Softball Hitting Drills: Keep It Simple

This page and the related pages are all about providing you with a list of softball hitting drills to help your team enhance the abilities at the plate. It will also get into one of the hitting techniques that has been found to be very effective. But try to keep it simple. And, also remember the old adage: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". That goes for especially for hitting. If you have a player hitting the cover off of the ball, no matter how much you hate her swing, leave it alone!! It works for her.

Yogi Berra once said:

Exactly! The last thing you want your player doing at the plate is thinking too much about her swing. The swing should be automatic and natural because it's been repeated again and again with "perfect practice". Using some combination of the softball hitting drills referred to should make that swing come more naturally.

Each of the sections will also discuss bunting and slapping. The short game or the ability to bunt is extremely important in the game of fastpitch softball. If you run into a very strong pitcher who has your hitters totally flummoxed or over-powered, sometimes the only way to beat that pitcher is by deploying a bunting game. Bunting teaching techniques will be reviewed on the instruction page. Provided will be a few ways to teach bunting to those who have never bunted before. In addition, indoor bunting drills as well as outdoor and game day bunting drills will be listed on the respective pages. Slapping can be a fake bunt that ends up in a swing. This will also be discussed in the three areas.

So first let's examine some softball hitting tips during the off season. Yes, recreation players can fit some of these easy and non-time consuming drills into their busy schedules. It'll explain why one of my favorite hitting tools is the broom handle. Yes, I said the broom handle. I made a broom handle a required piece of equipment for every player on my team. As a matter of fact, as soon as a new player got the welcome letter, I handed them a broom handle. You will be amazed how many different drills you can do with a broom handle. And how much good it will do to assist in perfecting your player's swing.

The broom handle technique was introduced to me by a gentleman by the name of Phil Fidalgo. Phil is actually in the Villanova University Hall of Fame for his baseball prowess. He is the only person I ever saw with a pitching machine throwing balls able to walk from home plate to within five feet of the machine and make it all the way back to home plate without ever missing one pitch. Oh, and he was in his sixties at the time. That is some quick wrist (and nice short swing). Phil's softball hitting instruction was centered around what he referred to as the "short swing". I've also heard it called the "rotational swing".

The next set of fastpitch softball hitting drills are practice drills. These should be incorporated into your station practice regimen for your practice sessions. The drills should be rotated through as you work on various aspects of hitting to address identified weaknesses. Game day drills will also be addressed in this section. These drills will address how you work on various aspects in a very confined time span to maximize your team's readiness. Suggested equipment will be included with each drill.

For additional information on the various topics of fastpitch softball coaching, check out our Coach's Aids section. You will find books and DVDs that are broken down between overall coaching, pitching and catching, hitting and fielding.

What are your favorite softball hitting drills? What has worked for you when teaching your team how to hit? Are there certain techniques you've used that have been particularly effective? Is there a piece of equipment that has helped your hitting training cause? Share it here! Your fellow coaches would be much appreciative.

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