Front Toss Take-or-Swing (5 pitches)
Coach calls 'take' or 'swing' mid-toss; hitter executes correctly.
Your job today
I’ll yell ‘swing’ or ‘take’ right when I let the ball go. Your job: do what I called, and only swing at strikes.
What good looks like: Get the call right 4 out of 5 times. When you swing, hit it hard.
Why it matters: Hitters who chase pitches make outs. This trains your eyes to read the pitch BEFORE your hands decide. That’s how you walk more and crush mistakes.
How it works
Coach front-tosses 5 pitches per round. As the ball leaves coach's hand, coach calls 'take' or 'swing'. Hitter must execute the called action and only swing at strikes. Logs decision accuracy and hard-hit rate on swings.
- Reps / rounds
- 3 rounds x 5 pitches
- Rest between sets
- 60s
- Space needed
- cage
- Coaches
- 1
Equipment
- L-screen
- 10 baseballs
If you don't have it
- No L-screen? Use net + coach behind net (moves to Cage / Gym).
Setup
- Set L-screen at proper distance for age
- Bucket of 10 balls accessible
Run the drill
- Coach front-tosses pitch and calls 'take' or 'swing' on release
- Hitter executes call
- Log decision + swing result
Coaching cues
- See the ball deep
- Trust the call
- Reset breath
Common mistakes
- Anticipating call before release
- Swinging at balls when 'take' was called and pitch was a ball
Scoring
Track % correct decisions (percent). On-track when at or above 70.
Adjust it
Make it harder
- intro: fixed call sequence (T-T-S-S-T)
- intermediate: random calls
- advanced: call replaced by colored ball (red=take, white=swing)
Variations
- Pitch-type decision: two-pitch mix (FB/CH); hitter calls pitch and decision
Source
Author: platform · Status: Published · Last reviewed 2026-05-26