Batting Practice for Young Hitters

Coach Wickham

When doing batting practice with young hitters there are (2) ways you can give them a far more beneficial turn at bat than trying to pitch to them.

Soft toss

1. Set the batter up with a home plate as if in the batters box
2. Make sure they have good distance from the plate so they hit with the widest part of the bat & not on the tapered part of the bat
3. Get the batter in a good balanced stance,ie.feet wider than their knees,remind them with soft toss there is no step involved just swing & squash the bug with the back foot
4. ask the batter to swing the bat & watch their swing plane
5. toss the ball at that height so they get good balls to hit
6. soft toss the ball from a 45 degree angle to their front hip
7. show them the ball in your hand before you toss it

Live toss

1. Set the batter up at home plate
2. Set up a net up approx. 8-10 ft. in front of the batter
3. Kneel down behind the net & underarm the ball to the batter
4. By doing this you can toss the ball to any spot over the plate
5. IE. Inside & outside of the plate at any height
6. This will give the batter a far more productive time at bat

By doing these things you will give the batter many more chances to hit the ball & not have them swinging at balls out of the hitting zone