Baseball Hitting Drills

By Kenny Buford

That One’s Outta There!

Nothing quite beats the sound of a bat cracking a pitch so perfectly that the batter barely even needs to look up to see it’s out of the park. A satisfying smile creeps across the batter’s face as they toss the vibrating bat aside, jogging the rounds of the bases with pride. The following baseball hitting drills aim to improve your team’s batting skills so that more players can experience the joy of cracking one out of the park.

Have your players perform the following hitting exercise at every practice to help them build muscle memory in the crucial lower body region. Each hitter takes a bat, places it behind their back and while gripping the bat firmly assume their hitting stance.

Next, have players take a stride inwards, then remove the top hand and use it to pull the bat around their waist. At this time, players are rolling up on their back foot and their knees and abdomen should be facing outwards, towards where the pitcher would be situation. From here, have players resume their normal stance before repeating 10 times. Players will begin to feel the improvements in their lower body muscles after just a few practices.

Arm Isolation

The first of the baseball hitting drills can be used to strengthen arm muscles and improve hitter confidence by hitting the ball using only one hand on the bat. Make sure that batter begin with the lead hand choked very high up the bat. Weaker players may need to place the hand from their weaker arm in the armpit of the batter arm for extra power and support.

Before attempting to hit, have players swing the bat a few times with just their lead arm. Make sure approach the pitches with caution, staying back on the ball as much as possible. Allow each player 5 successful hits before switching arms and performing double the reps with the weaker arm to build additional strength. After adding this to your arsenal of drills, players will ideally develop equal arm strength in each arm, or at least build crucial muscle memory in their weaker arm.

Don’t Hit the Chair

The next of the baseball hitting drills is perfect if you have a number of players on your team who cut too far upwards when hitting. To set up the drill, set up a batting tee at home plate and a folding chair behind the tee. The seat of the chair should be facing the tee and the tee should be slightly lower than the back of the chair.

Have your hitter approach the plate and assume their normal stance just behind the chair. Players are to swing and hit the ball through the hole in the chair, forcing players to accommodate a downward angle to their swing. I like to use metal folding chairs for this drill because of the loud sound made when players fail to add enough downward arc to their swing. This drill is great for players looking to develop their line drive hits as they are shown the ideal spot to hit the ball to produce such a result.

About The Author

Kenny Buford has coached nearly every level of baseball in a career that spans several decades. You can get instant access to his championship baseball practice plans and more baseball hitting drills by visiting his website:

http://www.Baseball-Practice-Plans.com/

For a limited time, all coaches who visit Kenny's site will also get a free copy of his special report: "The 7 Biggest Mistakes Baseball Coaches Make". Go get your free copy today!

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