General Instructions
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- Carefully choose an area, inside or out, that has sufficient safety clearance (24 foot diameter, 10 foot high)
- The batter and holder stand facing each other about 8 to 10 feet apart.
- The holder for a right-handed batter slips his right hand into the safety strap. Note: The holder should use the left hand for a left-handed batter.
- The holder should extend the hit-n-stik with both of her hands and arms extended. The battter should check by holding the bat out to make sure she is at the right distance from the device to make contact only with the ball component.
- At no time should the batter make contact with the shaft. The ball component is the target for contact. The shaft is made of extremely durable materia. However, repeated contact upon the shaft may cause breakage.
- Location of the strike is determined by the holder. To begin, the holder should give the batter a stationary target out in front of the plate where proper contact is made, much like hitting off a batting tee.
- The holder holds the device's handle tightly but does not fight the momentum exerted by the batter's contact on the ball component. Remember: Do not try to fight the hit-n-stik action.
- The holder changes strike location inside and out on the plate by changing her location in relation to the batter. The batter always stays in the same location. The holder should take precaution in placing the hit-n-stik in a proper location and at an angle to the batter so that proper contact is made on the ball component.
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Use of this product in a manner other than described above can lead to serious injury for which the manufacturer and/or distributor will not be liable. Adult supervision must be provided at all times. The shaft, strap and ball components must be periodically inspected for evidence of damage.
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Drill #1 - Regular Contact
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Purpose: Batter learns to make proper contact in front of the plate. Drill also can be used to teach and practice proper swing mechanics.
Instructions: The holder positions herself at all times at a 45 degree angle out in front of the batter. The holder should at all times direct the ball toward the batter. The ball should be located slightly in front of the plate or at the desired contact point.
Various strike heights should be used to teach the batter to adjust and make solid contact at all strike heights. Upon contact, the hit-n-stik absorbs the shock and naturally rotates at waist level and returns to the next desired contact point.
Recommended: 10-15 swings or repetitions a day, 3 days a week.
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Drill #2 - Inside Contact
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Purpose: Batter learns to pull or turn on the inside pitch.
Instructions: The holder positions herself at a 90 degree angle in front of the batter. The holder directs the ball toward the batter.
Proper distance should be maintained to allow the batter maximum extension and prevent jamming. Drill allows easy repetitions of pulling mechanics.
Recommended: 10-15 swings or repetitions a day, 3 days a week.
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Drill #3 - Outside Contact
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Purpose: Batter learns to go with the pitch, work inside-out and punch the outside pitch to the opposite field.
Instructions: The holder positions herself directly across the plate with her shoulders square with the batter's shoulders. The ball is directed toward the plate.
The holder positions the ball on the outside 1/3 of the plate. Various heights should be used. After the ball is contacted, the holder brings it back to the next desired contact location.
Recommended: 10-15 swings or repetitions a day, 3 days a week.
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Drill #4 - Closed Eye
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Purpose: Develops hand-eye coordination, pitch recognition and increases bat speed.
Instructions: The holder assumes one of the positions of regular, inside or outside contact. The drill begins with the batter having her eyes closed. After each contact and while the batter has her eyes closed, the holder changes the ball's location and height.
On the holder's verbal command, the batter opens her eyes, finds the ball, makes the proper adjustment and makes contact.
At first, the drill should be worked slowly with emphasis on proper adjustment mechanics. As the batter's skill develops more and more emphasis should be placed on making quick adjustments and increasing bat speed.
Recommended: 5-10 swings or repetitions a day, 3 days a week.
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Drill #5 - Top Hand
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Purpose: Increase top-hand strength, accuracy and dominance.
Instructions: Drill has two variations.
Top-Hand Kneeling: The batter kneels beside the plate. The batter performs this drill using only his top hand. The batter should hold the bat with the top hand in its regular position on the bat.
The holder locates the ball 6" - 12" above the batter's shoulders. The batter is forced ro reach up and "knock" the ball downward. This drill helps the batter develop strength and at the same time increase top-hand accuracy. The purpose of kneeling is to force the batter to use only his upper body, arms and wrist thus strengthening these areas.
Top-Hand Standing: The drill is performed basically the same as kneeling but the now stands in the batter's box. The batter is not allowed to take a step thus forcing him to use primarily his upper body.
Recommended: Drill should be worked in off season or early in the season. 10-20 repetitions should be adequate. Holder may move ball to increase difficulty.
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Drill #6 - Hip Turner
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Purpose: Teaches batter to get maximum hip movement and use her lower body when she pulls the inside pitch.
Instructions: The holder assumes the inside-contact drill position. To begin, the batter has assumed her regular stance in the batter's box. However, rather than looking toward the pitcher, the batter looks directly away from the pitcher or toward the backstop. The batter makes eye contact with a visual point directly in line with her own body.
On the holder's verbal command the batter turns, hits the ball from its stationary inside contact position. On contact, the batter overemphasizes hip movement so that she can actually turn completely around and find her visual reference point now from the other side of her body. After the batter takes her step, her upper body from the waist up actually turns completely around, thus forcing her to have maximum hip movement.
Recommended: This drill should be primarily worked in the off season or used with hitters needing special help in this area.
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Drill #7 - Back Hand Pull
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Purpose: Use to develop back-hand or pull-hand strength.
Instructions: The drill is worked from the inside contact position. The batter uses only her bottom hand now as the pull or power hand. The top hand controls where the batter swings or her accuracy. The pull hand is the hand that generates most of a batter's power. However, the pull hand is always the batter's weaker hand due to hand dominance. Therefore, emphasis should be placed on the development of the pull hand's power.
The holder should hold the ball waist high or higher to make the batter work and use the necessary muscle groups. The batter is allowed to take a step into the ball to help generate more power.
The batter should only use her pull hand. After each contact, the holder returns the ball to the desired contact location. To help increase effort, bat weights or larger bats may be used.
Recommended: It takes very few of these repetitions at a time to increase power. 5-10 repetitions a day, 3 days a week should be sufficient. The holder should make sure the batter holds the bat the the pull hand in its normal position at the end of the bat.
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Drill #8 - Switch Hitting
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Purpose: Teach, develop and reinforce switch hitting skills.
Instructions: The holder assumes the normal position for outside contact work. The ball is located on the outside 1/3 of the plate with the ball directed toward the hitter.
Several variations of this drill may be worked. The batter may alternate each swing, one right, one left, one right, etc., or the batter may take three swings from each side alternating after each three swings.
Emphasis should be placed on reading the contact of each swing. The batter should be able to realize if he hits a line drive, popup, grounder, dribbler, etc.
Recommended: To teach and reinforce switch hitting skills properly, the batter should work all of the basic hit-n-stik drills from both sides. 10-15 repetitions a day, 3 days a week for young players. 50-100 swings a day for advanced players.
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