Whether you’re a coach training young players to pick up and wield their very first baseball bat, or a player yourself trying to focus on hitting a specific type of pitch, a pitching machine is a great asset to have. But a lot of the performance and accuracy you get out of a pitching machine comes down to the pitching machine balls you feed it, not just the machine itself.
I’ve seen people complain about the accuracy of even some of the best pitching machines out there simply because they were using an incompatible ball with it. A lot of coaches even go as far as running regulation baseballs through their pitching machine. That’s why I want to walk through the different types of pitching machine balls you should actually be using, and explain why real baseballs and softballs usually aren’t the right call.
Can You Use Real Baseballs and Softballs in a Pitching Machine?
It depends. Some heavy-duty wheel machines can technically handle real, regulation baseballs and softballs without falling apart on the spot. Whether yours can really depends on the design you’re working with. Arm-style and wheel-style machines grip and release the ball in completely different ways, and that affects how much abuse a regulation ball can take. Even so, I always recommend against it when you’re using a pitching machine for regular training. Anyone who’s spent real time around these machines knows the pitfalls of feeding them real baseballs.
Uneven Texture
For one thing, the raised seams on a regulation baseball can cause real problems in your brand-new pitching machine. The surface of a real baseball isn’t smooth, and the seams make it slightly uneven. When it’s fed through a machine’s wheels or throwing arm, that uneven texture leads to inconsistent grip and inaccurate pitches.
Paint Peeling Off
In addition, regulation baseballs and softballs often have a painted or coated outer layer, and that coating comes off on the wheels of a pitching machine. Keep feeding it regulation balls, and the residue builds up until the wheels get slippery and can’t grip the ball properly anymore.
Damage to the Balls
Another major reason you don’t want to use regulation baseballs or softballs is that even the best-rated pitching machine (forget the garbage alternatives) can damage the balls over time. The leather in a regulation baseball is glued together, and repeated compression through a pitching machine’s wheels softens that glue. Eventually, the cover starts to separate or rip.
If, for some reason, you still choose to use regulation balls, make sure you’re using high-quality leather balls, even if it costs a bit more. High-quality balls tend to hold up longer and do less damage to your pitching machine’s wheels in the process. Synthetic leather regulation baseballs and softballs are not a great option here.
Types of Pitching Machine Balls
Pitching machine balls come in different sizes, weights, and constructions to accommodate a wide variety of pitches and training goals. Depending on the type of ball you’re using, you can set up your pitching machine in different ways to get different results out of it. Understandably, it can get a bit overwhelming for someone new to this equipment.
Ideally, before you buy a large set of balls for your pitching machine, you want to check the manual for the manufacturer’s recommendations. Each pitching machine is designed differently, and here’s the part a lot of buying guides skip: balls built for one manufacturer’s machine can jam, misfeed, or throw off accuracy in a different brand’s machine, even when the size and weight look identical on paper. Matching the ball to the machine matters just as much as picking the right ball type.
Once you’ve done that, you should already have a pretty solid idea of which balls you can or can’t use. To help you sort through it, here’s my breakdown of the different types of pitching machine balls available on the market.
Pitching Machine Baseballs
If you’re using your pitching machine for baseball, there are three main categories worth knowing: mini balls, lite balls, and “real” pitching machine baseballs.
1. Mini Balls
The first variation I want to talk about is the mini ball. If you were to call them golf balls, I wouldn’t blame you, since they’re pretty close in size. Many coaches, myself included, use these balls to sharpen a hitter’s hand-eye coordination and pitch recognition.
There are two variants of mini balls: soft mini balls and fast mini balls.
Soft mini balls are the slower of the two and work well in a small, controlled training space like a batting cage. Fast mini balls, on the other hand, are built for a larger area and can be thrown and hit harder than soft mini balls.
Take the JUGS Small-Ball machine as an example. It’s built around JUGS’s own patented small balls, and the whole idea is to sharpen a hitter’s pitch recognition and visual tracking rather than replicate the feel of a real at-bat. It’s also a good illustration of the manufacturer-matching rule I mentioned above: those balls are designed specifically for JUGS machines, so swapping in a generic mini ball can throw off the accuracy you’re paying for.
2. Lite Balls
Lite balls are probably the most common and popular choice for pitching machine baseballs. Their size and dimensions match a regulation baseball, but they’re built from polyurethane with a dimpled cover, which makes them far more consistent to pitch than a real ball. Brands like JUGS (their Lite-Flite line is a common example) and Baden both make well-regarded lite balls, so you’ve got options if you want a spare set on hand.
- There are three types of lite balls you can buy for your pitching machine: hard lite balls, soft lite balls, and slider leather lite balls.
- Soft lite balls, as the name implies, are the softest of the bunch and travel slower than hard lite balls. The main purpose of this type of ball is developing the hand-eye coordination of the hitter.
- Most youth baseball pitching machines are designed to support soft lite balls.
- Hard lite balls, on the other hand, are used for fast pitches and feature a stronger, harder polyurethane construction.
- Lastly, the slider leather lite ball is designed for slider pitches. You’ll want a machine that’s actually capable of throwing that pitch type before buying these. The seam on this type of ball is less pronounced, which lets it curve when thrown from a slider-capable pitching machine.
3. Real Pitching Machine Baseballs
Not to be confused with regulation baseballs, “real” pitching machine baseballs are designed exclusively for machines that can pitch real-weight regulation balls. These balls match the shape and size of regulation baseballs, without the wear-and-tear problems that come from actually using regulation balls.
The main goal of a real pitching machine baseball is to give hitters a taste of what a real baseball feels like off the machine. You still don’t want to use these balls in an actual game, though, since they’ll get damaged pretty easily. There are two main types of real pitching machine baseballs: real poly baseballs and leather pitching machine baseballs.
Real poly baseballs are made from heavy-duty, hard polyurethane and feature a pronounced dimple pattern, similar to JUGS’s Sting-Free Dimpled baseballs or their Pearl line. These tend to be more accurate than leather pitching machine baseballs. Leather pitching machine baseballs, like JUGS LeatherLast or Baden’s Kevlar Ballistic Seamed baseballs, curve more naturally when thrown from the machine, which better simulates the feel of facing a real pitcher. As always, check with the manufacturer of your specific machine before buying either type, since not every wheel or arm design is rated for real-weight balls.
Pitching Machine Softballs
For softball players, there are three main types of balls available for a pitching machine: 12-inch lite softballs, 12-inch “real” softballs, and 11-inch “real” softballs.
1. 12 Inch Lite Softballs
Lite softballs for pitching machines are much lighter than the real ones you’d use in a game. They’re made from polyurethane, and the dimpled design makes them extremely consistent when thrown from a pitching machine.
2. 11 Inch “Real” Softballs
These balls are a bit smaller than regulation softballs, but they come off the machine faster because of their smaller size. This type of ball is made from solid polyurethane, and its main purpose is improving hand-eye coordination.
3. 12 Inch “Real” Softballs
Similar to 11-inch softballs, these are made from solid polyurethane, but their size matches a regulation softball. They also have a dimpled design, which keeps them accurate when used with a pitching machine.
At What Angle Should a Pitching Machine be Set to Maximize the Range of Baseballs
Most, if not all, pitching machines come with a horizontal adjustment option to modify the pitch angle. If you want the deeper mechanical explanation of how that adjustment actually works, my guide to how a pitching machine works covers it in detail. But at a high level, this is an important feature you can use to your advantage to get the best launch angle when training a hitter.
Unfortunately, there’s no single answer to this question, and the best way to set the angle is to test out different ones. Ideally, you want it set up so there’s a slight curve to the ball as it reaches the strike zone. That helps simulate the feel of a real pitcher.
And if you’re doing fungo work, point the machine upward for fly balls and downward for ground balls. Again, there isn’t a universal number here. You need to test things out to understand what you want from the machine.
A Few Final Words
A pitching machine is no doubt an extremely useful piece of training equipment for young hitters. But without the right pitching machine balls to go with it, you can’t use it to its fullest potential.
It’s very easy for a beginner to mix this up and end up using an incompatible ball with so many options out there. If you’re still shopping for the machine itself, my guide on how much a pitching machine costs is a good next stop, and if you’re setting one up for a younger player, I’ve also put together tips on teaching a kid to hit off a pitching machine.
After reading this article, though, you should be able to figure out which ball is right for your pitching machine and how to get the most out of your training regime.
I hope this gave you a complete idea of what balls you can use in a pitching machine and how to go about using them. Cheers!
With 4 years of Division II experience, a .272 career batting average, .410 on-base percentage, and 7 home runs, I’m now in my fifth season. I’ve played baseball since age 3, alongside future MLB Draft picks, and I aim to pursue a career in baseball professionally, be it playing, coaching, or scouting.