I put my players in groups of 3 or 4 and they take turns rolling 5 ground balls to the next person in line.  Then the person who fielded the balls becomes the roller and the roller hustles to the end of the line.

I make it a relay race so that the group of 4 that gets each person 5 ground balls the quickest wins and everyone else has to run a sprint.  We do that a few times then progress to the “knock out drill” where I hit baseballs at them (while still wearing the “soft hands”) and if the don’t field it cleanly, they’re out.

Last player standing wins and the rest run a sprint.  It really has improved their focus and hand-eye coordination on ground balls.  Plus, they like the competitiveness of it.

Another baseball drill that I do for my players is for building speed and agility.  It is called the 60 second drill where they walk at a pace for 30 seconds, jog for 20 seconds and sprint for 10 seconds.  They build up minutes.  Baseball is stop and start which this works towards.

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I start at the 1st base area with a fungo and hit all sorts of balls at them–balls where they need to drop, balls that are high so they have to jump, and balls wide where they may have to jump out and get!

I hit the baseball soft to start out. They will after a while ask me to hit it harder because they are competing against each other on who makes the best play.

I’ve found this baseball drill makes them very aggressive going after wild pitches and they compete with each other on who may have gotten to the hardest ball or who blocked the most! Plus it makes them tougher and it is rapid fire so they get some conditioning as well.

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Players form 2 equal lines, facing first base.
Line ‘A’ beginning in the right batters box, and Line ‘B’ about 15′ up and to the right of the first base line.

On my ‘Go’ command, the first runner in each line runs, ‘A’ to first, and ‘B’ through first and on to second.  Once the first two runners are on base, my commands become, “Primary”, “Secondary”, and then either “Go” or “Back”.  On “Go”, the runner on second scores, the runner on first ends up at third, B ends up on second and A on first.

As a runner scores, they go to the rear of the opposite line from where they started that lap.  I run this baseball drill for about 15 minutes or more, until I’m satisfied that they’re giving maximum effort. Players caught dogging it are given extra laps around the complex.

Things to focus on in doing this baseball drill:

1. Proper rounding of bases, especially first to second;
2. Proper primary and secondary leads, and no crossing over steps;
3. Reaction time returning to base or breaking for the next;
4. Speed and endurance.

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Players caught dogging it are given extra laps around the complex.  The things to focus on in doing the drill:  proper rounding of bases, especially first to second;  proper primary and secondary leads, and no crossing over steps; reaction time returning to base or breaking for the next; speed and endurance.

Players form 2 equal lines, facing first base.
Line ‘A’ beginning in the right batters box.
Line ‘B’ about 15′ up and to the right of the first base line.

On my ‘Go’ command, the first runner in each line runs, ‘A’ to first, and ‘B’ through first and on to second.  Once the first two runners are on base, my commands become, “Primary”, “Secondary”, and then either “Go” or “Back”.  On “Go”, the runner on second scores, the runner on first ends up at third, B ends up on second and A on first.  As a runner scores, they go to the rear of the opposite line from where they started the lap.   I end 95% of baseball practices with this drill.

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Start by putting two players on the pitchers mound (#1 & #2).  Evenly distribute the remaining players at each of the 4 bases.  Have them form a line behind the first player at the base who is getting ready to receive a ball from the mound.

Start the ball with player #1 on the mound.  Have player #1 on the mound throw the baseball to the first person in line at any base.  Player #1 from the mound immediately runs to the end of the line at that base to which they just threw the ball.  The person who received the ball then immediately throws the ball back to the second player standing at the mound (now #1).  The player who just threw the ball back to the mound now races to the mound and gets ready to receive a ball next.

The now first player at the mound quickly throws the ball to a different base and runs to get in line at the base they just threw it to…..the cycle continues quickly with throwing, catching & running.

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Place a player at each base and homeplate to start. No pitcher is needed. The remaining kids line up at short. Hit a ground ball to the shortstop who fields it and throws to first. The baseball is then thrown to the second base where a catch and tag is performed. This proceeds to third base and home with the same catch and tag.

Each kid follows their throw by running to the bag they just threw it to. The shortstop runs to first, first to second, second to third, and third to home. Once the catcher receives the ball he goes back to the shortstop line.

This baseball drill emphasizes fielding, throwing, running/conditioning, and tagging.

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1.  Split your team evenly at each of the 4 bases.
2.  Starting from home a baseball is thrown to third base.
3. 3rd to 2nd, 2nd to 1st, 1st to home and repeat until you are back in your strating position.
4. After you throw the ball you spring to that base.
5.  We count number of balls not caught in the round and they have to do that many sprints during practice.
6. If they get 0 — the coaching staff does a sprint.
7. As a variation that puts a little pressure on–they can choose to try and better their score in a 2nd round.

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We play a game of Move Ups at the end of each baseball practice. The starting rotation takes their positions on the field. The rest of the players are hitters and the baseball coach is the pitcher.

The hitter hits and runs and the defense tries to make outs. For each out that is made, the hitter, or runner that made the out takes a defensive position in left field and all the other defensive players move one position around the horn, with the first baseman now becoming a hitter.

Stay with the same catcher for a while. All of your players will, for at least one at bat, play a new position in the field, learning about the requirements for that position. If a hitter makes it around to score, they remain on the hitting team.

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From Jim…

Here is one of the baseball drills we do indoors to keep it fun for the kids and also integrate conditioning with good mechanics:

The Four Corner Outfield Drill:

1.  Kids get in one single line
2.  Each kid has a baseball
3.  Kid gives baseball to coach and goes on dead sprint, coach throws in over right or left shoulder
4.  Kid hopefully catches ball and continues to next baseball coach,  Coach repeats the drill at each corner until the player is back where they started.
5.  We keep track of how many balls are caught and dropped.
6.  The kids really seem to enjoy it and they don’t even realize they are conditioning and improving their ability to catch the ball on the run properly.  Great for infielders and outfielders.

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1. Buddy Stretch with 5-7 arm stretching exercises before running 2 laps in groups of 2-3 before beginning to short-long warmup throwing.

2. Run 1 & 3rd, Suicide & squeeze & bunt defense and pickoff and rundown baseball plays together at same time using full infield and pitcher and 2 baserunners per 1st & 3d and switch runners out. You may also add Tag-Up & Half way with base coaches on this baseball drill giving signs. Rotate pitchers in & out.  We loosen the kids arms up with Around the Horn and Star Drill before running these scenarios.   We may spend a whole hour- 11/2 hours on this part of the game at practices throughout season.   It helped us win a championship last year in 13-15 yr. old Dixie Boys last year in SC.

3. Run 3-4 batting stations simultaneously at every baseball practice.   The kids start with hitting from the Tee, next to Soft Toss, next to Pepper/Bunt drill and then to hitting at the plate.   This keeps the kids constantly engaged with no sitting around or down time.

It is imperative to have extra baseball coaches or parents to help run these stations and I as the Head Coach and my assistant visit each of these stations to watch the players as they progress from station to station.

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