HITTING TEES vs. SHORT TOSS

Anyone that gets away from Tee work is crazy. Breaking down a swing and using a Tee is a major part of what we do. Concerning Short Toss, it is also important. We do our best to do all short toss work from the front.

We use TEE WORK in conjunction with soft toss

I've seen some of my kids roll their eyes when I get out tees... but Tony Gwynn is HUGE on tees and that's good enough for me.. also my older kids that have used the tees A LOT are big believers in them... so I say T it up boys... we do a lot with the pitch away and we set up an L-shape to the oppo side and play a game we call "hockey"... you try to score a goal by hitting a line drive into the net... the kids like it.

The goal of any hitter should be to execute a repeatable swing each time. To train your body to do this you must take out some of the variables, the biggest being timing and pitch location. A tee removes those variables so a kid can concentrate on the swing. In addition to isolating the swing, you can simulate different pitch locations so the kids understand that the outside pitch needs to be hit deeper in the zone, and the inside pitch up in the zone.

The tee in my opinion is the most important training tool out there. I hope coaches are not going away from it.

I use a standard tee and make kids hit line drives up the middle into the netting of the batting cage. Best start and get the feedback and find he guys that can do it there. saves time at reg BP times

We have always used a series of 5 hitting stations, 1 tee, 2 soft toss drills, 1 roto-twin and a hit stick. Many different areas can be worked on at once and it keeps 8 players busy at once.

It's kinda hard to hit a moving ball if you can't hit a ball that doesn't move....which doesn't explain why I can't hit a golf ball but that's different.....I say tee it up.

I love the tee. I used to not use it as much but now I always do. It's helped me see and feel things in my swing that were wrong. It's also helped me be able to put the ball to the opposite field because I knew where the point of contact was and how it felt. Nothin better than the tee.

To me any drill that enables hitters to take more fundamentally sound swings is great whether it be a batting tee, soft toss, swift stik, hands back hitter, BP etc.

But in my opinion, the best way to build core strength, bat speed and bat quickness is nothing more than tossing it up and hitting a line drive as hard as you can (with a slightly heavier bat like wood). I call it “self toss”.

It’s fun and challenging and also teaches plate discipline. Both of my sons did it (and long toss) for 2 months on alternating days every off-season.

The results were measurable each season. My son that is still playing in college does it every time he goes to the cage. He can work on hitting the ball hard to all fields without depending on an accurate pitcher.

If you have never tried it please do. I have never met anyone who tried it that did not like it. However I have encountered a few folks on the Internet who have not tried it that didn’t like it.

THop

Tim'
you posted this before and I agree. Also the time delay to get the other hand on the bat as the front side firms makes for good lead leg assistance in rotation and gets the hips a few frames ahead of the upper body...all great fundamentals.

Kids that hit rocks with the old broom stick lead the league.

My son when he was about 10 years old hit pea gravel with an old 7 iron shaft( Head gone) when he was a kid. try that...I couldn't do it and he rarely missed flushing it.

Of course, I was at work all day and he spend his summer in the gravel driveway barefooted with no shirt swinging away.

i love tee work. i start every season with the tee. and eventually expand on it with soft-toss. before i take BP each day at practice i do tee-work and soft-toss. i dont think any player should just jump into BP without it.