Double Tees
For the first drill I use 2 tees. Put a ball on a tee at home plate in the normal hitting position. Then go ten feet toward the mound and set up another tee with a ball on top. The players hit off the tee at the plate, trying to knock the ball off the tee at the mound.This teaches them to hit the center core of the baseball. Each player gets ten swings.

Foam Golf Ball Drill
We use yellow hard foam golf ball for a hitting station in practice. They can be purchased at any large retail store, and the come in a bag of 24. Down on one knee out in front of the batter I bounce the ball into the “contact zone.” The smaller ball makes batter concentrate on the ball and teaches a quick, compact swing.

Optional: To increase difficulty replace bat with a piece of 1” or 1 ½” PVC bat length capped on both ends. Create several PVC bats and experiment with filling them with various materials to add weight.

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This baseball drill will show kids if they have a short compact swing/ or a long, slow, sweeping swing.

To encourage kids to utilize a short, compact, quick swing have them stand in their normal batting stance with their back foot(right foot for right handed batters, etc) up against a fence, wall, dugout etc.

Have them take a normal swing and if their hands drop the bat in a horizontal position before swinging (as most youth hitters do) they will drag the bat across the fence.

If they keep the bat more upright(near 45degrees), dissecting the back of their helmet and swing the hands quickly down through the zone then they will not hit the fence/wall etc.  Great instant feedback for the kids!!!

They’ll be on their way to catching up with that fastball!

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Some are scared of the baseball, some are working on timing, some are learning what is in the strike zone, some swing just to swing, etc. This baseball drill helps them feel more comfortable at the plate.

The first time I use this baseball drill with a team I do it without telling them my purpose until I can prove my point later to them in the drill.

Start by playing normal catch and try to aim the ball at their partners chest.  Then they move down to aiming for the belt buckle area and then finally the knees.To catch the ball they should be banding down.

Once they are thinking about the catching portion and aim of the throwing, I have them turn as though they are standing in a near batting stance when it is their turn to catch the ball.  They put their glove hand across their chest and their throwing hand behind their back.  They try to catch the ball thrown across the plate.  They are only allowed to move their front foot AND the only direction they can move it is toward the thrower or forward (towards the plate). I still have not used language to them to show them this is actually a batting drill.

Once they are doing well with that I replace the glove with the bat and ask them what is the difference between a bat and a glove.  They still need to see it, time it, and adjust to make the play whether it is a catch or a hit.

This baseball drill seems to remedy many of those problems and if a recurring problem occurs it stands out and helps narrow down what they more specific issue might be.

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A strength training tip I got from a colleague, and my players love, involves the use of a batting tee, but instead of using baseballs to hit, we use half inflated basketballs.

The idea is to hit these basketballs as hard as you can with good form of course. I urge my players to try hitting the basketballs over the infield which is not as easy as it sounds.  This baseball drill will increase their batting speed and power tremendously.

Another baseball drill I have is to use plastic golf balls and stand behind the batter and toss the balls over their shoulder. They have to pick up the ball as it comes over the shoulder and make good contact with the ball.

When coaching 3rd to 5th graders, we have a “repair” drill when a guy gets beaned.  It is only natural for players of that age to start bailing out afterwords.  So it’s back to bean bags, then tennis balls then baseballs.  Bean bags with coach pitch, tennis with kid pitch and baseballs into the net.  Then step them up and see how they do.

Most times, we cure fear with one repair drill!

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I usually start with a one ball toss. Kneel down slightly in front and to the side of the batter and toss one baseball to them and they hit it into the net or side of the batter’s cage.

When I feel the batter is making good contact I toss up two balls and tell them either top or bottom.  They then hit either the top or bottom ball.  After they get that down I move on to three balls. It’s harder on me tossing 3 balls than it is them as I usually have to use both hands.  I then tell them either top, bottom, or middle.

Usually the batters that like to hit the high ball struggle to hit the bottom ball and the batters that like the low ball struggle to hit the top one. This baseball drill really helps them focus and they have fun doing it.

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We set up set up six players who each have a baseball and their mitt approx. 10 feet from a wall and 10 feet apart.

We lay down 6 plates and have a batter with helmets at each plate.  We have the “pitchers” pitch to each batter and have them square and bunt the ball back to the pitcher. As soon as you bunt, you move over one station quickly, set your feet and bunt again until you make it all the way through the line of pitchers. When you make it to the end of the line you run to the beginning of the line and give your bat to the next person getting ready to go.

After our players have quickly gone through twice, we have them grab their mitt and jump in line and take over and become a pitcher until everyone have been through the line twice.

The second phase is to set up two stations. Each station has a pitcher, catcher and batter with a home plate. These stations are separated by at least 20 feet and everyone in line has their helmet on for safety. Each batter is pitched two pitches and instructed to lay the bunt down or practice pulling back if the pitch is considerably out of the strike zone. After each batter has received 2 pitches, he gives his bat to the next person in line, and then moves to the back of the other line to face the other pitcher.

We normally run this baseball drill for approx. 20 minutes to make sure everyone receives plenty of reps.

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Lightning Round Batting Practice
The player comes up to bat with a 2-2 count.  He is up there to hit the baseball and swing at strikes.  I usually give them two chances the 1st go around and after that if they strike out, then we go to the next player.  A baseball coach pitches, so you should not have walks.  Once you eliminate the fear for the kid getting out and swinging, this baseball drill is really fun and fast paced.  That is why I call it “The Lightning Round”.

Closed Eyes Drill
This next drill requires multiple position batting tee.  Batter takes hitting position in box then closes eyes. The coach puts the ball in different positions on tee and batter then opens eyes and hits. This drill helps with recognizing pitch location .

Blackeyed Pea Drill
We started doing an old drill a few weeks ago the boys love. It’s called the Black eyed pea drill. Buy a bag of pea’s from the grocery store for a couple of bucks and get to doing soft toss. It is a blast. We start with a swift stick. You can use anything from a broom stick to a regular bat. After about 20 hits with these, a baseball looks as big a a water melon. Great way to get kids to keep there eyes on what they are trying to hit at all levels.

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Bunting Drills
If you’re having a hard time getting a kid to square up and make contact during a bunt take the bat away from him and replace it with his glove.  Then put him in the batting cage or in the batter’s box and throw pitches at him forcing him to square like he has a bat, hold his hands like he has a bat but catch the ball with his glove hand.

This helps to eliminate the fear the kids have of squaring up against a pitch and helps to reinforce the visual perception he needs to catch the baseball with the bat.

Another simple, yet effective way to get kids to step towards the pitcher when batting goes like this.  Place a 2 x 4 board about 5 feet in length behind the batter’s feet.  As the boy swings into the pitch, he is to move his feet in parallel with the board so as not to step on the board.  If he steps on the board, then he’s not moving into the pitch and towards the pitcher’s mound effectively.  Doesn’t take long for them to step to the pitch and stay off the board.

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Basically the hitter stands in the batter’s box or backed up to a fence and the pitcher, usually the baseball coach, stands about 20 feet away.  The batter stands like he would be hitting, however the catch is he must turn his head away from the pitcher, like back towards the catcher.  The ball is thrown, pitched underhand for the small kids, and then the coach  yells “ball” and the batter must turn his head back toward the pitcher, pick up the baseball and then try to hit it.

This tends to make the batter focus more on picking up the ball, and improves bat speed as well.  I usually start with whiffle balls or rubber or soft balls.  Also the distance can get shorter between the pitcher and batter as the hitter gets better.

Another thing I use for batting practice is to use two tees one behind the other. The front tee holds the ball the rear tee is set slightly lower with no ball. Player needs to swing through to hit ball without hitting rear tee. Object is to stop young batters swinging up under the ball.

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We have a baseball drill to help kids that are having trouble with the grip on the bat and turning your hands over. You need an axe handle and small whiffle balls. You do soft toss using the axe handle as your bat. The skinny part of the handle forces you to put your knuckles together properly. Plus, if you don’t roll your hands at contact, it is hard to hit a small whiffle ball with the skinny side of the handle. And you also have to aim small.

This coaching drill is to help prevent pulling the head out.

Have the batter stand at the plate in his normal stance.  The baseball coach stands across from the batter.

The coach will throw tennis balls at the batter’s belt.  The batter will have to watch the ball and hit it toward the infield (as normal).  The tennis balls will not hurt the player and their focus on watching and hitting the ball is tremendously increased.

This baseball drill has converted the worst player from pulling their head.

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