The Softball Thread

[cougarkiller98 0]

Question for you guys. After playing in a higher league this fall, ive come to notice every guy on the other teams are capable of hitting a home run on 300 fences if needed to. Although most of the guys are huge, even there average guys can jack them to. My team prolly only has 2 guys that can hit a dinger on command. I can hit a shot line drive but whenever i try to put any height on it, i just pop out. Are these guys swinging different or is it all swing speed?

[K9 Unit 1]

i'm not a home run hitter, but i'll write my experiences down, i'm a leadoff/2nd batter type guy since i know how to aim the ball and i tend to get on base like 80% of the time but i do hit the occasional homeruns and i found most of those are hit when i'm not even trying. I know most homerun hitters, just can put a lot of power into it but that never works for me, it just goes high and far but not far enough.

i think your popping it up coz your uppercutting it too much, its hard to tell when i can't see you swing. maybe try leveling your swing out and just get solid contact, or if you have to uppercut it, try hitting low balls. my take, prolly mack or Drew has better suggestions though, i ain't no pro ;)

[Drewhunz 3]

You're falling for the evil nature of the aluminum bat. I'll explain after I get out of class.

[cougarkiller98 0]

yeah, the only one homerun ive hit was basically a line drive and i didnt see it because i was running lol. I think i change my swing when i try to go to the fences and maybe uppercut it to much. I just dont see my regular swing going over the fence though. maybe i need to back up in the box.

[Drewhunz 3]

An aluminum bad makes it too easy to hit a ball. Wood requires precision as well as proper body mechanics so bad habits really hurt you. Keeping your top hand under the ball and then rolling your wrists on the follow through is a big one. Learning to uncoil your body from hips to elbows generates all your power instead of aluminums rebound. Rotating your hips, squaring your shoulder, and whipping with your elbows and wrists will generate all your power. Just a slight upward stroke is all it takes with proper technique.

[cougarkiller98 0]

Sounds good. i will be working on the whole wrist snap tomorrow

[barrett 0]

An aluminum bad makes it too easy to hit a ball. Wood requires precision as well as proper body mechanics so bad habits really hurt you. Keeping your top hand under the ball and then rolling your wrists on the follow through is a big one. Learning to uncoil your body from hips to elbows generates all your power instead of aluminums rebound. Rotating your hips, squaring your shoulder, and whipping with your elbows and wrists will generate all your power. Just a slight upward stroke is all it takes with proper technique.

Not sure if its the same as baseball but rolling over your wrists or rolling over on it is only going to get you pounding the ball into the dirt.

Edit: Sorry didn't see on the follow through . Also just curious in your areas is fast pitch softball big or does everyone play baseball until a certain age and move into slow pitch?

Edited September 29, 2009 by barrett

[Drewhunz 3]

Still playing baseball at 28

[barrett 0]

Great to hear had this argument with a few guys on my team all last year I play baseball. Then seen someone above point out they play travel fast pitch so it brought it all abck

[K9 Unit 1]

An aluminum bad makes it too easy to hit a ball. Wood requires precision as well as proper body mechanics so bad habits really hurt you. Keeping your top hand under the ball and then rolling your wrists on the follow through is a big one. Learning to uncoil your body from hips to elbows generates all your power instead of aluminums rebound. Rotating your hips, squaring your shoulder, and whipping with your elbows and wrists will generate all your power. Just a slight upward stroke is all it takes with proper technique.

i always hear baseball commentators talk about "opening your hips", basically rotate your hips before you swing, you get a bit more bat speed. for me its feels weird but then again i don't diligently practice it

[mack 44]

Another thing is to make sure you're finishing low and not opening up your body. When you pivot, pivot down and stay closed. A big problem I see is guys opening up and trying to pull everything up and they just end up with spitters to the SS/2B depending on what hand they hit. It's infinitely worse in softball when guys come in thinking they can just crank it out at will.

[cougarkiller98 0]

Has anyone ever played dome softball? if so what did you think?

[bostonbruins 0]

Do any of you guys know a site like ModSquad that is about baseball equipment? I have been looking around but cant seem to find one.

[Da Beez 0]

Do any of you guys know a site like ModSquad that is about baseball equipment? I have been looking around but cant seem to find one.

softballfans.com

[Gefiltefish 9]

I took about 10 years off and am going to be playing softball again this year.

I am looking to buy new stuff and am hoping I can get clued in on the best sites. The IW, TotalHockey, etc websites for softball equipment!!!

Any advice/tips on certain products?

I need:

Glove

Bat (I usually liked them long)

Cleates

Pants

[EBondo 232]

Depends on how much you're willing to spend. I went to Modell's, and got cleats, a glove, a batt, and batting gloves for 140 bucks.

Worth Insanity bat. Under Armour mid cleats, and UA batting gloves. Rawlings glove.

[mack 44]

I used to have a couple websites saved but now they've either been bought out or gone out of business outright, so I've stayed local and ugh, used eBay.

Cleats are something I would not skimp out on because you will get what you pay for and your feet/comfort are writing the cheque on that.

Batting gloves are something you can get fairly easily and if you have a local place like Champs/Sports Authority you can see what kinds fit you best. I prefer Nikes, specifically the Diamond Elite IV series that are a bitch to find.

For gloves I prefer to use the tried and true, using the glove I pitched with and going with that. Brand-wise I stick with Rawlings and eBay is a pretty good place to find a glove. Either new or used, not a bad place to check out. If you're not looking to spend a lot of money, Nike and Rawlings make fairly decent gloves on the cheap. For the same price tho, I'd just go get a broken-in better model. Gloves are like women in that you want something that'll last but you don't want to be the one who had to do all the breaking-in.

Bats are a tricky thing. Better that you see who has what on your team and try some different sizes out before you pick what you like. I was fortunate enough to get some bats from an Easton rep to try out before they launched (thank you if you still peruse the board) and held onto those. The downer is they can quickly become a sort of obsession like sticks with all the tinkering you can have done on them. I would also check your league's rules on what bats are legal or not because there can't be much worse than spending $$$ on a bat and finding out you won't be able to use it.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Where do you live? There is a chain of stores in Ontario called Factory Direct. They sell mostly discount/overrun electronics...but my buddy just bought a Rawlings Renegade glove (12.5") for $25.00. I think I paid $50-60 for the same glove last season.

http://factorydirect.ca/catalog/product_sp...hp?pcode=RG6901

Not sure how the shipping works...I've only ever bought in store from them.

[mug25 2]

You're gonna want a large glove, 12.5"-13". The bat is different from a Baseball bat and you dont want to get a Fastpitch Softball bat either. D'Marini makes really good bats, as does Easton.

Anyway, order from here....you might find this site familiar.

http://www.homerunmonkey.com/

[EBondo 232]

You're gonna want a large glove, 12.5"-13". The bat is different from a Baseball bat and you dont want to get a Fastpitch Softball bat either. D'Marini makes really good bats, as does Easton.

Anyway, order from here....you might find this site familiar.

http://www.homerunmonkey.com/

12.5 = large? Damn! I wear a 14" glove

[mug25 2]

12.5 = large? Damn! I wear a 14" glove

I thought 12.5 was pretty large. I used to play shortstop in little league so I always had a tiny glove. Personal preference I suppose. 13" is a pretty big glove to me, and I have big hands.

[Gefiltefish 9]

Thanks for the advice so far... Shopping at the monkey now...

I am in the Milwaukee, WI area BTW. We have several stores, but like out LHS, they seem to really charge more than online!

Looks like there is not much for the $75 - $125 range for bats. It goes right from $75 to $200+. Errr.. I was hoping to get everything (I don't use batting gloves) for $250 or less.... This is just a brief beer-league season that may or may not go next year. I will try eBay...

[mug25 2]

Thanks for the advice so far... Shopping at the monkey now...

I am in the Milwaukee, WI area BTW. We have several stores, but like out LHS, they seem to really charge more than online!

Looks like there is not much for the $75 - $125 range for bats. It goes right from $75 to $200+. Errr.. I was hoping to get everything (I don't use batting gloves) for $250 or less.... This is just a brief beer-league season that may or may not go next year. I will try eBay...

BTW, for Cleats you may want to consider a pair of Turfs. They're lightweight, cheaper than metal cleats and provide a lot of grip. I actually bought a pair of the Momentum Turf Trainers from 3N2. They're a newer brand but their soes are extremely comfortable. Check their stuff out http://www.3n2sports.com

Edited April 17, 2010 by mug25

[J22 0]

I took about 10 years off and am going to be playing softball again this year.

I am looking to buy new stuff and am hoping I can get clued in on the best sites. The IW, TotalHockey, etc websites for softball equipment!!!

Any advice/tips on certain products?

I need:

Glove

Bat (I usually liked them long)

Cleates

Pants

GLOVE- 12inches is as small as i would go, 13inches is plenty big and 14 is huge. Depends on what you prefer.

I would suggest a Rawlings Gold Glove model, in my opinion the best glove you can get for less then $100.

Pretty good price and selection at www.ballgloves.com

BAT- Bats really are not like hockey sticks. there really isnt any "mid-level" softball bats. You are either gonna have to spend atleast $175 to get any kind of performance out of them otherwise just go to Walmart and grab a cheap one.

You will also need to find out what sanction you are going to be playing. USSSA, ASA, NSA, and ISA all have different bat standards and certain bats are only legal in certain sanctions. ASA has the toughest sanctions so if that is what you're playing you will have to do some research to find out what is legal. With all that being said here are some very good bats that you might be able to find for a decent price.

Miken freak Plus- probably the best bat you can find for under $200. Not legal in ASA

Miken Recoil- they make 2 different models for the different associations can be found for under $200

Worth Mayhem- again a bunch of different models, good bat around $200

Combat Virus or Anti-virus- again 2 different models, good bat might find one for $150

Any easton with Synergy in the name is a good bat, but you wont find a new one for under $200

TPS makes garbage bats.

CLEATS- www.boombah.com The Resistance turf shoe is by far the most comfortable ball shoe i have ever worn. They also make great pants, but if you are only going to be playing beer league stuff you will be able to get a good enough pair of pants at a place like Dicks, or Sports Authority and save some $

[Chadd 916]

Merged new topic into existing master topic