I know this drill is old as the hills but I've found it to be rather effective when teaching younger hitters to hit.

Have the batter set up approximately 3ft. from a fence in her batting stance just as she would at the plate. With one exception, have her bat resting on her shoulder. The coach then tosses a ball up to her, the batter must then attempt to hit the ball with only the butt (End cap on the handle) of the bat. Since I work with fairly young girls I have to remind them on a daily basis NO SWINGING ALLOWED! The coach can toss the ball in various locations (High, Low, Inside, Outside, etc.,...).

This drills teaches the girls to move there head/eyes (Or as I like to say keep there nose on the ball; Because if you can point your nose at something you have to keep both eyes on it.) to and with the ball and take there hands to the ball as opposed to just swinging and hoping for the best. Hope this helps.

This tip was contributed by Walter Watham

Editors note:  We have done this drill with plastic balls or tennis balls and no bat.  The player puts her hands together as if holding a bat and hits the ball with the bottom of the bottom hand.