Improving Bat Speed

By Galen Paten

Hard throwing pitchers pose problems for a hitting coach. I have found several ideas that have helped my teams hit better against those power pitchers.

 

  1. Weight Training. Many girls on my team are in my weight classes during the day. We concentrate on lifts that develop arm and leg power. This has helped our team's hitting, throwing and running speed.
  2. Bat resistant partner drill. The first "hitter" gets in a good hitting position and her partner gets behind the batter and holds the bat toward the end. The batter tries to swing the bat with a short, compact swing keeping the hands close to the body while the partner slowly allows the bat to move through the hitting zone. After completing the swing, the batter takes the bat back to the starting position, also against resistance from the partner. We do this exercises in 2 or 3 sets of 10 repetitions. It is very tiring, but it accomplishes two things: It trains the players to swing with a short, compact downward action, and it strengthens the muscles that move the bat during the swing. The improved strength moves the bat quicker through the hitting zone.
  3. Thunder stick soft toss. This adaptation of the soft toss drill utilizes the thunder stick ) a very light training bat). Partners for to hitting screen with a bucket of balls and the thunder stick or a very light bat. Often we use baseball sized rubber balls to insure concentration.
    1. The tosser lines up 5 to 6 feet to the side and 1 to 2 feet in front of the hitter.
    2. The tosser flips balls underhand between the waist and the knees and just in front of the hitter.
    3. The hitter swings to and through the hitting zone as quickly as she can. Using the proper mechanics is imperative or the hitter will develop bad habits. The is drill improves speed of the bat by teaching the fast twitch muscle fibers to contract faster as they move the thunder stick through the hitting zone. Faster muscle contraction, when using the thunder stick, transfers to the quicker swinging of the normal sized bat.

I believe that these drills will help your team speed up their swing against the power pitcher if used religiously.