These drills will help you get the most out of your God-given talent. They are designed to improve your game and to take it to the next level.
Batting drills are a good way to work on getting in a groove to make your swing more consistent. The ultimate goal of any drill is to improve performance and to have the swing be automatic. You program a perfect response, the that swing does exactly what you want it to do once you’re playing baseball games. You can’t think about mechanics during the game; that mechanically sound swing (chapter 1) must become second nature to you.
The V-grip bat (chapter 3) is perfect for all of these drills, and of course you can use it in games, because with it your hands are automatically in the ideal hitting position. It gives you the freedom to hit different pitches in different locations with that whipping motion of the inside-out swing.
A great tool that will teach you what pitches you can handle and what pitches you need to work on, the batting tee allows you to work on every pitch in every location of the strike zone.
Move the tee around to different positions to simulate all the different pitches you’ll see in any game. Just keep in mind that the batting tee moves while you keep your feet in the same spot all the time.
Begin with your stance: You put down the tee, get into the batter’s box, and mark your feet to know exactly where you are standing. By moving the batting tee you can hit the ball to every part of the field and be able to hit any pitch thrown to any location—outside, middle, middle-in, and inside. To hit the ball in, you have to hit it farther out in front (that’s where you would move the tee). And the farther the pitch gets to the outside part of the plate, you now have to hit it farther back (and so that’s where the tee moves).
The hardest pitch to hit is the inside pitch, especially since the goal is to hit the ball fair. So that’s one of the things you can focus on during your batting tee sessions.
But all of these pitch locations require the same swing. Don’t change your swing. Don’t change where you step. Everything is exactly the same, except the location of the pitch.
The tee is a valuable tool for honing your swing. (Above and right): Notice that the feet stay in the same position. The ball moves in different locations to change the contact point of the swing. (Below): I’m working on balance: hitting the ball on the inner half of the plate and making sure that I’m balanced as I start the swing. The top three photos and the one at the immediate right all show how I’m working on the ball away and hitting the ball to different areas, and in the bottom three photos I’m working on the ball on the inner half of the plate and making sure I’m in balance.
I’m using the tee drill to keep Sal Fasano’s swing short and compact by having him hit the ball the other way.
You control your mechanics by marking your feet, putting a line in the dirt to check your stride, and then moving the tee in different directions across the plate. Remember that you are moving the tee around; you are not moving, and your swing stays the same on all pitch locations. A young hitter needs that continuity and consistency of working on ideal mechanics while adjusting to different pitch locations. Your swing and stride never vary.
Volume: How many swings you take in practice will depend on what you’re working on that day. You might want to take ten to twenty swings to make contact with the ball as you face the tee, to hit the left-field; take ten to twenty with tee moved slightly forward, to hit to center-field; and ten to twenty with the tee moved considerably forward, to hit to right field.
In general, the goal is to use the tee to get at least fifty perfect swings, regardless of where you’re hitting the ball. That’s the way I want you to work: The goal is to work toward perfection of the swing. We are practicing to be perfect.
One-hand tee drills: Some hitters will do one-handed work with the bottom hand, I don’t necessarily recommend this for young players, but as you get older and stronger it can be of some value to enhance solid mechanics. I’m not going to ask a ten-year-old to try one-handed drills, though, as he’ll end up with some bad habits.
I like this one-leg drill to make sure you are balanced as you begin your shift toward the baseball. The goal is to work toward perfection of the swing. We are practicing to be perfect.
I’ll stand about fifteen feet in front of the hitter, about five strides in length, and toss baseballs from different locations. The good thing about soft toss is that the speed is nice and slow—that’s beneficial because when we’re talking about building the good foundation you’d like to work with a drill that doesn’t rush you; no one is going to get hit with the ball; there’s no fear of live pitching.
Applications: This drill allows you to watch the stride, see if the hitter is square (using the straight-line, shoulder-width stance). You can simulate pitches to all locations, and troubleshoot any problems and correct mechanics just by asking the hitter to hit balls to certain spots on the field, and to watch what he’s doing with his swing.
Soft-toss and a typical Yankee lineup from June 2006:
Johnny Damon (yes)
Derek Jeter (yes)
Alex Rodriguez (yes)
Jason Giambi (no)—but he does use the tee!
Bernie Williams (yes)
Jorge Posada (yes)
Melky Cabrera (yes)
Andy Phillips (yes)
Miguel Cairo (yes)
Sal Fasano (yes)
Craig Wilson (yes)
Gary Sheffield (yes)
Hideki Matsui (yes)
Robinson Cano (yes)
Bobby Abreu (yes)
Soft-toss applications:
Here, I’m working with Craig Wilson on soft-toss drills at Yankee Stadium. In the photo at left we’re doing regular soft toss; in the two bottom photos we’re working on one-hand drills. I like soft-tossing the ball to the front because it helps the hitter keep the head square, and as a coach the front-toss drill allows you to keep an eye on a player’s stride and swing from the front-on perspective.
Soft toss is an effective drill to practice more swings in less time. You can build the foundation of the swing at a slow, relaxed pace that helps to drill muscle-memory and repetition.
Variation #1: If a player has a tendency to start his swing by going forward instead of taking a step back, you can have him pick up his foot and do the soft-toss drill while standing on one leg (you can also do this with the batting tee).
This one-leg soft-toss drill develops balance, relaxed hands, and the ability to wait on the pitch while “hanging” with one foot in the air.
Variation #2: From the hanging drill, I’ll move to having the hitter use a regular stance. Then I’ll go back and forth between the hanging drill and the regular soft-toss drill. The goal is to merge the two drills so the hitter feels comfortable and natural in the stance; the hanging part of it simply adds more balance to it and prevents that forward movement.
Volume: Take forty-five swings (one-half of a bucket) and vary the number of hanging versus regular soft-toss drills.
You can also do the soft-toss drill with what’s known as a short bat—37 to 39 ounces and only 30 inches. Tony Clark, who played with the Yankees in 2005, introduced me to this heavy, short bat for drills and it’s perfect: In soft toss, with a standard bat, it’s easy to hit the ball well, but the short bat makes it more challenging, as you have to wait longer for the ball.
I liked the short bat so much that I created one with the V-handle for my company. The heavy weight of the bat makes you that much more aware if you are pulling off your shoulder, as the weight allows you to feel the fact you’re pulling around the ball.
Now, if you swing the bat correctly, the weight doesn’t feel that heavy The short bat won’t lie to you. It really tells you if you are coming around the ball or hitting underneath it; you have to be more precise with the short bat.
Volume: Ten to twenty perfect swings with the short bat is plenty of work; this is not something I’d recommend to a younger player who is going to struggle with the added weight.
I like soft-toss drills with a short bat (at right in the photo) because it makes you hit the ball closer to your body.
I’ve seen coaches experiment with all sorts of different drills to improve their player’s ability to hit different pitches:
The Net Drill: The hitter swings the bat at a ball thrown alongside a net; the goal is to not hit the net with the bat—and you won’t hit it if you are swinging the bat correctly.
The net drill gives you immediate feedback. You will know right away if you are doing something wrong.
The Chair Drill: I’ve seen Gerald Perry, the hitting coach of the Oakland A’s, do the soft-toss drill by bouncing the ball on the ground to the hitter while he’s sitting in a chair. I don’t do this particular drill with the Yankees, but the point is that there are many drills that can be effective.
You have to experiment to figure out what’s best suited to correct your problems, with constant repetition of the ideal swing.
