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One-Hand Short Bat Swings

Train each hand on its own so both hands work together in a full swing.

By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated October 30, 2026

Set up

Hold a short, light bat in your bottom hand only and hit 10 off the tee.

Core: Soft toss. Beat your own best of solid contact out of 10.

Ages
11 and up
Time
10 min
Players
Just you
Space
Gym or court
Bring
Short or light bat, batting tee, balls, net
Level · skill
Developing · Hitting

The steps

How it works

  1. Hold a short, light bat in your bottom hand only and hit 10 off the tee.
  2. Switch to your top hand only and hit 10 more.
  3. Keep your elbow bent and stay short to the ball.
  4. Finish with 10 normal two-hand swings.

Coaching point

Short to the ball, long through it.

Safety: Check that nobody is within two bat lengths before every swing.

Make it fun

Play it, don't drill it

Game version

Target-zone hitting: two teams of two take turns hitting off the tee toward zones in the field. Each team adds up only its own solid hits.

Challenge

Pick a setup: Less (tee), Core (soft toss), More (soft toss to a zone). Beat your own best of solid contact out of 10.

Story

You are a slugger in the big game, and every swing is your turn at bat.

My best

Beat your own count

Beat your own best of solid contact out of 10. Only your own number counts: today against last time.

Practice makes progress

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