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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All players are lined up in dugout in order ready to hit.  The baseball coach is pitching.
Drill is run in rounds.

First Round
Every player at bat until they get a fair hit. (Allows every player to see pitches and get at least one hit and the coaches to see how every player is hitting.

2nd Round
Each player has 3 strikes to get a fair hit. (balls don’t count, but if a player lets a strike go by, it counts) Foul tips keep you alive
Each player who makes a hit goes to the end of the line, any player who does not get a hit grabs their glove and gets on the field.  Any player in the field who catches a fly ball is back in the line up.

3rd Round
Same as round 2, but only 2 strikes to get a fair ball hit.  Foul tips keep you alive

4th Round
Only 1 strike, but ok to foul off a pitch.  If you foul one off your still alive and stay in the box until you either miss a strike, or get a fair hit.

5th round –
1 Strike, no foul tips.  If it is a strike and you swing and miss your out, swing and foul your out, strike and watch it, your out.

Run this baseball drill until there is only one standing.  That player wins and gets some predetermined prize.

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You have regular on field BP. You get one empty bucket, behind an L screen in shallow center field. (Just like major league BP).  You pick one player to start on the bucket. (This is where all the baseballs are thrown when shagged.)

I want all the shaggers to play each batted ball like it’s a game situation.

If they make an error, or don’t hustle to the ball, they replace the guy on the bucket. (They don’t want to be on the bucket, they want to be making the baseball plays.)  If they make a web-gem, then they get to pick who’s on the bucket. Pretty soon you’ll have guys laying out for any ball hit.

When I’m pitching BP, I’m the judge of errors and web-gems. Sometimes I’ll let one of the players be the judge.  Our team has been playing the bucket game for about 2 years now and it’s been working great.

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1. I have 16 players and put 4 at each base.  We start at home and throw to each base and sweep as we go.  We do this twice around.  They are taught to make Crisp strong throws as well as moving to the ball if off the mark to get in front of it to make the sure catch.  Then we do the same thing, and they follow their throws by sprinting to the bag.  So it brings running into the equation as well as throwing and catching.

2. The other baseball drill that works for us is a combo on infield and outfield, where we start off with a player on 2nd and 3rd and the other players lined up on the left field line.  Each player in turn will field the ball 3 times in the outfield and 4 times in the infield.

Works like this:
The baseball coach hits the baseball to left player, throws to third, then sprints toward center and catches a fly ball in center and throws in to second; then he sprints to deep right and throws in to the player playing second as he comes out to cut the ball and throw to third.

When done all rotate, player on third goes to end of line, player from second goes to third and player just finishing catching the ball goes to second.  You can do this baseball drill the opposite way as well and also involve home and first, second and third.

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1      2      3           4          5       6

I separate my baseball players into two teams, with up to 6 players on a team. One team stretches from the 3b side of home plate all the way to the left field foul pole. The other team stretches from the 1b side of home plate all the way to the righ tfield foul pole.
The ball starts in Player 1’s glove. At the whistle, each team starts.
Player 1 throws the ball to player 2. Player 2 receives the ball correctly and throws to Player 3. After Player 1 throws the ball, he quickly moves to Player 2’s position. After receiving and throwing the ball to Player 3, Player 2 moves quickly to Player 3’s position, and so on. When Player 6 receives the ball, he sprints back to the original starting position. Here is the order of players from right to left after one complete cycle: 6,1,2,3,4,5.  After two cycles, it would be 5,6,1,2,3,4, etc.

If the ball is dropped, or it is a bad throw, the ball is retrieved and thrown back to the last player who received the ball correctly, not from where the ball is picked up or dropped.

This is a competition baseball drill and relay is over when Player 1 comes all the way back to his original position (1,2,3,4,5,6). When Player 1 sprints all the way back to home plate, all of his teammates sit down. The first team to finish completely and correctly, is the winner.

The losing team does push-ups, crunches, etc. or the winning team does not have to do the end of baseball practice conditioning, so there are repercussions for losing.

I have done this drill with tennis balls and no gloves, soft hands and baseballs, and any other way I can adjust it to change it up a bit. You can decrease the number of players and keep the length the same and you can do this drill indoors if you are in the gym area. I also do it more than once with the losing team’s captain picking a player (except that team’s captain) from the winning team and the winning team’s captain picking a player (except for the captain and the recently “traded” player) from the losing team.

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Put all players at infield positions, and put a baseball coach to play first base.

Hit ground balls to each spot. The players need to field the ground ball cleanly and make an accurate throw to first. If they make an error they are eliminated from the round and become runners.

Once you have runners, the players need to field the ground ball and throw the player out at first. Last player remaining in the infield wins.

This is a good baseball drill to get the boys to have good fundamentals and speed like a game situation.

We end each practice with this drill. The players look forward to the extra ground balls and competition.

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With a roster of 12 Players it is easy to split the players up into 3 groups of 4 players each.  Put one group on 3rd, one group at 1st and one group at home.  The baseball coach will stand at the plate and hit the ball (grounders) to the player at third who must be ready to field the ball cleanly and make the throw to 1st.  The player at first must stretch correctly for the baseball and then quickly throw home  (on the third base side of the plate and the player at the plate to put the tag down).

Rotate each player and then rotate groups.  Each player when you are done will have had to field grounders, make a throw to first, make a stretch and catch at first, make a throw to the plate correctly and make a catch a the plate and put a tag down.

A fun baseball drill that moves quickly and the kids love.

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The drill requires a pitcher, catcher, shortstop and 3rd baseman.  The remaining players line up on 2nd base and take their turn as a baserunner.  The pitcher pitches the ball and the baserunner takes a big lead.  The catcher then throws the ball back to the pitcher and the baserunner makes a decision to run back to 2nd base or steal 3rd base.  This has taught them how much of a lead they can take without getting thrown out in a game situation.

This baseball drill teaches them to be more aggressive stealing bases in the game and also keeps my pitcher alert to the opposing baserunner’s positioning to steal.

We have had good results in games and my players have become more confident stealing 3rd base.

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