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Duck and Cover

  Posted Nov 01/15 by Shawn Lockhart for Better Coaches

2577 2 10
  HITTING
 

Objective

  • Unfortunately, getting hit by the ball during an at bat is all part of the game.
  • The purpose of this drill is to prepare young players to react properly to a ball that is accidentally thrown at them during a game.

Equipment

  • Baseballs (15-20 tennis or wiffle balls)
  • Bats
  • Helmets
  • Cones

Description

  • Coach stands approximately 15-20 feet away from the hitter and throws tennis balls to his/her head and shoulder area.
  • In order for this drill to be effective, coach should mix in strikes with pitches intended to hit the batter. This will keep hitters honest and stop them from developing habits of automatically turning away from inside pitches.

Tips

  • This drill is intended to decrease a player's fear of the ball, not increase it, therefore, there is no need for a coach to throw the ball hard.
  • Emphasize to players to drop the bat head down and turn their body away from the pitch. By bending over and arching the back slightly, the ball will skip off the back which will hurt much less than a ball hitting a player square in the back.
 

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