Hitting stride and working on a T is not always something that we spend time on as coaches. What people do not realize is that it is one of the most useful hitting tools for isolating hitting mechanics. Use this softball hitting stride drill to isolate specific aspects of hitting and awareness.
Softball Hitting Stride Drill
No Stride
To Isolate and work on hip rotation and upper body movement.
Procedure
The player steps on the spot where the front foot would be after the stride and starts in that position. She can put the bat behind her back cradling in her elbows which face forward to isolate her hips. She hits the ball off the tee pivoting her back foot and using her hips only to get the bat to the ball. The next step would start a bit farther back in the batters box. She swings and concentrates on the pivot, hip rotation and movement of the upper body. She drives the front shoulder to the outside corner of the plate. She keeps the head down and looks inside the T after contact. This is also referred to as the contact point. The goal is to hit a hard line drive off the T.
It will not be as easy as you might think. 🙂guy
Two Stride
To practice the stride and check for balance.
Procedure
The batter in this softball hitting stride drill will start even further back in the batters box for this one because she is going to move slightly forward on the swing. The batter takes her stride with the hands going back to launch position. She freezes and holds that position to review stride length foot position, hand position and balance. If all is correct, she repeats the stride and this time swings to hit the ball off the T. If she recognizes a problem, she repeats the stride and does not swing until all is correct.
From:
Softball Skills and Drills
Judi Garman
