Batting practice can get boring sometimes. Ok, a lot of the time, especially when you're working on a specific skill. But the other day I came up with an idea to make it a bit more interesting.

I was working with a hitter on generating a sacrifice fly with a runner on third. The idea was she had to hit an outfield fly ball no matter where the ball was pitched. We did it for a while, then we got serious.

Every time she hit a fly ball as required, she received a plus one. Every time she produced a popup or a weak ground ball, she received a minus one. A line drive or hard grounder was a "push" — neither plus nor minus. I could've made them minuses, but since they'd probably accomplish the goal of scoring the runner I decided to make them neutral.

You can set the game to any number you want. I selected five to keep things moving, and so the game was on. The object was to get to plus five before the hitter reached minus five.

Another variation would be to name two teams, such as the hitter's first name v. her last name. The first name gets the pluses and the last name gets the minuses.

It's fun, and it definitely puts some pressure on to perform. Next time you're working on a specific hitting skill, give this game a try.