Category: Hitting
Type: Drill
Equipment: rubber hose, whiffle balls, tees
Venue: Indoor & Outdoor
TRAINING DRILLS
I have several drills that have proven successful for many different age groups. The first one is to stop overstriding.
Place a volleyball between your thighs and hit balls off the tee. Proceed to soft toss drill and keep the volleyball between your thighs. This really makes the hitter not overstride. You must keep the volleyball between your thighs at all times. This also keeps the hitter from loosing power by stepping out too early.
The other one I do is with three different colored soda pop lids. I place them in my hand in a triangle shape. I may say blue, blue, blue. The blue lid is placed at the top of the triangle, it simulates an inside pitch. After I call blue, blue, blue, I'll toss the lids and the kid has to turn on the blue lid. We do this using a cut-off broom handle with a grip. This is generally for older girls. It really works well in getting them to concentrate.
One other drill I like is to have them get in the batter's box and take their normal batting stance. They have their glove on. The pitcher throws the ball and the hitter must pivot like she is hitting but instead she catches the ball with her glove. This promotes the recognition of different pitches and how to hit them.
Last but not least, I use an old garden hose. It is around four feet long. It has the very end taped about four inches up the hose. The girls must hit wiffle balls off the tee with this hose. If you do not pivot correctly, then the hose will not straighten and you cannot hit the ball solidly.
One more. I have many fathers that think baseball swings and softball swings are the same. I had a clinic and we had the fathers do this drill. I took nerf footballs and cut them in half, we had the fathers place them under their shirts. We then had the fathers put their elbows up and their hands high. The classic baseball type swing. We then had the dads swing at wiffle balls on the tee. Most fathers knocked out the right half of the football. Their elbows hit it every time. We showed the fathers that their girls have to swing around their own body and it is useless to have a girl place her hands, elbows, and shoulders above her center of gravity and power zone. We have the babies, so all of our power is in our hips and down. The fathers finally realized their is an anatomical difference to hitting a fastpitch softball.
Thanks, Great Site. Coach "K" Keri Butcher
Submitted by: Keri Butcher
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