Hitting Drills
Colored Horseshoe of Softball
* This drill is used to warm up the eyes for live pitching.
* Color the ball between the inside seams and have the pitcher throw a variety of pitches from the mound.
* In this drill, the batter picks up the spin as quickly as possible, calls out the pitch, and watches the ball into the catcher's mitt.
* If the batter has trouble identifying the pitch before he throws it, this helps the batter pick up the type of pitch if they don't recognize it at the release point. (Don't hit the ball, just call it in flight.)
Colored Softballs
* Use 2-3 colored softballs:
o Red=Take
o White=Hit Away
o Green=Drag
* The batter must react to the color of the ball as soon as he/she recognizes the color.
* The drill can be used with live pitching or soft toss.
Strobe Hitting
* The batter uses the strobe light while soft tossing or self-tossing sock balls.
* The slower the strobe flashes, the more difficult it is to hit the ball.
* CAUTION - THE STROBE CAN CAUSE SEIZURES FOR EPILEPTICS
Soft Toss/Self Toss
* Use sock balls or small wiffle balls taped smaller than a regular ball.
* The following drills or wrinkles to these drills can be added to make the task of hitting much more difficult and force better concentration by the batter.
o Use a thunder stick instead of your regular bat.
o The tosser calls the field (right, left, center) he/she wants the ball hit as soon as the ball is about to be tossed. If the batter hits the ball to the wrong field or pops the ball up, the players switch positions. The batter can take pitches or the tosser can call for the batter to take a pitch. It the batter swings on a take call, he's out and the players switch.
o The batter closes his/her eyes and opens them when the tosser calls "open." The batter can take pitches or the tosser can hold the ball. If the player swings and no ball is thrown or pops the ball up the players switch.
Release Drill
* This drill teaches the player to pick up the pitch at the release and to keep his/her head down on the swing.
1. The batter calls out the number of fingers, 1-5, that the pitcher throws at the batter, swings and again calls out the number of fingers that a coach has flashed after the bat passes the plate.
2. The coach flashing the numbers stands 5-6 feet in front of the outside corner of the plate.
* The drill can be made more difficult by having the pitcher use a ball and show pitches to the hitter without releasing the ball.
* The hitter would make the visual shift to the plate and hit a sock ball, wiffle ball, or tennis ball of a tee after calling out the pitch.
* To make the drill even harder, replace the single tee with a double tee, placing the inside tee (higher) about 3-4 feet in front of the inside corner and the second tee (lower) equal to the front point of the outside corner.
* The batter is now forced to see the ball at the release and react to the pitch (FB, Curve, etc.) If the pitcher show fastball, the batter must turn and pull the ball off the inside tee. If the batter reads off speed pitch, the batter must drive the ball to right field off the outside tee. (Reverse the tees for a left-handed batter.)
Fielding Drills
Numbered/Lettered Softballs
* The player or coach can take 5 or 6 balls, number or letter them one letter or number per ball. The coach or player hits the fielder grounders and the player calls the letter or number on the ball as he/she fields it and comes up to throw.
* Fielder attempts to catch batted ball (grounders or fly balls)
* Fielder closes his/her eyes, opens and finds the ball as soon as he/she hears contact.
* Fielder turns back to hitter, as soon as he/she hears contact, he/she turns and looks for the ball.
* Fielder lies on back and has to get up as soon as the hear contact.
Shade drill
* Runner interferes with batted ground ball by crossing the path of the ball and the fielder
Fixation drill for outfielders
* The drill is designed to keep the fielders head steady and teach the player to run on his/her toes while fixating on the top of a flagpole, foul pole?or anything stationary and high. The coach calls out the direction the player should turn or run.
Feel Drill
1. The player assumes his/her position in the field with a bucket of balls.
2. The coach rolls the player routine grounders or fly balls and as the player is about to throw the ball, they close their eyes and make the throw.
* The coach can change the situation (DP throws, plays at the plate, cutoffs?) or the type of grounder/flyball (backhand, gloveside, slow roller), to make the drill more difficult.
* The player should know before fielding the ball, where the play is to be made.
* This same drill can be used with pitchers to develop better control.
