Soft Toss Drill

Setup

The location of the drill is in front of a fence or a soft-toss net. Many ball parks will not allow players to hit into the fence, therefore, a soft-toss net would be a good addition to the team. This drill can be executed with any amount of players. A minimum 10 baseballs is suggested for this drill. The batter will be positioned so that the ball will fly into the fence when it is hit. The coach will sit across the batter that is hitting into the fence. 

Instructions

The coach sitting across from the batter is responsible for tossing the ball upward into the batters strike zone. The batter is to hit the ball when it falls in to the strike zone below the chest and above the knees. The coach can adjust how high to toss the ball to give the batter more or less time to react. In some cases it is actually harder to wait on the ball if the ball is tossed higher. It is easiest to hit the ball at its highest point when tossed. The coach can toss the ball in different locations of the hitter’s strike zone to simulate an outside pitch or inside pitch. Throwing the ball higher simulates having to wait on a curveball or change up.

Variations

The batter can hit soft toss into the field from the batters box while the players waiting to hit can catch the balls.

Coaching Points

• For younger players, the coach should emphasize making contact with the ball.  The coach can also teach the players how to roll their wrists over when making contact with the ball to follow through with their swing.
• More experienced players can practice pushing the ball to opposite field or pulling the ball down the line.
• The batter should be hitting down on the ball and not getting under the ball causing the ball to fly into the fence much higher than the plane of the bat.
• The batter should maintain balance while hitting the ball and should never be falling forward or toward the ball.
• Going too fast will sacrifice the proper mechanics of swinging and the players will get in a rhythm of swinging poorly.

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