Drills to Make a Child a Better Baseball Hitter

As much as defense plays a role in baseball, without scoring, your team cannot win the game. Successful batting techniques are developed at a young age and include acquiring coordination, strength, reaction time and self-confidence. Whether you are a coach or a parent, it is important to develop the skills through practice drills and competitive play.

  1. Top-Hand Drills

    • The top-hand drill is designed to help develop strength in gripping a baseball bat using your top hand. The importance of developing toned muscle in the top hand is because the top hand is responsible for guiding the bat towards the ball.

    Short-Toss Practice

    • If you are looking for a drill that delivers consistent ball tosses with the same speed and velocity to a hitter, the short-toss practice can be a great drill to develop hitting consistency. Use an L-screen protector to prevent balls from hitting the coach or pitcher. Throw the ball underhand or overhand at half the distance from the pitcher's mound to the batter's box. The distance allows the child to develop a quicker bat swing motion and hand-eye coordination.

    Tee Drills

    • According to the QC Baseball website, the baseball hitters tee not only helps children hit the ball in the middle of the bat, it also helps them hit in different directions. The drill begins with the coach letting the child take swings on the baseball from the center of the plate. Move the tee towards the child and away from the child to demonstrate an inside or outside pitch. Take note of the child's stance and correct him to get the most power out of the inside and outside balls.

    Colored Ball Drills

    • The colored-ball drill develops and improves a batter's reaction time and thinking process. Paint each ball a different, bright color. The pitcher or coach will hide one of the colored balls in his glove. For a split second before the pitch, the coach will call out a color. If the colored ball matches the color the coach calls, the player will swing. This will help the child make quick decisions regardless of whether the pitcher throws a fast ball, slider, change-up, curveball or another pitch in a game.