Eyes Closed Soft Toss Drill
August 2006
By: Vincent Korthuis
EQUIPMENT: Bats, Balls, Helmets, and Gloves
We have had great success in teaching the players to adjust their bat position to the ball location using this drill.
SETUP: Coach is setup to soft toss baseballs from the front side of the batter. The batter is lined up to hit the baseball into the JUGS Instant Screen.
DRILL: The coach soft tosses the baseball to the batter and gets a feel for the batter's timing and location of the sweet spot. After the batter gains confidence in his hitting, the batter is told to close his eyes until the coach says "open." Once the eyes are open, the batter hits the ball into the screen. Varying the time from the soft toss release to the "open" call will develop quick hands to adjust to hitting the ball.
OBJECTIVE: This drill is designed for the batter to quickly adjust his hand coordination and develop the skills to adjust the location of the swing to the location of the ball.
VARATIONS: Players can pair up together to save time. The coach can either fake throw or toss a ball without saying open to see if the batter is peeking.
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