Teaching the Game: Hitting Skills and Drills for Youth Baseball

Iowa Western Head Coach Marc Rardin shares more than 20 drills designed to teach the fundamentals of a good swing. Though these drills were developed for youth players, they can also be used at the collegiate level to improve performance in more accomplished athletes, as proven by Iowa Western's 2014 NJCAA National Championship.

Coach Rardin's three keys to good hitting are balance, timing and direction. His presentation includes multiple skill progressions that integrate hitting off a tee and soft toss. Coach Rardin emphasizes hitting the ball with your hands, not the barrel of the bat. If the hands are in the correct position, the barrel will follow!

In the "Two-Two-Two Drill," players eased into correct swing fundamentals by progressing through phases that train them to hit the ball with their weight on their front foot. Players begin with two repetitions of the "Back Knee Through Tee Drill" and then use the same technique with two soft tosses and finally the regular swing with two soft tosses. Transferring energy from the back foot to the front foot in the swing makes the hitter more powerful and consistent.

Let Coach Rardin help you train your youth hitters and assist them in building a reliable swing that puts more balls in play.

65 minutes. 2014.