Baseball Catching Drill
This is the max distance throw I now want the kids working on during their catch practice.  At times we go for 30 feet.  The ropes help keep the kids from drifting too far apart which was happening all the time.

Given I am working with tee ball players I really do not expect even one of the better players to throw from short or third to first and get the runner.

Using this has helped organize and gives us something to work on that is very close to the throwing distance they will have in the game.

We work on seeing what our high water mark for throws without it touching the ground will be.

Coaching Tip
We have started using stations during our fielding drills. We run through the 1st time having each boy “teach” us the fundamentals while walking through, then at 1/2 speed, then full speed several times. We then move them to another station to do the same.

This keeps their attention & soldifies their fundamentals and they are becoming a TEAM.

Dead Ball Drill
We use a drill called “Dead-ball drill” in our junor high practices.  We began using it because for years there was only one coach, and running a baseball practice with one coach requires some drills that the players can do on their own.

With balls peppered around the perimeter between 3rd and 2nd base, the boys approach the balls one at a time with their glove and top hand down, pull it directly up to their stomach, stride twice and throw to first.

The 1st baseman dumps the balls into a bucket, and another 1st baseman carries it back to the left side of the infield when the rotations is over.   2 buckets, 20 balls moving around.  The boys quickly caught on and actually began asking “can we do dead ball today?”

Outfield Cut-Off Drill
Have one player at short stop, one at second and the rest at either left or rightfield.  Coach throws/hits the ball over left field’s head.  They run out to get it, short stop goes out to relay ball in to second base.  Then ball is thrown/hit out over rightfield’s head and second base goes out as the cut off while short stop covers second base.

I teach my players to use their gloves as a “broom” and “sweep” the ball into their bare hand with their closed glove. This ensures that they will grip the ball cleanly to be able to throw, instead of having to bare hand the ball or waste time using the glove’s pocket.

Two In One Drill
Line three balls up approximately 5 feet away from each other.
Each player has a partner.
One starts at one end line and sprints to the first ball, gets his butt/shoulders around BEFORE touching the ball, sweeps the ball into his glove, and throws it back to the partner.
He sprints back to touch the end line, then sprints to the second ball and follows the same routine.

I generally use a timer and give them a goal time to meet. Sometimes I’ll work groups of three and have the off person do push-ups or “hover” (working the abs) until the partner finishes fielding.

Bucket of Balls
Drop 10 base balls in the area where an infielder might have to make a play.
For extra fun add a stop watch to time speed. It also brings in a little competition for the fastest time.

The infielder as quickly as he/she has to get every ball and make the play to first.

The 1st baseman has a bucket to collect the balls accurately thrown to him/her.

Coaching points:

- Repetition of plays to first for any infielder.
- Best time for every position (each position should have its best time record, distance plays a role)
- Accuracy of throws.
-Best times so far 8yr old.
2nd base 22.3 secs.
Shortstop 23.8 sec.
3rd Base 24.7

Lots of fun, excellent skills improvements and never dull!

Fly Ball Pop-Up Drill
We begin with one ball and the kids run away from where I am standing and I throw a pop up or fly ball that they have to run underneath and catch.
It teaches them that they can often reach balls that they wouldn’t normally believe they could reach.
After they go through the drill a few times, we add a ball.
This time they run straight out and catch the fly ball, but then they turn toward their glove side and sprint across the field where I throw another ball they have to catch running sideways.

This drill can even add a third ball.  After they catch the second ball, they drop one of them and sprint out away from me again, and I hit them with a Hail Mary they have to position themselves under.

It is great for confidence in going after popups/flyballs and it also is a great conditioning drill.  They don’t even realize it is conditioning because it is so much fun.

One Minute Drill
Put on object on a traffic cone–(you can use a stuffed animal, a baseball, a nerf ball-depending on the age you are working with and the level of accuracy you expect).

We run two groups at the same time. Have the cone near a padded wall.

You need a timer, one person throwing, one near the cone to put the object back on when it’s knocked off, a feeder (to the thrower) and at least one or two fielders.

The feeder rolls the ball to the thrower who fields the ball and throws it at the target on the traffic cone.  If it gets knocked off it gets replaced quickly.  Fielders retrieve the balls that have bounced off the wall and get them to the feeder.  (It’s quite a busy minute).

Either the thrower or the feeder keep count of how many the thrower actually knocks off the traffic cone.   It doesn’t count if it hits the wall first, then the cone or the objecct.

At first we count it when the thrown ball hits the cone (not necessarily the object is hit).  As we progress in this drill our expectations increase and the rules change (i.e.-hitting the cone doesn’t count-you have to hit the object directly).

The person timing can be the judge.

The player with the most “points” gets a prize or gets out of a running sprints. They love this drill.  It really makes them focus on accuracy and throwing for one minute straight and is quite the workout!

Trash Can Target Throw
Take metal trash can lids, paint a target on the inside of the lids with red and white paint and hang the targets on the fence.

Let the kids have at it with a base ball.  They love the loud “clang” when the ball hits the target.  It helps keep their interest because it is fun and challenging.

They really want to hit the target, so they slow down and focus on the technique that we’ve taught them.

Variation:  A game you can play with these targets is to have the kids stand 10 feet in front of the target.  After they have successfully hit the target twice they take a big stride back.  Hit the target two more times, take another stride back and so on.  See how far back they can go!

Cut-Off Drill
Another one of my favorite drills that we do almost every practice is a cut-off drill.

I line 5 or 6 kids in a line and have them work on throwing an accurate throw to one another.
The kid catching the ball sets his feet has his body turned, as if he was cutting a ball thrown from an outfielder.  He then throws to the next kid.
When the ball gets to the end they turn the other way and do it again.

This drill helps with accuracy, foot work and hand eye coordination.

Short Hop Drill
You start 3 players at 2nd base and you have 3 players at 3rd base.
The 1st one in line at 3rd starts with the ball and throws a short hop to the first player in line at 2nd.

The player who throws the ball goes to the end of the line, or to make it a little harder, you can have him run to the end of line at 2nd, running to his throwing hand side.

The player who received the ball at 2nd now throws a short hop to the person in line at 3rd.

We make it a little more interesting by having a friendly competition against each other. We usually play the first to 20 with out a drop.

This drill has really helped cut down on the errors. Our whole team does this drill.

I have the outfielders go against the infielders and they really enjoy beating them. Now when they have a short hop hit to them in the game they play the ball instead of the ball playing them.

Tag Out Drill
This drill is targeted to get the players to throw the ball to the proper location for a tag out – NOT a force out.

• I set up a 55 gallon trash can (laid down horizontally with the mouth open to the players) at 3rd base and home.
• Infielders will throw the ball from their position into the mouth of the can.
• This is practiced with infield and outfielders. (Outfielders may hit the cutoff man and then he turns and throws into the can).

This gets the throwers throwing the ball in the correct vicinity for the player to quickly apply the tag.

Four Corners
Set up four cones in a square about 10 feet apart.
One player stands next to a cone ( 4 players).
Player 1 flips the ball to player two, two to three, three to player four, four to player one.

This drill helps hand eye coordination as well as flipping the ball to any base when a player is to close to throw the ball. You can start with no gloves, then move to with gloves.
It was really beneficial for my 2nd basemen and shortstops, when it came to turning double plays.

Tennis 500
Here it is:

• Line up your team in the outfield.
• Using a tennis racket, hit tennis ball flyballs to each player.
• If they catch the ball on the fly, they get 100 points.
• If they field it after 1 bounce they get 50 points and if they catch it after two bounces they get 25 points.  First player to 500 wins.

(I generally have some sort of big treat for the winner and smaller treats for all.)

I always start off with easy fly balls but make them more and more difficult the closer they get to 500.  I can also vary the degree of fly ball difficulty based off skill level of each player.

I use tennis balls because if someone misses a ball, it won’t hurt if it hits them.

I have yet to find a team, baseball or softball, that doesn’t enjoy this drill.