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Pitching Machines


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I'm looking for a dual softball / baseball pitching machine for my 9 and 7 year olds.  9 year old is playing softball and this is first year we will have a machine.  I found a Jugs PS50 that will handle real balls - not the soft lite crap they sell - but only goes up to 50 mph.  Probably always going to be good for a tool, at least for several more years.  But it's $600 at Dick's.

That seems to be best bet right now.  Any other recs?

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CSB: I went from the worst hitter in little league to one of the best in one off season. Friend’s dad drilled a hole through a baseball and inserted a rope. The “pitcher” would swing the ball around and around while I practiced hitting it. Without even knowing what was going on, I learned how to follow the ball’s flight with my eyes. All of a sudden I was a masher. 

Bernard

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6 hours ago, Spur08 said:

Take your kids to batting cages and/or pitch to them for less than $600?

I’ve gotta have a machine for my 3rd grade girls softball squad, and it could come in handy for my 1st grade son, as it can use softballs or baseballs. 

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16 hours ago, Rex Kramer said:

I'm looking for a dual softball / baseball pitching machine for my 9 and 7 year olds.  9 year old is playing softball and this is first year we will have a machine.  I found a Jugs PS50 that will handle real balls - not the soft lite crap they sell - but only goes up to 50 mph.  Probably always going to be good for a tool, at least for several more years.  But it's $600 at Dick's.

That seems to be best bet right now.  Any other recs?

You want something that will crank up the speed a bIt more so they can use it as they get older. We have. 70-80 mph unit that our kids, and our neighbors kids grew with up Thru HS ball.

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On 5/5/2018 at 9:41 AM, Onboard 2.0 said:

You want something that will crank up the speed a bIt more so they can use it as they get older. We have. 70-80 mph unit that our kids, and our neighbors kids grew with up Thru HS ball.

So is a unit that tops out at 50 mph useful at all to train on for HS ball?  Like taking BP?  And I could always put it closer and get an L-screen if they need more speed, right?

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5 hours ago, Rex Kramer said:

So is a unit that tops out at 50 mph useful at all to train on for HS ball?  Like taking BP?  And I could always put it closer and get an L-screen if they need more speed, right?

Yeah we did that as well at times if we really wanted to try and crank up bat speed.  I didn't like what it did to timing sometimes though.  I think it is useful as it helps you work on form.

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A pitching machine is kind of a waste. I have a batting cage in the back of my property. You just need an L-screen, bucket of balls and a good tee.

Batting sessions should consist of tee work, soft toss and then some pitched BP. The entire session should be focused on mechanics which makes Tee work and soft toss important. Pitched BP shouldn't be fast pitches, 60 MPH at the most even at the H.S. level.

Personally, I've found the Zepp swing analyzer to be the most useful tool besides a tee when it comes to improving hitting.

 

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22 minutes ago, F250 said:

A pitching machine is kind of a waste. I have a batting cage in the back of my property. You just need an L-screen, bucket of balls and a good tee.

Batting sessions should consist of tee work, soft toss and then some pitched BP. The entire session should be focused on mechanics which makes Tee work and soft toss important. Pitched BP shouldn't be fast pitches, 60 MPH at the most even at the H.S. level.

Personally, I've found the Zepp swing analyzer to be the most useful tool besides a tee when it comes to improving hitting.

 

The pitching machine allows you to work without a partner, but the other points are all valid.

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41 minutes ago, F250 said:

A pitching machine is kind of a waste. I have a batting cage in the back of my property. You just need an L-screen, bucket of balls and a good tee.

Batting sessions should consist of tee work, soft toss and then some pitched BP. The entire session should be focused on mechanics which makes Tee work and soft toss important. Pitched BP shouldn't be fast pitches, 60 MPH at the most even at the H.S. level.

Personally, I've found the Zepp swing analyzer to be the most useful tool besides a tee when it comes to improving hitting.

 

I don’t disagree with any of that. Again, this league is machine pitch and I can’t do anything about it. I suspect the girls will be helped by actually practicing with a machine. And if my boy uses it without me there, great. 

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4 minutes ago, Rex Kramer said:

I don’t disagree with any of that. Again, this league is machine pitch and I can’t do anything about it. I suspect the girls will be helped by actually practicing with a machine. And if my boy uses it without me there, great. 

Ok, that makes sense. The only time I preferred using a machine was when I was coaching a machine pitch team but I insisted on using the same machine that was used for games.

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4 hours ago, JimmyHoffa said:

 

I think if it's the same model we used to have, throws some serious curve balls too. 

Ours was a one speed with two wheels horizontally oriented.  If you wanted curve balls, you grabbed one of those plastic whiffle balls without holes in them.  The were usually out of round after one hit and were guaranteed to come straight at your head and drop like a stone at the last minute.   That was your curve ball.

/Walked up hill to school, both ways. 

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13 hours ago, dcbc said:

Ours was a one speed with two wheels horizontally oriented.  If you wanted curve balls, you grabbed one of those plastic whiffle balls without holes in them.  The were usually out of round after one hit and were guaranteed to come straight at your head and drop like a stone at the last minute.   That was your curve ball.

/Walked up hill to school, both ways. 

We had one of those as well. The picture of the one in the link if it's the same one is vertical you could also rotate it to horizontal and it would throw perfect 12 to 6 curveballs. 

And don't even get me started on these fuckers:

 

yellowdimplebaseball.jpg

 

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