In today’s blog post, we are talking about 2 awesome hitting drills for power hitting & conditioning. Both of today’s drills use a PVC pipe, which is a great tool for a power hitter!
Power Hitting Drills: PVC Pipe Twists
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Setup: One of the great tools for a power hitter is the PVC pipe – a weighted plastic pipe about 10 feet long that you can find at any home depot for less than 10$. If you’re strong enough you can use a barbell instead for this drill, but I would suggest investing in one as they pay themselves off in no-time. You’ll also need a couple of balls, a bat, and a partner if possible.
Execution: Rest the pipe on the back of your shoulders, holding it behind your neck with your hands. Get into a wide athletic stance. Now rotate your upper body back and forth alternatively bringing each arm as close to 12 o’clock as you feel comfortable with. Complete 10 reps, and then get five soft toss hits in, or if you don’t have a partner, five dry swings will do as well.
Coaching Tips: The focus is on the upper body, so you should not be having any movement in your hips or legs as you rotate. If you’re having trouble isolating the upper body, try bending your knees a little more for increased lower body stability.
Variations: The two variations of this drill are all about changing the pace. You can try rotating forward slowly and then exploding back to your starting position, or you can just rotate back and forth as fast as you possibly can (under control).
Power Hitting Drills: PVC Pipe Walking Lunge & Twist
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Setup: All you’ll need is a length of PVC pipe.
Execution: Rest the pipe on the top of the back of your shoulders holding it with both hands once again. Now you’ll do a lunge forward, extending one leg forward and dropping down until your front leg is bent at about a 90 degree angle, and your back leg’s knee is at roughly a 90 degree angle,with your knee an inch or so off the ground. Then rotate your upper body, bringing the arm opposite the leg that’s extended to the front, then square your shoulders back up.So with your left foot forward, you would rotate the right arm, and vice versa.
This is one repetition. For your next repetition, depending on the amount of space available, you can either step back to your original position and then lunge with your opposite leg, or simply continue moving forward, taking the next lunge with the opposite leg. Complete 5-10 reps.
Coaching Tips: You should focus on keeping your lower body as still as possible during the rotations, isolating the upper body completely. Also, try to stay in a direct line with your lunges, and avoid having your front knee go past your toes – aim for those 90 degree angles.
For more great hitting drills, be sure to check out “Hitting Drills and Mechnics for Youth Baseball”! And be sure to Become a Fan on Facebook, where I will share more great baseball hitting drills, tips and techniques!