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Today I want to share 12 fun baseball hitting drills to keep your practices engaging and challenging.
Every time you change the way the ball is tossed to the batter, they must adjust the rhythm and timing of their swing, visually track the ball, become efficient in their swing mechanics, and identify where to hit the ball in relation to their stance so no matter the toss, the result is a head height line drive. The more ways a batter can hit a head height line drive, the more adaptable and successful they will be hitting in games. Each unique toss is a different drill that players have to overcome.
Be sure to watch the video because I will compete in a hitting challenge where if I fail I get a carton of raw eggs thrown at my head.
Some key teaching points when tossing the ball to the batter, regardless of which toss you use, are:
1) Give them time to set up time before the pitch.
2) Give the batter time to reset between pitches.
3) Go through a full throwing motion, whether tossing underhand or overhand, so the batter can time up the incoming pitch.
The twelve fun hitting drills are:
1. Tee: Place the ball on the tee and hit a line drive.
2. Self-Toss up: Hold the bat in one hand, hold the ball in the other, toss the ball up, grab the bat with both hands, and hit a line drive.
3. Side Toss: The coach will be at a forty-five degree angle off to the side of the hitter (slightly to the side and slightly in front of the hitter). The coach presents the ball to the batter by holding their arm up chest height, their arm fluidly swings down, then their arm swings forwards, they toss the ball underhanded to the batter, and the batter hits a line drive.
4. Self-Bounce Toss: Hold the bat in one hand, hold the ball in the other, toss the ball up, grab the bat with both hands, let the ball bounce, and hit a line drive.
5. Behind The Plate Toss: The coach will set up directly behind the plate about 4 feet away from the hitter. The coach presents the ball to the batter by holding their arm up chest height, their arm fluidly swings down, then their arm swings forwards, they toss the ball underhanded to the batter, and the batter hits a line drive.
6. Self-Rolled Toss: Hold the bat in one hand, hold a big “Walmart” ball in the other, roll the ball forwards, sprint to get in front of the ball, change direction in order to swing, and hit a line drive.
7. Front Toss: The coach sets up 5 walking paces in front of the batter behind an L-screen. The coach presents the ball to the batter by holding their arm up chest height, their arm fluidly swings down, then their arm swings forwards, they toss the ball underhanded to the batter, and the batter hits a line drive.
8. Running Self-Bounce Toss: Hold a lacrosse or tennis ball in one hand, hold the bat in the other, bounce the ball forwards, sprint to get in front of the ball, change direction in order to swing, and hit a line drive.
9. Overhand Throws: The coach sets up 15 walking paces in front of the batter behind an L-Screen. The coach goes through a full throwing motion, releases the ball overhand, and the batter hits a line drive.
10. Self-Wall Toss: Hold a tennis ball or baseball in one hand, the bat in the other, throw the ball overhand against a brick wall, as it bounces back pick your hop and hit a line drive.
11. Overhand Bounce Toss: The coach sets up 15 walking paces in front of the batter behind an L-Screen. The coach goes through a full throwing motion, releases the ball overhand but into the ground so the ball is bouncing multiple times towards the batter, the batter picks their hop and hits a line drive.
12. Behind The Back Toss: The coach sets about 4 walking paces behind the batters back. The coach presents the ball to the batter by holding their arm up chest height, their arm fluidly swings down, then their arm swings forwards, they toss the ball underhanded to the batter, and the batter hits a line drive.
The Reasoning coaches and hitters should utilize the different tosses is because in a game no pitcher is the same. They have different mechanics, pitches, movement, velocity, and pitch sequencing. You never know what pitch you're going to get so being able to adapt and hit a ball coming from anywhere gives you a competitive edge as well as the confidence to know that you can hit a head height rising line drive a “million different ways”.
I recommend using front toss and overhand throws the majority of the time and adding in the other tosses for variety, challenges, and competitions during practice.
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