From Christopher…
My idea is a slight wrinkle to the high/low soft toss baseball drill.  You still toss two balls to the batter but instead of telling them to hit either the high or low ball I have taken a black magic marker and colored half of one ball and now instead of saying high or low the choice is black or white.

The result is that instead of swinging high or low, the ball to be hit could be anywhere in the hitting zone and the batter has to find it and get the bat to it. (my team struggled at first but after a few tosses I saw immediate improvement. Makes for a quick confidence builder! I coach high school baseball at the varsity level.

From Barry…
My batting tip:
To help a young hitter sharpen his or her focus on the “ball” while hitting, I have them hold batting practice with plastic golf balls (the foam ones are even better) and have them use wooden dowels as the bat. Basically that means they have to hit a miniature ball with a miniature bat. After they get used to that, they pick a regular size baseball bat and hit a regular size ball and it seems like hitting a beach ball.

This is very helpful for struggling hitters

Technorati Tags: coaching high school baseball, baseball hitting drill, baseball drill, baseball

From Rex…
Coaching Idea to foster a strong team concept:
Give each member of the team an unsharpened pencil.  Have them break the pencil in two pieces.

Have the same number of unsharpened pencils as there are members of your team bundled together by rubber bands prepared in advance.  Have the bundle passed around to each member of the team and have them try and break the bundle into two pieces.  They will be unable to break the bundle.

Ask them what the lesson is.  Share with them how as individual players they are vulnerable (like an individual pencil that can be broken), but that when they are together (like the bundle), they cannot be broken.

At the beginning and end of each practice and game, everyone touches the bundle of pencils in the middle of our huddle as we do our team cheer as a reminder that we are a team and that together we are stronger than we are individually.  We yell “sisters” but you can yell “team” or whatever your team cheer is.

Technorati Tags: baseball drills, first baseball practice, teamwork, baseball

From Greg…

I would like to add a baseball drill I made up this year. To keep it short I call it the  (SCHOOL NAME) Drill.  Just a little bit of everything rolled into one; at the end of every practice we run the “Hawks drill”.

I place 3 balls along first base-approx 6 ft apart.  A coach on 1st, players start at home plate 1 at a time, sprint to first ball and throw to 1st, then back to touch plate, run 2 second ball throw to first, back to plate and third ball the same.  After throwing third ball they sprint back to plate, touch plate then sprint around 1st & 2nd (like hitting a double) still have their gloves.

After rounding 2nd they take a ground ball from coach hitting from plate then they throw to 1st, sprint to 3rd take another ground ball to first, then they put their glove down and start on third with a lead off or two.  Then they steal home and slide. After they hit home they sprint to third and before they can get their gloves back they do 15 push ups and a complete lap around the field.

Any missed throws, missed touching bases etc. they go to the end of the line and redo it until they get it right.

This may help some, may not, but I coach high school and they make a fun game out of this.

Technorati Tags: workout tips for baseball, drill, conditioning, warm up, baseball, coach, sprint, throwing

From John…
I line my outfielders up about 20 to 30 feet away directly in front of me. I have the first person in the line step up and turn his back to me. I then throw the ball high either to his right or left approximately 10 to 15 feet away from him and give a signal at the same time for him to turn. He then spots the ball and runs in a curve pattern to catch it.

This helps him spot the ball (as all outfielders lose the ball for a second or two on sunny days). It helps him learn to circle around behind the ball which I always tell my outfielders to make sure they are behind it. It is much easier to come in on the ball then chase it behind you. It also gives them the confidence to go after the ball that is not hit directly to them.

At the end of the drill, they have to immediately position themselves to get rid of the ball and make an accurate throw to a player that I set up near me.

Many times, we’ll even make a game out of it where I take a few kids and another coach takes a few kids and we play until 20 or 30 clean catches and throws are made. Loser runs a lap (which on our team means they all run a lap.) We have a rule that this is a team sport and we do everything as a team which includes running laps.

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From Dave…
This works with the JV team, 16u & 14u teams. I call it “best outfielder”.

I set up a sock net or hitting net just to the third base side of home plate. The coach stands near home plate and hits flies or grounders to right field. Every player takes their turn one at a time. The idea is that the players must cleanly field the ball and throw it into the net (crow hop), one or two bounces depending on how deep the player is. Any miscue the player must sit down. When you get to the last player standing, they also must complete a clean play or it starts all over again. The winner gets bragging rights, ice cream certificate, etc.

The banter and competition can get wild and fun, especially if a infielder wins. You can also do this with a twist, “best infielder”. The players set up at the short stop position and then must cleanly field and throw the ball to the first basemen. The coach is the judge of what a clean play is, you can emphasize that certain mechanics must be done correctly.

This is a favorite; it’s fun and breaks up the routine.

Technorati Tags: baseball activities and drills, baseball, drill, outfielder, coach, field, throw, infielder

From Duane…
Double steal drill.

Set up the players in two groups.

One at first and one at second. Each bag will have two throw down bags along with the real bag. The players on second will either stay or go on the “pitcher’s” move to home.

The runners from first have to read what the runner in front of them has done and either follow up the back end of the double steal or advance to secondary lead and hold. The key is to concentrate on the runner at the same line as you are.

The real bag reads the real bag. The middle throw down reads the middle throwdown at second, etc.

This focuses a key baserunning drill.

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From Coach Gibson…
Indoor Drill: We use for our infielders–QUICK REACTION TIME

Have player stand about 8 to 10 feet from cement wall or anything that will bounce a ball back.  Incrediballs work best.  Stand behind player and throw ball over player’s shoulder at the wall.  The ball bounces back.  Player reacts to the ball.  The closer the players get to the wall the quicker the reaction time needs to be.

From Keith…
Just for fun. This one I do after a really good practice just to end the day.
Put all players in outfield left, center, then right. Hit pop flies to them and see if they can throw them back into my ball which is on its side at home plate.

Technorati Tags: fun baseball drill, baseball, drill, Indoor, infielders, practice, throw

From Craig…
I coach a 14U travel team and a junior high fastpitch team in N.Florida. “Small ball” through bunting and slaps have been an effective way of getting runners into scoring position.

Bunt Bowling

1. Set up a dozen small orange cones between the 1st base and 3rd base lines in front of home plate, placing more closer to the chalk lines.

2. A coach standing 20 feet from home plate soft tosses to a batter.  For every cone the ball hits, they receive a point.  Have the next player to bat take away the cone that was hit to make the drill more challenging and to force the batter to work both base lines.  Pitch about 12-15 balls for each player.

3. If the bunted ball rolls past the coach, a point can be taken away or they receive one less pitch.  This helps the batter to understand to “catch” the ball with the bat and not to push the bat towards the pitch.

4. Progressions include a pitching machine and then live pitching.

Technorati Tags: free baseball hitting drills, baseball, drill, fastpitch, coach, batter, pitch, pitching machine

From Kirk…
This baseball drill works great for all ages.

Tennis Ball Drill.
Take a tennis racket and tennis balls. Coach hits balls into air. Fielder must track ball and catch with two hands.

This drill makes fielder squeeze glove and use two hands. Ball will pop out of glove if two hands are not used. Also if ball is missed it will not hurt fielder.

From Aaron…

Drill that I use when we are in the gym.

Four corner drill, where we move the ball around each direction, and ground balls, trying to hit the chest with each throw. Drill that everyone uses to develop good footwork and accuracy, but I put consequences for each bad throw or missed ball. It puts pressure on them to perform with confidence and not panic.

I time them and challenge them to beat the time through the whole group start to finish and for each mistake we do sit-ups or push-ups. Great conditioning and strength drill.

Technorati Tags: free baseball drills, baseball, drill, Coach, fielder, Four corner drill, conditioning

From James…
We learned a baseball drill last year that combines ball handling with conditioning.  Start with an equal number of players at each base including home.

A player standing at home throws to first and then sprints to first.  After catching the ball the player on first turns and throws to second, then sprints to second.

This continues around the bases until all the players have thrown and sprinted.  You may want to start with a shorter distance for younger players.  You can also reverse the direction for something different.

Coaches can time it or record the number of drops/bad throws to track improvement.  Having all of the players throw and sprint 2 and 3 times improves the conditioning aspect.

Technorati Tags: baseball conditioning drills, baseball, drill, ball handling, conditioning, sprints, catching