Hitting Stations Big Key to Diversified Practice

Indiana softball uses some type of hitting rotation each day in practice. You may put in different stations to change what you are trying to accomplish on a daily basis.

If you have a cage inside, you can set these stations up around the cage or use the same set-up outside. You may want to have live hitting on the field if you are outside, and can do this without having more than three shaggers. When in your hitting circuit, have your people swinging the bat the majority of the time, not standing around.

Before we start any hitting drills, we have everyone go through 35-50 dry swings hitting pitches in all locations of the hitting zone. They need to swing hard as if they were hitting a ball. When you introduce a hitting station, you need to show the athletes the benefits of the drill. Most of the time when doing drills, you are isolating a specific part of hitting. It's important that the athletes know what they are trying to accomplish. If the player is not thinking while doing the drills, she won't be able to apply it to her hitting.

Hitting is one of the most difficult skills in athletics, so the more we can break it down into smaller parts, the better hitter we can become. You should be able to run a very effective hitting practice each day without taking longer than 30-40 minutes. You can have your team divided by infield/outfield and work one group on defense while the other goes through the hitting circuit. Keep the game interesting and fun each day in practice!!!!!!!!

Hitting Stations
1. Basketball on Tee
Objective: To work and strengthen "following through" when hitting. Make sure you follow through on your swing.
Set-up: Basketball should be deflated enough so it has little to no rebound. A cone is good to use for a tee. Cut about 3-4 inches off the top. Use a net to hit into.

2. Golf Whiffle with Dowel Bat
Objective: UnderloadingWorks on hand/eye coordination on smaller object.
Set-up: Using a 3/4 inch dowel and 3/4 inch pipe wrapping, place the wrapping over the hitting area. Cover the pipe wrap with athletic tape. For safety reasons you might want to put athletic tape on the grip area The whiffle balls should be golf ball size. Tosser should be no more than 10 feet away from the hitter. The tosser should throw underhand. Make sure the tosser always has a glove when performing this drill.

3. Soft Toss Behind Screen
Objective: To keep weight balanced. Work on getting hands to the ball. Work on hitting the inside and outside pitches.
Set-up: Tosser should be standing behind a screen directly in front of the hitter, approximately 15-20 feet away.

4. Tee Hitting
Objective: Work inside and outside pitches.Work on short stride. Work on keeping a compact swing.
Set-up: When using tee, make sure to move the tee so you are working inside and outside pitches, as well as high and low. Make sure the tee is out in front of the plate and not directly on top of it.

5. Bunting (Sacrifice, Slap, Squeeze) Objective: Work on game situations.
Set-up: When working on any type of bunting, always start from a regular hitting position. Bunting can be done off either a pitching machine or somebody throwing underhand.

6. Drop Ball Drill
Objective: Quick hands to the ball. Works on reaction to the ball. Hand/eye coordination.
Set-up: Two people are needed for this drill. The partner dropping the ball must stand on either a crate or a chair a least two feet tall. Make sure they are positioned out in front of the hitter, so the hitter will always be making contact out in front. When the hitter is ready, the partner must say "ball" and then drop ball