Set-up:
One runner (with helmet) starting at home.
One fielder standing at each of the four bases.
The remainder of the baseball team lines up at the SS position.

Drill:
The baseball coach hits a ground ball to the first player in line at SS.  The runner breaks for first on contact and circles the bases as fast as he can without stopping.  The SS fields the grounder and throws to first.  The player at first throw across the infield to third.  The player at third throws to second.  The player at second throws home.

The point is for the fielders to make solid throws to each base and get the ball to the catcher in time to make a play on the runner at the plate.  After the player fields a grounder at SS, he sprints to first, the player at first sprints to second and so on down the line.  The catcher then becomes the runner.  The runner grabs his glove and goes to the end of the line at SS.

We go through the drill long enough for each player to cycle through the drill twice.

Short form path of the ball — SS to 1B to 3B to 2B to C

While players are running the bases, an emphasis is placed on properly rounding off each base and making it around the diamond as quickly as they can.  If there is a close play at the plate, runners must slide to avoid a collision.

This baseball drill becomes ultra-competitive at our practices and acts as a great team builder as all five infielders must execute their portion of the drill properly in order to beat the runner at home.

Adaptations:  As your fielders improve and their throws become more accurate, they will have no problems getting the runner out at the plate.  Once this begins to happen, allow the runner to start from first giving your fielders 25% less time to get their throws in.  For exceptional fielders, allow your runner to take three to four step lead-off from first in order to put a little extra pressure on your fielders.

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Quickness drill–
This baseball drill start off with 3rd baseman & 1st baseman. Hit a grounder to 3rd who throws to 1st, 3rd then moves to short. Grounder hit there & throws to 1st, move 2nd grounder, hit & thrown to 1st, move to 1st & original 1st baseman moves to end of line and original 3rd base moves to 1st.  The kids enjoy this baseball drill because it moves quickly.

Fielding-
Player stands in front of the baseball coach with eyes closed. Coach then calls out left or right and then throws a pop fly just out of player’s reach or “with lots of hustle” barely within players reach. Player then opens his eyes and runs to the baseball—with mitt tucked until he reaches or almost reaches the ball. This seems to develop hand-eye coordination again as well as teaches player to run with mitt tucked until getting to the ball.

Wobble balls—
These are rubber balls that are NOT round. I like to throw ground balls to my players using these. They never know where the ball is going to bounce and it forces them to stay in a good athletic position on the balls of their feet. It also forces them to watch the ground ball entirely into their mitt.

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All players start at second base and field a fungo from their baseball coach and throw to first (usually another coach).

If the field and throw are clean that player will advance to shortstop, then third base. If the player misses the grounder or misfires to first, the player will return to the previous position (or stay at second if an error was made at the start). The first player(s) to complete a clean field and throw from third is “King of the Diamond”.

Once everyone has had a chance to field a baseball, the coach will start at second again for any kids remaining in that position and work your way to third. That way, the kids who need the work will get more reps, while the stronger players stay motivated to “win”.

Depending on the skill of the team, I vary what is considered a clean field and throw but keep it consistent for the entire team for that day. As the players get more comfortable with the game, I will increase the difficulty throughout the season – e.g. throws to first that require the first baseman to stretch significantly may count at the beginning of the season, but not later in the season.

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Defense is comprised of entire infield (1st, 2nd, SS, 3rd, Pitcher, Catcher).  Offense has a base runner on first and a batter at home plate.  Third base coach gives signal to batter to bunt down third base line.  Third base coach also gives signal to first base coach for full speed run from 1st base to 2nd base to 3rd base without hesitation.  First base coach instructs base runner at 1st base to make full speed run round 2nd base to 3rd base but still be looking for third base coach’s signal to slide and hold up at 2nd base.  If third base coach does not give hold up signal, base runner runs at full speed rounding 2nd base and slides into 3rd base.

This baseball drill is designed first of all to keep the infield on their toes at all times while runners are on base even after a throw-out is made at first base.  Also, good offensive strategy to develop for aggressive base running should another team be scouted that relaxes too quickly after a throw-out at first base.

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Soft toss:
I have found that instead of just throwing one ball at a time, that if we throw one baseball on top of the other at the same time and then tell the player which ball to hit (top or bottom) ball, that hand/eye coordination is increased.
I also will take one ball and hold it above the players head (coaching 13 yr. olds). They will get in their “loaded” position and then I drop the ball at any given time. This seems to create “fast” hands and forces them to keep their hands inside the ball or “short” to the ball.

Power:
We take the tops of 5 tees out of the lower portion of the tee. We then placed “toilet plungers” (haha yeah, cheap toilet plungers) into the bottom part of the tee upside down. On the toilet plungers we place basketballs. (use old ones) Then practicing correct mechanics as we normally would off the tee, we just hit the basketballs into the nets.

This created good baseball hitting  form when making contact with the ball because of the weight they had to hit off the tee. It also created a strong swing while maintaining good mechanics.

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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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We have the players line-up at the tips of a pentagram (5-point star). The lines are equally placed approximately at the positions of Short Stop, 2nd Base, 1st Base, 3rd Base, and Catcher (home plate). We time the players each week to mark their improvement and error reduction to complete the drill. They have to catch the baseball and throw it to the next station and hustle to the end of that line or they might be in the middle of the next throw (incentive to hustle). The order of the stations are as follows: SS, 1B, 3B, 2B, Home, and back to SS.

The players must go through each station (star point) until the player that started the drill at SS catches the last ball at SS. With our team of about 20 players, we can get through this drill as fast as 90 seconds or as slow as 4 minutes. If a player misses the throw or drops a catch, he must hustle to get the baseball, without help from his teammates, get back to his position before he can throw the ball to the next station. If there is an errant throw, his teammates can “pick-him up” by digging the ball out of the dirt or jumping to catch it.

We do these baseball drills 2-5 times depending on how well we are achieving our goals from the drill. We keep track of the lowest errors and times of the season to compare each week our improvement.

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For a team of 12– break the players up into 4 teams of three, rotating throughout the game.

Three will be hitting and the rest will be in the field. No Pitcher. The baseball coach will pitch. Catcher does not need gear. Throw to the backstop. BP pitch speed

Each hitter starts with a 2 strike count. Fouls are strikes.

When the hitter puts the baseball in play he runs the bases without stopping in an attempt to reach home.

While he is running the players in the field must throw the ball into home from the position it was hit. The catcher throws to first, first to second, second to third, third to home in an attempt to beat the runner.

Balls to the outfield must also be thrown to home via cut-off man.

This drill stresses good accurate throws to each base as well as cut-off principles, as well as hitting and baserunning.

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Divide your players into two or three teams. It is better if you do not have nine in the field. Put one team in the field, one at bat, and one waiting. Use a pitching machine or a baseball coach to pitch.

Teams decide where to play defense, and they decide batting order. Each batter begins with an 0-2 count and gets one strike to put the baseball in play in fair territory. A foul ball, missed strike, or called strike are all outs. If a batter hits the ball and is thrown out at first, or the ball is caught in the air, he is out. If he reaches first safely he continues to run the bases until he is tagged out or a fielder tags the base with the ball before he reaches. This does not count as an out.

Each base reached safely counts a point. If he reaches home without being put out, he keeps going around until the defensive team gets him out. I have had players begging the defense to get them out. If you only have 5 or 6 in the field, they have to hustle to get the ball back in.

You can bunt or do whatever you want at bat. If a coach is pitching and throws 4 balls before throwing a strike, that is a run, and the same batter continues to bat.

After 6 outs, teams change out and you start again. If my batters are slow, I start a five second count and if they are not in the batter’s box, I ring them up. If the defense is slow about getting out, and the batters are ready, I will pitch to them. This teaches your players to hustle on and off the field, swing at strikes, and talk to each other defensively.

I have had games of 1-0 and games of 30-29. One thing we did last year was to use our pitchers throwing live. This is challenging. When you do this, you need a catcher. In the other scenarios, a catcher is not needed, an infielder has to cover home. When I pitch, I play defense only in self defense!

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I have them run the first turn around 3rd and note how far out the rounded 3rd coming into the base, then how far they traveled outside the foul line on the way home.  Then, I give them this tip:

When you head into the turn, think less about making a “loop” and more about leaning in with the left shoulder toward the ground as you approach 3rd base (a little like a water skiing turn to make a rooster tail), the gravity of running full speed at that angle combined with hitting the bag on the inside corner with your right foot propel you nearly right down the line toward home.

EVERY player improved his time going from 2nd to home in the FIRST try!!

This one helps to reinforce this baseball drill:
Load the bases with runners and hit the baseball to each fielder. Each time I hit the ball I yell out how many outs there are. Than I see what the runners and fielders do on their own as if we were in real game situations . We discuss after the play if they made the right decision. This drill makes them think on their own and react much quicker during a game.

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