Tee Ball is the time when 4 through 7-year olds develop a love for the game of baseball. Coaches need to be extra resourceful in finding ways to make practice fun as well as a time for very young players to start developing real skills in hitting, running, throwing and fielding. These 8 Tee Ball Hitting drills teach players how to stand, stride and swing at the stationary ball and connect.
Being successful at tee ball coaching requires you to be organized. Plan practices ahead of time. Unlike Little League or high school coaching, your players are beginners who need to learn everything from the bottom up. A baseball field to very young players is an abstract concept, strange and not understood. With practice and your diligence, kids begin to see the logic of baseball, and that they are part of a team pursuing a common goal.
Form in the Batter’s Box Drill
The key to making the best contact with the ball on the tee is the player’s stance in the batter’s box. Once they are standing to their best advantage, you can help focus on their approach to the ball followed by the swing.
For this drill, it’s best if you have an assistant who can place the ball on the batting tee so you can help set your hitter up in the box properly. You’ll need two batting tees, preferably tees that are adjustable. (The Tanner Tee is a popular adjustable batting tee for this purpose).
- Check their grip on the bat. Make sure it’s not too tight so their swing comes from their arms and shoulders, and not from the wrists. The grip should be loose and relaxed.
- Get them balanced in a comfortable batting stance. The stance should be somewhat athletic, or at least enough so their body mechanics enable them to swing through the ball.
- Instruct them to keep their eyes on the ball. This is perhaps the most important for beginning hitters to make the best contact with the ball. From the time they are in their stance, through their stride toward the ball, and finally the swing, their eyes should remain focused on the ball.
- Let them swing at the ball hard. When kids swing hard and the baseball travels farther than they believed possible, they will want to repeat the same movements so that it happens again. As they grow older and play, swinging with power becomes the most important part of the swing. Most important, they’re having fun doing it.
Batting Stance Balance Drill
This drill teaches tee ball players to stay balanced when at the baseball tee so that when they swing the ball they will give their swing its maximum power while remaining on their feet.
This drill helps young players become aware of the muscles they use when they swing, so they will have more control of the bat hitting the ball. When players have proper balance, they will be able to have much faster bat speed. This drill will also help coaches discover the best batting stance for each player.
Coaches should use three batting tees for this drill, with three or more players lined up behind each tee.
- The hitter extends his feet, shoulder width apart (wider or narrower until he feels he is balanced). He can use an open or closed stance.
- Before they hit the ball off the tee, make them do practice swings.
- If they can swing while keeping with the quickest bat speed they are able while keeping both feet planted on the ground, they have achieved the right stance.
- Make sure the arms don’t overextend.
- Next, have players swing the ball off the tee. It should be as if the hitter is throwing the bat at the ball since his feet remain planted to the ground.
- Once the wide part of the bat contacts the ball on the tee, have the hitter repeat the swing motion three times.
Remember that a shorter swing speeds up the bat through the strike zone, resulting in more power.
Hand Grip and Swing Tee Ball Drill
This drill focuses on the hands, how they grip the bat, and the position of the hands while swinging the bat through the ball on the tee.
The most important thing is that the child is comfortable holding the bat. Most children hold their hands around chest level, the bat out in front of them. You’ll want the player to make his most fluid swing without any awkward movements.
- Stand your player at the batting tee. He will take a few practice swings first before hitting the ball.
- Have him hold the bat at chest level, bat out in front.
- When he swings, watch his follow through.
- He should not dip his hands when swinging. Make sure the hands remain at chest level.
- At first, it will feel awkward for the hitter to swing in this manner. Have him repeat it until he’s comfortable.
- Now have the hitter swing at the ball on the tee, checking that his hands remain chest high.
If the player drops the bat when swinging through, it slows down reaction time and reduces the power level when he makes ball contact.
You can tell players that they can squeeze a tennis ball when they are home. They can do this while watching television or just sitting. This exercise goes a long way in building hand strength and will give hitters more control of the bat when they swing.
Tee Ball Batting Stride Drill
This drill focuses on the young player’s stride without using a batting tee or a baseball bat. It allows the coach to fine tune the stride so players will swing faster and with more power.
- Have each player get into his batting stance. Each player will have a different stance, either with feet shoulder width apart, or an open or closed stance.
- The player stands without a baseball bat.
- The coach simulates a pitching windup.
- The player responds, moving from a coil to a stride.
- The player freezes in the stride position. He does not follow through and complete his swing.
Coaches need to look for the following in his player’s stride:
- The body weight of the hitter should be behind the center of his body.
- His hands are still back behind the center of his chest.
- Make sure the hands remain at chest height.
- Make sure the knees drop as little as possible in the stride position.
- The player’s head remains level.
Hip Rotation Drill
One of the most important aspects of a great swing is the rotation of the hips. Although your players are still very young, it will be beneficial to them to focus at this age on all aspects of their batting swing, especially the hips and the lower body, where most of their strength comes from.
The hips engage the lower part of the body, and good hip rotation allows the player to utilize his whole body to get power and speed on the ball.
For this drill, each player uses a bat and a helmet.
- The coach once again simulates winding up and pitching the ball to the player.
- The player is in his normal open or closed batting stance.
- Explain to the batter that you are “throwing” a ball close to him (inside pitch), or one further away from his body (outside pitch).
- Have your batter focus on moving his back hip (the one behind him) first, to drive his rotation to the pitch.
- For an inside pitch, the youth hitter rotates farther.
- The hips should move in a level fashion, with no dips down to the plate. They must remain balanced.
- During the hip rotation, the back foot should contact the ground firmly.
- During the hip rotation, the player should land on his front foot firmly. It must remain stiff.
- Remember that the front shoulder drives the hips. The shoulder moves first, followed by the back hip.
It might be best to do this drill without hitting the baseball. Your players line up in a straight line in front of you, one next to the other. The coach then simulates a pitch, and they all swing their hips, front shoulders first, planting on a stiff front foot, and back foot contacts the ground.
Coaches check their hip rotation, their level swing, head level. The swing should not be at full speed until their shoulder, hips, legs, and feet are all synchronized.
A drill like this can be frustrating for very young players. Like all tee ball drills, keep it short, performing the drill no more than 10 minutes. If you repeat this drill at every practice, along with every other drill that is focused on improving body mechanics, coaches will begin to see results after three attempts.
Developing muscle memory at this age will be to great advantage if your players go on to play baseball years after tee ball. Their body remembers the movements, and this muscle memory will give them an edge when playing as teens or adults.
Pitch Location Tee Drill
This drill develops ball placement drills for tee ball players. At a young age, kids learn how to hit balls on the inside, middle and outside of the plate. This is yet another drill that helps develop muscle memory.
For this drill, coaches will need a batting tee, a net and tee balls. Each player wears his helmet.
- Start by placing the tee at thigh high level to the batter.
- Have him take a few swings.
- Next, move the tee farther in front of the hitter and raise up the tee. The hitter takes a few swings.
- Next, move to tee away, to the outside of the plate. Have him try a few swings.
At each of the three placements of the tee, coaches raise the level of the tee for high pitches and lower it for practice hitting pitches low in the strike zone.
This drill should be preceded by the hip swinging drill above. When the player’s stance is correct for him, and his stride is tight and solid, his swing through the ball will give your players greater satisfaction because they will be able to hit the ball farther than if they just swing at the ball randomly.
Inside Pitch Fence Drill
The Inside Pitch Fence Drill is a more advanced exercise. While this is a great drill for tee ball players, coaches should try this drill only after his players have developed the proper body mechanics before attempting.
Line up your players less than a bat length from a chain link fence. Avoid placing players near the metal posts of the fence.
- The players, lined up, are parallel to the fence.
- This drill develops the proper swing for an inside pitch.
- The coach either simulates a windup and a pitch, or he says, “Swing.”
- Hitters pull the bat to swing. He drags the bat head inside to his body and completes the swing without hitting the fence.
- Make sure your players don’t loop the bat when they swing. The more evenly the bat is swung, the easier it is to swing through without the bat head coming into contact with the fence.
Like all the other drills for your players, gauge the interest your players have in performing this drill. If players stay involved, you can extend it to a full ten minutes.
Players at this age are not as focused as older players. They maintain interest the most when you perform team drills, but a talented coach is able to keep players involved and having fun no matter if drills are individual or group-based.
Most kids will respond to a coach who appears like he’s having a great time. A coach who is having fun will have a tee ball team that is enjoying themselves.
Every drill can be turned into a game. For example, in the Fence Drill, the first player who hits the fence twice is “out.” The competition can go on until there is a winner. Kids love it when everything they do is a game. They still don’t fully comprehend what skills you are attempting to develop in them.
If you turn every drill to a fun competition, the kids will listen to the instruction you give them (how to swing, how to turn the hips, etc), and will follow them. They’ll be developing useful skills and muscle memory in their bodies they will take and use in higher level pay later on.
Besides skill development, they’ll begin to fall in love with the game.
Soft Toss Drill – Up the Middle
This drill is fun to do at the end of practice. It gives players a chance to hit the ball as far as they can off of a soft toss pitch. To make it even more fun, coaches can put targets out on the field for batters to try to hit. It could be anything that is large and easily visible to the hitter.
Even without targets, the drill can be a fun competition for kids. Coaches will need a baseball bat with hitters wearing their helmets.
The coach tosses to one player at a time. Tossing in front of the player a few feet away, the hitter attempts to utilize the skills learned in the earlier drills to hit the ball as far as they can.
Toss the player pitches down the middle, on the inside, and on the outside. Be sure to tell them you are throwing an outside pitch before you throw it. In this way, they can utilize the skills they learned in the Fence Drill.
Next, toss an outside pitch, and make sure they step into the ball. Head level, shoulders even, making sure he doesn’t swing the bat low.
Lastly, pitch the ball right down the middle. Give each player five attempts at the ball. Mark where the ball landed the furthest away, out of five tries.
The competition is to see who can hit the longest ball. Remind each batter of the skills you’ve developed in them, so they won’t just swing wildly at the ball.
The player to hit the longest ball has will have two snacks instead of one at the end of practice. Rewarding good work with candy or snacks is a great motivator for players this age. The idea is for everyone to have fun, and to make practice something that they will look forward to each week.
Coaches should be organized and create an order to his drills. The drills listed here should be done in the listed order. One skill is developed, and the subsequent drill is built upon the earlier drill, and so on. This is a cumulative progression. Lastly, the soft toss drill which attempts to incorporate all the essentials for a great and powerful swing.
