These [tag]baseball hitting drills[/tag] are ones I used with youth [tag]baseball[/tag] teams. I try to make [tag]baseball practice[/tag] fun while improving baseball skills at the same time.
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 [tag]baseball drill[/tag] 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!