wiffle-ball

[cardcrazy]

does anybody play ? If not u should try it sometime. insane pitches, and really helps when u see that stuff in-game

[Erik Bedard]

I have the single most wicked curve known to man. Throw a regular wiffle ball curve grip, but throw it straight sidearm. It should drop straight off the table.

[Seattle1]

Yep, I had wicked control of the wiffle curve ball when I was a kid.

[RedSoxVT92]

I play wiffle ball. I can throw a wicked riser, nice curves (I have 3 grips for curves), knuckleball, slider, screwball, circle change, and of course a fastball. I also invented a pitch awhile back, even though it doesnt really work.

I love playing wiffle ball as it is just fun when in baseball (it is fun to play) can have alot of pressure in it sometimes.

[bluezebra]

Played the game 35-40 years ago, when my sons were young.

Bob

[cardcrazy]

that is what i love about the game redsox, u can have a major-league quality arsenal of pitches.

One thing i noticed is that the generic curve grip (as shown on a wiffle-ball box), gets smoked. Anybody else notice this ? a nice curve is a ball thrown with a slider grip, very slowly.

[Williamsburg2599]

A lot of people complain that it messes up your swing, which is why when I play I use a real wood or metal bat and hard wiffleballs so they don't brake. They also now have a metal bat designed for wiffleball.

[Erik Bedard]

A few years ago, my brother and I would play out full playoff tournaments in wiffle ball. We've slowed down with that now, as we hit the ball too far, and the games are now more like 25-20, instead of 5-4. But recently we've started playing a lot more, and the scores have gone down quite a bit.

Yeah, the generic wiffle ball curve gets smoked, but only because it breaks so early. That can be fixed by throwing sidearm or submarine. The generic slider grip, when thrown sidearm, tends to break 3-4 feet when I start it in the middle of the plate. If my brother and I played a full 9-a-side game, then I would throw so many wild pitches, I would make Daniel Cabrera look like Greg Maddux. :laugh Another good pitch is the splitter. You throw it on the top of the ball (the side with holes, if you're using a generic wiffle ball), and put your index and middle finger on either side of the small plastic area on top. Note: You must throw this pitch overhand or submarine. If you throw it sidearm, it doesn't sink. I've hit the ball over 300 feet a couple times (off the generic curve grip and a straight change). Another thing I like is that you actually get to admire your shots, when you're just playing one-on-one, unlike in real baseball, where they tell you to run and look at your first base coach.

[Baseball Guru]

I play wiffle ball. I can throw a wicked riser, nice curves (I have 3 grips for curves), knuckleball, slider, screwball, circle change, and of course a fastball. I also invented a pitch awhile back, even though it doesnt really work.

I love playing wiffle ball as it is just fun when in baseball (it is fun to play) can have alot of pressure in it sometimes.


Same here! So many cool pitches you can do with a whiffle ball... Great game:)

[Gashouse6]

My slider is unhittable. It tails sooo much. I also try different arm releases to screw up the batter. The submarine works pretty well. I do agree that it messes up your swing though. I had a week off from real baseball and played a lot of wiffle ball. At our next practice, I couldn't hit a real baseball. The flaw was easy to fix, but I'm not going to play wiffleball again until the offseason.

[Erik Bedard]

Yeah, I agree with everything you're saying, gashouse. Submarine or straight sidearm is the best way to pitch. I only play wiffle ball in the offseason as well... then again, I don't play much summer league because I go away too much.

[TonyK]

Sidearm or submarine worked the best for me as a kid. I threw a great riser. We once bought a whiffle ball that had amazing movement. My riser would come in to the batter around his knees. As he swung, the ball was rising right out of the strike zone and up to his eyeballs. Even if he made contact all that would happen is he would foul it back.

But one day we split that whiffle ball in half and I've never found one quite like it. This reminds me to buy one so my son and I can play once his Babe Ruth season is over.

[sfgiants29]

I play wiffle ball. I can throw a wicked riser, nice curves (I have 3 grips for curves), knuckleball, slider, screwball, circle change, and of course a fastball. I also invented a pitch awhile back, even though it doesnt really work.

I love playing wiffle ball as it is just fun when in baseball (it is fun to play) can have alot of pressure in it sometimes.

I like to play Strikeout with wiffle balls and bat with some of the kids on my block. Can you help me out on how to throw all of those pitches?

[Erik Bedard]

OK. Do you have a generic wiffle ball? (the one that says "the original wiffle ball" on the box)

If you do, then I've already given you instructions on the splitter and the box has instructions for the curve. I don't really throw anything else, except a fastball, and I only throw that 0-2.

[Da Penguin]

Knucklecurve=stiiiirike 3

[sfgiants29]

OK. Do you have a generic wiffle ball? (the one that says "the original wiffle ball" on the box)

If you do, then I've already given you instructions on the splitter and the box has instructions for the curve. I don't really throw anything else, except a fastball, and I only throw that 0-2.

Yep, I have the original wiffle balls with the 8 slits on the top half of the ball. What are your other grips (and your 2 other curveball grips)?

[flea45]

knuckle balls always get smoked in wiffle ball.....in hr derbys i get guy to throw me knuckle balls coz they are the best to try and hit out

[JohnGelnarFan]

I remember throwing a knuckleball and pretending that I was Charlie Williams of the Texas Rangers. Why him and not Phil Niekro or Hoyt Wilhelm,I can't remember! Charlie was 4-2 with a 4.62 ERA in his only year in Texas. :)




knuckle balls always get smoked in wiffle ball.....in hr derbys i get guy to throw me knuckle balls coz they are the best to try and hit out

[Williamsburg2599]

Anybody use a chair as a strikezone?

[Da Penguin]

Anybody use a chair as a strikezone?


I nailed a door mat up to my fence

[StanTheMan]

I love the standard Curve ball on the box.... just know how much yours breaks, and don't let it hang over the middle of the plate. Have it break off the outside corner, or throw it behind the batter and have it break to the inside black of the plate. If you throw it straight over the top, hard, and kind of "down" at the batter, it does one thing, and if you throw it slower, and from a more tradition arm angle, it breaks differently.

But my best pitch is the knuckleball. If you can throw a regular knuckleball with a baseball (I can, it does not move much, but I can throw it with no rotation at all) then you can throw a knuckler with a wiffle ball.

Hold the ball on the solid part so that when you release the ball the holes (all of them) are facing directly at the batter. If you throw it right, with no rotation, the holes are facing the batter the whole time the pitch is in flight.

About halfway to the plate, probably as the pitch loses velocity, the air gets into those holes and due to the pitch slowing, the air takes over. The ball goes absolutely anywhere. I've had people swing, and ball hits them on the front foot, or up by the face. I've also had them swing and the ball goes so far outside they could not have hit it with a boat oar. Other times it just goes straight down.

The key is to not throw it too hard. If you are pitching into a slight breeze, look out... it goes crazy. It is tough to pitch with no rotation at all, but when you do, it pays off. Batters swinging like a saloon door on payday. :laugh You must get the holes facing the batter, and throw it with no rotation.... use your fingertips to "push" the ball out of your hand. It helps to have big hands. If you do get rotation on the ball, it will go absolutely straight, and get crushed.

I also like the sidearm sinker. Hold it like the slider grip on the box, but the release is sidearm. The holes are down, and the solid part of the ball is on top.... Think of the earth. The holes are below the equator, the solid part above the equator. Release it so that the rotation of the ball keeps the holes on the bottom and the solid part of the ball on top. This is a sideways rotation with the holes on the bottom. It sinks late, and quickly, depending on the speed of the pitch. You can also throw the same pitch, but get rotation going forward..... meaning that instead of the sideways rotation mentioned above, you turn your wrist over and get "forward" rotation... meaning that the pitch spins toward the batter. Holes, solid part, holes, solid part, just like a curve ball rotation... think 12 to 6 rotation if there was a clock on the ball. This pitch sinks, and may go away from a RH batter if you throw it with 11 to 5 rotation, or 10 to 4 rotation.

Wiffle ball is a great game. My parents backyard had perfect home run fences, with a deep right center field fence which we called "the Polo Grounds." Only one guy ever hit it out there.

Did anyone else play with a catcher, and if you swung and missed, and the catcher caught the ball, you were out?

If there were men on base, and the catcher caught a foul tip it was a Double Play?

Great memories..... I still play with my kids in my parents backyard.

[JohnGelnarFan]

You should be a pitching coach Stan! We could use one in Washington! :laugh





I love the standard Curve ball on the box.... just know how much yours breaks, and don't let it hang over the middle of the plate. Have it break off the outside corner, or throw it behind the batter and have it break to the inside black of the plate. If you throw it straight over the top, hard, and kind of "down" at the batter, it does one thing, and if you throw it slower, and from a more tradition arm angle, it breaks differently.

But my best pitch is the knuckleball. If you can throw a regular knuckleball with a baseball (I can, it does not move much, but I can throw it with no rotation at all) then you can throw a knuckler with a wiffle ball.

Hold the ball on the solid part so that when you release the ball the holes (all of them) are facing directly at the batter. If you throw it right, with no rotation, the holes are facing the batter the whole time the pitch is in flight.

About halfway to the plate, probably as the pitch loses velocity, the air gets into those holes and due to the pitch slowing, the air takes over. The ball goes absolutely anywhere. I've had people swing, and ball hits them on the front foot, or up by the face. I've also had them swing and the ball goes so far outside they could not have hit it with a boat oar. Other times it just goes straight down.

The key is to not throw it too hard. If you are pitching into a slight breeze, look out... it goes crazy. It is tough to pitch with no rotation at all, but when you do, it pays off. Batters swinging like a saloon door on payday. :laugh You must get the holes facing the batter, and throw it with no rotation.... use your fingertips to "push" the ball out of your hand. It helps to have big hands. If you do get rotation on the ball, it will go absolutely straight, and get crushed.

I also like the sidearm sinker. Hold it like the slider grip on the box, but the release is sidearm. The holes are down, and the solid part of the ball is on top.... Think of the earth. The holes are below the equator, the solid part above the equator. Release it so that the rotation of the ball keeps the holes on the bottom and the solid part of the ball on top. This is a sideways rotation with the holes on the bottom. It sinks late, and quickly, depending on the speed of the pitch. You can also throw the same pitch, but get rotation going forward..... meaning that instead of the sideways rotation mentioned above, you turn your wrist over and get "forward" rotation... meaning that the pitch spins toward the batter. Holes, solid part, holes, solid part, just like a curve ball rotation... think 12 to 6 rotation if there was a clock on the ball. This pitch sinks, and may go away from a RH batter if you throw it with 11 to 5 rotation, or 10 to 4 rotation.

Wiffle ball is a great game. My parents backyard had perfect home run fences, with a deep right center field fence which we called "the Polo Grounds." Only one guy ever hit it out there.

Did anyone else play with a catcher, and if you swung and missed, and the catcher caught the ball, you were out?

If there were men on base, and the catcher caught a foul tip it was a Double Play?

Great memories..... I still play with my kids in my parents backyard.

[DTF955]

It's a great game, but the ball is really weird copared to a normal baseball. i once beaned...get this...the *on-deck hitter* with one!

I didn't call myself "Oops" for nothing :-)

[Astro]

Played it yesterday, but wasnt exactly wiffle ball, used hollow plastic balls covered in duct tape (to weigh them down).... only thing I could throw for a strike was a slider, that would start out going at them or behind them then break across the plate...

I ended up hitting a walk off homerun in the bottom of the 7th (we were playing to 6, went to extras) ;)

[TonyK]

The nice thing about a whiffle ball is it does different things if you throw it overhand or sidearm while using the same grip. As Stan mentioned, if you throw it slowly while placing your fingers at certain spots, the ball has a mind of it's own.

To throw a riser, my two fingers and thumb were above the holes, and the holes were facing the ground. I threw it sidearm and tried to keep the holes on the bottom as it left my hand. You could hear it whistle as it came to the plate in a rising flight. My curve would often hit the RH batter (I'm a LHP) after he swung and missed. Now I have to go out and buy one!

[-Kyle-]

Anybody use a chair as a strikezone?
Same here. My mom was on the college softball team and throws unhittable pitches underhand.

[bhss89]

Check out majorleaguewiffleball.com (http://www.majorleaguewiffleball.com) and fastplastic.net (http://www.fastplastic.net)

[ESPNFan]

If people want to really experience a quantum leap in wiffle ball order a dozen of these....

http://junkball.com/baseball.htm

http://junkball.com/images/pitches.jpg

The amount of pitches you can throw is amazing and the difference the opening and closing of the holes on the ball makes is a revelation. The textured and smooth sides of the ball also let you throw numerous other pitches. By closing the holes and throwing a fastball with the ridged side of the ball facing the batter you get a nasty cutter. Open the holes and throw a fastball with a circle change grip and you might as well be throwing a dead flounder. You can even throw a splitter. And by only closing the holes half way you can futher vary the speed.

It litterally is the greatest thing that ever happened to whiffleball.

[W_Marone]

I was actually playing junk ball on WED. It's fun with the holes and different positions, we sell it at work too. Its pretty sweet. And the bat and ball together are like seven bucks.

[flash143817]

Wiffle ball is undoubtedly the greatest thing ever invented for summer days. I could probably play every day given the opportunity.