At baseball practice  while we are in stretching circle, (which by the way each boy leads us in a stretch as a way to start practice) I mention each player by name, and he comes forward.  I specifically name what it was that they did from the previous week’s game , from striking out a batter, to getting hit by a ball, and getting right back out there.

I proceeded to give that player a roll of lifesavers. I noted something specific and well-executed each player on my team did at the baseball game the previous week.  This was such a hit that I do it at every practice after our games (a different treat each week).

We always work on what needs work, but how great to acknowledge what went right.  It was a great morale booster.  We won that game, but won’t always, yet there will always be something positive to point out to the players.

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Start off with one player on first base and the rest of the players will line up on the grass behind 2nd base position. The 1st player in line comes forward to the 2nd base position.

I start this baseball drill with 2 balls–my catcher has one and I have the other. The first baseball is hit to the player at 2nd base. He fields the ball and makes the play at 1st. As soon as the play is made, the player at 1st makes the throw home, then runs to the back of the line. The player at 2nd runs to cover 1st base while the next player in line moves forward to field the next ball being hit.

As soon as a ball is hit the catcher flips the other ball to me. This is a fast paced drill and cardio can be increased by moving to short stop position. The time span between balls being hit is about 5 seconds.

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I put my starters out, rotating the pitchers every inning.  It’s a great evaluation tool for me, especially weeks before games start so it tells volumes as to what needs to be worked on as a team and individually.

The players love it because it gives them a competitive edge, more so they can see how they stack up against other members of the team.  That point in itself has helped a few of my players as I’ve noticed more hustle on the field & more focus on their work ethic when doing miscellaneous baseball drills throughout other practices.

We have also been working on quick feet with good throws:  2 lines, facing each other, throw a ground ball; other line charges, proper body position, quick change in feet and a good throw back to the other line.  After every touch of the ball, the player moves to the end of the other line.

This baseball drill moves fast and can keep them focused on the baseball (grounders) and also on quick feet with placement of the feet (left foot forward throw for right handers for example) and gets them throwing on the run.  This is not a new drill, but has worked wonders in our team.

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When the baseball coach yells “go” the first player in each group throws to the second player, second player throws to third player, third player throws to fourth player, fourth player throws to third player etc. until the baseball is returned to the first player.

At first, the focus of the baseball drill is to ensure proper and accurate throwing and turning into the glove hand when receiving and turning to throw (there is NO race until these skills are developed).

Once proper skills are being employed by the players you add the speed and competition of the race to see which team can can go down and back without a dropped ball or overthrow the fastest.

As the season goes on increase the race to down and back twice or even three times!

I like to provide a little incentive by giving the 2nd place team 5 push-ups, 3rd place team 10 push-ups, and fourth place team 15 push-ups. (HINT: Choose four players to pick teams alternating one at a time to get the initial teams; after the first race rotate only the players in position 1; after the second race rotate the players in position 2 etc..to keep things interesting).

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Give this baseball drill called “crossfire” a try using the suggestion above.  Players form 2 lines at SS and 2B, with a player at 1B and 3B, and a catcher for the coach at home plate.  The baseball coach alternates hitting ground balls to the SS and 2B; the SS throws to the 1B, the 2B throws to the 3B, and both 1B/3B throws to the catcher at home.  After the player takes a grounder, he goes to the back of the other line he wasn’t in.

Do this for about 10 minutes, and it gets the kids in pretty good shape.

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Each winter I do a 10 to 15 page “drill book” for my boys. Each page has a baseball field drawn on it with 10 players in their normal pre pitch positions (4th grade boys…so we get to have 10 fielders).  On the back of the page I list all 10 fielders.

I then give the boys a situation–i.e. runners on first and second, one out, ball hit through the gap between first and second.

The boys have to diagram where each baseball player goes on the baseball play and also writes it down on the back next to each position.

This book is then used for our first baseball practice of the season which is a classroom practice with a white board.  We do this before our league lets us “officially” begin field practices. We use this baseball drill book at every practice for situation drills.

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The baseball drill goes like this:  2 baseball coaches- 1 at home and 1 at 2nd base.  Half of the kids make a line at 3rd and the other half at first.  Each coach has a bucket next to them. The first player at 3rd base moves out to shortstop position and gets a ball hit to him from the coach at home.  After he fields the baseball, he runs behind the coach hitting the balls at 2nd and drops his ball into the bucket, and continuing to run to the end of the line at first.

Simultaneously, the coach at 2nd is hittng the balls to the first person in line at first base who is standing between 1st home.  After he fields the ball, he drops it in the bucket behind home and gets into the line at third.  Each coach grabs the balls from the buckets.

Another twist is to have someone catching for each coach with each player fielding a ball, throwing it back to the spot it was hit from.

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Directions:  This baseball drill uses three tossers and three shaggers.  Each tosser is near a base and has a shagger, who is at the base.  The drill has one or more outfielders at each of th  three outfield defensive positions.  The outfielders are pulled up in order to get a force play at a base.
The tosser throws or hits a ground ball to the outfielder, who fields the ball and quickly throws it to the respective shagger.

V Throwing Drill
Purpose:  To improve the infielders’ throwing accuracy.

Set-Up:  The catcher, first baseman, and third baseman are at their respective bases while the second baseman and SWS are at their defensive positions.

The baseball should be thrown continuously in the following sequence:  C to 1st to 3rd to 2nd (Covering bag) to C to SS (covering 2nd), SS to 3rd then back to C.

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The players line up 5 or 6 to a side and take turns throwing from the scarecrow position one side at a time:
1. Stretch position.
2. Lead Arm Out
3. Throw and tuck the glove hand.

For younger kids, we make this a game to see who can keep going the longest without making a bad throw or dropping the baseball.

We are also trying to come up with creative baseball drills to teach throwing to first base. We are trying different versions of the dunking booth, funny stuffed animals in a chair on first base, etc.  It is coming up with funny targets to throw at on first base.

The rewards for the players are they have to come up with things the coaches have to do for each time any player hits the target, for example, making the baseball coach run the bases.

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1.  A baseball coach must stay consistent with attitude challenges of both players and parents.
2.  Respect an umpire but be vigilant about challenging appropriate questionable calls to educate yourself and your team on rules,etc.

In my experience an umpire expects a challenge in a professional environment and will work with coaches when he/she feels the respect.

In regards tobaseball practice and planning, I have found that if you can identify the total reasonable number of hours a week that you expect a player to be able to practice and identify the areas that he needs the most work in (hitting, speed, fielding) you can allocate a certain percentage of those total number of hours to those areas that need it most.

This will allow the player to reach a milestone each and every week and if they don’t reach the goal and you don’t see improvement it will help identify why. Keeping a log book of the time the players put in will help a lot.

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