Winter Practice / Hitting stations

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You have 3 hitting stations for indoor practice.

What stations would you set up and what drills would you do? Please explain in detail, and what you want to accomplish.


This setup is for a team where players have different hitting styles. Not to force everyone to swing the way you think is right, what generic stations would you set up.

Please list three.


1. Thinking on an instructo swing. High tee chest high. 10 balls high/10 balls low - like setting a tee on a bucket.

Goal: Pull knob across chest for both locations. Lower tee would require more tilt at the waist. Instant feedback on anyone who drops the hands.


2. Soft toss - slow to load - Howard's attack mode



3. Open for suggestions.



Straightleg

 

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Straight, how about a bunt station?

We set a tee up and let them start deep in the box and simulate a drag in a slow methodical way. Then we remove the tee and soft toss (from out in front) to accomplish timing,feel, and proper mechanics. Then we implement another element by telling the girls to "push" or "pull" the bunt down each line.

If you have enough room indoors, have the girls "burst" out of the box after contact. IMO, that is too important to neglect. I tell my girls that they need to focus on getting up to speed within the first 10 feet (or so) down the line. We actually time them from contact to a tape mark on the floor about 10 feet from the plate. They love to shave a tenth or two off of their best time. It also helps getting them to work on footwork and agility drills when the see that it's helping their times.

How sweet is it when the other team is expecting a girl to sac bunt, but drops it in the perfect spot and beats it out? I love me some small ball!

Hope this gives you another idea for a third station. It has really worked for my girls.

Bucket But

 

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I think you have a station where you seperate the top and bottom hands to isolate each motion. I would also suggest that you may only incorporate 3 stations per session but overall you need to mix it up and have a large group of drills you pull into the sessions and keep it fresh.
You also need to have a target area that gives instant feedback to where the ball was hit versus where it should have been hit.