What is the purpose of the outside barrier?

The outside barrier eliminates "casting". It keeps you form swinging "long" and helps you "keep the hands inside the ball". If the bat or arms are extended prematurely the bat head will slap the flexible upright barrier post. For years coaches have set a tee adjacent to a fence or screen to force hitters to compact their swing. The outside barrier does the same thing except it is a lot more effective. It rotates around the tee to accommodate LH or RH hitters and it moves along with the forward arm to help you keep the hands "tight" when you are working on inside and outside pitch locations. With the outside barrier you are forced to rotate the hips and torso and extend the hands only at the point of contact. It produces a "quick" bat and more power too.

The outside barrier can also be placed to the rear of the AST. This will further eliminate a level swing plane and force a shorter more direct swing path to the ball. This will also teach hitters to get more backspin on the ball. You can even add an outside barrier to make the Advanced Skills Tee the most complete batting tee on the market. Simply slide on an extra barrier to develop the quickest, most powerful and compact swing possible. Eliminate casting and dropping the hands all in one workout!

What makes it so durable?

The tubing for the AST is molded from polyurethane using a open casting process. What is polyurethane? It's a flexible material like rubber, however, polyurethane is much stronger and more durable than rubber, as much as 10 times more durable. Wheels for roller blades, industrial rollers and dimpled pitching machine balls are among the many items typically made with urethane. It's a great material for products that must withstand impact and stress yet remain flexible. Urethanes are expensive and the AST cost more than a rubber tee but, it will last 10 times longer too. It even comes with a two-year warranty.

Custom Cup Brush/Ball Holder

The AST also uses a replaceable, custom cup brush as a ball holder. The brush, which works equally well for baseballs, softballs or poly-balls, is also more than 10 times more durable than rubber, tube-type ball holders. And, the brush gives you a clean "swish" through the ball with no shock to the bat or hands.

Practical and Portable

The AST can be assembled or disassembled, by hand, for easy storage and transportation. And, it uses a hollow, canteen style base that is filled with sand or water (and sealed with a rubber plug). When filled, the base provides weight for stability and when empty, the base is light and portable.

The AST does not include a plate but, you can use it with a traditional or "throw down" home plate or, better yet, combine it with the