Money saving tips for baseball gear and practises

[MarkB]

I know a few of you probably have them, so let us know what they are.

I'm a pitcher and the only piece of baseball equipment or accessories that I own is a plain old baseball. With the winter months passing, I figured one of the things that I could do with keeping up with that I hadn't been doing when I wasn't playing was my defense and fielding.

I have a reasonably long bedroom, probably around 10-15 feet long, and whenever I felt the need to pitch or just loosen the old arm up and the weather didn't suit (it never really does here in Scotland), I would set up my pillows and mattress against the wall in my room and throw from my doorway across the room onto the pillows etc. This meant that I could throw almost as normal (a pitch that gets away from me means a hole in the wall, so I don't go "all out" ) and not damage anything.

So, here's my tip.

If you want to practise your fielding in your house, grab an old baseball cap that you don't wear any more and a clean tennis ball. Stand where there is a space for you to move around a little (My room is full of crap so I don't have much room to move, but there is just about enough). Cup the cap around your left hand as you would do with a glove, holding the cap's front center (where the main logo would be) in the palm of your hand and with a little of the bill of the cap resting on the ball of your hand. Place the tennis ball inside it and you should be able to hold the ball between your thumb and middle and ring finger. In this, the cap is your glove and the ball is, well, the ball.

Now, just remove the ball with your right hand (reverse for left handers) and toss it off the wall. Field it as necessary. Experiment with different spins and strengths to get different results on the bounce and direction of the return from the wall. Depending on where you stand and how much space you have, you can practice hard line drives, slow rollers, high bouncers and low grounders.

If you have sturdy walls, you could use a normal baseball, but if you don't, a tennis ball should be safe enough. I also have no carpet or flooring in my bedroom, so I get solid bounces. Your results will probably vary if you have a soft carpet or something.

So, what do you guys have?

[Dutch]

We have indoor practise with our team here in Holland. Not all winter, but starting in January. Season starts in April and ends in late September.

But during the time when there is no competition or indoor practise I usely toss some balls againt the wall.

[mooseknucks]

For fielding, I just bent down, throw a tennis ball against a wall with my right, catch with my left, throw with my left, catch with my right and so on. For pitching, I cut a tennis ball open, pour some screws in there and lead and other heavy things, take it up with duct tape and toss it around with who ever is willing. Than I pick up a ball and noticed a considerable difference in motion and velocity.

[NYM]

Ahh acrew the cold weather it could be 20 degrees out but I go outside and throw a tennis ball against the wall. Sure its great practice but I do it for fun. Im always throwing a ball. Wheyher it be playing a real game or just watching T.V. throwing the ball at the celing. Sure its great practice just throwing and catching but I do it cause its fun.

If im really practicing ill stand two feet from a wall. Then ill bonce the ball to my left and right while crouching. Ill side step to work on my agility feielding. I also use the hit-a-way to fine tune my swing.

And before games I always inject steroids to my bat and eat cork :lol:

[Bama]

And before games I always inject steroids to my bat and eat cork

Great advice for anyone.

[nittanylionfan3]

I have my basketball backboard, so I only throw tennis balls. Unfortuanly it only goes down to 7-5, but I still throw almost every day.

[fundusglobus]

I hit on my SoloHitter.

The SoloHitter, for anyone that doesnt know, is basically a tee but you dont hit into a net because the ball is attatched to a string which is attatched to metal poles.

The tee is your friend if you dont have 300 to drop. Just hit into a fence. Thats what I did.

As for fielding I am a catcher so I take my little bros in the backyard and have them throw as hard as they can frome 30 feet. Its great practice.