“I hate it. I am so bored,” Ali Newland laughed.
She’s referencing a tee, the piece of baseball and softball equipment most people take their first swing off of. It’s a foundational part of learning the mechanics of hitting and the earliest form of development to play.
But as a professional, Newland is over it. And putting this piece of equipment away in the storage closet inspired her to start posting alternatives to her social media. Newland’s video series is called “Anything but a Tee,” and it’s as the name suggests. She does drills as simple as self-toss or hitting the ball off the ground. She’s also incorporated new equipment like pitchbacks, squishy rehab pads, and a small trampoline to create a bounce and give the ball more movement.
Newland usually starts a hitting session with a med ball to utilize a plyometrics-style warm-up and then swings with a PVC pipe. But she still felt like she needed a warm-up with a bat before she hit off the machine.
“I don’t have a live arm at my disposal all the time anymore, so I needed to get creative in the warm-up and I couldn’t go back to hitting off the tee,” Newland said.
The Athletes Unlimited Softball League offseason is long. Unless athletes play overseas in Japan or Mexico, they might not play for nine months out of the year. Last season, Newland was a reserve pool athlete who was called up to multiple teams throughout the summer to fill in due to injuries, and she had a steady impact. Then in December, she was drafted to the Portland Cascade, the AUSL’s latest expansion team that brought the league to six franchises.
Newland played for the LSU Tigers and was known for her defensive specialization and speed. She could catch and play the outfield and was named to the 2024 SEC First Team and All-Defensive Team her senior year.
She recalls rarely hitting off the tee in college because the program had male batting practice throwers on staff. Even before then, Newland didn’t use the tee often. Her dad was a college baseball player at the University of Georgia and learned to throw underhand when she was young so she could take live BP.
Many people go from on the tee to front toss, but Newland has been able to skip that step, having throwers at the ready. There was no going back to the tee; she feels like it’s not realistic and doesn’t challenge enough.
“I could hit a thousand out of a thousand balls off the tee as line drives… the ball is sitting still, and you don’t have to decide or make an adjustment,” Newland said.
Barrel accuracy is what she’s always looking to develop and what she thinks makes her successful. So anything that can imitate and enhance that – getting the barrel to the ball regardless of location or pitch – is what she is trying to do.
“That’s really what I’m after in not hitting off the tee. You actually have to make a decision on the different stuff that I’m putting out there.”
She did want to clarify that she’s not entirely “anti-tee,” especially for young players or people who feel like it helps their swing, but she stands by the fact that there are better drills that can challenge hitters and make them better.
Her favorite drill is one she calls “step on it.” Newland tosses the ball up in the air, lets it bounce, steps to the ball, then swings. It forces her to load her back hip on time and create space within her swing.
You can follow Newland’s training and upcoming season with the Cascade @ali44newland on Instagram. Opening Day for the AUSL is 9. Season tickets are on sale now.
Savanna Collins is the Senior Reporter for the AUSL. You can follow her on X @savannaecollins.