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Hitting
Practice Drills
Softball Coach

There are literally hundreds of practice drills for hitting.
We are going to cover only a few of them here.
We also realize that only a few players have unlimited access to the very expensive training aids and or batting cages, so we are going to cover the ones using inexpensive aids and items normally found at home.

Remember--Proper Hitting Technique can only be mastered by practicing every day.
You cannot do it one day at a practice then expect to do it two weeks later at a game without practice in between.
You must do it at least 15 minutes each day in order to develop muscle memory.
In practice you must also strive to do the technique perfectly!
It takes your dedication!!!!!!!!!

First loosen up!!
Do your streching and joint rotations as you do before a practice or a game.

Drill #1
Items needed--Bat
In order to work on Stride and Balance you can do the following.
Place the Bat behind you, on your back, held in place by your elbows.
Take your normal stance with your feet.
Take your stride (6" or less) and pivot your hips as you would with your swing.
Your feet should end up pointing toward the pitcher and your upper body turned so that your right shoulder should be facing the pitcher as much as possible.
If you loose your balance, you are not in the right position.
You should be able to do this as many times as you wish and as quickly as possible without losing your balance.

 


Drill #2
Items needed--Length of 2 x 6 board-Batting Tee--Wiffle Balls--Bat
This drill covers proper stride, keeping your eye on the ball and balance.
Stand on the board, you will notice that you will not be able to out your whole foot on it--use the balls of your feet, place the tee at the proper position where the ball should be contacted.
Get into the ready position, do your swing at the ball on the tee and completely follow through.
See if you fall off the board, bet you do.
At least the first few times.
With practice, you will stride properly, hit the ball properly and follow through properly while staying balanced.
You can place a small stopper 6" from where your left foot starts to insure the proper stride distance.

 


Drill #3
Items needed--Wiffle Balls, Bat and another person
Soft Toss
There are several versions of the soft toss drill.
1. Get into ready position and have a person kneel behind you, several feet behind where the catcher would be.
Have the person toss a wiffle ball forward.
You keep your eye on the ball and hit it forward toward the pitcher's rubber.

 

2. The batter stands ready and the tosser will be directly across the plate.
Have the tosser thow the ball up so the batter can hit it.
To practice keeping your eye on the ball, color a few of them.
Toss 2 balls up (one colored and one white) the tosser will call out the color to hit and the batter must hit the called color.


 

3. Staying in the same position, have the tosser throw a ball in the air, but this time the batter must hit it with the Knob of the Bat.
This is to practice bringing the bat to bear with the knob leading first as should be done.


Drill #4
Downward Soft Toss
Items needed--Bat, wiffle balls, chair and another person
Batter will stand at the ready and the tosser willposition the chair directly across the plate from the batter.
Tosser will stand on the chair, take one ball and hold their arm straight out (Horizontally)
The Ball will be dropped from this point.
Batter will swing at the dropped ball.

 


Drill #5
Basketball Drill
Items needed--Old Bat (not your good one), Partially deflated Basketball and a
Batting Tee--a toilet plunger could be placed in the tee to hold the basketball
Set the Basketball on the tee and swing at it with the bat at full speed.
This will help strenghten your arms and wrists as well as make you practice a full follow through.

 

More drills will come soon