A look at some of the drills we’ve performed over the past 1-2 weeks. See the explanation for each below:
1: This athlete has high level rotational ability, with overly pull side swing direction. Our goal with this drill was to use the heavy bat to emphasize his feel of the barrel, and use tennis balls for more of a “punch” effect. And his cue was to whip it through centerfield, while taking half swings to work on direction.
2: This athlete tends to keep his hands a little too tight to his body, and can struggle to fully release his barrel. By using a broomstick, we get the auditory feedback of where the “whoosh” happens, allowing him to better feel the barrel release.
3: This athlete (same guy) is a right handed thrower, left handed hitter. He struggles to get into his left hip. Often, athletes will more naturally get “into their hip” when throwing vs when hitting. Therefore, throwing can be a good blend to use with hitting for athletes that struggle with this issue.
4: This athlete had trouble keeping his hands at shoulder level during his swing, particularly when challenged with velo. By adding the weight into his turn, when we take it away, the bat feels incredibly light, making it easier to execute a proper turn.
5: This athlete struggles with launching from a too vertical bat angle. As a result, he has trouble getting and staying on plane for a long period of time. By giving him the feedback of his bat tapping the pole when he got too vertical, we can help him build feel around a better launch position.