How to Stop Dropping Your Hands When Hitting: 5 Drills for Youth Baseball Players
Dropping hands when hitting is one of those youth baseball problems that almost every parent or coach runs into eventually. If you’ve spent much time around a ballfield, you’ve probably heard a coach yell, “Keep your hands up!” about a thousand times. I’ve said it too.
The problem is, telling a kid to stop dropping his hands usually doesn’t fix much. In a lot of cases, the hands dropping are just the thing we notice. The actual problem started earlier in the swing.
Maybe the hitter is getting too long. Maybe the barrel is dumping behind him. Maybe he’s trying to lift the ball. Or maybe he’s simply a 10-year-old whose swing changes every other Tuesday.
As a dad and a coach, this is one of those things I try not to overcomplicate. Before changing a kid’s swing, I want to know whether we actually have a problem—and if we do, I want to give him a drill or cue he can understand without thinking about six different body parts in the batter’s box.
Below are five drills I like for helping youth hitters clean up their hand path and get the barrel to the ball more consistently. You don’t need to do all five every day. Find the one or two that click with your player and build from there.
What Does “Dropping Your Hands” Actually Mean?
First, I think we need to clear something up: a hitter’s hands moving down during the swing isn’t automatically a bad thing.
Watch good hitters in slow motion and you’ll see plenty of movement. The hands don’t stay frozen next to the shoulder and travel perfectly level to the ball. The body is rotating, the barrel is turning, and the hands are adjusting to the pitch.
What I’m more concerned about with a young hitter is when the hands drop early and the barrel gets stuck underneath the ball. That’s when you start seeing the same misses over and over—pop-ups, swings under pitches they should hit, weak contact, or a bat that looks like it takes forever to get through the zone.
This is also why I’m not a huge fan of constantly yelling “hands up” from the dugout. A kid can start with his hands high and still have the exact same problem once the swing begins.
I’d rather look at the whole swing and ask a simpler question:
Is the barrel getting to the ball on time and on a good path?
If the answer is yes, I’m probably not messing with the kid just because his hands don’t look exactly how I think they should. If the answer is no—and the hands and barrel are dumping underneath the pitch—then we have something worth working on.
Why Do Youth Hitters Drop Their Hands?
There isn’t one reason every kid drops his hands. That’s part of what makes this frustrating to coach. You can give two players the exact same correction and get completely different results.
With younger hitters, though, I usually start by looking for a few things – sometimes they’re trying to create power by lifting the ball. You’ll see the back shoulder drop, the barrel fall underneath the hands, and the whole swing starts working uphill before it needs to.
Sometimes the bat is simply too much for them. This is one I think gets overlooked in youth baseball; if a kid is fighting the weight or length of his bat, his swing can get long and the barrel can drag behind him. Before rebuilding his mechanics, I’d make sure he can actually handle the bat he’s swinging. Bat size and weight can make a bigger difference than we sometimes realize with young hitters. If you’re shopping for a 10U player, I broke down the bats I’d actually consider in our Best USSSA Bats for 10U Players guide.
Timing can cause it too. A hitter who starts late may rush everything to catch up. On the other side, a kid who gets started too early can sit there waiting and lose the athletic position he started in.
And sometimes we create the problem ourselves as coaches. We give a 9- or 10-year-old five different swing thoughts, and suddenly he’s trying to remember his hands, elbow, hips, stride and head position while a baseball is coming at him.
That’s why my first move usually isn’t adding another verbal cue. I’d rather put the player in a drill that helps him feel the better movement without having to think about it.
Before You Try to Fix It
Take a few swings on video from the side and from behind the hitter. You don’t need fancy equipment—your phone is plenty. Look at several swings, not just one bad one.
If you consistently see the barrel getting dumped underneath the pitch or taking a long route into the hitting zone, then I’d start working through the drills below.
But if the kid is consistently on time, hitting the ball hard and controlling the barrel? I’d be careful about “fixing” something just because the swing doesn’t look textbook.
5 Drills to Help Stop Dropping the Hands
1. High Tee Drill
This is probably the first drill I’d try.
Set the tee higher than normal, for a kid that might be as high as the tee can go—and slightly out in front. The goal isn’t to chop down on the baseball. We’re trying to get the hitter comfortable delivering the barrel to a higher pitch without dropping underneath it.
Have him hit hard line drives through the middle of the field. If the hands and barrel immediately dump underneath the ball, he’ll usually pop it up or hit the bottom of the ball. The tee gives him instant feedback without a coach having to say much.
I like starting with 8–10 swings and keeping the instruction simple. Something like “hit a hard line drive over the pitcher’s head” is usually enough.
One thing I would avoid is telling the hitter to “swing down.” That can create a completely different problem. We still want the barrel working through the baseball—we’re just trying to clean up the path it takes to get there.
What I’m watching for: The hitter gets the barrel to the high pitch without the back shoulder collapsing or the hands dramatically dropping before contact, while also hitting a line drive. We’re not looking for fly balls here.
See it in action: Watch the High Tee Drill from Driveline
2. Two-Tee Path Drill
This is one of my favorite drills because the hitter gets immediate feedback without me having to say much.
Set up one tee with the ball in the normal hitting position. Then place a second, empty tee a little behind it and slightly lower. The exact setup may take a few swings to get right depending on the hitter.
The goal is simple: hit the ball off the front tee without clipping the back tee.
If the hands and barrel dump too early, the bat will usually run into the back tee. When the hitter turns the barrel into a cleaner path, he can get to the ball without touching it.
I especially like drills like this with younger players because the drill does the coaching for you. Instead of me saying “hands,” “shoulder,” or “bat path” after every swing, the kid knows immediately whether he did it.
Start with 8–10 controlled swings. Once he can do it consistently, mix in a few normal tee swings and see if the better path carries over.
What I’m watching for: A shorter, cleaner path to the ball without the hitter manipulating his hands just to avoid the back tee.
See it in action: Watch the D-Backs Academy Two-Tee Drill
3. Short Bat Drill
This is a good one when a hitter’s swing gets long and the barrel feels like it’s dragging behind him.
You can use a short training bat, a small bat the player has outgrown, or even choke up several inches on his normal bat. The idea isn’t to swing harder. It’s to make the movement shorter and easier to control.
Start with the hitter on a tee and have him hit easy line drives up the middle. I usually want these swings at about 60–70 percent effort. If he starts trying to launch balls, we’ve pretty much defeated the purpose of the drill.
What I like about shortening the bat is that it lets a young hitter feel what a more direct path to the ball is like. Then when he goes back to his regular bat, we’re hoping some of that same feel carries over.
I’d do 8–10 swings with the short bat, then immediately take 5 swings with the regular bat. That transition is important. Ultimately, I don’t care how good the drill looks—I care whether it helps the kid’s actual swing.
What I’m watching for: The hitter gets the barrel moving earlier and takes a more direct path to the ball without rushing or chopping down.
See it in action: Watch the Short Bat Drill
4. Connection Ball Drill
If I have a hitter whose arms and body seem like they’re doing two completely different things, I like introducing a connection drill.
You can use a small training ball, a light playground ball, or even a rolled-up towel. Put it between the hitter’s back arm and shoulder, right in that nook of the elbow, then have him take controlled swings off a tee.
I’m not trying to make the hitter squeeze the ball tightly for the entire swing. The point is to give him a feel for keeping everything connected as the swing starts instead of immediately letting the back elbow and hands get away from the body.
Start slow. I’d rather see six good swings at half speed than 20 swings where the kid is worried about crushing the ball.
And I wouldn’t live on this drill. To me, it’s a feel drill. Once the hitter starts understanding the movement, take the ball away and see what happens with a normal swing.
What I’m watching for: The hitter starts the swing connected and turns together rather than letting the hands immediately fall away from the body.
See it in action: Watch Connection Drill from a pro.
5. Top-Hand Tee Drill
I like finishing with some one-hand work because it can really expose whether a hitter can control the barrel.
For this drill, the hitter uses only his top hand on the bat. I’d have a younger player choke way up rather than trying to control a full-length bat with one hand.
Put the ball on a tee around the middle of the strike zone and start with easy swings. We aren’t trying to hit the ball 200 feet. Think firm line drives and good barrel control.
If the barrel immediately falls underneath the ball, the hitter will have a hard time making solid contact. When he starts delivering the barrel more efficiently, you’ll usually see the contact improve pretty quickly.
One warning here: don’t turn this into a strength contest. If the bat is too heavy for the kid to control with one hand, choke up more, use a lighter bat or skip the drill. Bad reps aren’t helping us.
I’d do 5–8 top-hand swings, then immediately put both hands back on the bat for five normal swings.
What I’m watching for: The hitter controls the barrel with the top hand without the barrel immediately dumping underneath the ball.
See it in action: Watch the Top-Hand drill here.
A Simple 10-Minute Routine
You definitely don’t need to run all five drills every time your kid hits. If this were my player and dropping the hands was something we were specifically trying to clean up, I’d keep the routine pretty simple:
- 10 normal tee swings to get loose
- 8 high-tee swings
- 8 swings with whichever drill seems to help him most
- 5 normal tee swings
- 10 front toss swings
- Finish with a few normal swings where we don’t talk mechanics at all
That last part matters to me. At some point, the kid has to stop thinking about his hands and just hit a baseball.
I want the drill work to give him a better movement, but I don’t want him standing in the box during a game thinking, “Keep my hands here, elbow there, shoulder here…” That’s a tough way for a kid to hit.
Don’t Try to Fix Everything at Once
This might be the biggest thing I’ve learned coaching young players: sometimes less coaching is better coaching. It’s really easy to watch your kid take a bad swing and immediately see four things you want to correct. I’ve caught myself doing it often.
But if I give a young hitter four corrections, there’s a pretty good chance he’s going to fix none of them. Pick one thing, give him a drill that helps him feel it. Let him take some swings. Then get out of the way for a little while.
If the high tee works, you may not need the other four drills. If the two-tee drill suddenly makes something click, stay with it. The goal isn’t to complete the program. The goal is to help the kid become a better hitter.
And once you get into games, I’d simplify it even more. At that point I want him thinking about seeing the ball, being on time and competing—not whether his hands dropped two inches during his load.
The Baseball Years Take
“Dropping the hands” is one of those youth baseball phrases that can become a catch-all for every bad swing.
Watch the hitter. Figure out what the barrel is actually doing. Make sure the bat isn’t too big. Look at his timing. Then, if there really is a path issue, use a drill to help him feel the correction instead of yelling the same cue louder.
For most young hitters, I’d start with the high tee and two-tee drill. They’re simple, they provide immediate feedback, and you don’t need to turn batting practice into a hitting lesson.
Most importantly, keep the kid athletic. We’re trying to help him swing the bat better—not make a 10-year-old earn a PhD in hitting mechanics before his next tournament.