corks

[Three A's baseball]

a buddy of mine who's son get drafted by the Orioles this year talked to me about one of his hitting drills growing up.

They owned a restaurant and the father saved the corks from wine and would pitch the corks to his son. He said he could throw sliders, curves risers, etc and it was another fun way to practice.

Any thoughts?

[StraightGrain11]

My dad used to do this with me with (plastic) bottle caps. I think the idea behind it is that you have to track it longer (and more precisely, as they are smaller) because they move more like knuckle balls - they don't always travel in a "straight" path, as the surface is not uniform (like a ball). But corks could be thrown end over end (like a tennis ball can), this would explain the curveball and slider movements.

[Go Cardinals]

I got this idea from the hit-man on the golf channel (I was bored, there was nothing on tv!)... I get airsoft pelets (size of bb's, but bounce more and are plastic), and I bounce them on the pavement, then take a real swing. Thats what I made up (kind of) for size, but for movement I figured out the coolest thing for hitting offspeed/ movement/ junk/ whatever....
Take a hat that you don't mind getting beaten up, throw it like a frisbee hard enough that it gets to the hitter, but soft enough that it rapidlly moves. If this is done right, its practically impossible to hit.

Thoose are just me messing around.....