SKLZ Zip-N-Hit Baseball Batting Trainer, Black

First, this does not replace live pitching and hand toss skills! I have coached 4 seasons of farm little league and have had great results with this. I use this for specific skills improvement and it allows me to focus on just the player and their technique. What I do: 1. Have the batter in the batting stance and have them watch the ball without hitting it. I have the batter watch me send the ball down the line at different speeds. This allows me to focus on just watching their stance and where their eye are looking, head placement and if their head also tracks the ball. 2. Next, I have the batter focus on trying to swing the bat and stop the bat on the line just as the ball gets to them. This provides them instant eye hand results. This shows if they swing early or late. 3. We work on adjusting the swing to meet the ball. I raise and lower my end of the line and the batter has to barely hit the top side of the line. I do this without sending the ball down the line! If they routinely go under then their swing needs to be adjusted. 4. We put it all together. I have the batter swing at different levels and different speeds. Don't forget to have them "squish the bug" with their back foot. This process routinely gets beginning kids that never hit at the plate to hitting 50-75%. As for the trainer, I spent $20.00 on Amazon and it has held up for over 3 years on the original line. Again, I use this for a beginner to get skills down or when a player starts having timing issues. I do not use this for routine pratice. It packs up small and is about the size of a baseball glove when in it's bag so it fits in a bat bag.

For the price, it's an awesome training kit. It doesn't take much time to set this up if you have a fence or tree to hook it up to. What surprised me is how much space you need, total length is probably just short of Little League Mound to Homeplate distance. It also takes a few minutes of practice to get the action just right. The padding on the handles probably fell off after a couple of hard hits but they really don't provide much protection against a well struck ball nor do they have anything to do with the operation of trainer. Storage is about as simple as possible, you just roll back up and put it in a drawer! As a bonus you do get an extra strap/rope for when the original finally gives way and it probably will... I like because the kids have to time their swing and keep an eye on the moving ball. I was going to get a "batting cage" type but this is imho, way better for more of a real live pitching experience rather than swinging at a stationary ball. Will buy this again without hesitation!

A few things regarding the Zip-N-Hit- 1) Works best when the hitter swings level. After practice, you can see the swing mistakes the way the cords vibrate or the way the ball comes off the bat. Great for hitting instruction and feedback. 2) The device also works on timing. Fast or slow pitches are easy to make and it is hard for the batter to determine what speed is coming before the ball starts moving. 3) Balls hit on the nose and level come back to the handles at full force. It can hurt your hands if your not paying attention. Spreading the handles out at the last moment to slow the ball works. 4) It IS fairly plasticky and seems somewhat fragile. I have had the oval caps near the handles constantly fall back down the nylon cords, which is annoying. I am sure a bit of silicone adhesive would correct that and so far the device has taken a lot of swings and is still intact. 5) I greased up the cords with ski wax, and the ball slides so much smoother and better. I haven't seen hardly any fraying on the cords since this was done. If you get a Zip-N-Hit, wax the cords and I believe it will last longer and work even better. and lastly, The 9 year olds on our Little League team love this thing. Everytime I pull it out during practice it is always a fight to get in line to hit balls with the Zip-N-Hit. For about $20.00, it is a great buy.

After reading the reviews I was hesitant, some good some bad. Since there was more good I decided to purchase. I have a 5 year old daughter who is playing coach's pitch for the first time after 2 years of t-ball. I thought that the ball that this came with was going to be some plastic flimsy ball but it is pretty solid and durable. I opened it up and tried it and she was hitting it right away. I bought it more for her to learn her eye and hand coordination and to get an idea where that ball needs to be when it's thrown from the pitcher. The rope seems strong as well. I can see if you're using it over and over with older kids that it may possibly get worn out. For me, I don't see that happening because I'm not moving that ball down the line at top speeds. This is excellent for beginners and I will use it as she gets older to adjust to softball. Great price!

The SKLZ Zip-N-Hit could be great tool to teach young ballplayers how develop a good swing. The fact that they dont need to adust to varying pitch locations allows them to focus on the path of the ball and making contact in the heart of their swing as well as develop repition in their swing to encourage peoper mechanics. I also like the fact that you can change speeds so they really have to watch the ball instead of just loading up and putting the bat out there like some do with pitchiing machines. The reason I gave it three stars is due to the quality. After the first time we used it (10,8, and 6 year olds swinging at it) one of the black pieces that is attached to the ball to let the string glide through it came off. It looks like it was glued on. While this is not affect its performace, it was disheartening to see it start to come apart after the first use! The second time we used it, the small bumpers on the hand grips that stop the ball when it is driven down the line came off. It also looked like it was glued on. The other bumper came off of the handle as well. Again, this does not affect the performace of it. I just have to (after almost every hit) readjust those bumpers back into place before we launch the next ball. It is a hassle. I rated it three stars because although it did have some asthetic problems with the pieces coming off, it is a neat concept for a hitting tool.

This is a great item to help with baseball training.

I had one of these when I was younger and guess I just forgot about how poorly they perform. After five or six sends of the ball, you’ll notice the plastic grommet inside of the ball is being eaten up by the ropes. This causes a lot of friction, preventing the ball from making it further than half way down the line. I tried replacing it with a metal insert I found at the hardware store, but no dice. Still too much friction. Only way I got it to work was tying both ends to something solid and sliding the ball by hand, which I feel defeats the purpose. Not worth the price. Get you a ball, drill a hole in it, and put it on a small tight rope. You’ll get the same effect.

Great product to buy. First one I had was somewhat trial and error. It’s really just to make contact not kill the ball. So the plastic piece did end up breaking on the inside. But the company that I purchased this through sent out a replacement one for us. I will continue to use this company for any and all products that pertain to sports development for my kids with that service and quality. Earned a life time customer.

Hat leider nur ein Training durchgehalten. Ball kommt nur mehr sehr langsam zu Batter, wenn er überhaupt so weit gleitet. Abhilfe mit Schmiermitteln haben auch nur begrenzte Wirkung. Im Training nachschmieren ist für mich nicht akzeptabel. Ball ist auch bereits defekt. Falls es funktioniert, macht es Spaß und ist auch lehrreich. Gute Idee, aber…

My grandson just started to play baseball. They use a pitching gizmo together with a T for hitting. It's rather difficult for the boys to develop their timing as it is impossible to pitch to a seven year old without lobbing the ball. The Zip and Hit has helped with the timing and it's fun. It's well made and easy to use and set up almost anywhere.

空振り三振が多い。 打つと、叩きつけるか、フライになる。 当たれば外野オーバーのランニングホームラン。 こんな、そもそも下手な人におすすめです。 夕方に20回程度打たせて10日程で、安定して手元にボールが戻って来るようになりました。 その後の練習試合や大会では、強いゴロや、外野へのライナーを打てるようになり、チームの得点に貢献できるバッティングができるようになってました！ 強いゴロやライナーを打てて、更には、打ち分けができる、元来、上手な人には向いていないと思いますが、なかなか打てない人が、ボールを打つ感覚を身につけるのには、それなりに使える製品だと感じます。 バッティングセンターで、3000円使うよりも、上達するんじゃないかと思います。

Excelente herramienta para entrenamiento, es necesario tener un buen bat y contemplar un espacio grande para utilizar, pero es muy innovador y funciona para todas las edades

Perfecto para entrenar bateo mi hijo de 7 años le encanta y pues le va ayudar a mejorar su bateo