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"Hitting a baseball is one of the most difficult skills to master in sports . Depending on your players' age and inexperience you will have your work cut for you .Young players must be taught the four key components of hitting .
The Grip
The Stance
The Stride
The Swing
If you teach the fundamentals of hitting over time and I stress time even the weakest hitter on the team will improve their swing . With lots of practice and encouragement you just might have another Babe Ruth sitting on your bench .
The T-Drill
The purpose of this drill is to help hitters gain an level-compact smooth swing .
You will need to pair off your players for this drill .To set up this drill put the batting tee on top of home plate . Using home plate will allow your player to get a comfortable feel for being at the plate and not the tee . One player puts the ball on the tee the other hits it . It is a good idea to move the tee around home plate so that your players get used to hitting the ball from different pitches . This drill help develop the skill for good contact with the ball . Make sure the hitters are concentrate on contact and watch the ball as they swing .
Strike Recognition Drill
I am the coach of the 1998 13 yr. old Dizzy Dean Ala. State Champs. This hitting drill we use alot is a strike recognition drill. The drill teaches a batter to swing at only the strikes and take pitches out of the strike zone. It is also designed to encourage our hitters to hit hard line drives and hard ground balls. The batter is allowed 5 swings or called strikes in one at bat (fouls don't count). He may take 50 pitches if they are not in the strike zone. When he hits the ball, we give each hit a grade from 5 as the maximum and 1 as the lowest. A score of 5 is a powerful line drive, 4 is a hard ground ball, 3 is a long fly ball, 2 is a slow roller, 1 is a bloop or dribbler. We have a coach pitching, a coach calling balls and strikes and a father keeping score. Each batter usually can have a total of 3 at bats during one of these sessions. His score is tallied for each session and the team is given the results weekly. There should be a batter on deck (hitting soft toss or tee with a concentration on mechanics), when the hitter finishes he goes into a natural rotation by going to right field and shifting to a new defensive position with each batter (as you do in volleyball). In this drill the batter will soon realize that he can hit the strikes harder and more solidly. The coach that is pitching is mixing fastballs, curves and change ups into the pitches as well. We usually throw from a slightly shorter distance than the 54' the kids have to face in games. I think this makes them concentrate and react with a quicker bat. We will practice this drill usually twice per week. During this drill we are real relaxed and the kids love it, because of the competition. Put a bucket in center field and a bucket at second base to hold the balls that are relayed in when they are hit, this makes the drill go faster.
Coach Brandon Hill
THE ELBOW UP MYTH
I'm sure that every small child or coach that has worked with
kids has heard:
"Kept your back elbow up"
- well unfortunately this does not teach proper hitting technique
Here are some thoughts on this:
WHERE SHOULD THE BACK ELBOW BE?
Elbows must be relaxed.
How?
Create an upside down "V" with the arms and hands.
1. The back elbow needs to be in a relaxed position, with no
tension. Should not be above the hands
2. What is relaxed?
3. Relaxed means that the elbow should not be above the position
of the
hands.
Do not try and drive the back elbow up.
Why?
1. Having the elbow up and above the hands will create tension in
the shoulder and neck therefore reducing the ability to swing the
bat quickly and effectively.
2. The high elbow will cause the hitter to unlock the back elbow
as they start to swing by pushing out (casting), causing an upper
cut and long swing. In order to swing, the hitter will unlock
first which means they will straighten out the arm, which reduces
bat speed.
3. The high elbow will not allow the hitter to effectively fire
the hands and bat at the ball.
Relaxed Elbows @ 45 degrees
Why?
1. Initially teaches the proper path to the ball
2. Assists torso starting the swing.
3. Forces the batter to start hands by dropping the hammer.
4. Force hitter to swing with bent arms.
5. Removes the hitch and excess trigger action.
High Elbow/Hand Position on Bat
1. The high back elbow also does not allow the hitter the proper
grip on the bat.
2. Hitters need to keep the bat in the fingers (not the palms) in
order to create wrist snap and bat speed.
3. High back elbow makes it more difficult for the hitter to
create bat speed and maintain a short stroke.
4. The hands, bat and elbows should all be in a 45-degree
position. This position will give the batter the best chance to
maintain a quick,
compact stroke and along with hip rotation, create a smooth
consistent swing.
JD
Koltz
I'm a player on the midget house team and I just
began playing hardball last season. I would like to comment on a
nice way to teach the players how to hit. I myself have an
unusual swing and nobody told/taught me how to swing/hit, but I
hit the ball better then anyone on the team. During practices you
should let the players hit normal, game speed pitches in order
for them to get used that speed (make a small game during a
practice-make your pitchers pitch to their teammates- hitting
from a tee I think is a waste of time). I think that you should
also try and start the players off by bunting the ball and slowly
tell them to take half-swings (so they can make contact with the
ball), and then at the end full swings. I myself have a half-type
of a swing but I still have plenty of power to drive the ball to
the fence. Do not make a player change his swing if he is making
contact (only tell him how he could improve his swing) Also try
to let the players make their own decisions when they're up to
bat especially in a 3-0 or 3-1 count (do not make them take the
pitch, they've worked hard to get to that count and the next
pitch should be a fastball, if it's over the plate tell them to
swing for it).
Well, these are only my comments after what I saw in my first
year of playing baseball, and don't yell at your players after
they made a bad play, ask them of what they were thinking and
what they should have done instead. I'm saying this because I saw
that many coaches are more into the game then their players, and
want the team to win, instead of focusing on the main aspect,
which is to have fun.
By Artur Gai
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