Favorite Hitting Drills

Just today I tried the heavy bag and really liked it. I really drills that break the swing down in parts, and this really lets them see if they are doing it right to the ball.

 

Kiai

Y'all done got me started now! Hitting is my favorite subject!

There is a martial arts word called kiai (pronounced key-eye)! A martial arts expert could explain it much better than I can but here's my interpretation. It's a combination word. Ki means energy. Ai means together at a focused point (point of contact, i.e.).

Most people call it a loud grunt. It is part of the hitting lesson when I'm teaching. Lots of pitchers use it. It gives you extra speed and extra power. It really does! It is kind of like if you were about to lift something heavy you might grunt to help you lift it. Same theory. If you haven't tried it, you need to. It works!

I watched one or two of Fuquay's games this past year. Most of those girls were using it and they were hitting the ball HARD! And one of my favorite players to watch, Jordan Scarboro, uses it. Anyone who has seen her play knows how hard she hits!

I don't think many call it by its name--kiai--but the results are the same!

 

Her first initial is K. I believe you're possibly her personal trainer. Her older sister's initial starts with a J.

Watch the tennis balls. I got a broken nose from a tennis ball off a bat last year. Almost lost an eye. $6,000 hospital bill. Only because I was insured, I think.

 

Duh! I should have been able to figure that one out. Believe it or not, she has a better swing left handed and it is getting better every day due to the lessons she is taking and the drills he is having her do.

As for a personal trainer, not me! I gave up on that with both of them a few years ago before I pulled all of my hair out.

 

All I can say, if she can hit the ball better lefthanded than she can righthanded, is wow!! Because she hits it hard righthanded. Good luck; she's a good kid! So is the other one!!

 

That makes me think of another drill, that is so simple, I like to use that is on the same page as what we are talking about. I use it for the advanced high school player and the college player, but I have them say hit when they think they are making contact with a ball on a tee. It is amazing how even the best hitter sometimes does not know when contact is being made. This is just anawareness drill that really makes for focus swings.
Scott Miler
www.gaptogapsoftball.com

 

Conditioning

G2G,

Do you have any hitting-specific conditioning drills? Some that can get quick results for a high school team in their limited training time?

 

Understand it helps them but it can get annoying listening to it over and over. Seems like a lot of women tennis players are doing it now.

Had a girl that grunted when she hit the ball. It was hilarious and she struggled when she didn't grunt.

Had a pitcher a few years ago that did it on every pitch and man she was loud but also a very good pitcher so I guess it helped her.

Saw a pitcher doing it during HS ball this past season but hers was funny. After watching her for one inning, I noticed that she did it very loud when she threw a fastball, about medium when she threw an offspeed pitch, and barely at all when she threw a change up. Made it very easy for the batters to figure out what pitch was coming not that it helped...

 

Conditioning

Hitting conditioning, I am not sure which way you mean it so I will answer it both way.
Conditioning the muscles to do repetitive action the same way. This is what teaching hitting is all about. Any drill we do is not in a rapid fire format or in an extended time period. I want my hitters everytime they swing the bat to be doing correctly. I have a series of drills that I call progression that does this. It starts with walkup top hand, bottom hand only, reverse top grip, walk up two hand and then normal tee. The goal is this series of drills conditions the muscles to do the proper thing.
The other way to take hitting conditioning is on the cardio side of things. This I do not do, the reason is because a long at bat is going to be 10 swings, with at least 10 seconds in between. Therefore there is no need to be in great condition to swing a bat over and over. My hitters swing the bat in 10 swing rounds and then get about a 30 second break. This make sure they are not tiring themselves out and swinging correctly everytime.
All of my team conditioning is done doing baserunning drills. If I did not answer your question let me know, it is late and I am not on top of my game.
Scott Miller
www.gaptogapsoftball.com

 

My Favorites

Hitting partially deflated basketballs helps the player to learn to drive through the ball,and finish her swing...any resistant drill is good for strength in the arms and shoulders...another drill that improves quickness throwing the ball from behind the batter through the strike zone allows the batter to increase in bat speed...... GURU