As a new baseball coach at the high school level, I am looking for some good drills to quicken bat speed.?
I have a lefty with a beautiful swing and beautiful mechanics, he is just a tad slow and hits everything to left field. I am dying to get him to hit the ball in the right center gap. Any helpers?
Bat speed is tough to teach, some kids have it and some don’t. I would recommend a couple of drills that I was put through in college.
The “quick toss” from the side of the batter, but make sure players are tossing the ball on a line and not lobbing it.
Also the toss through from behind is very good, the player should be around 5′ behind the strike zone of the batter.
You can also have a drill where a player will be standing on a platform or even a chair and drop the ball straight down. These drills will atleast help them recognize the ball in the zone quicker.
A couple of other good drills that we did: hitting the old, somewhat deflated basketballs that the school would throw away. That drill can help get some power behind the bat and be a workout in itself. Also place an old folding chair behind a standard tee. Have the ball just above the top of the back of the chair. This will teach the player to swing level/down or they will hit the chair.
Just some ideas, hope this helps….
Coach Paul Levasseur’s outfield drills
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