pop toss, a complete review and ff2 vs omega og.

dunkky

dunkky

Well-Known Member
When it comes to reviewing a pop toss, seeing it is better than thousands words. not once, not twice, not 5 times, and says, yeah, it's a good stuff. Nope, seeing it for 30 min non-stop of its performance in terms of distance, accuracy and arc. Most of all, it's has to be done by an average guy, not a reviewer or affiliate.

Having said that, this is my conclusion:
This is a very good bp tool. i wish i would've gotten this much sooner. is it perfect? there's no such thing. will it make you a better hitter. No question about it.

i am also looking for some advice here. my swing looks like crap, it doesn't look smooth at all. something is not right..

Here, i am hitting 3 year old beat up mostly 52s and some classic Ms. honestly don't make much difference in hot, humid climate here in TX. ball simply doesn't travel well. Very first two swings, i am showing the full cycle, so you can get an idea of me loading the ball, walking back, set and swing. Enjoy and don't forget some advices on swing mechanic.

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Hiltz

Hiltz

Built for comfort
Seems cool and looks to work well. But man, I could hit 2 dozen balls off a tee in the time it takes to hit 4-5 balls off of that.
 
dunkky

dunkky

Well-Known Member
you can speed it up more, but you gonna have to jog then instead of walking. Based on my experience, it's actually a positive thing. more cardio for me and also, allowing me some time to think about what to be done to improve my swing. I need some swing advice bro.
 
TWmccoy

TWmccoy

3DX Connoisseur
You get used to the pop toss. I'll usually hit 200 balls off of mine at a time. It doesn't seem to take that long. Some balls definitely pitch better than others. I hit everything from stadiums, to .52s, to other random .44s.

Is it a PERFECT bp tool? Nope, but I feel it does a lot more for my swing than simply using a tee. I dig the Pop Toss. It was very much worth it, far as I'm concerned.
 
K

kvander

Addicted to Softballfans
I think what is not right with your swing is the huge leg step while dropping your head & shoulders and dropping your hands. It's a lot of movement and none of it is necessary for a solid swing. It actually looks like you are reacting to a jack-in-the-box popping open when the pop toss goes off.
Also, your swing is a lot of hands with not a lot of hips.
Your bat lag is borderline bat lag (ie. the end of the barrel drops way down) and your hands are swinging upward at contact with a big uppercut. Freeze frame the video just before the bat goes through the zone and you can see it is pointing at the ground behind you, then next frame it is pointing at the opposite batter's box. It's totally disconnected from your body. Try to have the end cap follow the horizontal path of your hands. You will be hitting a bunch of grounders and pop ups at first, but that's what BP is for.
 
dunkky

dunkky

Well-Known Member
Thanks kvander. no doubt, your observation is dead on. i am gonna see if shorten the stride would fix all the rest of the problems. It's very disappointing cuz i thought I fix all that problems when swinging off the tee. Now it came back with live pitch.. On using hips, any advice on that? I just don't know how to use it effectively.
 
S

spin.doctor

Member
It would be interesting to compare this video of your swing against the pop-toss vs your swing against normal pitching. I am curious to see if you have changed your swing to compensate because of the reduced reaction time you have. All of a sudden the ball pops up and you have to react in the 20(?) feet between yourself and the pop-toss? With a normal pitcher, you get into a bit of a rhythm as you watch him wind up and deliver the ball from 50 feet away. I would think that my own swing would become a lot more handsy at least at first.

I can definitely see how the pop-toss would help improve my own hand-eye coordination, but I wonder if it would play havoc with my timing.
 
dunkky

dunkky

Well-Known Member
very valid point spin. no doubt that you will have more time to react with live pitching. However, based on my experience, reduced time is not the root cause of my problem. pop toss allows enough time, if i can't handle that, then, there's more fundamental problem with my mechanic. As Kvander pointed out, my whole swing is very bizzare and it starts with the way i stride and drop of my hand or tilting of my body... you can clearly see that my swing path is not flat or straight. And, i know i am not utilizing my leg and ass enough.

check this one out, here, my swing is much better. if i can swing like that with pop toss, I am without a question much better hitter and can hit with authority. it's really frustrating.

 
TWmccoy

TWmccoy

3DX Connoisseur
I've said this before, and I'll say it again. You aren't going to have the same swing mechanics off the pop toss as you will the tee. Do yourself a favor and pick one or the other, and stick with it. Switching between the pop toss and tee is only going to leave you confused. Whatever swing mechanics you develop off the pop toss won't be the same as the tee, and you'll fall into bad habits and probably have endless timing issues in games.

I've hit off the pop toss long enough now that I know exactly what to expect out of it. When I say that thing takes some getting used to, I mean it. You'll need a few sessions before you really start feeling it.

Once you get good with the pop toss you should be able to waltz into a game and hit just fine.

On a side note, your hand positioning in the tee video seems a little strange. You start them pretty high and far from your body and then move them around a lot. It looks like the type of "hitch" that could cause timing issues with live pitching. Especially with that big leg kick too.
 
dunkky

dunkky

Well-Known Member
I understand. I am just trying to narrow the gap. at least from Tee swing, i am not really dropping my hand badly, my launching location is acceptable and my swing path is pretty decent. it isn't much of pop toss issue for me. i have the same damn problem with live pitch as well. so i do have some fundamental issue with my mechanic. I have to fix that regardless. some of them are as result of hitting bad pitches too, the low balls. when the ball is in my striking zone, i think my swing looks a little better.

no more tee for me. pop toss is 10x better, no question. I can kill the ball off the tee all day, but, we not playing tee balls... well.. lol
 
TWmccoy

TWmccoy

3DX Connoisseur
Try starting your hands lower. That way you won't be so tempted to drop them. I start my hands pretty low.
 
dunkky

dunkky

Well-Known Member
I have tried that multiple times, but it doesn't work out for me. my accuracy is horrible with that.

btw, I have some leftover wooden boards, i am making a base platform for pop toss, that will give me extra 5ft. I will test it and share it later.
 
dunkky

dunkky

Well-Known Member
i was able to test this a little bit. not sure about 5ft, but for sure 3-4ft extra as opposed to using it on a grass. Also, better consistency since it's more stable with less vibration. Very satisfied.
 
tonys1

tonys1

Moderator
The wooden base also makes it a candidate to just torch it if you can’t smash it into pieces with a liner.
 
bigcam406

bigcam406

Addicted to Softballfans
Thanks for posting. Keep at it, your swing will come around to your liking. Im going to be ordering one in the next couple weeks, as tee work is getting boring even though its a good workout. Having all leagues cancelled up here made for a long summer. Positive thing is my '14 Easton L5 is nice and toasty now after hitting a couple thousand 40, 44 and 47 core balls this summer
 
dunkky

dunkky

Well-Known Member
yes sir, that's exactly how i felt. I hit the plateau. I was getting bored with my tee. Plus, I wasn't getting good output lately bping with the tee. You need to check out my latest modification. works like charm.
 
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