Youth Baseball Resources

We rarely use a full size “BALL” and “BAT” when doing this “drill”. The reason for this is to intensify the drill and the skill being taught. Position your self to the batting side (right side for right handed batters) and slightly ahead of the batter. Toss the “BALL” at the hip of the batter. You want them to make contact with the ball in front of their body. This is the “CONTACT” Point. The toss is especially important!! You do not want a slow-arching type of throw; but a crisp-snappy toss. The toss should be crisp, but not too fast and out in front of the batter. It takes some practice to get it correct. We use this drill to teach the proper mechanics of the swing. Make sure the “batters” are 1. pivoting correctly and early enough. 2. rotating their hips with an explosion toward the ball 3. unlocking their shoulders, elbows and wrists in sequence while Throwing their hands straight to the ball (watch for hands dropping and correct this). 4. Watching the ball all the way to the “BAT” and continuing to watch the “CONTACT POINT” after the “BALL” has been hit.

The proper stance is very important. It should be a balanced stance with about 60% of the weight on the back foot, eyes level, bat in launch position (NOT WRAPPED BEHIND THE HEAD), knees slightly FLEXED, and door-knocking knuckles lined up. The stride should be a short, smooth lift and move type of stride. Upon impact with the ball and also at follow-through, the batter’s body should be in a slightly curved position toward the ball (inward “c”), this insures that all the weight and power went in to impacting the ball.

We have used many things for “balls” and “bats”. To increase concentration on the ball, try using tennis balls, practice whiffle golf balls, coffee can lids (plastic ones like Frisbees), but my favorite (and the players favorite) is to use black-eyes peas. We start hitting them with a full size bat, but quickly move to using a “thunder-stick” or a home-made “bat” I made which is about the same size as a “thunder-stick” but with less weight inserted in the end. I feel we are trying to teach muscle memory and too much weight teaches a slower swing, but others think differently. During warm-ups before games, I always hit the peas and them some LOUD, regular sized softballs. These are the hard ones and they sure turn some heads! The girls love the looks on the opposing teams faces when they hit these loud balls. We hit into a portable backstop so there is no time lost chasing balls.

One of my favorite drills is the “High-Low” drill with the practice golf balls. I hold 2 balls in my hand and toss them into the “contact zone” and call out either “high” or “low”. The player must hit the corresponding ball. I tried it once with the black-eyed peas and was quite successful.

Take a G.I. bag fill it with old pillows ( don’t make it to heavy) tie the top closed with some bungi rope, and hang this from a limb or a rafter so the center of the bag is about even with the batters hips. I usually put a portable home plate just under the bag 1/2 way so the batter doesn’t creep up on the bag, and to teach proper contact point with the ball. I then pitch a windmill to the bag from only 20 feet ( I’m not that fast a pitcher) , but from only 20 feet I seem very fast.

We use tennis balls a lot in practice. I toss them from the normal position a lot to make certain the mechanics are correct. I also toss them from behind the batter. This makes the batter watch the ball all the way to impact and teaches a quick, compact swing. I also like to bounce the ball into the “contact zone”. Another drill I like to use is the walking-tossing drill. Using tennis balls, I walk slightly in front and to the side of the batter and bounce a tennis ball into her “contact zone”. The batter must load up and swing while walking. I bounce 3 or 4 balls as we walk. This is tough, but the players love it once they can hit the balls. For beginners, I recommend bouncing the tennis balls and hitting them with a regular bat, but then move to a smaller bat.

Use some type of back-stop and a bucket or old milk crate. Have one player hold the ball at shoulder height and drop it straight down into the strike-zone. The batter must see the ball and react fast enough to hit it. This drill teaches the batter to take their hands straight to the ball. Have the player dropping the balls, drop them at different times so the batter does not “cheat”. The batter can watch the release of the ball, but cannot move prior to the ball being dropped. This drill has increased our team bat speed a lot. We use this drill in warm-ups before every game and as a team, we are making contact with the ball in .900 range. Something must be working!!!

Front Barrier Drill: Have the batter stand one bat length from a barrier (I prefer a net to prevent damage to the bat, but you can use a fence). Have her take her normal swing. If she hits the barrier, she is unlocking her elbows before her shoulders and getting wide on the swing.

Rear Barrier Drill: Place a barrier directly behind the batter and have her take her normal swing. If the bat hits the barrier, she is dropping her hands. You can use this barrier even when you are using a pitching machine or live pitching for instant feedback to the batter that she is dropping her hands.

This is a great drill for teaching follow-through. Get a couple of old basketballs and take most of the air out of them. Place them on one of those orange cones you see at construction sites (I got one donated by a site once although I don’t think they knew they donated it). Have the batter take her normal swing and follow-through right through the basketball. HAVE THEM WEAR HELMETS!!! Use regular sized bats for this drill.

Here’s a drill you may find useful. Construct a batting beam with pieces of 2″ x 4″’s. The main piece should be about 4′ long. Two cross pieces about 18″ should be nailed about 16″ from each end of main piece. Have player stand on this during soft toss. The player should remain on beam throughout swing. The beam encourages the batter to be on the balls of the her feet and to maintain a balanced swing. It also helps the batter to take their timing step straight to the pitcher. The players don’t like this beam at first, but it does help.

It’s an old drill…but one I find very effective…You need a softball…..some thick garden gloves and some rope about 12 feet long.. Drill a hole through the softball. and insert the rope…tie a knot on both sides of the hole…. Put the batter in her regular stance, and…stand opposite her….start swinging the ball on the rope, through her strike zone. Hang on tight….cause if they get a hold of it …the balls takes off (thus the gloves) I find this is great because you can vary the speed of the ball….and the location… It’s especially useful when you’ve got a variety of kids working on tees, in a cage etc…and there’s some one on one time…

There are several products on the market that do essentially the same thing, they are called “On Deck” hitters. They are basically a ball on a rope, that is tied to a swivel and then secured to a pole or rod and that is mounted to the fence either by bolts (U-bolts to mount to the fence pole) or springs (to mount to the fence directly). The on deck (we use “in the hole hitter”) batter goes behind the fence and takes swings at the “on deck” device before she goes to bat. It is a great warm-up tool and we take ours to every game we play. I like to have a coach out there with the batter to make sure she is using proper fundamentals and intensity!!

BALLS AND STRIKES DRILL: Have the pitchers throw pitches and the batters just watch the ball into the glove and call balls and strikes. You’ll be amazed at what batters think are balls. The best thing for good eyes are just seeing live pitching…lots of it, even if it is just being a batter while your pitcher is doing a workout. You can learn to read different pitches, and the pitcher gets better practice when there is a batter in the box.

HITTING DIFFERENT OBJECT: Try golf whiffle balls, small coffee can lids (thrown like Frisbees), pinto beans, etc, anything that has them concentrating on a smaller than usual target and hitting something that moves, rather than moving in a straight line. This will improve their concentration and teach them to follow the ball all the way in.

MISS/MISS/HIT: Use a series of three pitches to teach them to watch the ball. The first pitch, the batter swings over the ball. The second pitch, swings under the ball. The third pitch the batter hits the ball. Repeat this drill until they can do it every time. After that, you can really fine tune this: Pitch 1- just nick the top of the ball. Pitch 2-Just nick the bottom of the ball. Pitch 3- Hit it right in the middle of the ball.

TWO-BALL SOFT TOSS: Get two different color whiffle balls (say red & white) or mark half of the balls with a different color dot. Works better with whiffle baseballs or even golf whiffle balls. Its easier to toss smaller balls plus helps hitters in focus and coordination. Toss the two balls at the same time (from same hand) and ask the player to hit one of them, either red or white. This helps players to coordinate, focus and react ti=o hit the correct color ball.

WHEN TO FOCUS: Try teaching them HOW to watch the ball. Everyone tells the player to watch the ball but few ever tell them how. The player will focus hard on the release point just as the ball is released, then follow the ball into the strike zone. Don’t start early. If you look real hard at any point, it starts to fade in about two seconds. It takes under one second for the ball to travel from the pitcher’s hand to the batter, so if you look at the pitchers eyes during wind-up, and move to the release point just before release, it may keep you from looking to the release point too early.

The purpose of the Power Bat Drill for a baseball player is much the same as a boxer using a heavy bag to train with. Boxers learn how to develop power in their punch by trying to power through the heavy bag. Baseball players learn to develop power in their swing by hitting through a heavier object than a normal baseball. The result is the same for both athletes… increased power through the point of contact!

The goal is for the hitter to strike the much heavier ball without having the bat decelerate at the impact point. This takes proper technique and explosion at the point of impact to achieve. What you will see is that with the first few swings, the barrel of the bat will “stutter” through the impact zone, meaning that it will decelerate at the point of impact for a fraction of a second before resuming its speed to the finishing position. Concentrate on the proper mechanics, not with launching the ball. Proper mechanics will accelerate the bat head sufficiently to power through the heavier ball. The flight path of the ball should be level (around chest high) into the hitting net (or wall). Power is all about bat speed at impact, not the size of the player. This drill will increase the power at impact if it is used on a regular basis. Remember to always use a flat ball for this drill.

Teams get 3 outs per at bat.A coach pitches the ball from about 40 feet in front of the plate. The hitter sets up at the plate with a bat, strides at the proper time, follows the ball with his head into the catcher’s glove, and calls “ball” or “strike” as the ball hits the glove.

Paint several baseballs with different bright colors, and place them in a bucket behind the mound. Have someone place one of the balls in the pitcher’s glove without letting the batter see the color. The pitcher then calls out a color before pitching the ball. The batter can only swing if the ball matches the color the pitcher called out (and if the pitch is in the strike zone).

The timid little league batter always seems to assume that backing out will automatically prevent him from being hit by the pitch. He usually starts his getaway before he has any notion of where the pitch is really headed. I have had some success against this tendency by throwing behind the timid batter’s back. After all, he will get plenty of these pitches at the little league level, and you don’t want him backing into them and getting hurt.

Start out using spalding or tennis balls. At first, throw a lot of pitches behind him, then gradually decrease the frequency of these pitches as he starts to break the habit. Soon he will realize that he had better not back up until he sees where the ball is really going.

Teams of 2 or 3 players compete against other teams. The first team to score 11 runs wins. The drill can be used indoors or outdoors. The games requires a wall, curtain, or sections of fence. The rules are outlined before competition begins. The wall or fence should have a “top line” that represents the top of the scoring zone. Any ball that hits the wall, curtain, or fence above that line is an “out”. To score, the batter must hit a line drive that hits the scoring zone without touching the ground. The batter that hits a ground ball keeps the inning alive. He does not score, but he also does not make an out. Each player gets only one swing per bat. He is either going to hit a score, hit a ground ball or make an out. Any ball that is caught by the defense before it touches the wall or ground is an out. All pop ups, foul balls, and missed swings are counted as outs. Bats are not allowed to touch the ground. Batters must stay alert and jump in to bat as soon as the other batter swings. Each team gets 3 outs per at bat. Defensive players are allowed to “knock down” balls to prevent scoring. Any ball that hits the “scoring zone” without touching the ground is a score. The defense must learn to react quickly and catch the ball or knock it down.

This drill is best done in a tournament format. Reward the winning team in some way. This is a great drill for indoor hitting. Players get to take a lot of swings. The competition becomes fierce. It will build a competitive fire in your timid players, and teach players to be aggressive. Make sure to use foam or wiffle baseballs.