When I was younger I was fortunate enough to play for my dad with a lot of my best friends. We went something like 36 or 46 and 4 over that span. He still swears by the batting tee. We did a lot of tee work.

There were a couple of pitchers that could bring the heat in our District when I was in High School. Donnie Pane from Ashland was one of them ( I think he threw around 90 and I think he got a full ride to Uof Ill.). It rained quite a bit so we were stuck indoors. Our coach put a whiffle ball machine just as you stepped into our Social Studies room. It was throwing whiffle balls around 40/50 miles an hour but we were so close that it was like trying to hit pitches in the mid 90's. I'm not saying I would do this all the time but the concept could be used if you are facing a REALLY fast pitcher. I'm not sure where he got the machine.

In reguard to helping players hit a curveball, I had some success with this:

 

During BP, tell the batter you are going to throw him 10 pitches, alternating fastball and curveball, he knows its coming, have him keep his hands back, it's usually the change of speed that fools the hitter, as much or more than the flight of the ball. You have to stay back, to hit the breaking pitch.

A neat one I ran into at the Ohio State camp years ago was soft tossing basketballs to the batter. (It was indoors against the net at the Woody Hayes Center so you didnt have to chase all over:cool: )

I presume batters should build up pretty good wrist strength/snap with this. You can do regular wrist curls but incorporating it into the actual swing in coordination with the rest of the mechanics probably gives an added benefit.

P.S. I'm not sure if you may want to use an old bat with this drill.

 

As some have mentioned; the small golf ball size wiffles force even more focus and give a better idea of how off the swing is.

 

Cheers, Woody Jr

 

P.S. I like marshmellows too because you can get real close and hit the target areas you want to work on real consistently. The caveat is ... make sure there are no dogs around or they will drive you nuts