Baseball Hitting Drills: Stunning Batting Practice in 15 Minutes or less.

Your youth baseball players are totally energized. Every player is completely captivated by the action of the batting practice.

Typically, youth league batting practice is stale and boring. One batter hits at a time. The rest wait for an occasional batted ball in the outfield.

Major League batting practice.

Each batter may get like five swings. Then another player gets to bat.

A good half an hour goes by with coaches giving tips, mentoring and teaching along the way.

Secret to Outstanding Baseball Practice Drills

Tennis ball batting drills are safe to use in a small area. They are a cheap batting aid and easy to find. Most of all—they increase the amount of practice swings enormously. 1911 Old School Batting Practice

The baseball swing improves drastically with repetition. Your baseball coaching skill increases.

Coaching youth baseball becomes easier to deliver batting instruction. Batting practice is now a time of building self confidence in your players.

This is one of the best baseball drills for kids. If you are coaching little league, or any amateur level, you should plan practice strategies to use tennis balls in your batting practice.

Tennis Ball Baseball Training Drill

Youth Baseball Equipment Needed

3 or 4 dozen used tennis balls
3 2-gallon plastic buckets (optional) to help shag balls
1 large bucket, box or crate to store tennis balls
3 youth baseball bats or wood bats.

The Drill Set-up Strategies

• Give each group about 10 or 15 tennis balls each.

• Each group will begin with a hitter, pitcher, back-up bucket shagger and an outfielder.

• The batter in each group will line up lets say on the leftfield foul line. Liberally spaced apart at least 45 to 60 feet apart. Batters will drop their gloves for a home plate and all face the outfield in the same direction.

• The pitcher will pile the tennis balls near him on the ground about 25 feet from the batter. The pitcher will take a one-knee stance.

Starting the Tennis Ball Batting Drill

• From the one-knee stance the pitcher will toss firmly, but not burn-out style, a good strike pitch to hitter.

• The outfielder in the group will shag the batted balls and softly toss it toward the shag bucket player.

• The shag bucket guy and the outfielder are responsible to get the tennis balls in the shag bucket in a timely fashion.

• Cooperation from all of the three group shaggers helps since the tennis balls will be batted in multiple group areas.

Rotate: Transition to the Next Batter

• After all the pitches have been thrown the players in the group will rotate. But before we rotate ALL the tennis balls have to be piled near where the pitcher would pretend to have the pitching mound.

• The hitter would quickly retrieve any foul balls or pitches that got past them and return the balls to the pitchers mound. Youth baseball players having pre-game batting practice in the outfield.

• The outfielders would rapidly collect the batted balls to the shag bucket and hustle to the pitching mound area and dump the balls in a pile.

• Once all the balls are retrieved the four players in the group will quickly rotate and get ready to do the drill again.

• The first batter would grab their glove and jog the outfield.

• The pitcher now becomes the hitter. The shag bucket player moves to pitcher. The outfield shagger is now the shag bucket position.

Now ready for Second Hitter

• Repeat the drill for the second hitter.

• After all pitches have been thrown by the pitcher collect the tennis balls. Pile the balls where the pitcher will be and prepare for the third batter

.• And then repeat for the last batter in the group.

• If practice time provides repeat another cycle or a shorter cycle. If not, transition on to the game, warm up, or instruction.

Transition is Key

You may need to synchronize the groups at the beginning. Have all groups begin and end on your prompt.

Then put a time limit say 30 seconds…to transition into the rotation to prepare for the next batter.

The Three-Ring Circus

The beauty of it is everyone is safe. By the time the ball gets to the outfielders it will not injure anyone if the ball finds them.

The pitcher will need their glove for protection. Especially their face. After tossing the pitch they will put their glove up in anticipation a ball is lined back at them.

The ball acts like a safety ball but will last longer than the ones in the sporting good stores.

Start Stashing Tennis Balls

You can always buy them in bulk. Sometimes Sams and Costco sell them in case size box.

Better yet go to tennis facilities and talk to coaches, instructors and the guys teaching lessons. They go through dozens of balls and have to get rid of them when they get a little worn out.

Ask them to call you if they ever have used tennis balls for discount sale or free. Go to tennis courts and check around the outside of the fences. Often stray balls go over the fence and are not retrieved.

Keep an eye on craigslist and want ads, garage sales and stuff. You want to collect three or four dozen for your tennis bucket.

Great Pre-game Warm Up Drill

Some coaches do the wiffle ball drill. I think this is better. Hitters can see and feel results live on the field.

Affirmation of a good swing is instantly visual. Wiffle balls are another good aid to have, but tennis balls step it up a notch.

Another great Tennis Ball Drill….

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