Category: Hitting
Type: Drill
SOFT TOSS
Whether your team is just starting a new season or you and a friend want to brush up on your hitting skills, "Soft Toss" is a great tool to ensure proper hitting mechanics are being used, sharpen the hitting eye and have some fun all at the same time. Here's how!
Soft-Toss: A player or coach (I prefer a coach) sits on a bucket slightly in front and to the plate side of the hitter. The coach should be 3-4 feet away from her so as not to get hit by the bat. He/she tosses a ball into the contact with a smart snap. This toss is not one of those "old man, slow pitch, arching things." Instead, it is a smart toss into the contact zone to allow the hitter to hit the ball out in front of the plate. To begin with, I use standard size softballs and standard bats.
When a short warm-up period has been completed (about 5-8 balls), I switch to practice whiffle golf balls. These are harder to hit and the player must concentrate to hit them. A lot of times, the hitters "cheat" and begin their swing as they see may arm go up. To prevent this and add a bit of fun, I take 3 balls in my hands and sort of juggle them in a figure 8 and release one of them at random. The hitter must be alert to hit the ball before it hits the ground. I also stand up a lot when I do soft toss. The reason for this is that the hitters will become accustomed to hitting pitches in a certain location if you sit on a bucket all the time.
After about 10-15 whiffle balls, I switch to a bat I made that has a 1 1/2" diameter and a steel rod through the middle for proper weight. We continue to hit the whiffle balls during this stage. Now the players really have to concentrate to make contact. Finally, I take some black-eyed peas and soft toss those at the hitters. At first, this is difficult, so I ask the players to tell me which direction the "black eye" is pointing. When they do this, they must really focus on the "target" and will generally hit 8 out of 10 peas.
NOTES: The coach or player must always keep an eye on the mechanics of the hitter and make corrections if they break down. I use a portable net when employing these drills. Also, if there is an area that is dimly lit for a night practice, I use this area for my hitting drills. It just makes the hitters concentrate more. I have used these drills for the past 12 years in practice and in pre-game warm-ups and have had some excellent results. Imagine what the regulation sized softball looks like to the hitter after she has just hit 50 or so small objects with a very small diameter bat. Try it!!
With all of these drills, try this out in the backyard or with your assistant coaches BEFORE going the field so that you can instruct the players in the proper mechanics of the drill. This drill and many more can be found in our extensive library of drills on eteamz.com/
Submitted by: Coach Mike
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