Most Endorsed Hitting Aids Do NOT Pay: Except for the Manufacturer and Endorser

The big player endorsed hitting aids can be quite misleading, over-hyped, and over-rated, even all the ones Derek Jeter endorses. And in researching the myriad of swing aids out there, surprisingly about four were endorsed by Mr. Jeter alone.

Case in point, I'm willing to bet Derek Jeter doesn't use any one of the hitting aids he endorses. What does he use?

Be 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 want to ask SwingSmarter.com about a specific hitting aid, OR want to see what 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're gonna cost ya, but I hope we all know, we get what we pay for, and if we use junk for refining our swings, then we'll get junk results.

In other words,

You'll find more content of the brilliant few (5%) and the overpriced majority (95%) links at the conclusion of this article, while also discovering where you can find The BEST Starting 9. Today's content is about the most time and money savers out there leading us to victory in the batter's box!

In addition, these highly effective training aids are what elite college programs and professionals the world over use guaranteed. We assure you, Derek Jeter's endorsed tools can't make those claims.

What are the TOP 4 swing aid categories?

1. Balls,
2. Tees,
3. Machines, and
4. Essential hitting accessories.

Let's start with the best ball tools in the business...

Balls
They come in all shapes and sizes, and other than the real thing, these are head & shoulders above the rest when it comes to measurable swing training results:

• Baseball sized whiffles - great tool for off speed hit training and staying back on the ball (patience).
• Golf ball sized whiffles - same advantages as above, in addition to excellent hand-eye coordination training.
• Tennis/Incrediballs - use in bounce ball hitting drills, which help to keep the hands and weight back, and are great for youth training.
• Dimples - awesome durability for use in wet rainy climates.
• Basketball/4 Square - put these on a tee and they aid in swinging through the baseball.

Secondly,

Hitting 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, 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 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 be it.

Third,

Machines
There are 3 types of machines I want to talk about that are out there:

1. Drop Ball,
2. Soft Toss, and
3. Pitching (particularly arm action, NOT wheel).

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, 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.

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, we get what we pay for and rest assured the investment is worth its weight in gold.

The SwingSmarter.com pick for the BEST soft toss machine out there? The Wheeler Dealer Spitter. It does everything we just talked about plus some!

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.

Listen, we're looking for functionality here...NOT convenience or affordability, 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 Suberbands...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.

Our picks for the BEST pitching machines on the planet are both made by MasterPitch:

• IronMike Model MP5 Starter Arm Baseball Pitching Machine - $2,495 plus shipping,
AND
• IronMike Model MP4 Cadillac Arm Baseball Pitching Machine 600 Ball Capacity - $3,445 plus shipping

Essential Hitting Accessories
The best hitting aids, particularly accessories, are:

• Wood Bats,
• Franklin/Rawlings/Neumann Batting Gloves,
• Batting Weight/Weighted Bat, and
• Full Length Mirror/Use Of An Outside Picture Window

Wood bats are amazing youth training tools to focus hitting the ball with only 2 inches of sweet spot...aluminum bats have about 6-8 inches of sweet spot nowadays, and if the player can consistently hit the baseball in a two inch length, after moving to aluminum, they'll hit the ball harder and more often.

Great batting gloves, or BG's, are hard to find. I had the best luck with Franklin, Rawlings, and my personal favorite Neumann Batting Gloves. Neumann's have a tacky grip where you really don't need pine tar, they're made of great quality materials, and most importantly, they'll take thousands of sweat equity swings without getting slippery or splitting like Easton and Louisville notoriously do. Also, they're priced way better than those BIGbrands!

Great hitting aids and accessories wouldn't be complete without batting weights. They're great for:

• Warming up,
• Building strength in the body, and
• Muscle memory in the central nervous system.

It doesn't matter if you're using donuts or weighted bats, you really can't go wrong unless the weight is too heavy. The player should be able to control the weight and NOT the other way around.

And, last but certainly not least, let's talk about full length mirrors and/or picture windows. Using these tools give hitters unique feedback when a coach isn't available.

But BEWARE!!

In order for this tool to be effective, couple it with close-your-eyes slow dry swings...a fantastic hitting aids duo for building essential muscle memory.

And now for what you've all been waiting for...the Highly Endorsed & Sold Hitting Aids Series of Articles:

• Baseball Hitting Aids Golden Key to Swing Efficiency
• Three Baseball Hitting Training Aids To Steer Clear Of
• Revealing: Baseball Hitting Device Grade A Gems
• Tired Of Hitting Tees Misinformation?
• Why Most Baseball Training Aids Do NOT Work
• Common Baseball Hitting Tools NOT Making The Bat Speed Cut
• Wheel Pitching Machines Are Particularly NASTY For Your Swing's Health

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.

Have Questions About a Certain Hitting Aid?

If you have a question about a certain highly endorsed hitting aid (it doesn't even have to be endorsed), and want to see if it makes the Swing Smarter cut, then please ask away :)

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

Return from BEST Hitting Tools back to the Homepage