Big Stick Day

This drill comes from Scott Moore our May 2003 Drill of the Month Winner.

One of the drills that we have been very successful with isn't actually a drill, but a series of drills that we call "Big Stick Day." We do this with our 9 to 10 year olds once per week both prior to the season and during the season. It breaks down like this:

We have 12 players, so we partner 2 players together, trying to put a better hitter with a weaker hitter. We use 6 stations and the players rotate to each station as a team. Our goal is to have each team do each station twice, which takes us about 1½ hours. We us a coach (or sometimes a parent) to work each station. This helps to involve the parent and they become more knowledgeable about what the coaches are trying to teach.

Each team is scored at each station, but not just on hitting the ball, but their mechanics like squashing the bug, hand position, etc. Coaches work the station for the duration of the practice. At the end of the practice, the coaches get together, discuss what they saw, and they share the score they awarded for each team. These scores are tallied and a winning team is announced.

We award all of the players with something, like a pack of baseball cards or gum. Each of the players on the winning team receives a new baseball with "Big Stick Champion" written on the ball. All the players get a kick out of it. Each player also gets well over 150 swings with good instruction, a good workout, and they develop an appreciation for hitting the right way.

We use the following stations:

• Soft Toss - 15 swings - We use the JUGS Toss Machine so there is no human error.
• Batting Tee - 12 swings - We adjust the tee up and down in the strike zone.
• Bunting - 12 bunts - Live arm throwing baseballs from 25 feet.
• Pitching Machine in the cage - 18 pitches –Speed varies.
• Hitting Stick - 12 swings - We move the hitting stick to the inside and outside part of the plate and up and down. The hitters close their eyes, when we say hit, they open their eyes, find the ball, and then hit the ball. Sometimes we move it out of the strike zone to teach them to lay off of bad pitches, primarily high pitches.
• Wiffle Golf Balls - 15 swings - We pitch wiffle golf balls from approximately 20 to 25 feet.

We also do regular live-arm batting practice once per week, and we do simulations with our pitchers (calling balls and strikes, and running the bases.)

Big Stick Day is an investment of time, effort, and a little money (about 2 dozen baseballs and some other little prizes), but the payoff is amazing. We have never had a parent complain, and we have had other coaches, even from older divisions, come watch. In fact, our parents brag about Big Stick Day to other parents, and usually will throw in some money to defray the costs associated with the prizes. And, every kid that we have coached using this method has won a baseball, so that's one for the trophy case!