Conclusion, the best thing you can do is hit in a batting cage or find someone to pitch to you. Since that is not a possibility for all of us, I agree with other users in that a tee or batter-training device is your best route. Tossing the ball up to yourself is a beneficial exercise, but I would recommend using it as a starting point and moving on from there. Hope this helps you!
-PS- I tossed the ball up to myself all throughout my childhood, and from hitting it out front SO much, I've become almost exclusively a pull hitter...don't do it too long or you'll get in a rut.
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I hate to say this, but it could possibly hurt your hitting skills, for all the reasons stated above.Personally, I love going out with my kids (I'm 42) and hitting balls out to them. I just love making contact, hearing the crack of the bat and watching the balls fly. Some guys like chipping golf shots, I like hitting baseballs. But if I were your age and trying to improve my batting, I'd use another technique.
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Yes it is just like soft tossing, it just helps with your timingbesides improving eye hand coordination, it does nothing. Thi drill wil do more harm to your swing than anything. When you toss the ball up and hit it your swings tends to be an uppercut swing. This is very bad and it will cause you to pop the ball up a lot more. it can also cause bad footwork. If you develop bad habits with your footwork, your swing will be no good. I'd suggest the batting cages, or getting someone to soft toss to you.
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