: Skills & Drills: Offense

Batting
You will have no problem getting your players’ enthusiastic about batting practice. They simply love it. But it requires the greatest amount of hand-eye coordination in baseball, so it can be frustrating to some players. To limit a negative experience, be sure the bat the player is using is properly sized for their age, strength and weight. Many parents’ will buy a bat because the player liked the color, shape, handle, logo, brand, etc…, without any consideration to it’s size, weight and appropriateness.

The actual hitting motion is a variation of the throwing procedure. Use "Turn, Look, Step and Swing" instead of "Turn, Look, Step and Throw".

Be Ready: As in throwing, hitting the ball requires the player to be in a ‘ready’ position to effectively hit the ball.
This includes:

• A proper grip on the bat. Lay the bat across the fingers and not in the palm of the hand. This gives the player greater sensitivity and much more precise control of the bat.
• Proper foot positioning. The feet should be slightly wider than shoulder width with the back foot roughly parallel to the back line of the batting box with the majority of their weight on this foot (about 70%). The toes should be pointed at the plate. For a batter to ‘aim’ the ball, the front foot must be perpendicular to the target. Teaching a batter to draw a line between the end of his shoes, then extending it into the field is an effective method for them to get positioned correctly. You can use an extra bat positioned against the toes for alignment purposes during practice. Note: Young players will tend to line up with the first base line, since that is where they will be running. Since this is usually an ‘easy out’, you will want to discourage this. The players’ feet should be positioned back from the plate just far enough for the bat to extend slightly beyond the outside edge.
• Proper bat positioning (this example assumes a right-handed player): The bat should be held behind the right shoulder with the right elbow flexed and pointing down. The bat should be held at a 45-degree angle to the hands.

Turn: As the pitcher begins his windup or stretch, the batter should ‘sway’ back, moving more of their weight onto the back foot. This is the beginning step for moving all the body weight forward and extending that energy into the bat. The player will then begin moving the shoulders and hips forward and turning them into a slightly open position while the bat will actually travel farther back from the body. The grip should be strong and the wrists ‘ready to fire’.

Look: For younger players, this serves as a reminder to keep their eyes on the ball all the way to contact and just beyond and to keep their head ‘still’, using the eyes to track the ball. If the ball is not obviously foul, they should begin their sprint to first base. For older players, this is to be an examination of the pitcher, his delivery style and the type of release. This will help more experienced players know what type of pitch is being thrown early in the flight of the ball. I.e. fastball, breaking ball, slider, etc… With some pitchers it is obvious what type of pitch is coming, with others it is impossible to tell.

Step: This is where the power is delivered. The batter makes a small step forward towards the ball, just before or as the ball is released. The bat should still be in the back position, possibly even further from the body. The faster the pitcher, the earlier the batter will begin moving forward. For slow pitchers, they may have to wait an instant before beginning the motion.

Swing: The legs and hips begin driving forward as the weight is moved from the back foot to the front foot. The front foot should remain planted, while the back foot will pivot and push towards the front foot. The shoulders begin a wide, powerful turn open as the hands are ‘dropped’ and the bat is brought forward. To eliminate pop-ups, the batters’ hands should be below, or level with the barrel of the bat and the swing plane of the bat should be level or with a slight downward motion.