Front Toss
Ages 9 and up · An L-screen or protective net, bucket of balls, feeder seated or kneeling behind the screen 15-20 feet in front of the hitter
Front toss is batting practice's honest middle step: balls fed underhand from straight in front (behind a screen), arriving on the same line a pitch does, so the hitter's eyes and timing train on the real geometry that side-angle soft toss cannot provide. It is the closest thing to live hitting that stays controlled, and it is how good programs feed most of their practice swings.
The requirement is a protective screen (an L-screen or sturdy net) for the feeder, which is the drill's one piece of real equipment and worth it for any family serious about hitting: front toss plus a screen turns a backyard into a batting cage.
How to run it
- Set the screen 15-20 feet in front of the plate area; the feeder stays fully behind it at all times, feeding through or beside its window.
- Feed firm underhand tosses on a flat-ish line into the strike zone, establishing one consistent location and rhythm first.
- The hitter takes full swings at strikes and (the real training) TAKES balls: front toss is where swing decisions start, because the line is real.
- Sets of 5-8 swings with resets. After consistency, vary locations and announce sets ("this set is away").
- Finish with a count game: simulated at-bats (the feeder calls balls and strikes on the hitter's takes and swings), which trains approach, not just contact.
What to say
Common faults and fixes
Swinging at everything (the batting practice disease).
The take is scored: good takes on balls out of the zone count like line drives in the session's tally. Discipline built here appears in games verbatim.
The feeder rushing the rhythm (hitter never resets).
The hitter controls tempo: ball fed only when their stance is restaged and eyes are up. Rushed reps groove rushed swings.
Feeding without a screen ("just this once").
Never. Line drives off young bats arrive faster than reflexes; the screen is the drill's admission ticket, full stop.
Make it easier, make it harder
Bigger arc on the feeds (closer to soft toss), one location only, shorter sets.
Firmer flatter feeds; mixed locations unannounced; simulated at-bats with counts and consequences ("two strikes: battle mode, everything close gets fought off"); or occasional changeup-speed feeds to train the hitter's weight staying back.
This page teaches the drill. ParentEdge builds it into a plan for your kid.
Built around their game, their goals, and what they’re working on.