Separate Yourself From the Pack
No matter the sport, it’s clear to even the untrained eye who the best players on the field are. They make things look easy. They are always in control and have the ability to excel when their teams need them the most. As for the best hitters, they have a great softball hitting routine.
What you don’t see is the time and effort they put into getting better off the field. As softball players, we often times don’t have a very good excuse for why we haven’t practiced enough. There are plenty of training academies, professional instructors, and training tools that can help us both mentally and physically get better. We just have to commit the time. We need a solid softball hitting routine.
You might have read in a previous blog post about our 60 Swings per day suggestion. We wanted to take that one step further and break down a great way to use those 60 swings to help take your game to the next level.
Focusing on quality, not quantity, is the first step in becoming the hitter you want to be.
Try this softball hitting routine when you are taking your 60 swings!The below routine is a tee example. You can incorporate soft-toss or live pitching as well. Every practice session can be different, this is just an example of a softball hitting routine.
5 Swings:50% effort, focusing on being smooth and rhythm. The ball flight isn’t as important here as getting a feel for your swing.
5 Swings:Top hand only on a short bat or choked up. 50% effort, focusing on hitting the ball on a line.
5 Swings:Bottom hand only, same as above.
5 Swings:Both hands choked up, 75% effort. Ball should have solid flight without too much air or hitting the ground too soon. Really pay attention to hitting the ball on the sweet spot of the bat.
5 Swings:No stride. Keep your feet wide and focus on a good load and smooth transition, swinging with just your hands. 75% effort.
5 Swings:Stride or foot tap (whatever your normal swing is). Ball should be set up to be hit up the middle and belt high. 85% effort.
5 Swings:Normal swing, ball should be set up on inside half, belt high. Focus on driving over SS or 2B depending on which side of the plate you’re on. 85% effort.
5 Swings:Normal swing, ball should be set up on outside half, belt high. Focus on driving opposite way over SS or 2B accordingly.
10 Swings:Tee set up middle, belt high. 100% effort, driving the ball as far down the cage without hitting any nets except for the back.
10 Swings:Leave this set of swings for you to work on what you feel least comfortable with. For some that might be in, or down, or up. Work on what you need to work on, but remember, it’s about quality, not quantity.
This softball hitting routine is just one of countless ways you can use your 60 Swings per day to get better. Before you even swing a bat prior to your workout, have a game plan on what your routine will be. Don’t just start swinging and change up the routine as you go. Take a few minutes to map out what you’ll be working on.
A great way to approach this is by doing the same softball hitting routine in the first few segments every single time you hit. So the first 20-30 swings you’re doing the same routine every time. From there you can move on to the areas you think you need to work on the most.
If you can incorporate this type of focus to your hitting workouts you’ll see a dramatic improvement not only with the quality of at-bats you’ll have but also in the way you feel approaching each of those at-bats. Your confidence will start to improve as you’ll now feel that your swing is exactly where you want it to be!
60 Swings a Day! It’s a Gamechanger!
For example, instead of taking 300 swings and 1-2 lessons per week, players that focus on perfect practice would see better results. That might mean taking 60 perfect swings over the course of the week instead of 5x as many just “average” swings.
As coaches, players, parents, & instructors, we sometimes get caught up with a ton of mechanical and mental approaches instead of simplifying things for our players. Getting players to really drill down on the quality of their swing as opposed to the number of swings is a great first step. Talking to them about what went wrong, how it felt, and why the ball went where it did is way more effective than just putting another ball on the tee and letting them do the same thing over and over again.
Keeping players in tune with their swing, their perfect swing, is the best way to expect great results when it comes time to the game. Repetition is only truly effective when the proper mechanics are being repeated!
So when you’re in the cage, at the field, or just in the backyard, remember “Perfect practice makes perfect!”