Batting Stance Assessment & Correction
At the beginning of practice I tell all the guys to grab a bat and meet me at the pitchers mound. I tell them to get in a big circle facing in towards me.  I’m standing on the rubber in the middle of the circle.

I ask them to take a few steps backward until I’m sure there is a safe space between each of them.

We then all do some stretching and rotating exercises with the bats to loosen up.
Then I tell them to put their bats on the ground facing me and spread their feet about shoulder length apart or just a little wider. A comfortable A-frame batting placement.  Because they are all facing me, their feet are all facing straight forward, they way you would want them.

With all the players in a circle facing me, I can quickly look around the circle and correct any wrong foot placement. I can look and correct all the players on the team within 30 seconds. I can also ask assistant coaches to walk around behind the players and help correct any wrong placement.

Next–we dance.  I start calling out Left-Right-Left-Right and demonstrate weight transfer from my back foot to the front foot.  Since all the players are in the circle and facing me, they all see me demonstrating the rhythm of the weight transfer and they can all see each other for an example of what we are doing.

Then I ask them to dangle their arms in front of them and swing their arms with the rhythm of the weight transfer…back foot…front foot…back foot..
front foot. Then they pick up their bats and do the weight transfer dance while holding their bats out in front of them perpendicular to their bodies.

Then I yell “lock it up”.  All the guys get set into their bat ready stance and hold as if waiting for a pitch.

At this point I can again look around quickly and check the stances, make sure of feet placement, weight on the back foot, hand and arm placement, head placement and the coaches walk around behind the guys and correct any problems.

When I’m sure everyone is in a correct stance I yell “load and swing”. The guys all load, step, swing and hold.

The coaches and I check the finish of each player.  We check the hip rotation, where the hands finish, straight front leg, not too wide of a front step/foot spacing, back foot twist (squish the bug), and head down.

Again, because everyone is in a circle facing me,  I can quickly walk around and make adjustments in a very short amount of time.

If any player is having a difficult time getting the idea of any part of this drill, I can easily demonstrate all of the steps with all of the players watching me all at the same time. With a 5-15 minute drill I’ve got every player on the same page of what I want their batting stance and swing to look like.

We do this at the beginning of each practice and it gets quicker each time.  Once I have all players using a good and correct batting stance and swing, we then continue other hitting drills.

Our first batting practice this season was very promising and players only needed some small tweaking on their stances because they all knew what we wanted their stances and swings to look like from the very beginning.

I teach my players to use their gloves as a “broom” and “sweep” the ball into their bare hand with their closed glove. This ensures that they will grip the ball cleanly to be able to throw, instead of having to bare hand the ball or waste time using the glove’s pocket.

Two In One Drill
Line three balls up approximately 5 feet away from each other.
Each player has a partner.
One starts at one end line and sprints to the first ball, gets his butt/shoulders around BEFORE touching the ball, sweeps the ball into his glove, and throws it back to the partner.
He sprints back to touch the end line, then sprints to the second ball and follows the same routine.

I generally use a timer and give them a goal time to meet. Sometimes I’ll work groups of three and have the off person do push-ups or “hover” (working the abs) until the partner finishes fielding.

Face the Base
I hang the bases on the backstop and use them as a target for the kids to throw to.  It really helps us look as they throw the ball to see what they need to improve on.
At the end of their throwing motion I would have them Face the Base to complete their motion.

Fielding and Hitting Drill
This is a simple drill, but allows players to get a lot of fielding and even some hitting work over a short period of time.
You have 3 players per group; a hitter, a tosser, and a fielder.
The fielder should stand about 30-40 feet away from the hitter.
The hitter chokes up and uses a short swing.
The tosser, kneels and tosses balls to the hitter from the side.

As soon as the hitter hits one ball, he qucikly resets, and the next ball is tossed.  The fielder must field the ball, toss it to the side and quickly get ready for the next one. After all balls have been hit, players switch places.

This drill can be run for 15 minutes or coach can set a certain number of rounds.

Hitting Basics
I’m going to get about 20 whiffle balls and a tee for them to hit off while the prior batter is still in the box.  I will have them hit whiffle balls into the backstop and get the kinks out, get them to keep their eye on the ball, work on rotating their hips and visualize the pitch getting to the hitting zone, then making that swing before they hit real balls.

My goal is to get a bunch of weekend warriors to take extra swings and get warmed up before they hit their first baseball.

Like I said, not rocket science, but it’s an easy way to make a cold body doing unnatural motions warm before it counts, and not waste others’ time.

Practice Game Drill
Here is another idea about getting some real game action in a controlled setting:  Coach pitch to a hitter and have them live hit.  Play out the ball.

If the better is out, that’s one of three outs. If not, the hitter stays on base and plays the situation with the next batter. When there are 3 outs, clear the bases and start again.
The players love this and it is very reflective of real game play.

Bunt Game, Tourney Style!
Split up the kids into teams of 3

Use throw down base to make 4-5 “fields” in the outfield.
I make the bases anywhere from 25-40 feet apart.
Adjust accordingly to your players’ abilities.

• The defense is comprised of a first baseman, pitcher and third baseman.
• The offense must bunt the ball between the pitcher and the third base line. You can also set up cones or a string line a little left of the pitcher to make it more difficult for the hitters.
• Any ball popped up is an out, whether it is caught or not.
• Any ball to the right of the pitcher is also an out.
• The third baseman must stay behind the base until the bunter makes contact.
• The pitcher makes a good crisp throw but must not throw too hard.  The idea is to bunt the ball, not strike people out from a short distance.
• A “run” is scored each time the offense reaches first safely.
• No runners stay aboard, their goal is to simply beat the throw at first.

We play 3 inning games and do it tourney style.

Every inning, rotate the defense so each kid plays each position once. Be sure to wear helmets.

The kids always enjoy the competition and want to do this drill every chance they get.  Great for infielders to practice quick hands and an excellent way to get plenty of reps in for bunting.  Every year kids talk about who won the bunt tourney!

The Swing
This drill is for getting the turn into the swing.Use a “T” for this batting drill.

• Take proper stance at home plate with “T” in front of plate.
• Place bat end on belly button and angle or point bat back at appx 45 degree angle.
• Freeze that position of the bat.
• Then small step toward pitcher, squash the bug hard and fast, turn those hips and hit the ball.
• Do not move that bat from the belly or change the angle.
• Do not use hands except to hold the bat in the original position.

Repeat 10 to 15 full hard twists. Take a break then step back up and use the same body turn but add a full swing this time for 10 to 15 reps.

Catch Above the Waist Drill
Young or inexperienced ball players have a lot of trouble catching balls above the waist.

I teach them the “HI” method. Take the glove off and wave and say “Hi”.  Put the glove back on and say “Hi” to the ball as it comes to you.

It is an almost instant fix to glove position for balls above the waist.

Our players really like this as they can visualize the concept of where to throw the ball and where everyone moves to on hits to different areas with various runners on base. We use it every day.

Decision Drill
Example: Scoring from Second to Home and Home to Second
Purpose:  To improve outfielder decision making on whether to go for the lead runner or the batter-base runner.
The on-deck batter practices coaching the runner coming home, and pitchers practice backing up home.

Procedure:
1. From home plate the hitter hits balls to all parts of the outfield.
2. The runner attempts to score and the batter tries to reach second.
3. The runner at home starts on the right side of the plate out of the hitter’s way and goes on contact to make the play realistic.
4. The runner at second assumes a leadoff position and then reacts to the hit.
5. The outfielder must choose to throw home or to the second baseman or shortstop covering second.
6. The first baseman assumes the cutoff position. On the hit the pitcher immediately takes proper backup position at home.
7. The on-deck batter moves into position behind home plate, facing the runner and giving hand signals to the runner to stand or slide to one side of the plate or the other.
8. Runners can actually slide or can stay upright and swing wide to the right to avoid any contact.
9. Players rotate. The runner going home moves to the on-deck batter circle (ready to coach the next runner at home) and then joins the runners at home. Pitchers rotate to the pitcher’s mound from the line behind the first-base line.

Variation: Add the shortstop to practice relays on balls through or over the outfield.

Game Situation Drill
1. Have catcher in squat position with coach directly behind him.
2. Toss the ball in front of him.
3. Let him know where you are going to throw ball.
4. Ground ball in front of you to the right side. Toss ball, then say “go”. He can throw to the base that you want.
5. Ground ball to your left side in front of you. Ready, go.
6. Fly ball in back of you to your right side. Toss ball. Ready, go.  From the squat position he turns and fields ball, throws to base assigned or back to pitcher.
7. Ground ball behind you to your left side; ready, go
8. You can go front, left side, right side, either front or in back of them. Throw to pitcher or assigned base.
9. This drill will sure help your catcher to work on game situations!

Coaching Tip
To work on stronger swings, we hit a slightly flat soccer ball off the tee.  There are 2-3 players in the field, and they must all run and touch the batted soccer ball while the batter runs the bases.  The batter gets a point for each base touched before the fielders all put their hands on the ball.

Indoor Infield T-Ball Around
Equipment: 5-position tee, throw down bases, dozen softie balls, bat and batting helmet
Area: ½ Basketball Court
Players recommended: 5-6
Time: 15-20 minutes

Drill:
Place bases on modified (smaller area) diamond, place 5 players at all infield positions (excluding pitcher – if only 5 players available, have coach play catcher)

One player is the batter who hits off the tee (different tee positions and batter’s box adjustments are used)

Batter uses proper hitting technique to hit ball off the tee. Batter stays at tee for first four hits and runs on the fifth and final hit.

Fielders are instructed to go to 1st base no matter where the ball is hit to in the field. Once the first baseman receives the ball and steps on the base, the 1st baseman throws to 3rd.

Player covering 3rd base (may be either SS or 3rd baseman depending on where the ball was originally hit) makes a tag on the ground (as if a runner was coming from 2nd) and then throws to 2nd base. Player covering 2nd base (may be either SS or 2nd baseman depending on where the ball was originally hit) makes a tag on the ground (as if a runner was coming from 1st) and then throws home. The catcher then makes a tag on the ground in front of the plate on the 3rd base side.

On the fifth and final hit from the batter, the batter drops the bat and attempts to run around all bases and make it home before the ball is thrown successfully around the bases by the fielders.

Purpose:
Batter – by using the proper hitting technique off the tee, batters get better feedback than they do from tee hitting into a net. Line drives are the goal to having a steady level swing. Grounders and pop-ups are a sign of unlevel swing. Using different positions on the 5-position tee gives feedback on where a properly hit inside or outside pitch will end up.

As a runner on the fifth hit, the batter gets used to having the ball in play and a baseman near/over the base when running. Runner is instructed to avoid collisions for safety reasons.

Fielders – because of the smaller diamond size, fielders must be quick to move to field the ball. The softie ball bounces more and fielders must focus more on keeping their eyes on the ball all the way into the glove.

Fielders focus on proper fielding mechanics and throwing footwork to make the initial throw to first. Fielders learn to follow the ball once it’s hit. If hit to 3rd baseman, SS covers 3rd base, 2nd baseman covers 2nd base, if hit to 1st baseman, 2nd baseman covers 1st base and SS covers 2nd base, etc.

Good throws are practiced to each base; good sweeping tags are made to contact the floor/ground. When the batter is running on the final hit, fielders are practicing keeping their eyes on the ball and not the runner. Making good throws with a runner in the baseline.

Warm Up Practice Drill
We concentrate on the basics first, specifically things like running ALL THE WAY THROUGH first base. I watch for subtle things about their turns, their footwork, etc. If you practice Good Habits, they will be second nature when game time comes.

From there we move into game situations. We will practice 2 from my master list, until everyone understands and can execute it.

The next practice, we do the basics again, review the 2 from the last practice and then take a new one and work on that.

Base running is often times overlooked in lieu of other aspects of the game, but many times it is what wins or loses ballgames. By adding it into this spot in my practice schedule it not only ensures that we have reviewed and worked at them, but it stresses the importance of it to every player–as they know it is a priority.