One of my goals as a coach is to make sure I use fun baseball practice drills. I always end a practice with a 15 minute fun game for the kids. While it is fun, it is also working on throwing, fielding, and moving in front of the ball. The No Legs drill helps your players who are afraid of 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.