There are a couple great drills for baseball that borrow tools from another game – whiffle ball. One drill we’ll use the whiffle ball and a
baseball bat, and in the other, we’ll make use of the whiffle bat. And believe it or not, whiffle balls and bats make for some of the best baseball hitting drills.
Whiffle Ball Drill
Not matter how long you’ve been coaching baseball, unless you happen to be an ex-Major League level pitcher, it can be very tough to consistently put the baseball in some of the outskirts of the strike zone. And moving up from the pitchers mound can put you at risk of being hit by ricocheting balls. That’s why I love this whiffle ball drill.
Go down on one knee, several yards in front of the batters box, with a bucket full of whiffle balls at your side. With the batter setup, grab a ball, show it to them, and then loft it into the desired area of the strike zone. Not only will it be much easier to pinpoint the exact destination of your throws, but using the tiny whiffle ball will help your batter focus, and hitting a full sized baseball after will be like swinging at a beach ball!
Whiffle Bat Drill
This is a great drill for helping your players improve bat speed. Stand in front of the batter, with a whiffle bat in your hand, extended horizontally, with the tip just inside the strike zone.
The goal here is for the player to hit the whiffle bat with their own baseball bat. As a coach, you will simply lift the bat slightly with your wrist, as soon as the batters hand begin to move.
Not only will this help your players keep track of improvement on their bat speed, but it will also teach them that their hands should be the last part of their swing to rotate, as they should be working up from their feet, knees, hips, and torso well before their hands.
If you’re looking for more other helpful baseball tips, click on the link, or leave a comment or question below! I’ll get to it as soon as I can.