When I was a high school player I knew I wanted to get better but didn't really know how. I just knew if you wanted to get better at hitting, you should hit more. After playing D-1 and professional baseball, I discovered that's not always the case. College baseball preparation is key and you can really fine tune your swing in the cage with targeted drills. I'll walk you through 3 effective hitting drills that we did in college and professional baseball that helped me build a better swing path and showed me how to increase bat speed to take advantage of unused power!
When I first got to college, I had no idea how many holes I had in my swing. It was overwhelming just taking batting practice with a lot of the juniors and seniors that seemed lightyears ahead of me in every facet of the game. I had never even hit off a tee before I got to college and now we were using them every day. I walked out of my first practice wondering how I would ever play here. I became determined to not just get better but to be great.
Then my hitting coach put together a routine that I would do every day before and after practice in the cage. It was time to start shaking my bad habits and to focus on hitting drills to improve my swing so I would be able to handle 90MPH heat. If you are like me and have never used a tee before, get one ASAP, it's the best tool you can have with regards to your swing. In my opinion the following 3 hitting drills are essential to improving your swing.
1. Opposite Field Tee
Set the tee at mid thigh level but instead of setting the ball out in front of the plate, put the tee on the outside half of the plate and set it deeper in your stance (see image below of tee that back in the hitter's stance). This will help you focus on letting the ball get deep and hitting the ball to the opposite field instead of pulling the ball. So if you're a right handed hitter, you should focus on hitting line drives at the second basemen. This ultimately helps you hit the outside pitch where most pitchers are trying to throw their fastballs.
2. High Tee
Have a problem with pulling your shoulder off the ball resulting in pop up after pop up? The high tee drill helps fix that by making you work to stay on top of the baseball and keep that shoulder from dipping. Set the tee out in front the plate and jack the tee up to just below your chest. Then focus on hitting down on the baseball and hitting line drives to the back of the cage. Avoid pulling the ball or hitting it into the top of the cage. See set up below.
3. Low Tee
On the other end of the spectrum we have the low tee drill. Pitchers are taught to keep the ball down around the knees so we should get used to building a swing that can hit those pitches. Set the tee at knee height and put in on the fron edge of the plate. In this drill you'll want to focus on keeping the ball off the ground. If you're peppering the back of the cage with backspinning line drives, then you're doing it right. In addition, try moving the ball to the inside and outside parts of the plate to work on plate coverage.
These drills might seem pretty simple but they can be very tough for someone who has never done tee work before. If you dedicate time before and after practice to working on these drills, you will significantly improve your swing path and make more consistent hard contact. At the end of the day, it's about hitting the ball where it's pitched and spraying hard line drives all over the park. Remember, it takes roughly 3 weeks to change a bad habit so be patient! Let us know if you're seeing improvement!
If you like these drills then you should take advantage of Sweet Spot's Free Skills Evaluation so you can learn more about the areas that need improvement.
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