In today’s video blog post, we are demonstrating some excellent softball hitting drills are going to help you work on timing of a pitch.
As you know, in Phase 1 or the Stride phase, the hands have to stay back — especially when you are going after an outside pitch, an off speed or a change up.
Softball Hitting Drills for Timing the Pitch
Tennis Ball Toss Drill
This drill, using a tennis ball, will help your players work on loading up in Phase 1, and keeping the hands back until the ball comes into the zone. This drill works best on a hard surface so if you are doing it outdoors, make sure you flatten out the dirt so you have a nice hard surface to bounce the tennis ball on.
The pitcher tosses the tennis ball to the hitter. On the toss portion when the ball is dropping down, the hitter is going to go into Phase 1 stride and keep the hands back. Many times, a big problem is that players stride and bring their hands forward at the same time. The hitter keeps their hands back until the ball bounces back into her zone, and then she hits a line shot into a soft net.
Fake Toss
In this drill, the pitcher is going to toss the ball to the hitter, who is focusing on finding her rhythm and contact point. Throughout these tosses, the pitcher is going to fake toss to throw off the hitter’s timing, simulating a change-up.
Two Ball Toss
This is a partner side toss drill that forces the batter to react to the stimulus. The pitcher will toss two balls at once, in a vertical fashion, so that one ball will go higher than the other. Upon throwing, the pitcher is going to call out “high” or “low”. The hitter then has to respond to that stimulus and hit the ball that is called out. This forces the player to work on decision making and split second reaction time, very similar to game-like hitting.
* This is a drill you should do with experienced players. If you are performing this drill with youth players, it is important that the coach is the tosser.
Looking for more softball hitting drills? Then be sure to check out Championship Coach Sue Enquist’s other Softball Coaching Videos! Sue will share some great tips and softball pitching mechanics, hitting and much more! And don’t forget to Like Us on Facebook, where we share more great ideas and suggestions for your practice plan! You can also Follow Us on Twitter and Hangout with us at Google+!