Batting cages good or bad?

It is no more or less than any other tool. It can be used to your advantage, or to your detriment. Develop a routine that works for your hitter independent of any program that is put together by your son's HS coach. He needs a routine that is his, that works for him. Part of that routine may or may not be a machine in a cage.

While I prefer live BP or Pro Batter, the cages with a pitching machine can have value. What's important is to get the hitter out of the cage when he's timing the swing rather than hitting the ball. My son moves around in the box so the pitches come at different heights and locations. Player's swing mechanics shouldn't be so fragile a day in the cage screws them up.

I think batting cages are good if you use it for the right thing. Timing is hard to accomplish in a batting cage, so do away with that if using them. Go with some drill work when using them. Meaning: Have a no stride/no timing approach. Use it as a two strike approach if you will. Anytime you can swing the bat is better than not doing it at all. Have the youngsters try to hit the ball on the barrel as many times as possible without timing coming into play. Iron mike machines can use some timing mechanism, but juggs like machines are hard to time out. Therefore, use it to your advantage and be positive about it if you choose to go to a public batting cage.

Suggest that he not swing at every pitch. Players will sometimes go all intense in a cage and just start reacting to the approaching ball --- which certainly doesn't do anything for their timing and which can reinforce (or create) bad habits in a reactive move. If he's disciplined to let a few go by he can concentrate on what he's there to accomplish.

Where swinging a bat and hitting correctly is all about timing, pitching machines just cannot replicate a pitchers motions. The only good I have ever seen from pitching machine use is when you turn the speed way down and just concentrate on repeating swing mechanics and hitting it on the sweet spot on the bat. I have seen too many times when our team warmed up in the batting cages before games and they come out and swing like **** in the games- screws up their timing.

Another thing I see I don't like is kids working the majority of their time in the cage hitting balls at regular speed. Those kids almost always can hit the **** out of balls in the cage and hit like **** in games. On the other side of it, kids who do live pitching practice have a much greater hitting percentage in games and don't get fooled as bad at off-speed pitches.

One of the best drills I have used on my team and with son is to get a bucket of whiffel balls and stand about 20 feet away and working very quickly throw balls at the batter as fast as you can. This does several things. It forces them to find rythm in their pre-swing wind-up. It also forces them to quickly decide on hand eye togetherness and make rapid decisions. It also makes them improve their bat speed. It is interesting after doing this drill, to slow things down to a more regular speed and watch the kids cream everything and have perfect timing doint it. Kids say in games that fastballs look big and are easy to adjust to and hit.

Try it, it works.

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Orlando...


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i have them take 3 or 4 cuts, get out let another kid take 3 or 4, etc. your only going to see so many in an ab. doesn't let them get timing. i'd rather see an arm machine than a jugs type.

same with a throwing a bull pen throw 10 or 12 let the next guy in. innings worth at a time. a good inning.

then again ........what do i know.

i loved front toss and tee work in the cage (hated machines) to work on mechanics and "holes" in my swing. but nothing ever will compare to game at bats and there always seemed to be an adjustment with timing so i always took the first pitch of a game after hitting in the cage for awhile

I seemd to have had a positive experience with pitching machines unlike some posts provided above. Now this is going back a few years ago when I was still coaching my sons team. I found that the kids improved hands/bat-to-the-ball in the cage just before a game. I always tried to tell the kid at bat to relax, when my hand went up move to ready position with the bat, then not focus on the machine, but try to pick up the ball with his eyes about 10 feet in front of the plate. Towards the end of the season we were really killing the ball.

We got into a routine at the end of the season during league tournament time to meet at the cage and everyone went through this drill just before time to go to the field to warm up. Now this team was middle of the pack and faced the number one team during the second bracket game. Long story short; we knocked the top team into the loosing bracket and were on a roll. I believe we scared some of the other top team's coaches because the cages were not available to any teams the next game we had. The night before they were available for teams to warm up in?

Anyway, I believe there are ways to benefit from their use.

 

How can you take the batting cage to the field?

 

Bob

it has to be heavy trying to run the bases with a batting cage!

Invest in a collapsable one.  Much lighter and don't have to worry about pulling poles out of the ground LOL

We have an Iron Mike that we use all off season and we have a JUGGS machine that we use for Curve Balls on a daily basis.  We are, yearly, a top team in our area and I don't have players complain about their "timing".  Rain Delay, with the utmost respect, have you ever thought it was your kids problem as opposed to the machine's or as your have pointed out, the coach?  Why do you have to pay to get your son's timing fixed?

Batting cages are always good. One can practice the batting for different pitch and swing of the ball delivered by pitching machine. Find the most important advice for practicing in the cage here - Tips for baseball batting inside a cage

Moses;

Torii Hunter told me a story. When he joined the Twins, Paul Molitor told Torii to take a batting helmet and look thru the ear holes to the pitcher. This is "fine" focus, like a lazer beam to the pitcher to zero in to the arm action.

 

When I study a pitcher from the sidelines I look thru the wire fence squares.

Look for the pitcher "tipping off" his pitches.

Bob

 

 

Son's high school coach was a collegiate and minor league pitcher. Throws a good live bp and throws well in the cage. So, my son liked warming up before a game with him throwing bp. Home games warmed up in the cage, and for away games they would take live bp on the field before getting on the bus.

 

His Legion coaches were horrible. The head coach had a quick, jerky motion and threw hard and all over the place. The assistant threw soft, and all over the place. Son couldn't hit very well off of either and felt that warming up before a game with either would mess with his timing and swing. So, he either would warm up with some soft toss, a tee, or in most cases - nothing. Show up in the on deck circle, get loose, and take his at bat.

 

As for batting practice, I like regular live bp on the field. Cage is o.k. if you have no other option, or the weather is bad, or it's at night and you don't have access to a lighted field. In my opinion, seeing where the ball actually went is a huge plus. Many times that ball you thought was a cagebomb isn't anything other than a fly ball. And if you keep trying to reproduce that swing over and over, because you think you mashed it, then you might hit routine fly balls on the field.

 

Nearly everyone would rather hit BP off a live pitcher.

When a BP pitcher is not available, the next best thing is a pitching machine.

Most would also prefer hitting on the field rather than a cage.

When a full field is not available, the next best hing is the cage.

 

Cages are most important during the off season. And it's great if you have a BP thrower.  Even better if you have equipment that gives you feedback... Tracking, exit velocity, etc.

It's taken many years for him to reach this level of wisdom and maturity, but my 2017 has come to treat every pitch I throw in the cage as if he's got a horrible ump behind the plate, two strikes on him, and he's facing a pitcher who throws nothing but poo. 

 

 

where else can you get 100 quality swings in 30 minute or so? a batting cage and T are God's gifts to a young hitter!!

 

50 off the T and 50 on front soft toss everyday are close to priceless in my opinion.

 

Stop posting things I agree with. You are freaking me out.