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by Miles Noland
(Lexington, KY)
There are tons of tee drills, front toss drills, and other hitting drills for youth.
You are right, there are as many hitting drills as people who coach youth baseball. I think all batting drills have some merit at least to try them out. The hitting tee is certainly one of the best if not best hitting aide there is. Especially if the batting tee used correctly.
Professional hitters often use batting tees on a daily basis. The tee is a great tool to polish the swing. This is where you hitters really can mold their swings. The hitting tee is maybe the best hitting tool to reinforce the spots where hitters should contact the various pitches.
The inside pitch should be hit further out in front of the plate. The pitch over the middle should be hit gap to gap more through the middle of the diamond. The pitch on the outside third of the plate should be lined up about even with the stride foot and hit to the opposite field. Keeping the shoulder in and staying though the ball is extremely important to be a successful hitter.
When I was a kid I spent hours hitting on the tee just by myself. Of course hitting was just about my favorite thing in the world to do so I enjoyed it. It was not really work—it was a pleasure for me. I think I was pretty unique.
Not many if any of my peers was a hitting fool like I was. Since most hitters need some incentive to practice on the batting tee I use competition in my drills. I try to have a target to hit into which a hitter can keep points on. A game within the game.
That way players do not realize they are getting their swings in. The batters become distracted by the mere competition of the drills. I also give out hitting style points too. If the batter completes a quality swing and maintains balance then they can receive a bonus point for good bating style.
As far as pitch recognition, I do not spend much time with this with young players. I prefer to encourage hitters to be aggressive. I feel hitters will go as far as their bat takes them. Therefore swinging the bat in an aggressive mindset trumps pitch recognition.
Not to say that pitch recognition is not important. I just feel hitters have to error on the aggressive side when playing below the high school level. Even more so in the pre-puberty age level. Base on balls are not really very much help to young hitters. I think the strikezone can be learned later on. If a kid does not learn how to square up on a fastball and turn it around once in awhile their days may be numbered.
Thanks for your service to baseball!
Dave Holt
The ‘Coach Whisperer’
Comments for Best Hitting Drills for Youth: Pitch Recognition
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