Are You Using Batting Practice Time Wisely?

  To get more out of your team in terms of development get more out of your Batting Practices. BP is not just to get some swings in; you can use this time advantageously to practice multiple skills and keep everyone busy and learning. Here are some suggestions:

Use hitting stations. If you have 12 players, divide them into 3 or 4 groups. (You can let your pitchers and catchers hit first so they are available for side work or you can group your left hand hitters together.)

Recommended hitting stations and their order are; dry swings, tee work, soft or short toss, opposite field hitting drill, live hitting on the field.

Hit ground ball fungos during BP. The fungo coach on the third base line hits ground balls to the SS and first basemen. The coach on the first base foul line hits to the third baseman and the second baseman. This is to assure that the players practice “game angles” off the fungo coach’s bats. If you have screens, you can practice double plays as well. (Time the fungo immediately after the batter hits the ball. Teach the infielders to let all hit balls go by them except the fungo. This also develops concentration skills.)

Use a bagman. Have a player set up in center field with a bag and have your outfielders throw all balls to him. This not only saves valuable time the outfielders can work on their throwing skills as well.

Teach the outfielders to react and break on every ball hit during BP. Outfielders should not just be standing around. They should be working on their game. They should concentrate on the hitting zone and break (just a step or two) on every ball. This is a valuable tool to teach outfielders how to track the ball.

Use several coaches to teach at the various stations. Dry swings and tee work are good times to give suggestions and make adjustments.

On field, use multiple rounds for each group. Example: First round; two bunts, one hit and run, ten swings. Second round; one hit and run, eight swings. Third round; six swings. Fourth round; five swings. Give every hitter the same number of swings and keep them moving in and out of the cage. Don’t use that “end on a good one” stuff. Teach your hitters to make the most of their rounds. Count all strikes ‘taken’ as a swing. Teach aggressiveness. Don’t let them take strikes during BP. If your kids know that they will get an exact number of swings and that a “look” at a strike is considered a swing, their concentration level will increase and your batting practices will greatly improve, along with their development.

Have your hitters work on hitting balls up the middle (“V” of the field) of the field during live BP. Don’t allow them to try to lift the ball or pull everything, trying to hit it out.

The pitcher (coach) calls, “Coming out!” just before the last pitch to keep things moving. 

Use a coach or machine to pitch BP, not players. 

Have a sufficient number of baseballs so that you only have to retrieve balls in the cage and on the infield during a group change. (The bagman can make runs to the mound when needed, however.)

Practice Offensive Baseball with a base runner at least twice a week. (Past TOTW) This is all the ways teams score runs and if you don’t practice this, you are missing a significant opportunity to develop your hitters. Situational hitting is an extremely important aspect of the game. How can you expect your hitters to hit behind the runner at second or execute a successful hit and run if you don’t practice it?

When pitchers are in the outfield, they can throw retrieved balls to the bagman with a change up grip. (A good way to develop this pitch.)

Keep things moving at a practiced and brisk pace. You want as many swings as possible in one BP session. Time is the enemy.

Make your BP Routine just that- a routine so your players will know what to expect and that familiarity will allow them to get more out of each practice. Batting Practice is the cornerstone of every practice; so allow at least 60-70% of practice time to this important segment. By incorporating other skills into BP (fungos, outfield skills, base running, situational hitting, bullpens, etc.) time is spent wisely and player development will progress at an accelerated rate.