Swing Warm-Up

Purpose

In this drill, players spend about five minutes working on their swing, starting at a slow speed and working up to game speed when they get comfortable. It works through the mechanics of the swing from the finish to the start and from the start to the finish. The drill warms up the players and works on their balance to get them ready for all the hitting drills they will do in practice.

Equipment

Bat for each player

Number of Players

6 or more

Setup

Place players in a big circle so that they can warm up swinging the bat. Players start with their arms straight out in front of them, pointing the bat straight up in the air.

Procedure

1. With their wrists, they drop the bat left and right parallel to the They do this 10 times.
2. From the same position with the bat in front of them, they take the hands and bat, bring them over the head behind them, and feel the They then bring them in front so that the bat almost touches the ground. They do this back and front 10 times as the body stretches out.
3. The hitters start from the finish position of the From this position they go backward to the contact point and back to the stance, and then from the stance to contact to the finish. They do this about 10 times to get the body loose.
4. The hitters begin in the contact position, the position where the ball and bat meet. From this position they come up to the stance, and as soon as the hands get back to the stance they take a full They do this 10 times.
5. Finally, they get into the hitting stance and take 5 to10 swings slowly to slightly faster, keeping their balance the whole Finally, they take 10 quick game-speed swings, keeping their balance the whole time.

Coaching Points

• Make sure that players start slowly and understand the swing.
• Eventually they do these drills at full game speed.
• They should challenge themselves to keep their balance on all the swings.