The first thing I always say when I begin any baseball lecture is, "Player's are not stupid." This is to make an impression yes, but more importantly I want put to rest that Little League players are not "advanced" enough to understand the intricate details of hitting a baseball. At the end of the day, players only care about getting better. Training them with the drills that are going to help them get better regardless of how old a player is always appreciated. Unfortunately in today's world, there are 101 different drills that have been so watered down that it makes it very difficult to make any real progress. As a result, I want to give you 5 top-quality batting drills that are guaranteed to help you player make adjustments at the plate.
First off, let me explain why these drills are head and heels above all the other ones that are on the market. Believe it or not, it has nothing to do with the drills themselves. Players are naturally "stubborn" when it comes to making changes to their swing. Often times you will hear, "It feels uncomfortable" or "This throws me off" for which my response is "Good!" People are a afraid of change because it means a different result that they have never experienced before. With that mind, if a player has never felt uncomfortable in his batting training, all he has bee doing is excising by swinging a bat.
This is where I come in. I don't believe the best method of training is trying to convince someone to feel uncomfortable to make progress. That is a loosing battle for any coach and it's simply not going to happen. Instead, I like to design drills that force players out their comfort zone naturally. That way, when they go back to their "normal swing", adjustments have been made and they don't even know it. I call this technique "overtraining" or "over-exaggerating" the swing path. If that sounds a bit too theoretic for you, let's hop right into the drills so you see the method to my madness.
Top 5 Baseball Batting Drill Number One: The Samurai Drill. When I first got back into coaching, I began noticing a trend in most young players. They are what I characterize as "weight loaders". "Weight loaders" are typically stiff by nature and carry a lot of tension in their body that results in difficulty separating the hands and front leg during the load portion of the swing. As a result, I designed this drill to break that tension barrier. Have you player place his feet all the way together, and his have hands extended out straight towards the pitcher. Yes, it should be on the other side of his body. This is our starting position. From there we break the swing down into load and swing. On the load, the player draws his hands across his body to comfortable hitting position, and extends his front leg out towards the pitcher. For this drill only, I want the player to keep 90% of his weight on the backside of his body. This is done to over train the disconnect of his hands and feet. From there, the player takes his swing freely. Goal: Become comfortable with our hands and front leg loading away from our body.
Unorthodox baseball batting drill number 2, the Oar Drill. Nothing says baseball like an oar to paddle a boat right? In this drill you take the bat out your players hands and replace it with an oar. Then, have your player place the oar behind his back leaving the open face of the oar extended as the hitting surface. As you soft toss tennis balls to your player, he naturally has to rotate his back leg to hit the ball. This is a great drill to help players understand how to use their backside more appropriately and efficiently to give them more power.
Top 5 Baseball Batting Drill Number Three: Top Hand Drill. Out of all the drills I put my players through, this is the drill they struggle with the most. This is partly because using the hands is the most highly misunderstood step of the swing, but because players simply do not understand what it means to drive their hands to the inside part of the baseball. For this drill, have your player grip the bat with both hands. Then, have him open his top hand so just his palm is touching the bat. After that, he should place the back of his top hand on the other side of the handle. Finally, flip the hand over so the palm of his hand is on the opposite side of the handle and his thumb is pointing down. Note: Never grip the bat with your top hand. The goal is to push the handle of the bat through the zone with your top hand as you swing. For those of you out there who think you will not be able to generate any power, I have seen my players hit doubles off the wall in batting practice to all fields. The key is to extend your top hand to the field of play you want to hit the baseball. Goal: Understand what it feels like to drive your hands hard to the baseball.
Unorthodox baseball batting drill number 4, the Carrier Drill. Making up for timing mistakes is one of, if not the most important aspect of hitting a baseball. Saying that, it is very rarely practiced. This drill involves two tees placed in a line. The tees should be at the same height and anywhere from a foot to two feet apart. Next, place a baseball on each tee. The goal is to have the player hit both baseballs with one swing. In order for a player to do this effectively, the bat must be kept level through the hitting zone. This is why I use the idea of landing the bat on an aircraft carrier, because they are long and flat.
Tope 5 Baseball Batting Drill Number 5: The Reverse Bucket Drill. You are sure to get an awkward look from your player the first time he works out using this drill. Saying that, at the end of the drill he will come away with better balance, and a better finish. Have your player take his batting stance. Then, place a bucket under his back leg for him to step on. This elevates the back foot dramatically and removes stability from his stance. Then have him load and swing. Note: Players back leg lightly rotates or rolls onto the topside of their foot as they swing. If the player over rotates the bucket will fall over. The key to this drill is staying balanced through contact and finishing through the baseball instead of around his body. Goal: Understand how over-rotating can affect you power through contact.
If you think these drills are unorthodox, I would say that is a definite maybe. However, they get results and the last time I checked that is the name of the game. After performing these batting drills players will have a much better understanding of what it takes to be a successful hitter, and will have a clear picture of the type of swing they are striving for. Use these batting drills during your next baseball training session and being taking the steps to becoming a better batter today.
First off, let me explain why these drills are head and heels above all the other ones that are on the market. Believe it or not, it has nothing to do with the drills themselves. Players are naturally "stubborn" when it comes to making changes to their swing. Often times you will hear, "It feels uncomfortable" or "This throws me off" for which my response is "Good!" People are a afraid of change because it means a different result that they have never experienced before. With that mind, if a player has never felt uncomfortable in his batting training, all he has bee doing is excising by swinging a bat.
This is where I come in. I don't believe the best method of training is trying to convince someone to feel uncomfortable to make progress. That is a loosing battle for any coach and it's simply not going to happen. Instead, I like to design drills that force players out their comfort zone naturally. That way, when they go back to their "normal swing", adjustments have been made and they don't even know it. I call this technique "overtraining" or "over-exaggerating" the swing path. If that sounds a bit too theoretic for you, let's hop right into the drills so you see the method to my madness.
Top 5 Baseball Batting Drill Number One: The Samurai Drill. When I first got back into coaching, I began noticing a trend in most young players. They are what I characterize as "weight loaders". "Weight loaders" are typically stiff by nature and carry a lot of tension in their body that results in difficulty separating the hands and front leg during the load portion of the swing. As a result, I designed this drill to break that tension barrier. Have you player place his feet all the way together, and his have hands extended out straight towards the pitcher. Yes, it should be on the other side of his body. This is our starting position. From there we break the swing down into load and swing. On the load, the player draws his hands across his body to comfortable hitting position, and extends his front leg out towards the pitcher. For this drill only, I want the player to keep 90% of his weight on the backside of his body. This is done to over train the disconnect of his hands and feet. From there, the player takes his swing freely. Goal: Become comfortable with our hands and front leg loading away from our body.
Unorthodox baseball batting drill number 2, the Oar Drill. Nothing says baseball like an oar to paddle a boat right? In this drill you take the bat out your players hands and replace it with an oar. Then, have your player place the oar behind his back leaving the open face of the oar extended as the hitting surface. As you soft toss tennis balls to your player, he naturally has to rotate his back leg to hit the ball. This is a great drill to help players understand how to use their backside more appropriately and efficiently to give them more power.
Top 5 Baseball Batting Drill Number Three: Top Hand Drill. Out of all the drills I put my players through, this is the drill they struggle with the most. This is partly because using the hands is the most highly misunderstood step of the swing, but because players simply do not understand what it means to drive their hands to the inside part of the baseball. For this drill, have your player grip the bat with both hands. Then, have him open his top hand so just his palm is touching the bat. After that, he should place the back of his top hand on the other side of the handle. Finally, flip the hand over so the palm of his hand is on the opposite side of the handle and his thumb is pointing down. Note: Never grip the bat with your top hand. The goal is to push the handle of the bat through the zone with your top hand as you swing. For those of you out there who think you will not be able to generate any power, I have seen my players hit doubles off the wall in batting practice to all fields. The key is to extend your top hand to the field of play you want to hit the baseball. Goal: Understand what it feels like to drive your hands hard to the baseball.
Unorthodox baseball batting drill number 4, the Carrier Drill. Making up for timing mistakes is one of, if not the most important aspect of hitting a baseball. Saying that, it is very rarely practiced. This drill involves two tees placed in a line. The tees should be at the same height and anywhere from a foot to two feet apart. Next, place a baseball on each tee. The goal is to have the player hit both baseballs with one swing. In order for a player to do this effectively, the bat must be kept level through the hitting zone. This is why I use the idea of landing the bat on an aircraft carrier, because they are long and flat.
Tope 5 Baseball Batting Drill Number 5: The Reverse Bucket Drill. You are sure to get an awkward look from your player the first time he works out using this drill. Saying that, at the end of the drill he will come away with better balance, and a better finish. Have your player take his batting stance. Then, place a bucket under his back leg for him to step on. This elevates the back foot dramatically and removes stability from his stance. Then have him load and swing. Note: Players back leg lightly rotates or rolls onto the topside of their foot as they swing. If the player over rotates the bucket will fall over. The key to this drill is staying balanced through contact and finishing through the baseball instead of around his body. Goal: Understand how over-rotating can affect you power through contact.
If you think these drills are unorthodox, I would say that is a definite maybe. However, they get results and the last time I checked that is the name of the game. After performing these batting drills players will have a much better understanding of what it takes to be a successful hitter, and will have a clear picture of the type of swing they are striving for. Use these batting drills during your next baseball training session and being taking the steps to becoming a better batter today.
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