Pregame hitting routines are not just for major leaguers. Check out our pregame hitting drills for youth players.

Unfortunately youth baseball teams don’t always do a great job at getting kids ready to hit in a game. My sons have been on club teams that didn’t bother to throw pregame batting practice even when cages were available.

So if you want your kid to be prepared to hit, you’re often going to have to the drills with him before showing up to pregame warmups. It’s best to come up with a routine with a number of key drills that you repeat before every game.

Don’t Take More Than 60 Swings During Your Pregame Hitting Routine

Before we go over the drills, you really need to make sure you’re not overdoing it and doing more harm than good. “Involved” dads like me often don’t realize when we’re unintentionally sabotaging our kids by having them do too much. It’s something we have to pay attention to in baseball and probably with our parenting in general.

I used to go through multiple buckets of balls with my son before games, until I was read the riot act by a trusted hitting coach who’s worked with players currently in the Majors.

“No more than 60 swings before a game,” he told me.

“Should I do tee work?” I asked him.

“That’s fine, but no more than 60 swings.”

“How about heavy balls?” I asked.

“Just keep it at 60.”

“Do one-handed swings count as a whole swing?” I asked.

He looked at me like he wanted to pick me up and throw me.

1. Use a Tee to Practice Going to the Opposite Field

Tee Work is a must for your kid’s pregame hitting routine. Also, the more you talk to coaches, the more you’ll hear that they should practice almost exclusively going the other way. Watch the YouTube clip above for a great explanation by Freddie Freeman on why you should practice hitting to the opposite field.

Since my son is a righty, I set the tee on the outer half of the plate toward first base and have him practice taking the ball to right field with a one-handed bat. You can buy a cheap one-handed bat on Amazon or pick one up at your local sporting goods store. You can even use a lighter bat from when your kid was younger if you still have one around.

• Lower hand. Have him practice keeping his elbow down and making contact on the inside of the ball as opposed to going around the ball. After contact, you want to see him extend through the ball.
• Top hand. When swinging with the top hand, you want his elbow down close to his body, and for him to bring the knob of the bat toward the ball, and to finish through contact palm up.

For both these drills, you should keep encouraging your kid to hit to the opposite field.

My son can be impatient, and swing at the ball the second I place it on the tee. I have to remind him that every swing should be done with purpose, and that the goal is not finishing as quick as we can but improving his technique.

I usually do about 15 one handed swings with him. If you don’t have access to a field or a batting cage, you can do these drills with wiffle balls off a tee.

2. Use Heavy Balls In Your Pregame Hitting Routine

Heavy balls are a great reminder for your kid that he needs to swing through contact, as they won’t go anywhere if he pulls off the ball during his swing. You get instant feedback with a heavy ball that your kid can see for himself.

I’m also a believer that you shouldn’t be yelling stuff to your kid during an at bat (like “swing through contact!”), as you don’t want to get in his head and slow down his reaction time. So the heavy ball drills are a way to get you kid in the habit of swinging through the ball and maximizing his power before a game.

I do the heavy balls drills like this:

• Always pitch underhand. Since these balls don’t go far or that fast, you can basically stand about fifteen feet from him and pitch underhand. If they come back at you, you can just catch them or dodge them.
• Work outside and inside. Since you’re so close when you’re pitching them, it’s easy to work both halves of the plate. On the outside pitch make sure he’s going the other way. On the inside pitch, get him to barrel up the ball and not pull it foul.
• Mix in high pitches. I usually throw a handful of high pitches so he can practice driving them.

I recently bought these heavy balls for about $25 on Amazon and they do the trick. The good thing about heavy balls is you can do them almost anywhere outside because again they don’t travel far.

I usually have him take about 10 heavy ball swings.

Soft Toss Before a Game Can Speed Up Your Kid’s Bat

I don’t do a lot of soft toss before my son’s games, but I like to just briefly work it in as a transition from tee/heavy balls to live pitching. With soft toss, I like to keep the balls down to have my kid really work on having a quick bat.

I think soft toss can also be a confidence booster, because after the heavy balls my kid really crushes the regular balls during soft toss.

I have him hit maybe 7 balls during soft toss.

4. End Your Kid’s Pregame Hitting Routine with Live Pitching

Pitching live to your kid can be tricky. You want him to end on a good note, but you also know you have this 60-swing cap on his pregame swings. So what do you do if he’s not hitting the ball well off live pitching? Do you exceed the cap and risk tiring him out or stop when he’s not hitting well and have him go to the game with low confidence?

I usually can tell if he’s not swinging great off live pitching after the first handfull of swings. Sometimes it’s not because he’s not swinging well in general, but rather he might just be a little tired, especially if it’s really hot out, or maybe it’s later in the day and shadows are affecting his swings. What I do then is look to stop on his first really nice hit.

“Am I swinging okay?” my son will ask me.

“You’re totally ready” I’ll say.

“You really think so?” he’ll ask.

I’ll nod and tell him he’s ready for the game.

If it’s a day where he’s swinging great, I’ll give him more swings, but also look to stop after he’s hit three or four nice shots in a row.

I usually pitch about 20 balls to my son, but it varies.

Remember Less is More

There’s this impule when you’re pitching to your kid and he’s not hitting well, to just keep pitching until he starts hitting well. You need to really fight this, because it’s going to tire him out and do more harm than good.

Do I sometimes go over 60 swings? Of course. But I do try to limit his pregame swings and I think he’s better for it.

LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS HOW YOU GET YOUR KID READY TO HIT IN A GAME.

For information about the emotional side of baseball, see:

• How to Break Up with Your Baseball Coach: 4 Rules
• Anger Management and Youth Baseball: How to Calm Down
• How to Manage Your Kid’s Baseball Tantrums and Meltdowns
• 4 Ways to Respond to a Coach Playing Favorites
• How to Stop Being a Crazy Baseball Dad
• How to Be a Good Baseball Dad in the Backyard
• I Spent $30K Last Year on Youth Baseball – Here’s How
• Are Local Little Leagues Bad for Baseball?

For more on hitting, see:

• How to Get Out of a Hitting Slump
• 4 Best Baseball Batting Aids (No. 3 is Free)
• 4 Hitting Drills You Need to Do Before Every Game
• 4 Old School Baseball Drills You Need to Be Using
• 6 Mistakes to Avoid When Buying a Baseball Bat

For information on pitching, see:

• What You Need to Know About Little League Elbow
• 4 Ways To Increase Your Kid’s Pitching Velocity
• Is the Circle Change Dangerous for Youth Pitchers?
• Are You Too Small to be a Great Pitcher?
• Why I Don’t Let My Son Pitch in Little League
• Pitching and Head Injuries: What You Need to Know
• How to Make Sure Your Kid Isn’t Overpitched in Baseball

For baseball speed drills, see:

• How to Make Your Kid Faster for Baseball