Posted by: MT in Calif (tiedyetriguy@yahoo.com) on Sat May 10 10:14:15 2008

There's a baseball hitting aid called the 'Zip N Hit'

It's basically a hard whiffle ball with 2 nylon strings/ropes running through it. You attach one end of the rope to a fence, and you hold the other end of the rope.

I try to angle the rope a little downward to recreate a descending plane of an approaching pitch. The rope can act as a 'guide' since the hitter's bat can't chop downward and hit the rope.

I have my younger kids hit the stationary ball at the point of contact, like hitting off a tee with the rope as a guide for a more level swing (vs too big a 'chop' or upswing)

Kids have a blast with this toy/baseball aid. Especially when you pull the ropes and the ball moves/is pitched at them. But, be careful of overusing this aid....since it can over-reinforce 'top of the ball' contact, and not hitting through the ball (the ropes get in the way).

just a suggestion. hope that helps someone.