Power Hitting Drills – Improve Your Swing for More Power

The Five Best Power Hitting Drills for Baseball Players

Baseball has changed a lot over the years but the last decade or so has brought as much change to the game as we have ever seen. At the highest levels, the game has gone away from many of the nuances that have become familiar over the years and now focuses on baseball’s three true outcomes – home runs, strikeouts, and walks.

As a hitter, if you want to succeed at the level you are at now and prepare yourself for the next level, it is no longer about getting the bat on the ball and moving the runner along. It is about swinging for the fences. Strikeouts are no longer looked at as that bad and base hits are no longer seen as that good. What matters is, who can hit for power?

While not everyone is built like Aaron Judge or Pete Alonso, everyone can hit bombs like them with the right power hitting drills. As a young player, this is where the game is going so it is where your skills need to be improved. Even if you are not a natural slugger, adding a few power hitting drills to your practice routine will add bat speed and pop to your swing. Here are the 5 best power hitting drills for baseball players.

1. Overload and Underload

Before you start what most people would consider the actual “power hitting drills” overloading and underloading is a great way to warm up and it is also a great workout/ power hitting drill on its own to increase bat speed and power. This involves taking a certain amount of dry swings with a heavy bat, the same amount with your normal bat, and the same amount with a light bat.

You can work your way up from 5/5/5 swings to 10/10/10 swings and beyond as you get stronger and more comfortable. You can also do a set from your knees, a set of modified swings, and a set of full swings at each weight. To best improve your bat speed to generate more power, it is recommended to go 20% heavier and 20% lighter than your normal bat.

2. The Sequencing Drill

To create power, you want to swing from the bottom up, not the top down. This means your legs and hips fire first and your upper body comes around after that. This not only helps you generate more torque and bat speed, but it also will help you stay back longer on pitches, especially breaking balls. This is a perfect modern power hitting drill because it helps with your power and your eye.

This power hitting drill is done in three sequential steps. First, just practice striding while keeping your upper body back in the proper hitting position. After a few of these, stride and fire your hips, rotating them quickly while keeping a tight hitting position. Finally, in the last few attempts, after you’ve done your stride and your hip rotation, let your upper body follow and fire through the ball with your swing.

3. The Separation Drill

Set up your tee on the plate and get in your batting stance a full, big step and a half behind where you would normally set up. When you’re ready to go, cross your right foot behind your left (opposite for lefty’s) then take a big stride with your left foot while focusing on keeping your upper body back until your front foot is down. Once it is, uncoil your upper body and swing.

This drill helps create more separation between your upper and lower body which is one of the ways you generate power. Like stretching out a rubber band then releasing, this power hitting drill will help develop that lower body/ upper body separation which leads to more torque and bat speed.

4. The Soccer Ball Drill

For this power hitting drill, you’ll need a flat soccer ball (or basketball) to put on top of your tee. If it is hard to balance the ball on the tee, take a (clean!) standard bathroom plunger and place it stick-down into the tee to create a larger tee holder. Then, you can take normal swings at the soccer ball or combine it with one of the power hitting drills above. Try and hit line drives and pull the soccer ball.

What this does is help train you to swing all the way through contact which will increase your power. Many players slow down their swing or even stop on contact which hurts power. If you do this when hitting the soccer ball, it will squib on the ground or you will hit it the opposite way. If you are swinging all the way through, you should have no problem pulling it or hitting straight line drives.

5. The Middle-In Drill

Hitting for power has a lot to do with launch angle and exit velocity. Figuring out where your zone is that you get the best launch angle and exit velocity is a key to becoming a more powerful hitter. In this power hitting drill, set the tee up middle-in on the plate, right around your waist. Take a few swings, focusing on pulling the ball for power, and see how the ball travels.

Then, move the tee to different locations middle in and take some swings in each positon. Keep an eye on the flight of the ball in each position. If you have a coach with you who has the capability to measure your actual launch angle and exit velocity even better. This power hitting drill will help you decide where your best power zone is and ultimately focus on driving balls in that zone. One note, the younger or less of a power hitter you are, the lower your power zone will be.

Conclusion

Coaches at all levels are looking for more power. The good news is, even if you aren’t a naturally powerful hitter, you can increase your power with the drills above. Even if these drills don’t have you jacking balls over the fence every at-bat, they will, at the very least, help you hit more powerful line drives to make you a better hitter.