Effective Youth Hitting Drills
Hitting Drills For The Young Player
While most youngsters simply want to get in the batter’s box and swing away the drills you offer them prior to their trips to the plate will make them much better hitters. They’ll have more success and enjoy this wonderful game far more. Here are 3 effective youth hitting drills. Make them fun and your young players will improve without even thinking that they are practicing!
Hitting Off A Tee
You might think we’re kidding, but this is no joke. Tell your reluctant kids that even major leaguers and our women’s national team use tees as a regular part of their training and preparation. The use of a tee does two major things. First, it allows you as the parent or coach to teach your players good swing mechanics. See our guide entitled Basic Swing Mechanics for Baseball and Softball for insight. They learn to swing right and then build muscle memory through repetition.
Secondly, hitting off a tee markedly improves hand-eye coordination. Good swing mechanics and improved contact with the ball equals better performance, more success and a wonderful experience.
Place one ball after the other on the tee and have your player practice a good swing and good contact. As they succeed their confidence will rise and that is a definite factor when it comes to live action. Ask them to swing at 75% speed until they are making consistently good contact and then let them go full-speed. Make a game of it by rewarding them for 50% good swings, 60%, or whatever works in your situation. Start asking them to hit the ball in different directions and keep track of how well they do, rewarding success wherever possible. Raise and lower the tee within the strike zone to make sure they get comfortable hitting pitches at all levels.
Quick Choice Hitting Drill
Many young players have trouble learning the strike zone. They go to the plate hacking at anything thrown their direction. Here’s a good drill to help them train their batting eye. Set up a protective net right in front of the batter’s box to eliminate any chance they’ll be hit by a pitch. Have the batter stand in the box squared up at the plate in their normal batting stance. But there is no swinging allowed! Stand alongside them and have your pitcher throw to the catcher.
Before each pitch is even half-way to the plate lower a visor over the batter’s eyes and have them call “ball” or “strike.” Grade them on how well they do – tell them where the pitch was also, so they know how to adjust to what they are seeing. If they consistently think pitches will be strikes that end up high or low they’ll learn to adapt and become better at recognizing balls and strikes right out of the pitcher’s hand. Set goals for how many they get right out of 10 or 20 and reward them for reaching their goals. Divide the team into two squads and make a competition of it.
Hitting the Right Color
This drill enhances concentration, hand-eye coordination and patience and the plate. Use soft practice balls for this drill, wiffle balls or perhaps tennis balls. Make them two different colors. Have two pitchers stand side by side and toss balls of differing colors towards the plate simaltaneously. When the pitch is en route shout out the color you want the player to hit. This will cause them to block out the distraction the “wrong” ball creates and help them focus on the “right” ball. Reward making good contact with the correct ball.
To ensure that they don’t develop bad habits instruct them only to hit the “right” ball if it is a strike. This way they won’t become happy hackers who swing at bad pitches. Again, make an individual or team game of it and praise a job well-done.
As a parent or coach keep your eyes open for hitting drills that will help your players improve. They’ll enjoy their success and boosted confidence and the team will benefit by their increased contributions.
Resouces:
Good hitting drills will make better batters
Tagged with: ball • drills • players • swing
Filed under: Softball Youth Center • Tips Talk and Trivia
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