Using the readerboard, we can quickly determine the correct bat angle, and where it should be, according to where the ball is pitched. The readerboard is simply a peg board (it can be found at any local home depot or lowes), 9 baseballs with holes drilled in the middle and using a screw and bolt to hold it on the board.

Ok – let’s look at some baseball hitting drills that we can use in our baseball training and immediately see improvement in making better contact.

We’ll start out by popping the bat at the cutlines. Each cutline is set up (red tape for right handed hitters and black tape for lefties) to line up the barrel of the baseball bat to make the best contact. We have found that using the readerboard is one of our best baseball hitting drills and will help hitters get from point A to point B in the fastest, most efficient way possible.

We can work outside cuts and outside pitches, which includes using the stride for everything. Baseball training does not have to be difficult – using simple and effective hitting tools is the key to using our baseball hitting system. One of the questions we hear the most is this – is the baseball swing linear or rotational? We believe it is a combination of both… linear (straight line) to the ball and let our turn (rotational hitting) swing after contact.

We also use our fench baseball hitting drills to wipe out our looping or sweeping action. At no point, we don’t want our hitters to have a loop or sweep – it causes long strokes and usually results in a ground ball or pop up, depending on if the hitter is late or early making contact with the ball.

Another one of our hitting drills that will eliminate the sweeping or looping swing is our frisbee and throwing bat drills. It will teach the hitter to gt the top hand on top of the ball.

We also use our our pop target in our training drills as we want our hitters to feel the knob of the bat making contact with the target. This will help the hitter get the feel of our drive action, which is the #1 way to hit for more power. We can continue these baseball training drills using the pop and stroke to help the hitters get inside the ball.

I hope you enjoyed our baseball video… use these drills and I will guarantee you’ll see a noticable difference in just a few short days, and your hitters will hit better and with more power.

Best to you,

Coach Brock

http://www.learnbaseballhitting.com

1. Stance position, bottom hand (lead hand) starts at shoulder point.
2. Palm open, facing down.
3. Other hand on hip.
4. Front heel lifts, player loads.
   1. Hips rotate square to pitch—hand at shoulder moves straight to front of body, where hands
      would be while bat is in contact.
5. Hand remains palm down.

1. Same stance but with palm open, facing up and forward.
2. Hips rotate square to pitch, hand will move to same location, but with palm up.

1. Put both hands together, but with bat added, starting at the shoulder area.
2. Move bat into contact (hands should be in same position as before.)
3. Open hands while in contact position.
4. Top hand open, palm up, under bat.
5. Bottom hand open, palm down, over bat.

Do not underestimate the importance of the stride. It needs to be practiced. The problem many hitters have is that they do not practice their strides away from hitting practice.

In our Hitting System, we practice striding during the following batting drills practice sequence:

• Soft body, no stride, full take

• Load and Stride – Take

• Load – Stride – Pivot

Isolating these three activities by themselves can be performed alone at home without a pitched ball, or during batting practice, like in our Hitting Agenda and Tempo Drills. This builds the stride to the point where it is constant.

Here are the rules for the best stride:

• The stride travels only 6 inches.

• The stride lands on the ball of the foot

• The stride goes directly ahead and in the same place each time.

• The stride begins on pitcher’s release.

• The hands stay home near the back shoulder during the stride and are not released to make the bat contact the ball until after the pivot (rotation of the hips).

Another coaching point on baseball hitting drills for kids: The stride should be initiated in the large muscle mass of the hips. In other words, it is a slight linear push of the hips toward the ball. The front foot merely follows this push, landing on the ball of the foot. When the front heel goes down, this keys the turn of the hips and the weight transfer.

When facing a pitcher with above average velocity, a baseball player must be quick in the hips and rotate accordingly… having the ability to clear his mid section and allow his hands to get out in front makes for better contact with the ball. The stride plays a vital role in developing from linear to rotation for a sinker or four seam fastball for weight thru the ball.

You can learn more from Coach Joe Brockhoff’s Super 8 Hitting System from our five (5) free hitting videos here – Baseball Hitting Videos.

Pulling off the ball is a common mistake by many hitters. In order to get consistent contact, the hitter must be sure his head stays closed, in other words, looking down into the contact area. Here are some great baseball hitting drills to help you out.

It is very easy to get into the habit of pulling off the ball. This is especially true for power hitters.

Have you ever seen a power hitter hit a home run and thereafter, he can’t couch the ball? What happened?

The home run took him out of himself. So as he pivots, he is also pivoting his head.

First of all, hitters should never take a 100% stroke. Doing this invites pulling off the ball.

For efficiency, the stroke should be no more than 95%, saving 5% for command.

As coaches, we sometimes go too far in the other direction by telling them to “just meet the ball.” And now they start to aim the bat, which is not good either.

Hitting is a controlled explosion. Continue to be aggressive, with a 95% stroke.

So what do we advise? The hitter is pulling off because he’s rotating his complete body when he hits.

He must focus on his head rotating in the opposite direction to the hips. As the hips rotate to the pitcher, the head should rotate to the ball.

Here are three baseball hitting drills for this:

DRILL #1

Place a pile-on or glove across from the hitter just outside the batter’s box in front of home plate (45% angle). After the hitter makes contact, he looks into the pile-on area. This keeps the head inside.

DRILL #2 (with pitching machine or live pitcher)

Hitter assumes his stance, with no bat. To simulate holding a bat, his top hand grabs the thumb of his bottom hand. Coach stands in back of the hitter and holds his head on both sides . The hitter takes batless strokes at the pitched ball, while coach restricts the head to keep it on the ball as it enters the hit zone.

DRILL #3 (Full Take)

The hitter will coil, stride, and read the pitch to the catcher.

This keeps the head independent and disciplines it to stay with the ball. Note: This head discipline should carry over to his regular hitting, in the “full take”, a pitch that is an obvious ball.

Coaching Points. The hitter should not go to the point where his head is pushing against the back shoulder. This locks up the back shoulder and restricts his extension.

The head swivels. It should never tilt while reading the pitch. This causes the body to tilt also and the eyes to look on a vertical plane. Eyes must stay basically horizontal for best vision and body control.

These techniques are fully explained in our baseball hitting instruction web site for the “Super 8 Hitting System”, including batting aids and a series of baseball hitting videos, which demonstrates many baseball hitting drills.

Coach Joe Brockhoff

Received a great question from a customer this morning. Here it is:

Q – Coach: I got your $57.00 dollar DVD and watched them and they are great. A couple of questions are I believe my son has a loop in his swing he is eight years old. I believe the fence drill will fix that. That will also fix the dropping of the hands correct? The guide stilck drill is AWESOME ALSO. Which knuckles get lined up. He is left handed so his left handed knuckles are lined up with his right hand top knuckles not the knuckles on the fiingers of the right hand but the hand correct? Also the rocking step. When the front heel comes up you want the hips to urn in correct. orry for the questions just want to make sure that I am doing this right. Thanks Joe

A – Hi, Joe

Glad you were able to find my video helpful for you in instructing baseball hitting drills eight year old son.  This is a great time to help him to develop good habits that he can build on as he grows into the game.

Knuckles of his top hand should be up when he is in his stance,  and they face the pitcher when he is in contact with the pitch.  Remember, they never face  down or away as he goes to the pitch.  The knuckles of his bottom hand actually line up little between first and second knuckles  of the top hand.  Remember when he is in the contact position,  his knuckles top hand knuckles never face up.  They always face the pitcher.

All of those baseball hitting drills are good.  Be sure that he practices what we call the “A, B, C” drill.  “A “ is his position after he makes his stride.  Keep in mind that in his stance, the bat is at the point of the shoulder, with the  percussion slightly cocked toward the pitcher in a 2 o’clock position and remains in this position while he takes his stride.  The “B(Drive)”  position is when he makes his pivot toward the pitch, still keeping his bat on his shoulder.  The “C” position is his contact position.  In this position the top hand must be under the bat, and the bottom hand is over the bat.  You can check this out by having him open his hands while in the contact position.  And the bottom hand remains under the bat until after first extension.  Then he can roll the bat at that point.

Be sure to focus on keeping his bat on his shoulder throughout the pivot process and only leave when he goes to contact the pitch.  This will help to insure that he does not drop his hands in a loop. All of our drills are designed to reinforce this concept.  For pitches down the middle or inside, make contact out in front of the plate (90 degree pivot).  For outside pitches, contact is made a little deeper in the strike zone with only a 45 degree pivot.  We call this a hip flex.  A good way to remember this is “square to”…”go to”.

You can reinforce all of these concepts with the mat drills and also during his batting practice.  He can actually practice the “A-B” and then hit the pitched ball to help reinforce this and carry it over into live pitching.  We illustrate all of these drills in our Hitting Agenda Video from the Super 8 Hitting System 8 DVD set.

Hope this helps, Joe.

Keep up the good work and best of luck,

Coach Brockhoff

We’ve often heard baseball coaches tell their players, “Trust the hands!” Is that a good coaching concept?  No, I say.  It’s the opposite.  In fact, here’s one of the most important lessons I teach players during baseball hitting drills:

“HIPS TAKE US TO THE BALL.

HANDS TAKE US THROUGH THE BALL.”

Our hands are auto reactors, providing some of our body’s quickest muscle reaction. If we hold our hands up and pop our wrists, we can do that repeatedly very quickly. If someone were to throw a punch at us, our hands would quickly and automatically pop up in defense.

As an infielder, we don’t have to think about a ball thrown to us. Our hands react to the direction of the ball and make the catch without having to think about it. Think of the catcher after he gives the sign. He is taught to frame the pitch. His hands automatically go to the pitch without any thought or direction.

Yes, the hands are auto reactors. Is this good for the hitter? “No!” When the hands move too early, this is when we hear the coach yell out, “Wait on the pitch!”  Good coaches know that a hitter who allows his hands to react automatically as his first movement towards the pitch will never have full body support.

Now, let’s apply this to our baseball hitting mechanics.

Here are the steps:

1. Coil (Load): The hitter collects his weight on the backside.

2. Stride: a linear step towards the pitched ball (30-40% of weight transfer).

3. Body Rotation: Hips rotate toward the ball.

4. Hands will then, and only then, execute the stroke.

Repeat, “hips take us to the ball, hands take us through the ball.” Don’t trust the hands . . . yet.  Discipline the hands to wait until we get into launch position—hands inside the ball and hips rotated—then turn to the pitch and initiate the stroke. 

They travel in rotation with the pivot, but they do not commit to the pitch until the rotation is complete. This rotated position with the hands still back is what we call the “drive” position. It is at this time that the hands will launch.

“Now” we can trust the hands.  Try it, and watch the ball explode onto the bat.

Coach’s Corner Extra Tip: Remember that when we hit, the hands are in a double lever system. That is, they don’t personally go to the ball. They are holding the bat, which goes to the ball. The hands always end up in front of the body. They are responsible for directing the bat to the proper cut line on the pitch.

More tips and drills can be found in our Super 8 Hitting System.

Best to you,

Coach Joe Brockhoff

Baseball Drills For 5, 6, 7, 8 Year Olds – “Land the Plane”

Baseball Drills For 5, 6, 7, 8 Year Olds

Young people have great imaginations. When prompted, they can take a complex idea and quickly apply what they’ve learned using visualization. The key to using imagery to increase baseball hitting speed, however, is to create and apply images that are easily explained, are relatable, can be quickly absorbed, and instantly recalled—which are the foundations of Coach Joe Brockoff’s Super 8 Hitting System.

The Problem: Rolling the wrist on contact Baseball hitters often roll the bat on contact for several reasons. First, they are coached to do so from the earliest age on. This method of training will never allow a hitter to maximize his/her ability, only resulting in ground balls and ‘outs.’

Baseball Drills For 5, 6, 7, 8 Year Olds: “Land the Plane” To avoid rolling the bat, the batter’s bottom hand should face down, with the top hand facing up when coming in contact with the ball. For visualization, instruct batters to imagine the bottom hand landing the plane, and the top hand crashing the plane.

To increase your hitter’s batting speed, try this “Landing the Plane” drill:

Starting with bottom (lead) hand

1. Stance position, bottom hand (lead hand) starts at shoulder point.

2. Palm open, facing down.

3. Other hand on hip.

4. Front heel lifts, player loads.

5. Hips rotate square to pitch—hand at shoulder moves straight to front of body, where hands would be while bat is in contact.

6. Hand remains palm down.

To increase your hitter’s batting speed, try this “Crashing the Plane” drill:

Move to top (power) hand

1. Same stance but with palm open, facing up and forward.

2. Hips rotate square to pitch, hand will move to same location, but with palm up.

As always, repetition is key. So do the drill again, incorporating these enhancements:

1. Put both hands together, but with bat added, starting at the shoulder area.

2. Move bat into contact (hands should be in same position as before.)

3. Open hands while in contact position.

4. Top hand open, palm up, under bat.

5. Bottom hand open, palm down, over bat.

Tip: Complete the stroke successfully by ensuring the top hand continues under the bat, through contact, and first extension. The bat will finally roll as it comes to the second extension position, just before stroke completion.

By using the Super 8 Hitting System and Baseball Drills For 5, 6, 7, 8 Year Olds and instructions described here, with images in mind, hand action is dramatically improved. The batter is not swinging to contact but snapping at the point of contact, yielding a remarkable and measurable improvement in speed and contactability.

Learn more about the Landing the Plan” and Crashing the Plane baseball hitting drills and other proven methods for improving batting speed by visiting the Super 8 Hitting System—a bestselling baseball training web site and instructional video package, which includes many free youth baseball drills and tips.

Coach Joe Brockoff, a Division I Head Baseball Coach for Tulane University for more than 19 years, coached thousands of college level and youth players using his proven Super 8 Hitting System.

Click Here For Coach Brocks Baseball Hitting Drills

Click Here For Coach Joe Brockhoff and his 5 Free Baseball Hitting Tips Videos

Click Here For Coach Brock’s Super 8 Hitting System

Question:

Joe,

Thanks for your program and I will be working with my son on the drills. I do have a couple of questions: 

1. Past instructors have taught my boy to line up the knocking knuckles of both hands. In the video it is obvious that they are not lined up.

2. Also, at the past Cal Ripken Camp it was stressed the grip is the fingers on the bat and not the palm of the hand. In the video it appears to me that when you do the hand up and hand down that the grip is in the palm.

Which is correct.

Thank You,

Garold Blackburn  

Answer

Thank you, Gerald, for your question. We have several baseball hitting tips that we can offer you with this. 

There is a basic theory that lines up the knocking knuckles of both hands. This is associated with the “Linear Stroke” and is commonly taught with baseball hitting drills. With this stroke, the top hand, when in contact, is facing forward, and the bottom hand is facing towards the catcher. The hands would then roll, keeping  a major portion of the bat in the fingers. I do not recommend or subscribe to this stroke.  It will never maximize the ability of your young hitter. There is a better way.

Here is what I suggest and what we do with our baseball hitting instruction. In the stance position, the knocking knocks are facing up and slightly forward, and lined up between the knuckles of the bottom hand. You can check this out by noting that the back elbow is neither raised up, nor is it against the body, but is in between these two extremes. When in contact, the top hand is under the bat and the bottom hand is over the bat.

The role of the top hand is to drive the bat head to the ball. The roll of the bottom hand is to control the long lever of the bat. You can test this out. Pick up a hanner and hit a nail with it. That is the very same feeling you want with your top hand.  The bottom hand pulls the bat inside the ball and stabilizes the stroke. The top hand and the bottom hand are antagonistic. They work against each other. In between the two hands is a fulcrum, which is at the breaking point of the bat. In other words, we don’t swing the bat. We don’t roll the wrists. The top hand is in abduction and the bottom hand is in adduction.

Test this by taking a regular bat, standing against an immovable object, and apply pressure. You will find that the top hand goes forward, and the bottom hand comes back towards the body. You do not want him to “swing” the bat or “roll the wrist” and all of that baloney. You want him to drive the bat into position and then snap it. If he were hitting a mat with our SpeedBat, we would ask him to “stick it!”.

Hope this helps.  Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Best wishes and good luck,

Coach Joe Brockhoff

This course will cover baseball hitting drills from our Super 8 Hitting System. We will cover the batting stance with baseball hitting tips and what position you need to be in when you first step in to the batters box. The front side is responsible to takes us to the ball in put us in a better position to hit the ball with power and accuracy. The back side is the power side… you want to be in an athletic position such as a football player in a defensive stance. Click on the video below to avoid making costly mistakes in your baseball hitting drills.