One skill you must develop to become an elite baseball player is hand-eye coordination. Without it, you’ll be swinging for the fences and hitting nothing but air.

How do you think Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, and Jose Altuve keep their bats hot all-year-round?

They constantly work on their skills as an athlete.

If you’re struggling to catch, hit, or track the ball, it’s time you did some drills to level up your game.

In this article, Swivel Vision is going to share some of the top drills you can use daily to improve your hand-eye coordination, as well as the one vision training aid that will improve your focus.

Don’t get left behind while all your competition is getting better. Remember, becoming an elite athlete is an every-day effort. You need to leverage every opportunity to improve your skills.

As an athlete, you need to consistently perform at peak levels. One way to stay on top of your game is to always be training something, whether it be your swing, your fielding, your footwork, or your focus. There are dozens of ways you can get better as a baseball player. Here are some hand-eye coordination drills you can use daily to get to the next level:

Hand-Eye Coordination Drill #1 — Ball Drops

If you want to work on first-step speed and hand-eye coordination, the ball drop drill is the way to go. It’s a simple drill that you can do at the tail end of any workout. Get a ball that bounces (or a surface that’s got some spring to it). You want to get in an athletic ready position. Then, bounce the ball away from you and try to catch it before it hits the ground on the second bounce. Once you get 10 of these in, switch hands and do it again with your non-dominant hand. You control the difficulty of this drill. Continue to challenge yourself as you get quick with your first step.

Hand-Eye Coordination Drill #2 — Mini Wiffle Balls

Have you ever seen those mini whiffle balls that golfers use to work on their stroke without having to go to a range? Well, you can use these, too. Get a package or two of mini whiffle balls from your local sports equipment store. Pick up a broom from your local grocery store. Remove the head of the broom so that you have a stick. Now, have your coach or friend throw batting practice to you with whiffle balls, and you use the broomstick to get your swings in.

Hand-Eye Coordination Drill #3 — Wall Ball

For this drill, you can challenge yourself depending on the type of ball you use. You can use a tennis ball, baseball, or softball to start. Find a clean, flat wall. Stand no more than five feet away from the wall. Then, toss the ball you’ve chosen underhand against the wall. Once the ball bounces off the wall, catch it before it hits the ground. You can focus on one hand at a time or alternate hands in between reps. You can also determine how fast you have to react by how hard you throw the ball.

You can also take a few steps back to about 12 feet and throw the ball against the wall, and then field the bounce-back as if you were doing infield work.

Hand-Eye Coordination Drill #4 — Drop and Catch

You will need a coach or friend, a bag of balls, and an elevated surface to complete this drill. Have your friend or coach step up on the elevated surface, and you stand in front of them facing away. Next, get in an athletic position and look forward. Your coach or friend will then drop one ball at a time in front of you (starting outside your field of vision). You will then do your best to catch each ball they drop.

Swivel Vision: Level Up Your Hand-Eye Coordination Drills

You’re training to become an elite athlete, and you need every training aid you can get your hands on to get you to the next level. Swivel Vision is a sports vision training aid that forces you to focus on your goal while performing. Removing your peripheral vision, you are able to better train your brain to focus on what matters — catching, fielding, hitting, or throwing the ball.