Corkball and Wiffleball are both small scale variations of baseball. In the early 1900's, obtainable equipment was used to play baseball such as sticks, rolled up socks, and corks. Here at CorkballUSA, we imitate one such derivative of baseball known as corkball. In corkball, round corks were used to reflect a miniature baseball. In cases where you didn't have an official corkball, a wine cork could do the trick. Players could then use bats or even broomsticks to hit the cork. In contrast, wiffleball began in the mid 1900's and features the staple plastic bat and varying designs of lightweight, plastic balls.

Though both Corkball and Wiffleball are great indoor and outdoor sports, there are similarities and differences in the object being thrown itself, as well as what it is hit with. Corks, like wiffleballs, are lightweight and do not travel much more than 100ft. The difference is, they are more compact and uniform objects.This compactness and shape also allows it to be effectively played in the confines of a little-league field. A second difference between the two is that corks are slightly more dense than a wiffleball. Thus, they are optimally hit with heavier bats such as wood or metal. Despite this, corks can still be used for soft toss against a net in smaller backyards, as their lightweight design maintains a degree of property safety.

Although wiffleballs tend to have much greater movement than a corkball due to their cuts and aerodynamics, corkballs can reliably mimic the travel of a real baseball - we have another upcoming demo video that shows this movement! The upside to the ability of corks to mimic the travel of a baseball means that they can be effectively used for training drills. Due to a corks small size, they require greater hand-eye coordination, especially when thin bats are used. Coaches can also use their size and asymmetry to practice soft hands and reacting to bad hops during defensive drills.

So, whether it be in the backyard or on the field, indoors or outdoors, corks are great to use for both backyard games and hitting drills.