Hitting Drills: Isolate Contact Drill

Focus To teach proper hitting mechanics.

Setup A coach works with individual hitters. This drill can be done anywhere anytime. All you need is a bat for the hitter, a ball for the coach, and a home plate. There are no real swings taken; the ball never leaves the coach’s hand. The amount of space needed is minimal.

Procedure The hitter sets up in his normal stance at home plate. The coach stands in the opposite batter’s box. Once both are in position, the coach holds the ball in any area of the strike zone. The batter then begins his swing at a very slow pace and stops at the point of contact. All check points are observed to make sure the hitter understands the correct position at this point in the swing. Once the hitter has held his barrel against the ball for a three count, he’s instructed to drive through the baseball while the coach offers resistance. This teaches the hitter the importance of retaining a strong position through contact and into the follow-through.

Coaching Points By slowing down all the movements in the swing, a hitter can feel what his body should do on every pitch. The coach watches the action of the stride, hips, and hands and the contact point. Because no balls are batted, hitters can concentrate on perfect muscle memory. This way the body learns perfect mechanics, feeling any variation from their best swing on live pitches.

The key to this drill is that the hitter feels his ideal position at contact. He understands the inefficiency of upper cutting or lunging. Making hitters follow through after contact (still at a slow speed), helps them feel which muscles should do the majority of the work and at which point the top hand will actually roll over (late). Constantly change placement in the strike zone to allow hitters to feel the various depths the ball should travel before contact, depending on the location.

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