Skinny Lane Tee Drill

When I work with young hitters, I usually break down the swing into three basic parts for ease of understanding. Part 1 is getting the barrel to the contact point, Part 2 is getting the hands/barrel through the ball, and Part 3 is the follow through. I’ve said before (in video and written form) that I generally only care about #1 and #2. That’s because after the player finishes Part 2, the ball has left the bat and, therefore, nothing the hitter does from here will effect the ball. The ball leaves the bat during Part 2 so it really doesn’t matter, to me at least, how a player finishes.

What I find at all levels is that hitters struggle to get to Part 2. Instead, many hitters go from the contact point immediately to their follow through. In essence, they complete Part 1 and go directly to Part 3. They skip Part 2.

Pitchers love these kinds of hitters because they tend to pull-off and roll-over everything. This usually results in a choppy grounder to the pull side which is exactly what the pitcher wants you to do.

The Skinny Lane Tee Drill is a fantastic way to force hitters to get through the ball and NOT skip Part 2. Here is how you set things up in a cage …

The goal of the hitter is to smoke a line drive through the narrow lane the two nets create. It should look like this …

I tell players to try visualize hitting the back screen at the same height at which the ball sits on the tee. This helps with getting players not to loop under the ball as much. If the balls hit take these paths (pull, opposite, and to the ceiling of the cage) …

They did something wrong.

This drill is certainly not just for young hitters. All hitters get “loopy” with their swings as well as “pull-happy” at times so encouraging all of them to stay through the ball (Part 2) a little longer is important. Drills like the Skinny Lane Drill can help.

If you like this drill, you can access the Time To Hit! eBook that provides 50 hitting drills. Written explanations of the drill include how to do the drill, what the drill works on, and a 1 to 5 star rating. To access the eBook, click HERE.

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