Dominican Wiffle Ball

miércoles, 13 de agosto de 2014

WIFFLE BALL LEAGUE ALL-STAR GAME HIGHLIGHTS

The Golden Stick Wiffle Ball League recently held its 2014 All-Star game. The highlights from the game were edited into a video which shows just how skilled these Wiffle Ballers are. More...

Knuckleballer turns Wiffle Ball-er

Mets knuckleballer/author R.A. Dickey recently visited a playground in New York City's East Village to meet up with backyard hurlers and play some Wiffle Ball. Fan Cave

How to pitch on Wiffle Ball

The Curve

Level of Difficulty 2

The curve ball is the bread and butter pitch for most pitchers. Holes out for right handed pitchers. The middle finger should be placed to the left of the holes where the seem of the ball is. The index finger is spread two inches from the middle finger, like making the peace sign. The thumb is place on the bottom of the ball along the seem and should be placed in the middle of the two fingers. The ring finger and the pinky finger are together and against the center of the ball, where the trademark and patent number are. Again a loose grip is very effective. An over hand motion has the biggest curve and can be thrown accurate with some practice. This pitch breaks from right to left on right handed batters (it actually starts behind them). When thrown properly, expect a three to four foot break. Left handed pitchers grip the ball the opposite of above.

The Straight Fastball

Level of Difficulty 1

The straight fastball is the easiest pitch to throw in the game of Wiffle®Ball. Holes should face home plate and the tips of the index and middle fingers should be placed over the top holes with the thumb on the bottom seem of the ball. The ring finger and pinky finger are together along the seem of the ball. Throwing the ball with a straight over hand motion will create the ball to go straight towards the target, even on a windy day. This grip is the same for a right handed pitcher and left handed pitcher. Do not grip the ball too tight, a nice loose grip is more effective.

The Knuckleball

Level of Difficulty 4

The knuckle ball. This pitch is not seen too often because it is very hard to throw accurately. The holes of the ball should be facing home plate and the fingernails of the index finger and middle finger should be dug into the ball on the seem. The thumb should be on the bottom seem of the ball and the ring finger and pinky finger should be together. This pitch is thrown over hand and will move back and forth like a knuckle ball moves in baseball. The grip is held the same way for left handed and right handed pitchers. A very tight grip is recommended to be effective. You have to practice this pitch often, it is very hard to master.

The Riser

Level of Difficulty 3

The riser is harder to throw then the curve ball. The main reason being, this pitch has to be thrown side arm. The grip is holes down. The index and middle fingers are tightly together above the holes along the seem. The thumb is opposite of the index and middle fingers along the seem too. The ring finger and pinky finger are together and touching the center of the ball where the trademark and patent number is. This pitch has to be thrown side arm. When thrown properly, with a whip motion, expect the ball to rise from two to three feet. If you are throwing the ball too high, you must lower your body while in the wind up to lower the location of the ball while entering the strike zone. This pitch is very difficult to hit when thrown hard. The spin on the ball causes many hitters to foul the ball straight back. The grip is the same for both left handed and right handed pitchers. The big difference with the grip of this pitch is, hold the ball tight, a tight grip is very effective.

The Screwball

Level of Difficulty 4

The screwball is like the curve ball except the grip is the exact opposite. Holes in for the right handed pitchers. Place the index finger on the seem of the ball. The middle finger is spread two inches from the index finger, like making the peace sign. The thumb is on the seem of the ball and the ring finger and the pinky finger are together and touching the solid part of the ball. This pitch is thrown over hand and on right handed batters it breaks inside from left to right about three feet when thrown properly. A loose grip is recommended and is the most effective. This pitch is very hard to master and have control of. You must practice this pitch quite often. Left handed pitchers grip the ball opposite of the above. Click here to see picture.

The Sinker

Level of Difficulty 5

The sinker is the most difficult pitch to throw and is feared by every hitter. Holes up with this pitch and place the index finger on the seem of the ball. The middle finger is spread two inches from the index finger, like making the peace sign. The thumb is on the seem of the ball and the ring finger and the pinky finger are together and touching the solid part of the ball. This pitch is thrown SIDE ARM or Three-Quarters. This pitch sinks hard on both right and left handed batters. The grip is the same for right handed and left handed pitchers. This pitch is thrown just like the screwball, but it is thrown side arm to three-quarters. This makes the sinker almost impossible to master, few Pro pitchers have this pitch in their arsenal. This pitch is very hard on a pitcher’s arm and is NOT recommended for younger pitchers to throw. A loose grip is recommended and is the most effective.

SOURCE

Big League Wiffle Ball at ESPN Campus

Nick Benas and Matt McHugh show us how to throw amazing pitchs!

Wiffle Ball in Dominican Republic

Monday begins with visits to poor neighborhoods

Monday 11/13/2011

The HWSA Mission Team had a fantastic Monday! After breakfast, morning devotions, and loading up on the bus, they headed to a local supermarket, Jumbo, to purchase food to feed families at a local village. Members from our missions team are checking in now to give your more details....

Update from Nathan

For the first half of our "feeding a family project" we left our hotel and headed for the Jumbo. The Jumbo was the Dominican equivalent to a nice Wall Mart or Target. Our purpose was to get in, buy 25 bags of rice, beans, spaghetti, oil, salt and 50 cans of tuna, and get out. It was actually really fun, we split up into teams and set out to find our ingredients then filled our bags and got back into the bus. What was next to come was one of the most heart touching experiences of my life, but I’ll let josh tell you about it.

Members of the HWSA Missions Team shop for groceries at a local supermarket. The groceries were assembled into bags and taken to a village to help feed local residents.

**(Scroll down to view more photos)**

Update from Josh

Leaving Jumbo, we departed to our destination, which was a small Haitian village on the outskirts of town. We arrived at the village and jumped off the bus with faces full of ecstatic expressions. The first thing that we came across was a wild horse that was used in the village. And we soon noticed that we were in an area that was surrounded by extreme poverty. The children of the village came running to our team with a cordial hug and faces of hope and joy. The team then split up into different groups and played several games, including several rounds of wiffle ball and marbles. We also had people hand out Albert Pujols testimony cards because people in this country could relate to him since he is also from this island and proclaims his faith daily. After we played with them for awhile we gathered around and shared the word of God with the group. Jordan and Nathan gave their testimonies on how them came to know Christ and what He has done in their lives. Keith Coneby brought it all together saying that money isn’t the most important thing in life, but God is! He said how material objects will only last for a short time, but God lasts forever and He wants you in His kingdom. After the congregation the team formed a line and handed the grocery bags we recently bought from Jumbo. We handed the bags to the elders of the village and they dispersed amongst the families living there. We then departed and said adios to the fellow village members. We lead 15 people to Christ and it was a great trip as a baseball player and as a member of God’s forever family.

Update from Garrett

Village residents of all ages gather to watch the baseball game.

When I arrived at the ball field, I was surprised to see all the people gathered around the field to watch us play a game of baseball against their local high school team. Their lives around here are much different compared to ours. To see how they live around here makes me feel like I take everything for granted at home. Even though they live in such poverty, their love for the game never changes. They love to just be on the ball field and play a hundred percent. To have them see Christ through me on the field means the world for me. I want them to experience the freedom and love of God and become a believer to be able to experience this outstanding feeling that only God can provide.

Monday's Photos

The HWSA Missions team meets early Monday morning to plan for the days events.

Members of the HWSA Missions Team shop for groceries at a local supermarket. The groceries were assembled into bags and taken to a village to help feed local residents.

Mason, Chuck, Josh, Jordan and Trey get the rice.

Kel, Spencer and Nathan getting 25 bags of beans.

Chris and Jason load up on canned meat.

Steve, Trey, Nathan and Mason load our 25 bags of groceries from the local Jumbo market to take to the village.

Jason loads grocery bags to be distributed at a local village.

Luke and the HWSA Team is greeted by a local man as they enter a sugar cane village north of San Pedro, Dominican Republic.

A woman walks through a sugar village north of San Pedro, Dominican Republic.

A pig feeds outside of a home in a sugar cane village north of the Dominican Republic.

Members of the HWSA Missions Team enter a sugar cane village north of the Dominican Republic.

We started communicating with the villagers through the national language of the Dominican Republic...baseball!
This hit sent the wiffle ball over the green building. Nice hit!

A girl hits the ball during a pickup wiffle ball game. Nice swing!

Kel hands out Gospel tracts to residents. The tracts contained testimonies of American Major League Baseball players who grew up in the Dominican Republic.

Coach Coneby gives a high five to boy who launched a wiffle ball hit over the green monster! (building)

A young boy from the sugar cane village.

A young boy watches the pickup game.

Local women watch a pickup wiffle ball game during the HWSA Missions Team visit to a sugar cane village.

Many of the residents in the Sugar Cane village are Creole speaking refugees from Haiti.

Chuck and Mason shared their testimony about how God adopts us into His family.

All the residents of the sugar cane village gathered around a pavilion to listen to us as our words were translated by our SCORE missionary Filipe.

All the residents of the sugar cane village gather around a pavilion as the HWSA Missions Team shared testimonies and the Gospel.

Josh distributes a bag of food to a local villager Monday morning. The bag cost approximately $10 US and was enough to feed a family of four for 3-4 days.