Learning to hit a baseball is one of the most difficult tasks in sports. You are trying to hit a round ball with a round bat squarely. This takes hand-eye coordination, quickness, strength and confidence. When teaching young players how to hit, it's important to build the hitter's quickness and reactions so he can make more solid contact.
Wiffle Ball Tee Drill
This drill is used by hitters of all abilities and ages. Set up the wiffle ball on the batting tee. The idea is to swing at the ball and hit it level off the tee. You want to hit line drives with the wiffle ball. You don't want to hit the top of the ball and drive it into the ground nor do you want to hit the tube that is holding the ball. This relatively simple drill pays great dividends and it is endorsed by Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. "The sooner you can hit a wiffle ball cleanly off a tee, the sooner you will become a better hitter," Gwynn said. "Even after 18 years in the big leagues, every winter I go home and break out the tee and wiffle balls."
Soft Toss Drill
In this drill, the coach stands to the right of a right-handed batter or the left of a left-handed batter. The coach tosses the baseball in front of the batter's front leg. The idea is to develop the timing to drive this ball hard forward. As the coach tosses the ball, the batter begins his weight shift from his back leg to his front leg. Then the hands come through and the ball is hit hard. Since the ball is just tossed from a few feet away, making contact should not be a problem. The batter learns the feeling of hitting the ball hard and following through with the swing.
Power Drill
In order to build strength and learn how to hit the ball for power, use the batting tee. Take a toilet plunger and put it in the tube from the tee so that the plunger is facing upwards. Place a basketball on the plunger. Have the batter take his stance and swing at the ball. Since the ball is big and heavy, it will provide significant resistance. To make this drill effective, the batter must follow through and hit the basketball with a complete swing. Do this 10 times to build power on a consistent basis.
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