Hitting a baseball with a bat is widely considered one of the most difficult sports feats to accomplish with regularity. If you are successful one quarter of the time, you're considered to be professional material, and if you are successful 30 percent of the time, you'll go down as one of the all-time greats. Hitting involves a combination of several skill-sets at the plate, timing being one of the most important.
Soft Toss
This drill requires the use of a baseball bat, a bucket of balls, a hitting net and a partner. Stand in your batting stance with bat in hand. Face the net as if it were the pitcher and have your partner kneel to the side of you next to a bucket of balls. Have your partner toss balls into your hitting zone at various speeds and angles. Track the balls and swing normally, with the goal of hitting every ball into a designated "target area" located on the hitting net. This will help you wait on your back foot for the ball to drop.
Colored Balls
This drill requires the use of a baseball bat, a bucket of balls with colored dots on them and a partner. Stand in your batting stance, at the plate in the batter's box with bat in hand. Have your partner stand on the pitching mound with the bucket of balls beside him. Designate each ball color as being a particular pitch. For example, red dotted balls are curveballs, blue dotted balls are changeups, green dotted balls are sliders and orange dotted balls are fastballs. Have your pitcher pitch random colored balls to you, and call out the pitch type before you swing. This will help you recognize the spin of the ball, the arm angle and the amount of time it takes for each pitch to reach the plate.
Spray Hitting
This drill requires a bat, four cones, a partner and a bucket of balls. Using the four cones, divide the field into three sections-left, middle and right. Stand at the plate, in the batter's box, in your batting stance with bat in hand. Have your partner stand on the mound next to the bucket of balls. Decide which section of the field you will be aiming to hit the first round of balls, and then have your partner pitch 20 balls to you at varying speeds. React accordingly to hit each ball into your goal section. This will help you with pitch speed recognition, bat control and patience at the plate.
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