Best Hitting Training Aides

A pitcher.

I have had experience with many of those hitting aides and I find that most of them are geared towards fixing a unique problem, but once you take a thousand swings off them then they can get you into some bad habits because you will over-do what you were doing when you were trying to fix your original problem. So they have a lot of worth for about two weeks and then they become useless. Their are exceptions though, like the mauer quick swing for example or the solohitter.
Keep it simple. I'm with CAdad for the most part.

the view is always the same unless you're the lead dog

I too believe that a pitcher is the best hitting aide. I appreciate your guys feedback. We are opening an indoor facility and I was just looking for a couple of things to include.

Steve Trombly
TROMBLY BASEBALL
www.tromblybaseball.com
steve@tromblybaseball.com

I have found if your swing is consistent and sound one of the best aids is the wheeler dealer soft toss machine holds 28 real baseballs.
You can set ball pop time from 1-8 seconds and hieght of ball pop. If you decide to purchase one buy the battery operated one very portable, holds charge for about 12-14 hours. Recharges in about 2 hours and has very good quailty throughout.Of course nothing replaces a live pitcher but this unit will let player take 100-150 swings in avery short time perfect for one arm drills and quick hand drills. Also lets player to set up for several consistent swings to work problem areas...low outside pitch etc.
If you have a player willing to do his work alone tihs is a must have.

I agree with jimwis, In the absence of a pitcher, the wheeler dealer is the best aid I have found. It will allow the hitter to get in a lot of swings in a short period of time. If there is an instructor present, the wheeler dealer allows him to spend his time watching mechanics instead of tossing the ball.

RHSfan

Practice does not make perfect; practice makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect.

I think if you asked Tony Gynn or Edgar Martinez, they would say a plain old "Tee" does the job just fine. I've found that when my kid gets lots of hacks on the "T" his contact, timing and power all improve. Boring for sure....but it will produce results providing you're working on good mechanics.