Batting Drills
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1. STANCE - (A) As a hitter, it has to do with how and where you stand in the batter's box. In addition, and more importantly, it refers to where your hands, elbows, shoulders, bat, feet, knees, hips, and head are prior to the pitch being delivered. (B) Defensively, it also has to do with how and where you stand at your position. Things such as glove, throwing hand, eyes, knee bend, waist bend, and neck bend are included in the term.

2. PRE-PITCH MOVEMENT - (A) As a hitter, it is a movement, whether it be the front knee, hands, body lean, or a combination of the three. This is a movement BACK (away from the pitcher) prior to taking a stride and swinging. Why is this movement important ? It helps to achieve power. A common comparison is with a boxing punch. Would you have more power with a quick jab by only moving your hand forward, or by raring BACK and throwing a haymaker ? This is commonly referred to as a "trigger" by some batting instructors. (B) As a defensive position player, it is a movement you make with the feet, knees, waist, glove hand, and throwing hand prior to the pitched ball arriving in the contact zone. This is commonly a small move forward, toward home plate, in anticipation of the ball being hit to you. It is always a move to attain balance, while keeping your weight centered over the balls of your feet. When you play defense, you need to be able to react and move quickly in any direction depending on where the ball is hit. Think of yourself playing defensive back in football, or guarding someone in basketball.

3. STRIDE - A movement (if any) of the front foot prior to the swing. Ideally the stride is "quiet", small, and right back towards the pitcher. Think of yourself striding on a carton of eggs. This is far from an absolute. Frank Thomas has a "loud", big stride towards the second baseman, yet he is a very successful hitter. This is also termed "start" by other hitting instructors.

4. LAUNCH POSITION - The position of your entire body after you have made your pre-pitch movement and taken your stride. These movements are not to be mechanical or like a robot. You should flow from each stage of the entire swing smoothly. It is from this position that you will recognize pitch location and decide for yourself as to swing or to take the pitch.

5. SWING - A movement that incorporates the whole body to move the bat down, forward, and through the baseball. Theoretically, the swing should remain the same each time like in golf. The only variable should be the pitched ball's location, which should dictate where the batted ball travels. (i.e. the inside pitch gets pulled, whereas an outside pitch would be hit up the middle or to the opposite field.) This again is not an absolute. I have spent parts of three seasons picking the brain of Reggie Jackson. There is a wealth of knowledge in just talking baseball with a Hall of Fame player. I asked Reggie one day, "You hit 563 homers in your career. Did you always try to hit the ball over the fence ?" He said, "No. I always tried to hit the ball hard through the middle of the diamond, some went over, some didn't. However, I did let the game dictate what I tried to do with the bat. Late in the game if the score was tied and we had two outs, I tried to win the game."

6. CONTACT POINT - Generic term referring to the point in time at which the bat meets the ball. There are several mechanical things to look for at this point. In the lessons weight distribution, top and bottom hands, shoulders, hips, front knee, back knee, front foot, and back foot will be discussed and stressed. The goal of these lessons is to make each individual a better hitter. It is not to make each individual the SAME hitter. What is right for Ted Williams or Ken Griffey Jr., will not always be right for you.

7. FOLLOW THROUGH - The finishing of the swing. Once contact is made, the swing continues "through" the ball; then the wrists "roll" or "break". This is an important point. The wrists roll or break after the ball leaves the bat, not at the point of contact. A visual explanation will be given in the lessons. The bat should finish over and around the front shoulder (the shoulder facing the pitcher). All of the movement discussed so far needs to be done with balance, because now the hitter turns into a baserunner.

8. PERFORMANCE ROUTINE - A pre-game or pre-practice routine that you develop on your own. You start to focus and mentally prepare for practice or the game. This may consist of a drill or series of drills that you perform that make you feel comfortable. The performance routine allows you to physically and mentally prepare. A typical routine may consist of 10 swings off a tee, 10 swings of short toss, and 10 one-hand isolation swings.

Baseball Hitting Drills

1. STRETCH - A very important and often overlooked part of baseball. You should never swing a bat or throw a baseball full-speed with out jogging (or otherwise increasing your blood pressure), and stretching.

2. TEE WORK - Don't let this be a boring start to your hitting program. Tony Gywen takes thousands of swings everyday. These are not all during live batting practice. "Dry" swings in front of a mirror, tee drills, and short toss drills are all important parts of a performance routine. The tee can be positioned to practice on inside, outside, or middle pitches. Elevation (up or down in the strike zone) can also be changed.

3. SHORT TOSS or FLIP DRILL - The instructor is positioned off to the side or behind a net and tosses a baseball underhand into the strike zone. This is a great drill for all talent levels. The Yankees use this drill at the big league level. It is a great drill for those making the transition from tee-ball to machine or live pitched baseballs. It gives the batter a chance to "grove" his swing. With proper repetition, this drill builds good mechanics and helps to train muscle memory. This drill is performed always striving for a line drive through the middle of the field. Since you are hitting into a catchnet only a few feet away, it makes no sense to see how far you can hit the ball.

4. THROW BACK, THROW THROUGH DRILL - The instructor positions himself the same way as in short toss. The batter starts by relaxing his arms and pointing the bat in the general direction of home plate. The instructor tosses a ball underhand exaggerating the arm's backswing. When the batter sees the instructor start his arm back, he throws his hands and bat back to where he would regularly start his swing from. As the ball enters the contact zone, the hitter then throws his hands and bat through the ball with the same mindset as in short toss. This purpose of this drill is to see where the ideal place for YOUR hands, elbows, and bat are after your pre-pitch movement and prior to swinging. I am not teaching you my way of hitting. I am teaching you the right way to hit given your style.

5. WALK-THROUGH DRILL - This drill begins with the batter a few feet further away from the instructor than in the short toss drill. The batter starts the drill by taking a small step forward with his back foot. The front foot is then lifted and set down where the foot would end up at the conclusion of the stride. These movements ultimately bring the hitter back close to the stating point of the short toss drill. Following the "walk-up" with the feet, a ball is tossed underhand into the hitting zone. At this point the hitter replicates the swing from the prior two drills. This is a difficult drill to comprehend in words, but a great baseball drill that emphasizes balance, weight transfer, and the pivot action of the back foot.

6. HIT FROM LAUNCH POSITION - From the same starting point as in the short toss drill, the batter does his pre-pitch movement and takes his stride. The instructor times this move and delivers a toss into the hitting zone. Without any extra movement, the batter takes his hands and bat to and through the baseball. This reaffirms the pre-pitch movement while also training muscle memory of the correct swing plane. This is a great drill used to break bad habits. The two bad habits that are corrected by this drill are swinging with a "loop" and dropping your back shoulder.

7. BOTTOM AND TOP HAND ISOLATION DRILLS - This drill is a variation of the hitting from the launch position drill. One difference is that the batter is using a shorter bat or is choking up on his own bat. The other difference is that the swing is done with only one hand. The hand that is not involved in the swing is bent and kept next to the torso. I liken this drill to using a dumbbell in the weight room. The movement is the same as in the launch position drill, but by isolating each hand you are training the hands individually to work together. This drill helps people that are described as being dominant with a particular hand. It also is a step in the process of achieving correct muscle memory.

8. SOFT TOSS W/ "PUMP FAKE" - The instructor conducts the short toss drill as described above but with a major difference. The instructor will not throw every ball. When the batter recognizes that the thrown ball was nothing but a pump fake, he should remain in the launch position and wait for a ball to then be thrown. At this point, the drill mimics the hitting from launch position drill. A random sequence should be followed. The batter will have no idea if the ball will be thrown or not. This helps to keep a hitter honest and to not cheat the swing. You are not to swing at every pitch thrown. You are to be prepared to hit anything thrown, but swing only when you recognize a pitch you can handle.

9. LIVE BATTING PRACTICE ON A FIELD - This is the part that everybody loves. You can see where the ball travels and how far it goes. As long as it doesn't turn into a homerun hitting contest, batting practice is fine. It is a necessary drill to develop timing and such, but it should not be looked upon as a drill. It is just hitting. You concentrate on fundamentals and mechanics in a batting cage or during the hitting drills. These drills are repetitive to help create muscle memory. When you are on a field hitting a pitched ball it should become just another reaction. When you are thirsty at home you simply get a glass, fill it with milk, and drink it. You don't THINK about opening the refrigerator door and pouring the milk. You (like Nike says) just do it. That should be your approach to hitting. Think when you drill, and play the game "on automatic pilot".

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