How to Practice Hitting Baseballs or Softballs With a Tee
How to Practice Hitting Baseballs or Softballs with a Tee
Batting tees aren't just for youth players who are starting out. A tee ball stand also has many benefits for high school and college players who want to improve performance at the plate. Even major leaguers do regular tee work to maintain their swing mechanics.
Bownet Sports® can help you get the benefits of practicing with a batting tee. Here are some basic baseball tee hitting tips along with a few drills for putting those tips to use. We offer the all-in-one UtiliTee® Hitting Tee and the ProMag® Tee Series, plus hitting nets like the original Big Mouth X®, so you can #TrainLikeAPro.
Softball Hitting Tee Practice Tips
There are several things you can work on with a batting tee, including:
- Warm-ups before batting practice
- Pitch location
- Launch angles
- Improving hand strength and bat speed
Whatever you're using the tee for, you should start by getting into your stance in the same place relative to home plate as you would during a game. Then position the tee where you want to practice making contact.
To work on pitches down the middle, place the tee in front of home plate just off where the front foot lands in your normal swing motion. For inside pitches, place the tee 6-12 inches in front of the plate on the inner half. For outside pitches, place the tee on the outer half of the plate exactly opposite your belly button. You can also adjust the height to practice hitting low, middle or high pitches.
Batting Tee Drills
1. Contact Point Drill
Set up the tee at the desired contact point (low-middle-high, inside-middle-outside). Get in your normal batting stance, then without aiming at the ball, begin to swing at your normal speed. Stop just before contacting the ball and hold that position. Take a one-second pause while confirming the bat is level with the ball and the body is positioned correctly. Resume the swing and follow through. Repeat 10 times, then switch to another contact point.
2. Downward Swing Tee Drill (Requires 2 Batting Tees)
Set up one tee at a normal hitting height in the strike zone. Place the second tee 3-6 inches behind the first and one foot higher. Put a ball on each tee, then using your normal swing, try to make contact with the ball on the front tee without hitting the ball on the back tee. This helps refine the swing path and can help fix a swing that has too much uppercut.
3. Power Hitting Tee Drill
Set the tee up at waist height in the strike zone. Place a soccer ball or basketball on the tee. Assume your stance and swing using the same speed you would when hitting a baseball. You'll feel a recoil when you make contact, but continue to swing through. Do 12 swings, then switch to a regular baseball and do 12 more swings with the same force. This drill develops muscle memory, swing mechanics and functional strength.