From Tom…
Here is my very best baseball coaching tip. I was tired of having my players watch the third strike. I noticed that my more aggressive batters never got to the third strike.

Time to change the rules: I told my players at the beginning of the baseball tournament–You can not have a first strike called looking. If a batter did, the entire team would have to run 60′ for each and every called first strike at the end of the game.

The first game we only had 3 batters get caught looking. The entire team led by the baseball coaches sprinted around from home to third. The rest of the tournament we only had 1 called first strike. The players cheered each other on and went up to the plate looking for that first swing (hit) with aggression in their hearts. The baseball pitchers obliged us by throwing 80% first strike pitches. Even a ground ball or a strikeout that wasn’t a first pitch looking was viewed as a success by the team and reinforced positive behavior. The team raised their batting average by 100 points and we made the semi’s.

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From Patrick…
Drill:  In, Out, Up the Middle

Setup:
This baseball drill can be used during baseball practice or as an individual or team competition.
Place 2 cones on the edge of the outfield grass, 1 behind the shortstop and 1 behind the second baseman. This divides the field into 3 areas.  Place 2 strips of tape from the front of the plate to the back to divide home plate into 3 equal sections. Place a pitching screen close enough to home plate that you can control the location of the pitch.

Execution:
As each pitch approaches the plate, the hitter must call out the location as he starts his swing (in, out, or middle) and hit the ball to the appropriate part of the field.

Example: Right-handed hitter: Inside pitch– hitter should call out “in” and pull the baseball to the left side of the infield. Outside pitch– hitter should call “out” and hit the ball to the opposite field. Pitch down the middle; hitter calls out middle and hits the ball back up the middle.

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From Dan…
Here’s something that has really helped my hitters grasp the idea of starting your swing with your hips.  It’s not as much a baseball drill as an illustration.  I simply call it “eye balls”.

Place a small piece of athletic tape on both of your knee caps and one on your belt buckle.  Draw an eye ball (a black dot) in the center of each piece of tape.  When you’re in your hitting stance, your “eye balls” face home plate.  When you take your stride, your “eye balls” face home plate.  Then at the moment you begin your swing, all at once, all 3 of your “eye balls” turn and look at the pitcher.

Stand up and try it.  It just seems to help with the concept of starting your swing with your hips.

From Danny…
One of the baseball hitting drills we do really helps the boys wait on the baseball and they learn to pull the ball.

1.  Coach will pitch to the player a variety of lob pitches, almost softball style of pitch.
2.  The player (right handed hitter) is instructed that he has to hit the ball between the short stop position  and 3rd base, Left handed hitter must hit between the 2nd baseman position and 1st base.
3.  We want the hitter to wait as long as possible and then hit a line drive.

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From Doug…
Skill tip:  FAST Runner on third (less than two outs) and a HIGH and SHALLOW fly ball is put into play.  The outfielder (or shortstop/second basemen) has plenty of time to get positioned under the baseball.  With a fast runner tagging up to score, the full “back-cross-step and crow-hop” before throwing takes too much time to get a fast runner at the plate.  In this situation the fielder needs only to lift their throwing-side leg (thigh parallel to the ground) as they catch the ball.  Once caught, they drop that leg and throw – try it, it significantly shortens the release time.  The trade off is that you can’t throw as far, so that it why it’s only advisable on shallow balls.

Bunting game:  Split your squad into two teams.  One team takes the field (infield only – I use a baseball coach to pitch, but have a pitcher player standing next to him).  The other team is bunting.  The bunting team gets one point for safely reaching first base, a second point for reaching second base, and a third for reaching third.  That team is up until three outs are recorded.  The fielding team must use the proper bunt defense based on where the runners are (i.e. if there is a runner on second the third baseman needs to hold).  The bunting team is pressured to make good bunt to advance runners.  This baseball drill/game has been a player favorite for the last two seasons.

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From Greg…
Batting practice

I use stations, one with a cone hitting into the fence, one with a baseball coach flipping balls for a batter to hit into the fence, a coach pitch bunting station, and last but not least the zip and hit station.

The zip and hit is the ball that is fed to the batter with the separation of two strings that are strung through the center of a softball. You can buy this at Dicks for about $30. At the zip station the batter takes a zip pitch at 5 different speeds starting slow and ramping up to very fast.

We rotate the stations at a fast pace and in groups to keep things moving. With this station approach we can get a lot of hitting in. The zip and hit is fun and is giving our baseball players perfect pitches at different speeds to hit. This has helped our kids hit much better.

If we don’t have a coach to man a station a player can step in to help.

Technorati Tags: baseball hitting practice, baseball coaching tip, baseball coach, baseball

From Randy…
Here are 2 ideas we use training for baseball.  I coach a 10u team.  This works real good before a game to get a lot of swings in a short amount of time.

Put about 5 to 6 of your players in a circle about 10 to 15 ft. apart for this baseball drill.  The thrower is in the middle of the circle and throws a couple of pitches to each batter them moving on to the next hitter.  This keeps things moving and the players can get a good amount of cuts in before the game.

Also, there is a new practice golf ball on the market that is great for baseball hitting practice.  They are called ‘ALMOST GOLF BALLS”   They are harder than the small plastic ones but not as hard as a real golf ball.   When you throw and hit them, you get a more accurate flight to the bat and off the bat.  My team loves to hit them plus the smaller balls make them concentrate on seeing the ball all the way to the bat.  You can find them on-line or at your local Golf shop. They run .99 a piece or usually 3 dozen for $29.99

Technorati Tags: baseball training aids, baseball, baseball drill, baseball hitting practice

From Bill…
Here’s a simple baseball tip to help batters keep their eyes on the ball:

Take a bucket of baseballs (15-24) and divide them into three equal groups.  Draw and color in two medium sized triangles on opposite sides of the the ball in one third, cirlces on another third and leave the last third alone.  Or take it to the next level and use different colors for the same shapes.  Throw these during batting practice.  It’s amazing how quickly the batter learns to watch the ball.

I’ve also had some success using whiffle-like golf balls for soft toss.  Smaller target…more concentration.

From Michael…
We try improve our kids hitting by employing a hitting drill using little ping pong ball sized whiffle balls. A baseball coach stands 15 feet from a batter and lobs the whiffle balls.

This baseball drill teaches hand to eye coordination and helps improve batting skills.

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From Monty…
This is a baseball hitting drill I use with my team.

Bunt Game
Draw numbered boxes in front of home plate — 0 points too close to home plate, 0 points too close to fielders, 1 point for about 5 feet from the plate, 2 points a littler farther away, up to 3 points for spots down the first- and third-base lines.

Divide into two teams. Coach pitches, and each batter gets one pitch to get the bunt down. Alternate pitches to the teams and keep going through the lineup until the score reaches 21. Losers take a lap or whatever penalty or reward the baseball coach wants.

From Skip…
This soft toss baseball hitting drill is designed for the batter to wait, keep their weight back.

Put a cinder block where home plate would be.  The batter takes their normal stance with the cinder block representing home plate.  The feeder stands behind the batter and bounces a ball on the cinder block so the ball comes straight up.  The batter must wait until the ball is on its downward motion. The batter swings at the ball.  Good baseball drill to have batter keep weight back and wait for a breaking ball.

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From Robert…
Here’s a baseball batting drill that I use:
Equipment:
3 different sizes of 1” PVC pipe (I coach 10U team so I have 26”, 28”, & a 30” pipes)
Bucket of golf ball size wiffle balls
Bucket of baseball size wiffle balls

Drill:
Using the pipes as bats, I have them start trying to hit the golf ball wiffle balls as many times as they can.  I vary from tossing it from the side, just behind them, and also from the front.

This can be a very frustrating baseball drill so I like to show them how much they are improving by first tossing a few of the baseball size wiffle balls to let them see how they are striking them and then again after the drill and they can usually see a substantial increase in not just the number of hits, but also how much more centered they are hitting them.

Then they end up wanting to do the drill more.

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From TJ…
The towel drill (hitting)

This baseball drill is used to help keep a hitter from uppercutting and force him to take a shorter, more compact swing.

Place a towel under the batter’s front elbow and have him take swing against live pitching. If he swings correctly, the towel will not fall to the ground because the elbow will pull down, forcing the hands down and making them quicker through the strike zone. If the batter uppercuts, the front elbow will fly upward and the towel will fall. This baseball drill can be used in all types of batting practice.

Don’t use this drill too much because it shortens the arc of the swing out in front where you want extension. Use this primarily for hitter who chicken wings the lead arm.

From Tom…
Here is a good drill for hitters to get the feel for a proper swing motion.  Simple yet very effective for young players especially.  Frisbee throw.  Yes, that’s it.  Just have them throw a frisbee - correctly of course - with their lead hand (left for right handed hitters) and (right for left handed hitters).

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