Hitting Drills: Hard In, Soft Away Drill

Focus To work on hitters covering as much of the plate as they can.

Setup Set up a home plate at one end of the cage. Place a pitching screen about 15 feet in front of the plate. The coach can either sit or stand behind the screen. The screen should be placed so that the tall side is on the throwing-arm side.

Procedure The hitter sets up in the batter’s box in his customary position. The coach, from sitting or standing, tosses underhand pitches into the strike zone. There are two types of pitches: a firm toss on the inside corner or a soft toss on the outside corner. These are the two toughest balls for a batter to hit. The pitches are thrown at random so a batter cannot cheat, looking for one or the other. He must prepare to hit either.

Coaching Points Very few hitters can protect the entire plate against good pitching. Working on this skill expands the area of the plate a hitter can use. The hitter learns to be short on the inside pitch, thus being less vulnerable to any given zone. This is a very challenging drill; consistent success is difficult. But the more comfortable the hitter becomes with this drill, the more confident he’ll be in his ability to hit any pitch. A hitter will learn to wait and stay closed on a ball away and be quick and short on the ball inside. Once he has gained confidence in hitting these two pitch locations, all other pitches become easier to handle.

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