Grip Drill.  Have the hitter grip the bat as he normally does, holding the bat loosely.  Now hold the bat straight up in the air with the hands against the chest and the elbows pointed out to the side and parallel to the ground.  Now, while keeping the bat pointing up, move your hands directly away from your chest until your arms are straight.  Keep your wrists aligned straight along your arm.  When you are done, you are holding the bat with the proper grip.  You will note that this approach tends to line up the middle knuckles on each hand, if not exactly, then very close to it.

Make sure the hands are together, not separated, and that the fingers are together as well – no gaps.  You should not be able to see any part of the bat between your fingers or hands.  Also, the grip should be loose, not tight.

The Stance Drill.  Have the hitter step up to and position himself at the plate, starting with the proper depth and distance from the plate, and get into his stance.  Have a coach or parent then verbally go through the stance checkpoints and make corrections as necessary.  Have the player then step away from the plate then repeat the drill.  After a few repeats, have the hitter verbally go though the checklist from memory.  Help him along if he can’t remember something.  In the heat of a game, players often forget the principles of a good stance and revert to old bad habits, so re-enforcing the positions of a good stance is very important.

The Stance Ritual.  Have the hitter get into his stance.  Then have him back away and go through the steps of the "Easy Stance Routine" as described on the Stance page.  You can call out the steps to help the player through the routine.  Repeat a number of times.  The goal is help the player develop a good stance routine, so he will get into a good stance before every pitch.

STEP PHASE

Stance-Load-Launch Drill.  Have the player get into his stance.  Call out “Load”.  The hitter should go into the load position and hold it.  Check position for correctness.  Then call out “Launch”.  The hitter should move from the loaded position to the launch position (and hold it).  Check for correctness.  Repeat several times.  Once the player gets the hang of it, speed the drill up so that the transition from load to launch is continuous.

As a variant, stand about 10 feet or so in front of the hitter.  Go through a simulated pitching motion.  As you (the pitcher) start the stride forward to throw the ball, the hitter should load.  As you simulate release of the ball, the hitter should launch.  You can help him at first by calling out load and launch at the proper times.  There should not be much delay between loading and launching.

SWING & FOLLOW-THROUGH PHASES

“Squash the Bug”.  This drill familiarizes the hitter with the proper lower body position at contact (see top photo on the Swing page). 

• Front leg straight and angled out front
• Front foot flat and pointed at 1B (3B for lefties)
• Back thigh vertical, upper body directly over back thigh
• Lower back leg bent back
• Back foot on bottom of toes, heel up, pointed toward pitcher (squashing the bug)
• Hips and knees facing pitcher.

Have the hitter just get into this position, so he knows what it feels like.  He should feel most of his weight on his back leg.  Have the player (without the bat) put his right hand (left hand for lefties) out to his hitting side.  Push against his hand while he tries to resist your push.  He should feel how he braces and pushes against his back foot to resist your push.  Then hitter needs to apply this same “push” to the bat when contacting the ball.

The “Load-Launch-Hips” Drill.  This drill is the same as the “stance-load-launch” drill above except it adds in the hip rotation after the launch.  It teaches the kids that the swing is started with the lower body before the upper body gets into the act.  Have the hitter assume his stance.  The coach or parent then calls out “Load”, then “Launch”, then “Hips”, with the hitter assuming each position when called out.  The upper body should not rotate with the hips (well, maybe just a little).  Repeat.

As a variant, do this drill without a bat while facing a wall.  Have the hitter put his upper arms by his side and extend the lower arms forward so his fingers are touching the wall.  Now do the load-launch-hips with the lower body, keeping the upper body still and facing the wall.

The Full Swing Drill.  Using the One–Page Hitting Checklist, step through and hold all of the positions of the swing in sequence.

• Stance
• Load
• Launch
• Hip Rotation
• Shoulder rotation
• Extend Arms and hands
• Extend and Point
• Roll and Wrap

I recommend using a hitting tee when running this drill.  After getting into each position, have the player hold it and go through the checkpoints and make corrections as needed.  Then call out the next position and have the player move to the next position in slow motion and hold it while you run through the checkpoints and correct any problems.  Repeat until you’ve stepped through all positions in the checklist.  As the child becomes more proficient, you can speed this drill up and skip the checklist. 

The Fence Drill.  One of the more common errors is for a young hitter to “sweep” the bat at the ball.  Sweeping refers to swinging too early with the arms, before your back shoulder comes around square.  This causes your hands to move too far away from your body and for the bat head to come around too soon.  Stand facing a fence, exactly one bat length away (measured from chest to fence).  Now practice your swings being sure not to hit the fence with the bat.  To do this, the hitter must rotate his back shoulder about 90 degrees before swinging with the arms, keeping the hands in close and the bat head back.  Don’t do this drill using a wall or any surface that may result in damage to the surface, the bat, or (heaven forbid) the hitter.