Balloon or Bubble Drills
April 2005
Contributed By: Kirk Ordway
Equipment: Balls, Bats, Gloves, and Balloons or Bubble Solution
To teach players to stay on track.
HITTING WITH THE YOUNGER PLAYERS
One way of getting the young player to hit the soft-toss is to have them get in the hitting position. While they are in this position, have a balloon in your hand. Toss the balloon up in the hitting zone for the player to hit. Making sure, you toss the balloon in front of the hitter so that they hit the ball out in front of the plate.
The balloon will come down slowly so you can instruct the hitter when to swing. I use a chant while doing this drill. I tell them “check your knuckles.” This way their door knocking knuckles are lined up properly. I then tell them “ear.” This has the hitter get the bat into the ready position. The hitter’s hands are up back by their ear. At this point, they are instructed to take a step toward the pitcher with their “lead foot.” In order to hit effectively, the hitter needs to be working from a firm base. Next, they hear “pivot.” This gets them to pivot with their back foot. You want them to use this foot to deliver a blow into the oncoming ball much like a boxer does to their opponent. Once they are in this position, I release the balloon into the hitting zone and instruct them to “swing.” Once they go through this several times, I let the players decide when to swing on their own so they do not become dependant upon me telling them when to swing.
Another version is to blow bubbles in the hitting zone and let them swing and pop the bubble with their bat.
Many times when coaches or players do the soft-toss drill, they end up throwing the ball at the hitter, which causes the hitter to be jammed. The hitter is not able to get full extension. In a game situation hitters don’t hit the ball over the plate… they hit the ball in front of the plate, thus allowing them to achieve full extension for with maximum power.
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