I watched a kid hit off the tee for twenty minutes last spring and wondered why I was even there. He was just swinging. Ball after ball, same spot, same height, same lazy loop through the zone. His dad was standing behind the fence nodding like something was getting better. Nothing was getting better. The kid was practicing being mediocre, and I almost let it go on because I didn't want to interrupt the "work."

The Tee Is a Tool, Not a Routine

Here's the thing most coaches miss: the tee doesn't fix anything on its own. You have to give it a purpose every single session. When you just let a kid walk up and hack, you're not building a swing — you're grooving whatever bad habit he already has, just faster.

Early in my coaching, I used to set up the tee in the middle of the plate, waist high, every single time. I thought I was giving kids a confidence builder. What I was actually doing was teaching them one swing for one pitch in one location. Then game day came and a pitcher threw them something low and away and they had no idea what to do with their hands. That's on me. It took me three seasons to figure out what I was doing wrong.

Work the Whole Zone — Every Session

The tee needs to move. Low and away, low and in, up in the zone, off the front corner, off the back corner. You want your hitters reading every location like they'd read the ball off the bat in the field — reacting, adjusting, staying connected to where the pitch actually is. If the tee never moves, the hitter never learns to move.

I run a simple three-station rotation now. Inside pitch, the tee goes up and toward the front foot — I want to see the hitter load up and turn, get the barrel through early. Middle, it drops to the belt, tee right over the center of the plate. Outside, it moves back toward the rear foot and drops lower, and I'm watching for soft hands, I'm watching them stay low and drive through instead of pulling off.

You do five to eight swings at each location before you move it. That's enough to feel something, not so many that you're just going through the motions. And you watch every single swing. Every one.

What You're Actually Looking For

When a kid gets to the outside pitch, watch his front shoulder. That's where the swing lives or dies. If it flies open, he's already guessing middle-in and his hands are going to drag through late. I'll stop a kid right there and say, "Freeze. Where's your shoulder pointing? Point it at the pitcher longer. Trust your hands to catch up." That's word for word what I tell them.

For younger kids, like your 8U and 9U groups, don't overcomplicate the feedback. They can hear one thing per swing. Pick the most important thing and say it once. "Stay low" or "load up before you go" or "let it get deep." One cue, one swing, move on.

The Parent Conversation You'll Have Eventually

Some parent is going to tell you their kid hits off the tee every day at home. You're going to smile and ask what they're working on. They're going to say "just working on their swing." That's your opening. I tell parents directly: "Tee work without a focus is just exercise. Ask him every session — what location, what flaw, what are you fixing today?" You want parents as partners in this, not just spectators counting swings.

I've had parents push back on that. That's fine. But when their kid starts squaring up low-away pitches in games because they actually practiced that location, the conversation takes care of itself.

One Drill Worth Stealing

I call it the three-spot check. You set the tee in three locations — inside, middle, outside — and the hitter calls the location out loud before each swing. Sounds simple. But saying it out loud forces them to think about what adjustment they need before they load up. It builds intention. It slows them down just enough to actually learn something. Run it for ten minutes at the start of any practice and you'll see better swings in your first live BP afterward.

What I wish someone had told me fifteen years ago is this: the tee is diagnostic. It shows you exactly what a hitter is doing wrong because the ball isn't moving and neither is the excuse. Use it that way. Put the tee somewhere hard, watch what breaks down, and fix that one thing. That's the whole job.

Move the tee. Watch closely. Give them one cue. That's your tee work from now on.