I change the angle of the tosser to simulate different pitches. These baseball batting drills really makes the hitter tuck his shoulder and hips and load his hands while focusing on the ball.
Soft Toss Batting Practice
I have the tossers kneel about five feet away from the hitter while keeping back three feet behind the hitter. In other words, for a right hand batter the tosser is at ‘5 o’clock’ tossing the ball. For a left hand batter, the tosser is 7 o’clock.
I tell the tossers to mix up his ‘pitches’ by tossing quick into the hands of the batters to simulate a fastball and sometimes a soft toss to simulate a curveball or changeup.
By having the tosser stay back at an angle, this forces the hitter to keep his front shoulder in. In addition, the mixing up of the ‘pitches’ makes the batter keep his hands back as well as develop a compact swing to hit the ‘fastballs’.
I also will have the tossers positioned at 6 o’clock. They will toss the ball up to a height that is above the hitter’s head and try to make it end up out in front of the plate.