Tee Out Front
Most weak contact isn't a bad swing. It's a good swing meeting the ball in the wrong place. This drill moves your contact point to where the ball gets punished.
What it fixes
Hitters who let the ball travel too deep make contact before the barrel has reached full speed and before the arms can extend. The result is jam-shot bloopers and weak ground balls even on hittable pitches. Contact out in front of the front foot is where bat speed peaks and the swing plane is working up through the ball. The tee placement forces your body to learn that spot.
How to do it
- Set the tee even with or slightly ahead of your front foot, middle of the plate, belt high.
- Take your normal stance relative to the plate, not the tee. Resist the urge to creep forward.
- Swing with one goal: drive the ball hard back up the middle or to the pull side, on a line.
- Feel full extension through the ball, both arms working long past contact instead of cutting the swing off.
- Run 3 sets of 8. Then vary tee height, keeping the same out-front position.
Common mistakes
- Sliding the whole stance forward toward the tee, which recreates deep contact and teaches nothing.
- Casting to reach the ball instead of getting there with rotation and extension.
- Topping the ball into the ground because the barrel is dumping under. Line drives are the grade.
- Setting the tee so far out front that you have to lunge. Even with the front foot is far enough to start.
Coaching cue
"Hit it where you could read the label." Contact should happen far enough out front that the ball lives in your vision, not on top of the plate.
Where is your contact point, really?
Record one swing and RipIQ scores your contact point along with five other mechanics, then prescribes drills matched to what it sees, including this one when contact is too deep.
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