Batting cage ribbons

As I type this, another snow storm has entered the Philadelphia area.  High school and college coaches are no doubt pulling their hair out over the weather so far this spring.  For today, if they are able to practice at all, it looks like another

indoor batting cage day for hitters.  Not ideal but it is what it is.

One reason why hitters don’t like hitting in cages is that they don’t get a chance to see where the ball goes.  Cage work can be deceiving in this way.  An easy fix is to bring out some colored ribbons that can be tied to the cage.  Two different colors would work well.  One color ribbon would be tied to the cage to represent both foul lines.  A separate color could be tied to represent the four infield positions – third baseman, shortstop, second baseman, and first baseman.  When a hitter hits the ball, he can easily tell where it would have gone based on where the ball hits in relation to the ribbons.

Indoor hitting can never fully replace on-the-field hitting but small things like this can help batters get more out of their cage work.