Batting Tees Should Be Used by Baseball Players of All Ages

Batting practice in all its forms is critical for a batter to improve their skills. Whether its live-arm batting practice, pitching machine bating practice, soft tosses, or any other drills, the more one practices the better they will become.

One of the most overlooked drills is hitting off of a batting tee. Many baseball players feel that the days of hitting off of a batting tee are over once they are too old to play T-ball. And younger children that have recently moved beyond T-ball find it embarrassing to once again hit off of a batting tee. But, practicing hitting off of a batting tee has many benefits that should not be overlooked and should be part of every baseball player's practice regimen.

The first benefit is that there is no need for a pitcher. Having someone to help place the baseball on the tee after each swing is helpful, but the batter can practice alone if no one else is available.

Secondly, it is much easier for a coach to help a hitter that is struggling on one aspect of their swing. The coach can instruct the batter to step through their swing slowly and hit the baseball off of the tee. The coach can then see where the batter is having a problem, correct the problem, and then have the batter continue practicing with the batting tee to see the progress.

Another benefit is that the batting tee can be placed at various locations to simulate a certain pitch to which a batter might be having trouble. For example, if a batter is having problems hitting pitches that are low and inside, then the batting tee can be placed in the appropriate area so that the batter can practice swinging there. This is much easier than asking a batting practice pitcher to throw every pitch low and inside for the batter's benefit.

Lastly, the batting tee provides excellent feedback as to whether a hitter is making the bat head hit squarely with the baseball. While hitting off of a batting tee, if the batter hits the tee itself, then they are not hitting squarely on the backside of the baseball, which would result in fly balls in a game situation. Or, if the batter is hitting the top of the baseball, then it will only roll off of the tee, which would result in ground balls in a game situation. Using a batting tee allows the batter to practice hitting the baseball squarely on the backside resulting in line drives in a game situation.

The benefits to using a batting tee in batting practice are numerous. Often, a batter simply taking swings results in improvement. And the benefits apply to all baseball players regardless of age.