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Two-Ball Reaction Drops

React to which ball is dropped to speed up how fast your eyes trigger your hands.

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

Set up

Your partner holds one soft ball in each hand at shoulder height.

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

Ages
14 and up
Time
8 min
Players
You and a partner
Space
Yard or field
Bring
2 soft balls, partner
Level · skill
Advanced · Hitting

The steps

How it works

  1. Your partner holds one soft ball in each hand at shoulder height.
  2. They drop one without warning.
  3. Catch it before the second bounce, then before the first.
  4. Do 25 drops.

Coaching point

See it, go.

Safety: Use a soft training ball until catching with a glove is easy for you.

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

Print it now, or save it free

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