Most Endorsed Hitting Aids Do NOT Pay: Except for the Manufacturer and EndorserThe big player endorsed hitting aids can be quite misleading, over-hyped, and over-rated, even all the ones Derek Jeter endorses. That's right, I said ALL the ones Derek Jeter endorses. We currently have and get quite a few baseball hitting gadget submissions from readers just like you, wondering how effective a certain tool is, and one theme seems to repeat itself: MOST are all junk. I'm willing to bet Derek Jeter doesn't use any one of the hitting aids he endorses. He, along with other star Major Leaguers endorsing shoddy hitting tools, get paid in one lump sum, say $10,000 (just a guess), to grace the covers of this deceitful baseball marketing SCAM. And, of course, Mr. Jeter wouldn't get paid on a per-sale basis because he knows he wouldn't use them himself, so why stake his full reputation? To me, he's already done that by putting his name on junky hitting aids. The point is... Be very skeptical, and don't let huge player endorsed marketing ploys influence you into buying something damaging to you or your kid's swing...of the 90% of the hitting products out there, you'd be better off flushing your money down the toilet. Seriously. If you have a question about a specific hitting aid, OR want to see what 100's of others are saying, then you can fast forward and go straight to asking by Clicking This Link to post/see below. What can you expect with the following content? First, you'll read never-before-seen discussion on how crappy most of the swing gadgets out there are, what are the best, and where you can find them. Granted, they run higher in price, but I hope we've all learned the "get what we pay for" lesson, and if we use junk for refining our swings, then we'll get junkie results. Moreover, these highly effective training aids are what elite college programs and professionals the world over use, we're willing to stake our reputation on it. We assure you, the Derek Jeter endorsed tools CANNOT make these claims, or any hitting gadget made by the SKLZ company for that matter. SKLZ just wants to "hurry-up" a device to market meeting all the criteria of a fun day at the park for families, NOT something to help a swing. Listen, the most IMPORTANT rule of thumb we HAVE to use when evaluating hitting aids is, To spend your money on a hitting tool getting proven "real world" results. It's one thing for a Major Leaguer to say, "Buy This!" And it's totally another for an All-Star like (2008) Ben Zobrist of the Rays to say, this MP30 has allowed him to go from hitting 1 HR every 100 AB's, to 1 HR for every 17 AB's by helping to get a better Slot Position...this is measurable, while "Buy This!" is NOT. Or how a high school Junior went from hitting in the high .200's with only 1 home-run to his next year hitting in the .400's with 13 dingers using Chas Pippitt's The Drive Developer Power Hitting System. The crazy thing is this kid did it with zero upper body strength (couldn't even bench press over 200lbs), in addition to NON-explosive leg strength (ran a SUPER slow 7.6 second 60-yard dash)! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Jeter and what he represents as a player to baseball, but I'm very disappointed in what he has chosen to endorse. What are the TOP 6 swing aid categories?
Let's start with... Hitting Technique Gadgets These are the bread and butter baseball hitting aids and why in The Starting Lineup I have them hitting in the 3, 4, & 5 spots. Without proper technique, or swing execution, any hitting device like a Wheeler Dealer Spitter or Backyard Batter will do nothing for you. These are the most critical, and I highly recommend starting with one or all of these before getting anything following the Batting Tee below...
Batting Tees Basic hitting tees top Swing Smarter's list as the most simple, affordable, and efficient hitting aids out there. Tees are the building blocks for creating the right muscle memory, working out swing kinks, and are definitely used by all collegiate programs and professionals. They've been around forever, and you just can't beat them. We used the ATEC Tuffy Multi Batting Tee at Fresno State...they are indestructible, don't chip or split like most cheap black rubber tees out there...I think the ones we were using were a decade or so old! This particular one sets the ball out in front of a regulation plate, which is realistically where a hitter makes contact with the ball anyway...like we said, you can't beat it. Thirdly, Drop/Soft Toss Machines There are 3 types of machines I want to talk about that are out there:
Drop ball machines are contraptions where a ball is dropped from a 7 foot distance, teaching patience and swing tempo. The object is to let the ball get as close to the ground as possible before pulling the trigger. But BEWARE, you have to be careful with these, for example, the Joe Mauer QuickSwing hides the ball in a black dark tube, making it difficult to time a swing and practice proper swing tempo. I'm willing to bet Joe Mauer doesn't use this in his normal run of the mill training, he uses a tee. Then there's the Backyard Batter (Pictured above), which is our pick for the BEST drop/bounce toss machine on the market. It's great for both off speed training and shortening the swing with drop toss. Soft Toss machines are great, like their drop ball counterparts, because they eliminate the use of a partner. You really can't go wrong with a soft toss machine, as long as the ball toss is on a timer...the only drawback is they're typically higher in cost, but remember the "we get what we pay for" lesson and trust me, the investment is worth its weight in gold as long as you have swing technique under control (i.e. Drive Developer, MP30, & ProHammer).
The SwingSmarter.com pick for the BEST soft toss machine out there? The Wheeler Dealer Spitter (Pictured to the left). Pitching machines are excellent hitting aids for obvious reasons, however, like with everything else, there are the good, the bad, and one's making a well intentioned swing toss its cookies. If you're going to spend serious dough on a machine, the ones with lever arms are the way to go. They're on a timer, eliminating the use of someone having to feed it every pitch, and they virtually reflect a human pitching arm. How about manual fed machines, the ones with wheels? The only good thing about manual feed spinning wheel pitching machines is you can work on hitting curve-balls. Other than that, this is NOT a wise money making decision, and will ruin the timing of a good swing. Don't settle on this one because of convenience or economics, it does more damage than good. "But it helps build a hitter's timing," is often the argument. Yes, BUT how often is a player going to see a ball come out of two spinning wheels in a game? That's one reason why hitters have a hard time converting their BP (Batting Practice) swings into game ones. But what about curve-ball training with a two wheel machine? Even though they may be cheaper than their lever arm counterparts, access to curve-ball training will eventually chew up your cowhides real quick, costing more money, in which case you must use dimple balls, which are fine, but not smart to simulate a curve-ball because they have NO seams like a real baseball does. Great hitters, make up for poor mental planning at the plate by picking up the seams and plane change of the ball's trajectory to figure out what they're hitting. Listen, we're looking for functionality here...NOT convenience or afford-ability, invest in yourself. We buy the latest and greatest over-priced Ginormous big screen televisions costing well over $2,500, the brand new muscle car Cameros OR gas hog Suburbans...but they're fun aren't they?! :) Think about it this way, we can't be "frugal" when it comes to earning college scholarships or pro contracts, believe me, it all pays off in the end. Buck for buck, invest in a machine with an arm, preferably one including arms, legs, and...a brain ;) There are just some things you cannot simulate with a machine, and throwing curve-balls is one of them. We didn't include this in The Starting Lineup but absolutely love arm-action pitching machines like the IronMike brand, models MP-4 & 5. Be prepared to pay the same amount as your HD 3-D Wi-Fi Plasma screen television ($2,500-3,500 plus freight shipping). If you want more information about this, then we can set it up for you, so please Contact Us HERE Next, Golf Whiffle Ball Pitching Machines
The Sandlot Slugger is our pick with many many outstanding features like throwing breaking pitches, has a remote feeder add-on, and can throw up to 75mph with a Turbo add-on. The best part is the developer tests each and every machine before he sends them out! Next, here's our pick for, The Hurricane (Outdoor) & Zip (Indoor, pictured below) Hitting Nets by Athlonic Basically, I penciled these two hitting aids into The Starting Lineup because they offer either indoor or outdoor use, are super portable, and have 2-3 year guarantees on them. There are others out there that may work but you either get bad customer service and a good product or a good hitting net but not portable. For the price and what you get, these are the winner-winner-chicken-dinners. We can get paralyzed deciding on all the hitting nets out there, I just love Athlonic's customer service and quality, so I think this is the best way to go. CLICK to read more about The Hurricane and the Zip Nets HERE. And lastly, Stationary Baseball Hitting Tools
These are SUPER for indoors or out, and creates an awesome hitting station at practice. An example of this would be the SwingAway, which is hitting 8th in The Starting Lineup. It's definitely one of the most popular items because of it's versatility, ability to re-load in NO-time, and train swinging through contact. The SwingAway coupled with one or all of the three swing technique hitting aids mentioned above, an HD Flip Camera, and Sports Motion Swing Analysis Software and you're way ahead of the competition. And now for what you've all been waiting for...the Highly Endorsed & Sold Hitting Aids Series of Articles:
P.S. Wondering which baseball hitting aids are worth their weight in gold? Frustrated scowering the internet for over-hyped highly endorsed swing gadgets NOT doing a darn thing for your swing? Swing Smarter and FOWL Ball's The Starting Lineup store is just what the baseball world is looking for...it's where we can find the "9 best baseball hitting aids on the planet." It takes a lot for a hitting gadget to crack The Starting Lineup, because there are only 9 spots available. Unfortunately, they aren't cheap AND some require a hefty investment...however, everyone knows we get what we pay for. If we purchase cheap baseball hitting aids, then we'll get cheap results; and if we're a seeker of non-quality non-functional products, then we'd highly recommend NOT visiting The Best Starting 9 today. Junk in, means junk out. Also, if you're interested in earning a 5-10% commission by pushing The 9 BEST Baseball Hitting Aids on the Planet through email, website, or flyer, then you can learn more about The Starting Lineup Affiliate Program HERE IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want to see if the baseball hitting aid you have in mind has already been reviewed, and therefore you want to read our Swing Smarter analysis, then please feel free to use the search box below (just type in the hitting gadget and CLICK "Search," and it will then scan SwingSmarter.com for past submissions. Have Questions About a Certain Hitting Aid?
Have a query about a specific highly endorsed hitting aid, and want to know the truth behind the over-hyped marketing? Are you aware of a flying-under-the-radar hitting gadget which have improved your swing nobody knows about yet? Please enter your question or comment below... What Other Visitors Have SaidClick below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
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These machine hitting aids are great for working on off speed pitches and breaking balls with limited space. There's virtually NO fear of breaking windows, you can safely simulate high velocity pitching at close range.
