a blog post by Strobe Sport

If you're a hitter, you'll want to practice baseball pitches to become a better hitter. You'll find some great hitting drills for this in this article, including the Yes or No drill and side tosser. In addition, try Tire batting and the Two-tee aim. Try them out and improve your pitch recognition in no time. But first, make sure you practice pitch recognition!

Side tosser drills

One way to improve your recognition of pitches is to use the side tosser. With this drill, the tosser will bounce the ball in front of home plate between three and four feet. The hitter will take his usual batting stance, facing the fence or net. The dropper stands one and a half steps to the plate side and behind the hitter. He throws a baseball to the hitter, aiming for the contact zone.

The hitter will stand in a position facing a screen about 15 feet in front of him and then turn his head slightly as he tracks the ball. The hitter will then make contact with the ball when it comes down. The purpose of this drill is to develop a compact swing with fast hands. As the tosser throws the ball, the hitter must be prepared to drive the ball up the middle and out of the plate.

Yes or No drills

Pitching recognition is separate from vision and tracking skills. Expert hitters use visual cues in the first 10-20 feet of ball flight to anticipate pitch movement. One of the most effective hitting drills for pitch recognition is the "bullpen stand-in drill." This exercise has batters call out "yes" or "no" before the ball hits the catchers mitt. It also teaches players to identify pitches that are not fastballs or in other locations.

This hitting drill can help you hit breaking balls. In this drill, the tosser positions himself at least 10-15 feet from the hitter and throws a rising ball over a screen. The hitter must wait for the ball to come down and drive it into the center of the plate. In another version, the tosser stands a few feet away from the hitter and extends his arm high into the air, then drops the ball into the strike zone.

Two-tee aim drill

One of the most common and useful baseball practice drills is the two-tee aim drill. It helps players develop proper swing mechanics by creating a short path to the ball. Practicing staying "short" helps athletes fight the tendency of dropping the barrel early. The drill is an excellent way to learn how to catch up to fastballs. Its creator, Dugout Captain partner coach Chris Malec, explains the benefits of training swing mechanics with a second batting tee.

In this baseball drill, a batter is thrown a pitch. The batter must detect the pitch's location and call out the pitch when it hits the plate. Then, the batter will load his bat and hit the ball. The player should not cross the plate with the bat. The two-tee drill trains a batter to recognize pitches from different angles. Coaches recommend this drill for pitchers with short paths and late batters.

Tire batting

The batting power training can be done with stationary tires, which provide a perfect opportunity to practice a quick, tight swing. This drill should not cause players to give up on swings because the tire is stationary, but can instead be hung from an overhead object or a long rope. Regular use of this drill will improve batting power. The most important thing in this drill is to use a short, tight swing.

Whiffle ball drill

One of the most effective hitting drills for pitch recognition involves practicing recognizing pitches and timing. A yes/no drill will work on pitch recognition, but a more sophisticated variation is the cone drill. In this drill, a coach places a cone in the path of the pitch to test a player's reaction time. If the reaction time is slow, the player may have difficulty determining whether or not to hit the ball.

Another hitting drill focuses on hitter's balance and rotation. The Separation Drill requires the hitter to start with his back foot at 90 degrees and then internally rotate his front hip. This helps him explode through the zone with his lower half. The drill is effective for building muscle memory and developing proper swing technique. It is an easy drill, mimicking the real swing. The right finishing position will involve the hitter transferring his weight from the front to the back foot, with his back facing home plate.