What are benefits of hitting ball sideways off a tee?

[redsoxfan45]

Hello, I recently saw a video of a team doing a hitting drill. In the drill they had a net set up and th girl was facing the tee like normal. Instead of hitting the ball back towards the pitcher, they were asking her to hit the ball to the extreme left(3rd base side right handed hitter) My question is why?

 

[obbay]

my guess is that they are trying to get her to follow thru with her swing. often with younger players they swing a bat like a badminton racquet and dont continue their swing thru contact.
with a hittin'stick i will sometimes have the ball located at their hip (or even behind) so instead of going 90 degrees to contact and stopping, they have to swing 180 degrees (or more).

or they might be teaching how different pitch locations require different contact locations which result in driving the ball to different fields

 

[BadMonkeys]

Does one have a link to said video?

 

[CoogansBluff]

I can understand hitting the ball to the 'extreme right' as a drill to work on inside-out swing, but I can't envision any reason to hit the ball 'extreme left.' ...

Also, you say ''they had a net set up.'' I don't have a clue of the location or the reason for a net based on your description.

 

[redsoxfan45]

Texas Elite 8U Gets Ready - YouTube
Here it is. fast forward to 3:35. This is a young team. I coach 14 - 16 year olds but I am wondering if there is any benefit to this drill.

 

[redsoxfan45]

I have used a broom handle hitting a whiffle ball off the tee. Having the girl set up with the broom handle behind their back at the hips. Not sure if they are trying to acomplish the same thing here?

 

[vcackerman]

Just based on the conversation it appears to be to get the hip rotation and finishing the swing.

I think the broom handle drill would do it too.

 

[obbay]

My guess was close. they are using that drill to emphasize use of the hips/turning the hips in the swing. younger players tend to believe that you swing with your arms. by having them do this, they get to feel what it is like to get your body engaged in the swing.
you can hear them in the video talking about turning the hips and encouraging the batter to turn her hips.

Re: Broomstick drill- I like steve Englishbey's version where you place the broomstick behind the neck, on your shoulders. so it requires tilt and twisting the torso to hit the ball off the tee

 

[softballphreak]

My guess was close. they are using that drill to emphasize use of the hips/turning the hips in the swing. younger players tend to believe that you swing with your arms. by having them do this, they get to feel what it is like to get your body engaged in the swing.
you can hear them in the video talking about turning the hips and encouraging the batter to turn her hips.

Re: Broomstick drill- I like steve Englishbey's version where you place the broomstick behind the neck, on your shoulders. so it requires tilt and twisting the torso to hit the ball off the tee

That sounds interesting. I'll have to try that. I don't like the one where they place it behind the hips. To me, that teaches spin; not something I want.

 

[PEPPERS]

The drill hitting basketball is one I did years ago until I was shown that if put too much pressure on young kid’s body you can see the kid hitting is making some adjustments due to the pressure and results in a poor swing. I’ve never seen a college team hit basketballs, I bet there are some out there, but I’ve never seen one. Use the baseball size TCB balls instead and only hit a few at a time until you can hit 10 with proper mechanics.

The other drill hitting the ball at the side into the net does not teach the things I like to see in a swing, I like the stick on the shoulder better for hips.