Pitching machine balls and bats

[GIMNEPIWO]

# 1 ... yeah, I figured as much ... since we're spread all over He*l and half of Georgia on here ... we all tend to respond based on our own regional experience ... and, in fact, the OP may have been from a warmer climate so my response was useless ... as far as dittos avatar, that is why I changed mine ... I noticed the Village People making eyes at the Shim ... so, I changed to Chief J Strongbow ... figuring if the Shim got out of line the Chief would go into a war dance and kick some butt ...

[softballtaxi]

cold weather climate here. so all machines are inside as well as the bat stays inside during the winter. Just wondering why the rubber balls could cause more damage than a hard softball. I would think the rubber ball would compress/absorb the impact alot more than the hard ball. I have seen the slow motion video of a golf ball compressed at impact and I just don't get how the rubber ball could damage (in some way) a bat???? Just not logical to me???? Unless it is an "out" for the manufacturers not to warranty a bat.

If you hit a spot over and over again could that cause the breakage? And not necessarily the rubber ball?

[3Bsnag]

GIMNEPIWO, dittoz, and softballtaxi are all right.

Batting cage balls are more dense. Cold balls dent bats. Extreme use warps/damages the bats. Not rotating your grip on the bat causes warping. So why would you use up your hits in a cage with a $300 bat?

I don't know if the warranty wording still holds true, but at least one of them used to say that if the manufacturer could tell the bat was used in a batting cage, the warranty was negated.

[CrushersDad]

I suggest to the girls that they don't use their comp bat during practice (unless it is being broken in). Why waste $300?

[Phantom]

I think the juggs "sting free" balls are fine to use with the composite bats, its those really hard balls some of the batting cage facilities use that I worry about and stay away from

[Tucson]

I think that the pitching machine balls are harder than a softball. Personally, I don't like to hit them and I certainly don't like to catch them.

But, I don't know that one is harder than the other, for certain.

No more than most of us (?) are using pitching machines, I would just use an old bat.

By the way, a new indoor hitting center just opened up near me. It is $22.50/ for 30 minutes of machine work. Or $65.00 to join and $55.00/month for 12 months. Parents that I have talked to say that is too high. Do any of you know what centers in your area are charging?

[MDSoftball]

By the way, a new indoor hitting center just opened up near me. It is $22.50/ for 30 minutes of machine work. Or $65.00 to join and $55.00/month for 12 months. Parents that I have talked to say that is too high. Do any of you know what centers in your area are charging?

The one we went to yesterday here in Maryland charged us $30 for an hour. It was cheaper due to us going at "off-peak" times. Off-peak times are anytime before 6:00 on a weekday. After 6:00 on a weekday and anytime on the weekends it is $45 for an hour.
I don't know and didn't inquire about a membership.

[3Bsnag]

Ours can vary greatly, this is 2 in North TX:

One is no membership fee, $15-$25 per hour for a cage depending on day of week, first come-first serve, no tokens needed.

Another is a $58 team fee (receives other discounts-lessons, pro shop, etc), $30 per hour for a reserved cage, not including tokens at $1 each, with 20 free tokens per week.

[DodgerBlue's]

in our cold a*s POLE BARN we warm the balls and bats first

[dittoz]

N/U... How's this?
Since this thread has taken on a few different vectors...

In our area, we have a facility that is all Juggs Machine cages. For $75/mo I get 30 mins/day 7 days a week. Often, 30 mins turns into 45, but on paper it's 30 mins. A regular 30-min session would run $30 I think it is, which means that if we go 3x a month, it more than pays for itself. We go 3-4x a week...

Hence the 11,000 hits on her comp bat in just over 5 months.