The 4 Barry Bonds Hitting Drills He Actually Taught — Free PDF

The same drills Bonds used with Christian Yelich, the San Francisco Giants, and the Miami Marlins. One printable page for coaches and parents of youth baseball and softball players.

The Catch Drill: instant barrel awareness for inside vs. outside pitches — no verbal cues needed

The Yelich Backspin Drill: the drill Yelich called "the best batting practice of my entire life"

The Eye Speed Machine Drill: how Bonds trained visual tempo — and how to scale it for youth hitters

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The Bullpen Vision Drill: why elite hitters read release, not spin — and how to train it

"Get shorter" — the body-on-plane mechanic Bonds uses to match the pitch plane without touching the hands, plus the lane drill that trains it

What's Inside the Barry Bonds Hitting Tips Cheat Sheet

Four drills. One page. Step-by-step instructions for every drill he taught.

The Catch Drill — Barrel Awareness at Every Contact Point

Hitter wears a glove on their top hand and catches pitched balls in their normal stance — no swing. Bonds' cue: "If I can catch it with my glove, then I can catch it with my bat." The drill immediately shows the hitter where the barrel needs to be for inside, middle, and outside pitches. No other barrel-awareness drill creates this kind of tangible feedback.

The Yelich Backspin Drill — Clean Up the Bat Path

Start hitting balls off the front of the plate, then work the contact point outward — 6–7 feet, then to line-drive level. The path feels like a chop but the ball flies with true backspin. Bonds used this drill to clean up his own bat path throughout his career. After one session with Bonds, Yelich's home run rate nearly doubled.

The Eye Speed Machine Drill — Build Visual Tempo

Set the pitching machine to a challenging velocity, then step four steps closer over the course of the session. Return to the original distance and pitches look slower and larger. Bonds used this to train early ball pickup. Includes youth hitter modifications — you do not need extreme velocity for this to work.

The Bullpen Vision Drill — Read Release, Not Spin

Hitter stands in the batter's box without a bat during a pitcher's bullpen session. Their only job: call pitch location before it crosses the plate. Bonds used this to train his eyes to pick up the ball out of the pitcher's hand at the earliest possible moment — the habit that fueled his .608 career on-base percentage.

"I still had that chopping feeling, but you're not actually steep. Your path is just so short and cleaned up. It was his way of cleaning up his bat path when he played… opposite field: backspin missile. Up the middle: backspin missile. Pull side: backspin missile."

— Christian Yelich, on his 2016 session with Barry Bonds (Sequence Podcast)

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Coaches & parents using the HPL hitting system

"Minimum of 10-mph was added to exit velocity. What you say/teach works."

Jared Rehm 12U Softball & Varsity Softball Coach

"My son at 10 (90 lbs) started hitting home runs every game and hit a ball at least 250'. Keep going. You are helping young players."

Michael Parillo Baseball Parent

"He was batting .320 no HRs. Last 30 games he batted .560 as a righty and .584 as a lefty with 5 HRs!"

Jack A. Martin Youth Baseball Coach

Who this cheat sheet is for

✓Youth baseball and softball coaches who want feel-based drills that self-correct — no verbal cue required once the drill is set up

✓Parents of youth hitters who want to run productive sessions at home with the same drills Barry Bonds used with pro players

✓Travel ball and high school coaches looking for a proven bat-path drill (the Yelich drill) that works for hitters at every skill level

✓Hitters who struggle with barrel control on inside or outside pitches — the Catch Drill gives immediate, tactile feedback that no verbal instruction can match

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Coaches, parents & players in the HPL community

About Joey Myers

Former Division-1 baseball player at Fresno State. Corrective Exercise Specialist with 15+ years coaching hitters at every level — from 6U rec league to college programs. Author of the Amazon bestseller The Catapult Loading System. The drills in this cheat sheet are the same ones I use with travel ball coaches, high school programs, and parents working with their kids in the backyard.

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Four drills. One printable page. The same feel-based system Bonds used with Yelich, the Giants, and the Marlins.

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