With two strikes, the goal changes. It’s no longer hit a hard line drive. It’s put the ball in play. A two-strike swing is shorter, the bat is choked up, and any pitch close to the zone gets a swing. This is mental and mechanical.
What you need: A bat, 15 baseballs, a coach to pitch from 30 feet behind a screen.
Setup: Coach pitches at half speed. Batter at home plate.
How to run it:
- Tell the batter every pitch is a 0-2 count. Two strikes already.
- They choke up an inch on the bat. Slightly wider stance.
- Cue: Set, Load, Step, Swing. The Swing is shorter. No big finish.
- Coach pitches 10 balls. Some clear strikes, some on the edge of the zone.
- Batter swings at anything close. Goal: put every pitch in play.
What to watch: Are they trying to crush the ball? Two-strike swing is contact, not power. Soft contact in play beats a strikeout. If they swing for the fence, reset them.
If they’re struggling: Throw only obvious strikes. Build the contact swing first.
If they’ve got it: Add pitches off the plate that they have to fight off (foul off intentionally) until they get something to hit.