I know fall ball might be going on but soon most teams will be starting “off season” workouts if they haven't started already. I thought to have the board share with coaches some ideas on how to teach team hitting. It could be challenging and if done wrong be frustrating for coach and player.
This is one of the questions I get asked a lot by coaches at younger levels as coaches struggle to take 12 players and attempt to teach them concepts of hitting. How do I teach team hitting? The biggest mistakes I see most make is they want to teach all 12 at once and they also attempt to have the hitters do everything correctly from the start rather than focusing on one concept at a time. This causes players to never really learn or feel any hitting concepts as they should, causes confusion because the players are thinking of too many concepts, too much down time for other players and not enough time with each player to evaluate their progress.
My suggestion is to use one or two of those practices a week to work on one hitting concept at a time in small groups. Make your groups of 4 players at most. The group should be made up of players that are at about equal talent level so the group could advance at the appropriate pace. Have each group for about 40 minutes each. Add a concept each week that will support the previous week’s lesson while progressing to another. If one group is struggling do not move onto the next concept. By working with smaller groups you will also be much more in tune as a coach where each player is more deficient and needs work and more importantly so will the hitter. As you start the process, there is no need to have to pitch to the players until you feel they have progressed to the level of you not having to shout out 2, 3, or 4 commands every other pitch. Ending the practice session with a forward flip behind a screen to reinforce what they are learning is the best way to ensure the hitters progress doesn’t slip back into bad habits. In other words they will never learn the concepts you want them to feel comfortable with and make them a habit if you just pitch to them and yell instructions. Give them something specific to work on until the next session. Most concepts could be worked by the player on their own without a ball, a tee or a net as they get going. So no excuses accepted from the players if they don’t.
The off season is a great time to start this type of practice. Even if it’s in one cage and the groups show up for a 40 minute lesson and then leave. If you or your players don't try and swallow every hitting concept all at once you will be surprised at how much you accomplish in a handful of weeks.
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