Begin With The Basics To Become A Better Hitter

Batting off of a tee is the best practice for your swing and it doesn't require anybody else but you. Of course, the point of this drill is to get the baseball bat from a comfortable resting point to the point of contact as quickly and as accurately as possible. The ball is always placed at the ideal point of contact in the strike for an inside, down the middle, or outside pitch. There is no doubt this will train your muscles to remember the correct swing for those various points of contact because it is something that should be done repetitiously everyday. You will develop an excellent, but more important a consistent swing. Being baseball up in a position to swing at the ball with authority will be automatic.

Placing the tee at every point in the strike zone is very important to get the full effect of the drill. Don't forget, when practicing to hit the ball to opposite fields, you want to let the baseball move further into the hitting zone before making contact. That is why you place the tee on the back portion of the plate. Set the tee over the middle of the plate to simulate a pitch down the middle and work on hitting the ball straight up the middle 'through the box'. Improving your ability to hit any type of pitch and increasing your plate coverage is the objective.

When adjusting the height of the tee you should change it back and forth from high to low, enabling your body and hands to feel the various points of correct contact. Typically, you want to raise the tee as high as possible in your strike zone because it will train you to keep your hands up and 'strong' throughout your swing. It can help to avoid any unwanted dropping of the hands and back shoulder. Imagine your shoulders as an 'airplane' trying to land. You would want the wings of the plane to be level as you hit the runway and it is the same for your shoulders when hitting a baseball. If you find yourself hitting the tee at all or popping the ball up off the tee, it is a sign that you are dropping your hands or shoulder or both.

Joe Rodgers has taught batting mechanics at all competitive levels of baseball.