From Dave…
Competition Long Toss

Here’s one baseball drill I use with my kids every practice. They love it because of the competition factor. If I don’t do this at a baseball practice, all the kids beg to do it.

Players pick a partner and spread out down the foul line with one set on the foul line and the other in the outfield somewhere (maybe 20 feet away or longer as players get older/better) lined up with their partner. Players on foul line have the baseball. On command they throw to their partner. Their partner catches the ball and holds it. On command they throw it back. After each successful throw and return throw, the outfield line moves 3 steps back and the drill starts over. The key is that the player catching the ball cannot move more than his 1 foot to catch it AND must catch it cleanly. Basically the player catching the ball can act as a first baseman, keeping one foot planted. Another way of thinking is the player catching the ball cannot be called for travelling if he is playing basketball. The player must field it cleanly, or his “team” is out (I make them sit down until the competition is over). Throwers can crow hop the longer throws and can bounce them in as long as the fielder can field/catch it cleanly. Remember to move back 3 steps after each successful throw and return.

You will find your players arm strength and accuracy will build if you do this every practice. Also, you will find the distance that players can throw accurately will increase dramatically between the start of your season and the end of the season. Generally, I do 1 warm-up contest and then 2 or 3 contests that “count”. Sometimes we do it until 1 team has won 2 of the competitions. Players love keeping their own records on their wins/losses over the season. Some players challenge themselves to have a win with every other player on the team over the course of the year. At every practice, the players are not allowed to have the same partner they had at the previous practice.

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From Hank…
Here’s a baseball play we like to use quite often because it works almost everytime.

With runners on first and second and less than 2 outs we start the runners to commence a double steal.  The batter will square around to bunt but pull back at the last instant.  What usually happens on defense is this:  the 3rd baseman (along with the 1st baseman) will come charging in to field the bunt; 2nd baseman will cover first; in 9 out of 10 times the Shortstop will fail to cover 3rd base leaving it unprotected…thus the catcher cannot throw to third to nail the man coming from second.

Bingo…double steal, and a chance to score 2 runs now on a single and it also eliminates the force play.

Occasionally, we will actually bunt the baseball just to confuse the defense and prevent predictability.

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From Jeff…
Here is a baseball drill we use at most of our baseball practices.

Range Drill - Bucket at 2nd, Bucket at 1B, Fungo at Home

Fielders line up at 3B.

First baseball hit right at 3rd base spot.  Fielder fields it, throws to 2B and takes off running towards 2B.

Next ball hit to SS area - fielder fields hit toss to 2b, keeps going.

3rd ball hit to 2B area- fielder throws to 1B and keeps going.

4th and last ball it to 1B.

If you miss a ball keep going around the horn for the other balls - do not stop.

Goals:  Fielder fields ball on the run - encourage diving for balls - increase range of fielder.
Keep them on the dirt with good angles to the next batted ball

Variations:
Play consecutive balls got too, 9-12 in a row without counting the first one…depends on the number of fielders.

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From Anthony…
This is a baseball drill to develop soft hands for infielders, pitchers and catchers, but especially middle infielders and turning the double play.

A baseball coach kneels on the infield grass with a bucket of baseballs in front of the shortstop and the shortstop has no glove. The rest of the infield is in position with gloves on. The baseball coach will roll a ball to either the second base or third base side. The shortstop fields and then will say flip or toss to the 2nd or 3rd baseman who then completes the double play.

We use all the Double Play possibilities when working 1st base, 3rd base, catcher and pitcher as the start point.

From John…
One thing that my 9 and 10 year olds are enjoying is that the 2 best efforts given by my boys are allowed to be the captain for the 15 minute scrimmage at the end of practice that they can make longer if they choose.  The captains get to choose their teams and set their defense and batting order.  This has helped get a little extra focus from the boys.  They do realize that it isn’t always the best couple of kids, it is based on effort.

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From James…
My master baseball tip:  “Fielders keep your head down and follow the baseball all the way to your glove.”

As we all know many fielders will pick their head up and take their eye off the ball when fielding.
To help overcome this I have placed large numbers with a sharpie wide marker on 12 balls.
As we hit a soft ground ball to the fielders they must keep their eye on the ball and try to pick up the number then call it off quickly before throwing to first base. The results have been awesome. With repetition we create skill.

From Larry…
I will make this baseball drill short and sweet–

I put all my infielders on their knees and throw (not hit) the baseball to them like the ball was hit and make them throw the ball to first or what ever base I call out; I even use the catcher. Great to learn the control of the throw with the upper body.

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From Gerry…
I use this baseball drill with first-basemen who are in the fundamental stage of learning baseball…young guys. I find this drill to be simple but quite effective.

Coach position: approximately 15 to 20 feet toward second base from the first base bag. Coach is holding baseball in his/her bare hand.
Player position: Regular fielding position, facing home plate.

The baseball coach then yells “go” and the first baseman goes to get in position to field a throw. At any time the coach tosses the ball at the player. The target for the ball can vary to simulate the unpredicability of the throw he/she will have to field. The coach can work on low throws, high, high and wide. You can decrease the time between go and tossing the ball as suited.

I usually do this drill every practice, especially when other players may be taking ground balls or just working individually with a player who is having difficulty with fielding or even foot placement at the bag.

I have seen quick improvement in players that are somewhat uncoordinated.

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From Jeff…
The baseball drill that I use is a warm-up  drill that reinforces proper throwing technique. It is called the Arm Swing Drill.

Players start in circle. They are in proper throwing position facing the baseball coach who is in the middle of the circle.
The coach has three commands:
1. Thumb to Thigh,
2. Crack in the Elbow
3. Talk to the Hand.

On (Thumb to Thigh), the players simulate the throwing motion making sure that there thumb goes down to their thigh. They continue the throwing motion until the get to the top. Make sure their elbow is slightly bent. (Crack in the Elbow).Make sure the ball is facing away from them. (Talk to the Hand).

Very simple yet very effective to create muscle memory and get players to understand the proper arm path to throw the baseball.

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From Roger…
Idea- This is a baseball drill for the pitchers. Simple but very effective. We do 6 sets of 10. The catcher has a ball and the pitcher has a ball. The pitcher pitches the baseball and the catcher throws the other ball back as quickly as you can. The pitcher runs back or hurries back to the mound and is ready to release as quickly as possible. He will pitch as fast and quickly as he can not really worrying about where it hits as much, but how quickly he can get another ball and pitch it.
Good cardio workout.

From Mike…
A baseball pitching drill that I like to do with my team is a one-hop drill. Utilizing the width of a gym, have your baseball player throw the ball as hard as he can keeping the ball low and hitting the floor in front of the catcher.

This drill teaches the pitcher the proper release point and cuts way down on high pitches.

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From Robert…
This is the best baseball batting tip ever! This batting order idea worked on a house league team in winning a championship and our tournament team to the mid atlantic regionals at 10 yrs old.

Tell your baseball team the batting order will be arranged by how well they learn a specific baseball hitting drill.

If we are working on stance, hip turn, etc…The kids that worked the baseball drill the best in practice were 1-2-3-4 etc in the order. My hardest hitters may be at the bottom of the order, if they didn’t use correct form. It got the attention of the entire team. Our good hitters became very good, and the kids that struggled all hit the baseball.

From Michael…
When Batting: To improve tracking the ball and “Keeping Your Eye On The Ball” we tell our players to point their “EYES, NOSE and CHIN” at the contact point when they hit the ball.

It seems to work much better than saying “Watch the ball!”

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From Jeff…
What a great idea! The baseball drill that I use is a warm-up drill that reinforces proper throwing technique. It is called the Arm Swing drill.

Players start in circle. They are in proper throwing position facing the baseball coach who is in the middle of the circle.
The coach has three commands: Thumb to Thigh, Crack in the Elbow and Talk to the Hand.

On Thumb to Thigh, the players simulate the throwing motion making sure that their thumb goes down to their thigh. They continue the throwing motion until they get to the top. Make sure their elbow is slightly bent. (Crack in the Elbow). Make sure the ball is facing away from them. (Talk to the Hand).

Very simple yet very effective to create muscle memory and get baseball players to understand the proper arm path to throw the ball.

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