Driving the Ball: Power Hitting with a Plan

Coaches Wilson and Snider have been a big part of the offensive explosion at Florida State over the past four years. In the past three seasons (2013-15), the team has had at least 335 runs scored, 460 hits, 50 home runs and 300 RBI. In 2015, the Seminoles were among the top three in the conference in eight categories and led the ACC with 18 triples. At the start of the 2016 season, seven of the top eight home run, the top four walk, four of the top six RBI and three of the top seven run totals in Florida State single-season history have come from players coached by Snider and Wilson (2012-15).

Creating successful hitters happens by design. Craig Snider and Travis Wilson bring you an in-depth look at Florida State's hitting philosophies and show you what they do in the cages to improve their team's offensive statistics.

Included in this presentation are more than 15 hitting drills ranging from tee work to front toss so you can enhance every aspect of your team's hitting process. Eye control, upper and lower body control, hand control, bat control, mental routine, situational hitting and plate coverage are all covered by Snider and Wilson.

Approach to Tee Development

Coach Wilson demonstrates several tee drills to help batters hit pitches in any part of the strike zone and isolate the upper and lower half of the body. He shows drills working the plate outside and inside and discusses mechanics for increased power with an inside stack alignment of the load leg to generate maximum force production. The softball swing happens in fractions of a second, so isolating certain components of the swing will help players achieve better results.

Approach to Front Toss Development

Front toss is a large part of batting practice at Florida State. It's a great for eliminating flaws and enhancing both general and specific components for building explosive hitters. Coach Snider teaches how to use the front toss to increase offensive production and reinforce good hitting habits. He covers more than 30 progressions, breaking down keys to success, mechanics, hand placement, bat direction, and plan of action for how to attack the ball up into the zone.

One particular drill uses seven numbered softballs laid out in front of home plate to help to train the batter's eyes along with their bodies to recognize what pitch is coming. It also helps hitters identify where the pitched ball crosses over home plate. Batters who understand what pitches to look for will make solid contact more frequently.

Situational Hitting

Having the ability to advance runners will help you win close games. See how Coaches Snider and Wilson help their hitters practice common situations like the sacrifice bunt, hit and run, runner at second base, and runner at third base with a front toss drill. If your hitters know where to hit the ball in certain key situations, your team will be more successful.

Approach to Crushing the Change-up

Hitting the change up is one of the hardest things for an aggressive batter to do. Coach Wilson believes the change up is one of the easiest pitches to hit, and shares the secret of how to dominate it at the plate.

Building great hitters doesn't happen by accident. Learning and implementing what Coach Wilson & Snider teach will improve the mechanics, conditioning, explosive hitting power and hitting I.Q. of your players and any athlete who wants to compete at a high level.

62 minutes. 2016.