Welcome to the YOUTH BASEBALL COACHING CLINIC. Our site features free articles, tips, and drills related to the successful coaching of youth baseball teams. Our information is useful to Little League, Dixie Youth, Babe Ruth, and Cal Ripkin baseball coaches.
Youth Baseball Coaching Clinic Official Blog
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Five Drills to Do When Hitters Pull Their Head By Jack Perconte
One of the most common hitting problems involves hitters taking their eye off the ball before making contact. Solving this problem is rarely as simple as just telling a hitter to "Keep your eye on the ball" or saying, "See the ball hit the bat." Usually, hitters pull their head and subsequently their eyes off the ball because of an incorrect hip turn or having a long arm swing, failing to use their hands and forearms.
Having said that, there are some good hitting drills that baseball coaches can have their players do that will help ballplayers keep their eye on the ball. Also, by controlling their head throughout the swing, it will help all the other hitting fundamentals, which is an added bonus of these drills.
Head Control Drills that will help hitters keep their eyes on the ball:
1. During batting practice, place an object to the opposite side of home plate from where the hitter stands and a few feet in front of home plate. This object (player's glove, pop can, etc...) should be in line with hitter's eyes at contact with the ball. The object of drill is to have batters keep their eyes on this object after contact is made and until the completion of their swing.
2. Along the same lines and when performing tee, flips or dropped ball drills have the coach, who is standing off to the side, flash a number down with his fingers immediately after contact. The hitter is required to read the number before looking for the hit ball.
3. Behind the hitter flips are great for keeping a hitters head in on the ball. The coach kneels a safe distance behind the hitter where the catcher usually is and the coach flips balls forward into the hitting zone. Hitters watch the ball being released from the coach's hand and swings when the ball reaches the hitting zone. With this ball coming from behind, it will force the hitter to keep their head and eyes on the ball.
4. Writing a decent size number on a few baseballs during batting practice and having hitters try to read the numbers when hitting is also a good drill. This can be extremely challenging, of course, but will make the point of how well hitter's need to watch the ball.
5. It is important to realize that balance comes from the hitter's head. Practicing hitting on a balance beam or similar balancing object, can greatly help hitters keep their eye on the ball, as well as helping all swing fundamentals.
Finally, a habit that I use to incorporate in major league baseball was to watch the ball all the way to the catcher's glove on pitches that I did not swing at. Baseball coaches should teach young hitters to do that also. It will help them keep their eye on the ball when they do swing as well, which is the obvious goal.
Former major league baseball player, Jack Perconte gives baseball hitting tips and batting practice advice for ballplayers of all ages. His baseball playing lessons, books and advice can be found at http://www.baseballhittinglessons.com/baseball Jack is the author of two books, The Making of a Hitter and Raising an Athlete - his positive parenting advice and books can be found at http://positiveparentinginsports.com
One of the hardest things when selecting baseball drills for youth is coming up with drills that build muscle memory but don’t bore the players so much they lose interest in the action altogether. This task is especially arduous when selecting defensive drills, since good defense is all about being prepared for whatever comes your way, and the only way to learn that is by playing out the various game-time situations. The following free youth baseball drills aim to keep players so engaged and interested they forget they’re building defensive skills.
Catching the Notorious Pop Fly
One of the most important defensive skills is how to catch a pop fly. To prepare your team for these high, straightforward catches, try this drill. Give each player on the team a ball and have them line-up one behind the other. Player one runs towards the coach, tossing the ball when close enough. The player then runs long, starting around 50 feet, while the coach lobs the ball high up into the air.
Players then turn around, spot the pop fly and catch it. To up the competitiveness of the drill, players who fail to catch the ball are assigned a letter in a predetermined word, such as HORSE. Once a player gets all the letters, they are out. While players are running to catch the ball, remind them to stay on the balls of their feet, since it will keep their strides shuffling and quick.
Mastering the Unpredictable Grounder
The next of the free youth baseball drills is perfect for teaching players to properly field the often wildly unpredictable grounders that inevitably will come their way come game time. To set up the drill, set up your fielders in a row. To cut down on wait time, set up a number of different stations with a coach or assistant managing each station.
The coach hits five ground balls in a row to the first player in the line who fields each grounder and throws it back towards the coach. After fielding the five balls, the player returns to the back of the line. In this drill, the most important thing to remember is staying low when fielding the balls. Make sure players are standing with their feet slightly wider than their shoulders, and constantly keeping their eye on the ball.
When looking for free youth baseball drills for defense, sometimes you want a drill that players can perform on their own without much help so you can concentrate on watching each player and correcting them when you see errors. This drill is perfect for that, since players are set up facing a wall, which basically provides its own grounders.
Line up players facing a wall or fence. Players should be at least 15 feet apart and approximately 20 feet away from the wall. Give each player a ball and at the sound of your whistle, players begin throwing the ball towards the ball low enough to get a grounder back. Have players count the number of grounders that are able to successfully field in a row without having one slip past or between their legs in a one-minute time span. Encourage players to beat their personal bests, and if they are excelling at 20 feet try moving them further back from the fence.
About The Author
Kenny Buford has coached nearly every level of baseball in a career that spans several decades. You can get instant access to his championship baseball practice plans and more youth baseball drills by visiting his website:
For a limited time, all coaches who visit Kenny's site will also get a free copy of his special report: "The 7 Biggest Mistakes Baseball Coaches Make". Go get your free copy today!
