Ever take a look at a great hitter like Albert Pujols?
Albert Pujols keeps his head locked on the ball in the hitting zone.
Notice the point of impact where bat meets ball and you’ll see Pujols’ head right on the ball. And, as he finishes his swing, you’ll see the head locked in the same position even at the point of the end of the backswing.
Here’s a great drill to teach your players to keep their head on the ball.
Take ordinary plastic wiffle balls. Get several colors of magic markers and draw dots on either side of the wiffle balls. The size of the dots should be about the size of a quarter.
- Have the coach/pitcher hide the ball in his hands so the batter cannot see it.
- Throw the wiffle balls to the batter.
- For the first three, the batter simply watches the ball and calls out the color.
- After the first three, the batter now calls out the color of the ball as he swings.
There is no way that a hitter can see the dots until the ball is right in the hitting zone so his head has no choice but to be locked on the ball as he hits it.
The next time you do this drill, have the pitchers start varying the speed of the pitches and throw in some junk too.
A variation that I’ve heard of is to write a two digit number on the ball and have the hitter call out the number.
The players love doing this drill and its a great way to teach keeping the head in on a swing.
It may just help their golf game too!
