Plug in the Socket Drill
Materials needed:
Old bat, short extension cord, electric socket, tape

I taped the electrical socket to a pair of shorts that I could easily slip on at practice.  I purposely taped it to my right hip socket area.  I also had taped the female end of the extension cord to the end of the bat.

I then gathered the boys around and told them that if they wanted “Power” in their bats they must “plug” into the power of their hips.

I pulled the bat I had taped to the extension cord out of the bag and slipped on the shorts.  I then got in the proper stance and had a player hold the cord where my hips would be “if” I properly rotated my hips.  When I did do the proper rotation I had the player plug the “electric bat” into the socket that was taped to my right hip socket.

It was a beautiful thing!!!  We now say “plug in the socket” verses the old and completely wrong squish the bug.

The 4 Corner Box Drill
Set up 4 players roughly 20′ apart from each other in shape of a square (they are the corners).

Going clockwise underhand toss to next player where he traps the ball between throwing hand and back of mitt. This continues for YOUR determined amount of time, then they reverse direction working on the back hand “flip” and still trapping ball in same manner.

Here is where it gets cool (twisted) -
I always put another box in the middle of them (4 more players doing the same drill).

Inner box should in theory make it around before the outer box does with the ball, but you can push them to compete for time and always with no drops !!!

This teaches them multiple skills within same drill – we normally use flat mitts but you can do the drill with regular mitts as I indicated above.

When doing back hand flip they must stay low and not come up. This gives them better focus through concentration and knowing that there is another box that they are competing with are compelled to do it faster than the other box.

You can add a 3rd “outer” box or have the remaining players do any number of drills or sit-ups or push ups etc.

Fun (Warm Weather) Hitting/Catching Drill
Equipment:
Bucket
Water (at least a few 2 liter bottles worth)
Water balls (Qty 10-20 small and baseball sizes) – these are usually found at $1 stores in packs of 3 or 6.
Helmets – players should always wear a helmet when batting.
Bats – I prefer to use a heavier nerf bat for this.

Instructions:
Best to do in the outfield grass.
Fill the Water Bucket (at least 1/3 or more).
Place water balls in bucket of water next to the pitcher.
The coach pitches (about 10 feet distance) 10 – 20 water balls to batter.

The players line up 2-4 players on each side of pitcher and then the rest of team spreads out behind the pitcher and behind the front line of players. The batter hits the water ball (gets splashed) and a fielder has to catch it in the air.

The first one to catch the ball from each batter will be the next batter. The batter should hit a given number (5 -10) before becoming a fielder.

The fielders throw the ball they caught or tried to catch into the bucket so the pitcher can keep throwing pitches. The players just might throw a few at the Coach during this process (whoops).

After everyone has hit, we then play dodge ball with the water balls (keep bucket nearby to keep water balls soaked).

Tip to Coach: The coach usually ends up being the main target. My advice is to empty the water bucket right before the dodge ball game is over. Otherwise it might get dumped on you.

Soft Hands Drill
We like to pair the kids up.
Give them a 5 tennis ball each.

Have the first player on 1 knee start 12 to 15 feet from the wall.
The other player stands behind him closely and bounces the tennis balls off the wall at a rapid pace to get them quick/soft hands.

We keep score with each ball–5 out of 5 is a good score.

As we progress we move closer to the wall, to a minimum of 5 feet.

The winner of each group does not have to do our predetermined workout, push-ups, sit-ups, suicides etc.

This is 1 of a couple of fun competitive games we will play at the end of a practice.

Conditioning Drill Competition
This could easily be a 30 – 50 yard sprint, broken into three pieces to ensure we can create a competitive situation within the drill.  We use elimination rounds.

The players have a good time and get excellent conditioning work in as well.  It really is effective at the younger ages to keep their attention and burn off some energy.  Many times, we will end with an ESPN Top 10 round.  We will put the ball just out of reach and force them to dive for the ball, both grounders and fly balls.

There is always someone to pull off a fantastic catch and everyone starts hollering!

For another competition conditioning drill try this one.
Start a runner at home and a runner at 2nd base.
On the sound of the whistle by the coach each runner take 2 bases.

The objective is to see who can touch the second base first. The winner is rewarded by not running again. The coach sees who has speed and can stress base running skills and all the players want to compete and be the faster.

Triangle Drill
Place 3 cones in the shape of a triangle approximately 12-15ft. apart.

Position one player (or coach) on each leg of the triangle, back about 10 ft. from the triangle line with a ball.

The player that is working the drill begins by one cone and will work in a clockwise direction.

On the first leg of the triangle, the ball will be rolled in order to force the player to backhand the ball close to the second cone.

On the second leg on the triangle, the player will be forced to get position on a ball rolled far to the right with an emphasis on getting centered on the ball in order to make a strong throw.

On the third and final leg, the player will be forced to field a short hop while that is thrown outside to the direction the player is going in.

The fielder then does the same drill in the opposite direction and then rotates to a throwing position.

Variation:
We also make a square with the cones and use this drill with pancake gloves and one coach in the middle (squatting) and make the player make throws to the opposite side of the square.

I am standing at home plate rolling ball to my players at third. They have to charge the ball and field the ball (bare handed I might add) then make an overhand throw rolling the ball to the player at first base.

The player at first fields the ball in the same manner then makes a throw to my catcher at home.

This seems unorthodox to players on my team for the first time, but this teaches them to charge the ball and learn to field with both hands.

The kids I have on a regular basis have no problem with this and have developed great fielding skills with this drill. We go back to the basics at the beginning of each season because of new kids trying baseball for the first time.

Coaching Tip
For the little guys I stretch a rope on the ground using spikes. I throw them grounders working on their foot work. The first step is using their right foot stepping across the line, turning their foot 90 deg to pitching position throwing at the target. Gets them in position the throw the ball.

End of Practice Fun Drill
Line up half the team down the first base line (between home plate and 1st base) and the other half line up between 3rd base and 2nd base.
The team on the first baseline has a ball.
They throw a grounder towards the other team.
If the ball gets past one of the players the person closest to the ball is out.
Then the team between 3rd and 2nd throw a ball towards the team at the first baseline.
If the ball gets past them then the person closest to the ball is out.
If the team stops the ball from going past them then know one is out.

Keep playing until there is one player left and they are the winner.
Variation- if the player does not field the ball cleanly they are out

No Legs Drill
A good fundamental drill that we use for kids that are afraid of the ball is to take their legs away.  We put kids on their knees and hit them baseballs.  They can’t get out of the way,  so they are forced to keep their head down.  We do this for several reps then give them their legs back.  This has worked at every age we have coached.

The Last Man Standing OR The Buckner Drill
The drill works like this:
Place 2 cones 10-12 feet apart.
The players all get in a line.
The first player is up (no gloves) creeps and gets down and the coach who is 40-60 feet away, fires one grounder after another to the player (total of 5).

The player has to field cleanly (he just tosses the ball to the side) nothing gets by, no ball between the legs (hence Buckner).

If he makes five, he goes to end of the line, if he misses he is out.

All of this continues until there is just one man left standing. It’s fun, the players love it AND it definitely helps!

Base Running Drill
Have 3 or 4 of your players line up behind first base as a base runners.
Place 3 or 4 behind second base and another 3 or 4 on third base.
Everyone will participate together.
One coach on the pitcher’s mound throwing to another coach who is acting catcher.

Base runners take a secondary lead once the pitcher/coach throws the ball to catcher/coach.
Pitcher/coach mixes up pitches sometimes throws balls in the dirt and past the catcher.  Base runners must anticipate and run to the next base when ball gets away from the catcher.
Catcher can also make poor throw back to pitcher, so base runners must always pay attention and be prepared to get to the next base.

Pitcher does need to cover home on a wild pitch, so base runners on third base need to react quickly and not hesitate if they decide to steal home on a wild pitch.