PHYSICAL AND MENTAL TOOLS TO DEVELOP A SUCCESSFUL SWING (PEPIN)

Improve your athletes' bat speed and timing to drive the ball up the middle Step into the batter's box ready to hit with Pepin's mental checklist for hitters Practice hitting in high pressure game-like scenarios

with Diana Pepin,
Eastern Connecticut State University Head Coach,
Third Place finish in the 2010 NCAA D-III National Tournament;
3x Little East Conference Coach of the Year;
5 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, 117-16 overall record from 2010-2012

Diana Pepin shares her philosophy of hitting and a progression of drills you can use to develop an efficient and powerful softball swing.

Hitting Drills
Coach Pepin starts with the swing basics, providing a quick demonstration of the swing mechanics she teaches. She then moves to a four-drill series that you can use everyday to reinforce the fundamentals of stance, grip, load & attack, the heel plant, hips and the swing.

Pepin next leads her players through a series of tee drills to attack inside pitches:

• One Arm Drills - Teach your players to hit line drives, develop quick hands, keep their hands inside the ball and make contact out front on inside pitches.
• Double Tee Drill - Train your players to drive the ball by "staying long" through the ball.
• Weighted Bat Drill - Helps get the bat head out front and increases bat speed.

Pepin includes front toss drills that work on bat speed, timing and rhythm to develop a fluid swing to drive the ball up the middle.

Throughout the drills Pepin coaches her athletes and provides key points for producing a quality swing.

Hitting Mentality
Step into the box ready to hit! Pepin shares how she breaks down the mental side of hitting by going through a checklist each batter should know to better understand what pitch they are hitting. The list includes: Breaking down the four quadrants of the plate, having a plan of attack, showing confidence while in the batter's box, seeing the defense and what they are giving you and more.

Live Hitting Challenge
Pepin finishes with a game-like, live hitting simulation where the players are presented with situational challenges while in the batting cage. Sacrifice bunts, slap hitting and 2-strike hitting techniques are all demonstrated.

These drills and concepts will help give your hitters an attacking mindset and a quality at bat every time they step up to the plate.

67 minutes. 2011.