Off-season BP in cages- ideas?

[obbay]

Our U18 team has started our off season, once a week BP and I'm looking for different stuff we can do indoors (in cages).
for the last few years we have done primarily tee work into a net 5 feet away, soft toss, some front toss and hit off the machine.

I'm thinking we need to get some more stuff going, especially to keep more girls active.

In addition to basic tee and hitting off the machine, some other things I was thinking we should incorporate regularly:

-One-hand hitting off the tee ( 10 each hand)

-regular Zepp work focusing on increased bat speed.

-Long Tee

- Live pitching

- Medicine Ball (2 players back-to-back, passing the ball back and forth to each other)

- Tee work with "heavy" or wood bat

-Tee work with whip-hit bat

- front toss with TCBs

- Sprinting (focus on learning to run correctly and increasing speed thru improved technique)

- Hitting off the Personal Pitcher (whiffle golfball pitching machine)

any other ideas of indoor stuff that could be done 1x week and be worthwhile?

 

[Josh Greer]

One of our favorite drills is to setup a screen about 30 feet away and pitch live to them. Make it a game like experience. Keep track of counts, outs, runners, and runs. If a ball hits the screen it is a single. Over the screen without hitting the lid is a double (or triple if I think it is an exceptional hit). Hitting the sides before the screen is a foul ball. Hitting the lid or bouncing before the screen is an out. It's amazing how this keeps my kids from just going through the cage motions.

 

[softballphreak]

Jump rope with its many variations. Agility ladders with its many variations.

 

[KnowThePlay]

Not necessarily "fun" but kettle weights with squats, plyo boxes and push ups. For hitting, some different drills that may help is doing zone hitting T work (inside and outside pitches - 1,4,7 and 3,6,9 below) and hitting small balls...I have a wooden small bat. Some of the fun drills may include T hitting with eyes closed (point here is it forces them to focus on feeling for their mechanics but also enforces to them that they don't need to lift their head, they can feel and hear when they make a good hit...I call it blind man's hitting - when eye's are open you don't need to watch where the ball goes, the look and feel will tell you if it is a good hit). Another fun drill is to setup a target or location in the net and about 20 feet away. I use the top tubes of rubber hitting T's. The "batter" uses the tube as their bat and they cast their hands forward throwing the tube towards the target. The key is they end with their hands fully extended toward the target...they don't bring them around like they would with hitting so they practice and focus on extending their arms and hands after the hit (plus if they pull around they likely will not hit the target).

 

[coach james]

I like the variations of t work you've mentioned. One arms, and whip hit bat etc....
I had a personal pitcher for years until I remodeled my basement with a new cage. The personal pitcher is an amazing tool for one primary but oddly unadvertised reason. As the balls get hit repeatedly, they'll start to warp. As the machine feeds them with their warped shape, the balls flight is completely unpredictable. If the feed wheels grab a narrow section of the warped ball it produces a change up. If it grabs the bent side, here comes a screw, curve ,or rise....etc Lord only knows how fast or where it may come across. No two pitches are identical.
Lots of live hitting!!! Let pitchers and catchers pair up and keep track of stats!
Use the Zepp with an iPad on display, if they see their mph in big green numbers, it's a big motivator. Also keep the notifications turned on with each player, the data will produce detailed drills to reduce that particular players flaws

 

[nanotech14]

when eye's are open you don't need to watch where the ball goes, the look and feel will tell you if it is a good hit)

So you don't want the batter to take a look where the ball goes. Why not?

 

[CoogansBluff]

My concern w/ any strength/agility work is that they won't follow up and do it on their own. If you do that only once/week, I question whether it's helpful. But if you trust they'll work (I'm skeptical), then I can see value in it.

Then when it comes to hitting, I'd say standard tee work (high balls, low balls, inside, outside, etc.) is always helpful. So is front toss and live toss. But other drills are questionable. For my daughter, I don't see her getting much out of one-hand drills. Not sure what long tee is. I don't like heavy bats and TCBs. For me, the best tee drills are walk-up (Happy Gilmore), Babe Ruth drill, Flamingo drill and stretch-and-fire/torque drills. All a matter of opinion, but my main point would be to give a lot of thought to the long-term value of the drills (are they really getting something out of it?) rather than making the production look good. Not saying you aren't doing that, but just saying.

 

[rdbass]

Not sure what long tee is.

Hitting into a net placed further away from the tee 20',30' ect. and watching/see the ball path over a longer distance.

All a matter of opinion, but my main point would be to give a lot of thought to the long-term value of the drills (are they really getting something out of it?)

No, if the coach/instructor just lets them go through the motions swing after swing with no adjustments. Difinition of insanity comes to mine. Just last night I watched a player on my DD's team hit ground ball after ground ball off of a tee into the net and not on purpose.

 

[KnowThePlay]

So you don't want the batter to take a look where the ball goes. Why not?

Tend to pull their head before the ball hits the bat. They do need to watch the ball make contact with the bat, they don't need to watch where it goes.

 

[obbay]

Excellent responses, Thank you!
I forgot about SnF.
Our team had BP 1x week all year last year, started the summer hitting strong, finished weak. So my thought is that we need to take a more structured/results oriented plan of attack.
Thanks again!