Focus your attention on these balls! They bring a whole new dimension (and challenge) to your training Personal Pitcher training routine!

The Focus Balls are fantastic training aids to help improve pitch discipline, enhance visual tracking, thank strategically about the pitches being thrown, and improve hand-eye coordination, all of which will improve their confidence at the plate.

The Ball

The Focus Balls By Personal Pitcher

There is a “golden rule” in business, and it applies at the plate as well: thinking about your strategy carefully and in advance is fundamental to any degree of success.

If a batter flails aimlessly at pitches while at the plate, any contact with the ball can be attributed more to blind luck than skill. Especially in situations when a player finds themselves getting down in the count early, which increases the odds of them taking a swing at a bad pitch just to stay in the batter’s box.

Since the balls vary in speed and location, the batter is forced to adjust to late movement resulting in better hand-eye coordination and building confidence.

Each dozen includes an assortment of colors and it is easy to incorporate these training aids into your practice routine in a number of different ways. Identifying the color of the ball helps develop early pitch recognition and enhances visual tracking. Even if your hitter’s mechanics are solid, without plate discipline the ball and the bat just won’t meet very often. A batter shows “plate discipline” by not swinging at pitches that are out of the strike zone, nor at pitches that are in the strike zone but not where he knows he can hit it. Such a batter might be described as a patient hitter.

The Focus Balls work best with the Personal Pitcher, however, there are many other applications as well. Like all personal Pitcher’s products, these balls are backed with a 30-day Money Back Guarantee. If for any reason you are not satisfied, you may return your product(s) within 30 days for a refund. The only cost to you is shipping.

*Price is per dozen.

The Details

Focus Balls By Personal Pitcher

Focus Balls bring a new challenge to hitting.

Features:

• Flight varies in speed and location
• Exactly sized to work best with the Personal Pitcher
• Sold by the dozen and each dozen includes an assortment of colors

Benefits

• Improve pitch discipline
• Enhance visual tracking
• Improve hand-eye coordination
• Improve confidence at the plate

Suggested Uses

• Mix into your regular practice regimen
• For pre-game warm-up before games

The Man

Who Is Chris Richards?

In 1988, 14-yr old Chris Richard begged his Dad to get him a pitching machine he could use in the backyard. He could never get enough batting practice, and being of small stature, he knew that in order to make the high school junior varsity team, he would have to make a good impression at the plate. The batting cages were inaccessible, and too expensive anyway, so dad began a search for a pitching machine.

After checking out every sporting goods store in San Diego, he concluded that there was nothing available, and the mail order advertisers only had heavy, expensive machines that would not fit into the backyard. Out of desperation, Dad started tinkering in the garage with some motors, batteries, some lightweight rubber wheels, and a third motor to feed balls. The ball he selected to use was the practice golf Wiffle® ball available in just about every sporting good store. It was inexpensive, lightweight and its small size made it tougher to hit than a baseball.

Finally, after many nights with hacksaws, screwdrivers, and one black eye (those balls come out fast!), the first Personal Pitcher was ready and Chris used the heck out of it, sometimes hitting for 3 or more hours a day! Chris invented games with his friends (such as home run derby) and played situational baseball that made practicing fun.

Well, Chris made the JV team and continued to improve every year. His senior season on the varsity team, Chris hit .440 with 3 home runs and only 3 strikeouts. Coupled with his very solid defensive play in center field Chris was named co-Player of the Year for his league and was a member of the 1992 1st Team All-Section Baseball Team for San Diego County. Chris was eventually awarded a scholarship to Oklahoma State in 1995 (after playing Junior College ball for 2 seasons). He hit .335 and finished 8th in the nation in RBI with 85.

Chris was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in ’95 and played for the Single-A team. For leading the team in homers, RBI, hits, walks and on-base percentage he was named MVP. He was named to the Florida State League All-Star Team in ’96, to the Cardinals 40-man Major League Roster in ’97, and in ’99, after missing a year recovering from shoulder surgery, Chris hit .298 with 30 home runs and 98 RBI split between AA and AAA. Chris led the Cardinal minor league organization in home runs and RBI. He was named First Team All-Texas League first baseman. Once again Chris was named to the Cardinals 40-man roster and hit his first major league pitch for a home run on July 17, 2000!

Richards was traded to the Baltimore Orioles on July 29, 2000, and finished the year hitting .276 with 13 home runs and 36 RBIs in only 199 at-bats. He tied an Orioles record with 13 total bases in a single game when he hit 2 home runs, a triple, and a double against Cleveland. In 2001, Richard led the Orioles in extra-base hits while not making a single error playing right field, center field, and first base.

Shoulder problems over the next several years resulted in three surgeries and little playing time. In 2005, Richard signed with the Texas Rangers starting a run of 6 years in Triple‐A Baseball with three teams (Oklahoma Red Hawks, Indianapolis Indians, and Durham Bulls). He made it back to the Majors in 2009 with the Tampa Bay Rays. That same year, he became the first International League player in 50 years to hit two grand slams in one game. Chris finished his 15‐year career with the world-famous Durham Bulls launching 84 home runs over four seasons to become the team’s all‐time home run leader. He led the Bulls to four straight South Division Titles, a Governors’ Cup, and the franchise’s first Triple‐A National Championship.

Following the 2010 season, Richard founded the Durham Baseball Academy providing lessons to aspiring youth baseball and softball players in North Carolina. Today, Chris is a successful entrepreneur in his hometown of San Diego, CA, running the family business, Personal Pitcher, and provides baseball instruction for the kids in his community.