Pitchers and catchers reported today. With those five magical words, baseball is back!

Many players struggle to hit the outside pitch. When they make contact it’s usually a weak ground ball to a middle infielder. For example, a right-handed hitter will hit the ball to the shortstop. Usually players hit outside pitches poorly because they are casting or looping out their hands which causes them to roll over their top hand too soon and they are making contact with the outside pitch too far out in front of the plate.

Players should try to hit outside pitches to the opposite field. For a right-handed hitter this means hitting the ball to right field. To successfully hit the ball to the opposite field players must work on "staying inside the ball” and letting the ball “travel”.

Staying inside the ball means starting the swing from the back shoulder, keeping the hands close to the body, keeping the bat head higher than the hands and driving the knob of the bat to the pitcher.

Letting the ball travel means letting the ball get deeper into the strike zone before making contact with the pitch.

To effectively hit outside pitches to the opposite field players must practice and put in lots of tee and soft toss work.

Running effective practices creates a fun environment in which the kids are motivated to learn things. Successful baseball teams are usually those that consistently plan and execute well thought out practices.

• The kids are having fun
• The kids are moving, busy and constantly involved
• Coaches are enthusiastic and use positive reinforcement
• Every drill is teaching specific fundamentals (practice with a purpose)
• Competition is instilled in drills (as applicable)
• Innovation is used to capture the players’ interest
• Safety awareness

Station Drills

Using station drills is an effective way to work with your team in smaller groups. Station drills keep kids moving, busy and constantly involved. Stations also ensure the kids receive lots of repetitions on specific drills. To run station drills you’ll need lots help from assistant coaches and parents. Split your team into groups. For example, if you have 12 players, split them into 4 groups of 3 players. Each group reports to a station. Station drills can be used to teach multiple fundamentals or work on a specific skill. After 15 or 20 minutes take a break and then rotate the groups.