Many times mechanical flaws in a player’s swing can cause that player to lose balance when swinging. An inability to stay balanced at the end of a swing may be indicative of many faults in a particular batter’s fundamental approach to hitting. So, it stands to reason that finding ways to help a batter maintain balance may help correct other flaws in his or her swing.

We have come up with a drill that we use at our camps that not only emphasizes balance, but also promotes improved eye-hand coordination. We call this drill the “stickball drill.” To execute the drill, the batter uses a wood bat that is shaved down to resemble what used to be called a stickball bat. The handle of the bat should remain intact. This drill is designed to make the players utilize the concepts of soft toss (loose hands, quick bat) without losing their balance. The batter’s objective is to swing hard, hit a small plastic ball solidly and maintain balance so that he or she can reload and hit the next toss as quickly as possible.

For this drill you need the following:

• One wood bat shaved down so it is slightly thicker than a broom handle
• One bucket of small plastic Quickballs (www.quickball.com)
• One throw-down homeplate
• One Jugs Instant Screen (www.jkpsports.com)

The person doing the tossing should sit on a bucket or chair (or kneel) in a position ensuring that the tosses are not coming directly from the batter’s side toward his or her belly button. The tosser should be situated a few feet beyond the outside corner of home plate, facing the batter, and slightly in front of the plate. The tosses should come on a diagonal line, ending up in the middle of home plate but near the front.

The Execution

The tosser tells the batter to take a stride as if he or she is hitting a pitch. After taking the stride, however, the batter does not swing. Instead the bat remains in the loaded position. At that point the first ball is tossed. The batter assumes a loose grip with the bat held in the finger tips and the “door knocking” knuckles aligned. With each pitch the batter swings hard (remember loose hands, quick bat) without striding and then reloads. As soon as the batter has reloaded, another ball is tossed. The batter takes five swings and then switches places with the tosser. If the batter is not staying balanced throughout the swing, he or she will not be able to reload quickly and complete the drill correctly. The batter must then make a conscious effort to remain balanced and reload quickly, which hopefully will correct some fundamental flaws in his or her swing.

Trouble Shooting

Remember to have the batter “get wide” for this drill. The batter should take a stride as if ready to hit and remain in that position throughout the drill. Sometimes the batter’s feet will come close together and the batter will actually take a stride, which makes execution of the drill very difficult.