Baseball DIY

Not having access to a free batting cage or a yard big enough to hit a ball off a tee, I am in search of a low-risk/high-reward drill to improve my swing. I feel like I don't get any practice in between games, so my confidence every time at bat is based purely on the results of my previous trip to the plate. Something must be done.

While waiting for Jill to finish up at the gym Wednesday, I went into the basketball court with a towel in one hand and a great idea in the other. Our gym has the leakiest roof known to man, so it is not unusual to find a waist-high trash can collecting rainwater here and there. Gripping my towel like a baseball bat, I swung it at the molded plastic receptable. THUNK! I can't describe how great that sounded, incomparably better than the aluminum ping but not as good as the wooden crack. I took some more swings, some sounding good, others barely grazing the brim. It is my theory that the THUNK! result is what I'm looking for; the towel, in this swing, is almost rigid by the time it comes into contact with the can. When the towel-can connection sounds like a hairbrush going through curly hair, the towel is limp, due probably to some mechanical problem with my wrists/shoulders/trunk.

Again, this is just a theory. It's a cheap drill that may or may not work. I'm going to buy Ted Williams' The Science of Hitting to try to work on my skills, but for now, I'm enjoying this little experiment. If anyone knows of any better drills unlikely to result in property damage (my own or my neighbors'), please let me know.