Practice Fields and Indoor Practice

Sorry about that Ron. You asked for the time and I told you how to build a watch(and a watch factory.)

A couple of times last spring I had to switch my practice from the field to an elementary school asphalt parking lot when the snow didn't melt as fast as I had hoped. I hate to cancel practice!

We concentrate on hitting, bunting and pitching. I set up a batting tee station, a soft toss station(both hit RIF or Flexi-balls into chainlink fence) and a wiffle ball hitting station with a kid "pitching" to another kid.. If I have been able to find a source of 110V within reach, I set up a JUGS, Jr. pitching machine and have the kids work on bunting the softer balls. Of course, the kids warmup their arms playing catch followed by long toss. The pitchers warm up with the catchers. This is a good time to re-empasize proper mechanics, discuss what pitch to throw in what situation, etc. It helps that I have been able to collect a 5 gal. bucket worth of RIF/Flexi balls and a bucket of full-sized and golf ball-sized wiffle balls over the years.

One of the most useful purchases I have ever made is a set of waffle-backed heavy duty throwdown bases, homeplate and pitcher's rubber. If I can get my hands on a school gym, we can use the bases and wiffle balls to have a fun indoor scrimmage regardless of the weather or field conditions.