Most Productive Winter Drills

The towel Drill has done wonders for my son and his stride. This is a very good drill....

Swiftstick and golf balls. Good for hand and eye coordination.

Swinging with a weighted wood bat and then a regular wood bat. 50 times each before going into the cage is good too. Also practicing all winter with a wood bat then switching to metal.

If he's a pitcher get three full length mirrors and hang them in an area that he can practice his form. The mirrors will allow him to see himself. One of the biggest problems is with young pitchers is they can't see what they;re doing.

Take him through drills making sure that every phase of his form is exactingly precise.

Drill using lite weight balls, whiffle balls or the like since these are not about throwing hard but throwing in an "perfect" form.

Under pressure during a game these drills will help him to maintain discipline in his form which is the key to getting out of jams.

I used this drill to make sure that the hands were in the correct position throughout the pitching cycle. You would be surprised how the hands out of place can destroy the pitchers ability to throw strikes.

Since I don't coach my son anymore I have noticed that sometimes he doesn't keep his hands "absolutely correct". He use to maybe only give up one BB during a game, now he is giving up 1.5. That is a big difference. It goes directly to your ERA.

Yesterday he pitched against the starting nine of his college team and won 10 - 2, scattered 5 hits but gave up only 1 ER. The ER came on a BB that advanced to third on a hit and then a flyball/tagup. That's what I mean.

I do not mean to sound ignorant but could someone please describe the towel drill. Is there video any place online of these drills.

Thanks

Most productive winter drills - run, run and run some more.

Pitching Towel Drill
Towel drills for pitchers can be done in close quarters. This is done by getting an old towel or an old pair old tube socks tied together and work on your pitching mechanics while making a target on the floor with the towel or socks. This can be done everyday since the socks or towels create very little resistance and don't fatigue your arm as will a baseball. You and your partner should evaluate each other's mechanics and you should work to help each other do it the correct way.



Hitting Towel Drill
http://www.infosprts.com/baseball/camp/hitting/115.htm

Overall conditioning; pushups, situps and running with a heavy emphasis on "core" strength. The medicine ball is a fantastic tool.

Pic - I don't think that's the towel drill for pitchers. It mentions hitting and promotes a downward swing - not something we're looking for!

quote:

---

Originally posted by Callaway:
Overall conditioning; pushups, situps and running with a heavy emphasis on "core" strength. The medicine ball is a fantastic tool.

---

Callaway, you're on to something here. We can get our kids thousands of reps in practice with a coach watching during the year. We can't gain strength, flexibility, etc, in season due to the nature of our inseason lifting program. We lift to maintain but do see slight increases. We aren't allowed to do so many of the things I read on this site that other coaches get to do. However, I don't think that we are behind because our athletes are so well conditioned when we start.

quote:

---

Originally posted by goMO:
Pic - I don't think that's the towel drill for pitchers. It mentions hitting and promotes a downward swing - not something we're looking for!

---

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

There are two different drills using a towel, one for pitching and one for hitting.

The first one presented is for pitching. I used two tube socks tied together with a knot on the end of both. I used this technique with my son. You pick a spot on the floor approximate two to three feet in front of where the hand ends up in the follow through and have your player hit that spot approximately 30 to 50 times with the knot.

The second one is for hitting, and I referenced a website with its own explanation of the subject.

Guess it wasn't clear.

oops, sorry Pic. you were clear. I wasn't reading properly.
Although I'm not sure what that hitter's towel drill is supposed to do. If anything, I'd put a towel under his back elbow to make sure it stays tucked.

carry on!!