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!

Indoor Baseball Relay Drill
1. Form 2 lines
2. Have a ball on the half court line out in front of each line
3. When the whistle blows, the first person in each line runs to the ball and scoops it into the glove
4. They then make a hard throw against the far wall ( it is important to make a hard level throw and not a big rainbow so you can get the ball quicker)
5. They then charge the ball and field it and throw against the wall 3 more times, staying behind a designated line on the floor
6. They then race back and place the ball on the half court line
7. They then run back and tag the next player in line (make sure they tag behind the starting line) and repeat process until all players have gone through

If they miss one of the rules, they have to do one quick push up before they can continue. Usually the team that loses is due to an error in throwing or lack of attention to detail.

We utilize this time afterwards to discuss what went wrong and also how they can improve it. This goes along with our theme that we want to try and play error free ball.

Hot Box
Since it is an indoor drill, we use the lines of a full sized basketball court to designate boundaries.

• The team is lined up along the baseline facing midcourt.
• Only one player is on the baseline in what would be the “key” of the basketball court.
• I hit the ball (an Incrediball) from the midcourt line as hard as I can directly at the player in the key.  I must hit the ball somewhere in the key in order for it to count.  It can be a line drive or a grounder.
• If the player misses, everyone simultaneously runs to the other end of the basketball court.  Then the next player goes.
• Each player must field the ball and throw it to my assistant coach or another player who is standing next to me.
• Players keep taking turns fielding the ball.  We make it a “winner stays in” game and the last player in is the ultimate winner and he does not have to run an extra lap.

Even if a player misses and is out, he must run with the rest of the team during the game.

I use this with my varsity team, since they love competitive games.  You can add a variety of variations to the game set-up as you wish.

Indoor Infield T-Ball Around
Equipment: 5-position tee, throw down bases, dozen softie balls, bat and batting helmet
Area: ½ Basketball Court
Players recommended: 5-6
Time: 15-20 minutes

Drill:
Place bases on modified (smaller area) diamond, place 5 players at all infield positions (excluding pitcher – if only 5 players available, have coach play catcher)

One player is the batter who hits off the tee (different tee positions and batter’s box adjustments are used)

Batter uses proper hitting technique to hit ball off the tee. Batter stays at tee for first four hits and runs on the fifth and final hit.

Fielders are instructed to go to 1st base no matter where the ball is hit to in the field. Once the first baseman receives the ball and steps on the base, the 1st baseman throws to 3rd.

Player covering 3rd base (may be either SS or 3rd baseman depending on where the ball was originally hit) makes a tag on the ground (as if a runner was coming from 2nd) and then throws to 2nd base. Player covering 2nd base (may be either SS or 2nd baseman depending on where the ball was originally hit) makes a tag on the ground (as if a runner was coming from 1st) and then throws home. The catcher then makes a tag on the ground in front of the plate on the 3rd base side.

On the fifth and final hit from the batter, the batter drops the bat and attempts to run around all bases and make it home before the ball is thrown successfully around the bases by the fielders.

Purpose:
Batter – by using the proper hitting technique off the tee, batters get better feedback than they do from tee hitting into a net. Line drives are the goal to having a steady level swing. Grounders and pop-ups are a sign of unlevel swing. Using different positions on the 5-position tee gives feedback on where a properly hit inside or outside pitch will end up.

As a runner on the fifth hit, the batter gets used to having the ball in play and a baseman near/over the base when running. Runner is instructed to avoid collisions for safety reasons.

Fielders – because of the smaller diamond size, fielders must be quick to move to field the ball. The softie ball bounces more and fielders must focus more on keeping their eyes on the ball all the way into the glove.

Fielders focus on proper fielding mechanics and throwing footwork to make the initial throw to first. Fielders learn to follow the ball once it’s hit. If hit to 3rd baseman, SS covers 3rd base, 2nd baseman covers 2nd base, if hit to 1st baseman, 2nd baseman covers 1st base and SS covers 2nd base, etc.

Good throws are practiced to each base; good sweeping tags are made to contact the floor/ground. When the batter is running on the final hit, fielders are practicing keeping their eyes on the ball and not the runner. Making good throws with a runner in the baseline.

Bucket Game

• Divide team into two groups, match player skills between teams.
• Line up on two lines facing each other 30-40 feet apart.
• Use buckets, cones or gloves to mark boundaries on ends of each line, plus back boundary 10 feet behind front line.
• Have players spaced evenly so they have to move somewhat.
• One team starts by throwing a hard grounder underhand towards other team.  The ball must bounce before it reaches the first line.
• The team receiving the grounder must not let it reach the back boundary.  Player wanting to field the grounder should call it, other players should back up the player receiving.

Once the grounder is caught it is then thrown underhand to other team.  The player missing the ball is out and the game continues until only 1 player is left standing.

The first player eliminated has to do 10 reps of an exercise picked by the winning team.  Second out has to do 9 reps and so on.  Recommended exercise is push-ups or sit ups.

Wall Ball –
Have fielders stand in line behind each other facing a wall which is about 15 feet away.  You will need an Incrediball for this drill.  The person in front of the line will start with the ball.  He will throw the ball against the wall and run to the end of the line.

The next player in line will have to field the ball, throw it against the wall and run to the end of the line for the next person to field.  Repeat.

Encourage them to challenge each other with different types of throws against the wall.  Make sure the fielders field the ball with proper fielding fundamentals and jump into their footwork after they field it.

Star Drill -
The coach will hit the ball to the second baseman, who will then throw it to the third baseman, then the first baseman, then the shortstop, who then throws it home.

There is a runner who starts at home plate and runs when the ball is first hit by the coach. The runner continues to run while this star drill is going on.

The ball must get to all positions in the star before the runner gets to home plate.  Repeat with the ground ball being hit do a different fielder.

The fielder always throws where they did in the original drill but all points of the star must be closed before the runner reaches home.

Back to Back Fly Ball Drill

• A player and a partner stand back to back.
• One player underhands the baseball into the air and shouts “look” or “now”.
• The opposite player then turns ans searches for the ball in an attempt to catch the fly.

This baseball drill is made easier or more difficult by the height of the ball and by how long the tosser waits to shout the turn phrase.  Rotating partners can add to team building.

Another thing that our kids really like to do are “play” with non-baseball equipment.  During our indoor sessions, we take practice “swings” with a medicine ball.  The batter holds the ball with two hands and makes a good swing throwing the medicine ball to his partner.  The kids added a penalty for dropping the heavy ball or for a bad toss, ten push-ups.

The key is to make sure they are swinging their arms and ball in a good swing plane and using their hips and legs to put the extra push into the swing.  The kids really enjoy it.  Another variation is to see how far you can throw the medicine ball.  Again, the focus is on the power from the legs.

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1. Target practice.
Put a pail or garbage can or something similar in the corner of the gym.
Lineup the players in the opposite far corner and have them throw a one hop strike to try to knock down the pail or to get the baseball into the can. The can will be laid down and face the players.
Winners get a double bubble, candy or prize of your choice. Good competitive baseball drill.

2. Suicides run.
Line up across the gym.
Run to center and touch the line.
Run back to the start and touch the line.
Run to the far end and touch the line.
Run back to the start and finish off with a slide into the wall.

It is a great way to finish off the practice.

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• Two lines about 8-10 feet apart.
• First in line face each other.
• They shuffle together down the floor in good fielding position.
• While they shuffle, they roll a baseball back and forth fielding it barehanded.

We look for good form, hands fielding out front, glove hand down, other hand covering over top. Ball comes up to chest before rolling back to partner.

After shuffling down and back (players get to shuffle to the right and left), they hand the ball to the next pair in line.

Outfield drills are harder indoors, but here is one that my kids love and is very simple.

We use softee balls at regulation size and we start at the end of the gym.  We place a garbage can at the other end of the gym.  The goal is to throw the ball with one bounce into the garbage can.

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Try this indoor baseball drill–a  baseball throwing drill:

Use 2 inch painters tape; make two 20×20 squares on gym wall with a 4×4 square in the center.

Divide the team into 2 lines. Starting about 20 feet away throw the baseball. If they get it in the square it is worth 1 point, bulls eye is worth 3 points. Working on a 2 minute time limit, the ball is thrown hard enough to come back as a grounder to the next player inline.  At the end of 2 minutes the team with the lowest score does 10 pushups then move them back another 10 feet and repeat.

This can be modified to an outside baseball drill by hanging catchers’ chest pads off back stop. The ball won’t return so each play needs to have a baseball and someone at the back stop to keep score and throw back the balls.

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