43Drills

Here is a great defensive baseball drill or some might call it the bad hop drill which can be used by all level of players.  This is a great defensive drill especially a defensive baseball drill that you can use to help combine multiple drills into one saving time.  And actually watching the video sort of reminds me of the new  Arod’s commercial for his Nike SHOX cleats called “the Chase“.

Here is a great video on youth baseball batting tips.  Here is a quality baseball coach sharing quality baseball youth tips for any baseball player.

One of the most commons pitfalls seen by infielders is the mistake of fielding a ground ball too close to their body - often letting the ball get all the way in between their feet. Thi cuts down on their reaction time, and most bobbles tend to end up behind the fielder, making it difficult to recover and record an out on even a slow baserunner.

To help prevent your players from holding their arms too close to their body when fielding grounders, give them a mouthful of their cap! To perform the drill, the fielder should hold his hat in his mouth by the bill - the back of the hat should be facing away from his body. A coach then hits grounders at him, stressing proper footwork and fundamentals.

Since the hat will block a large portion of the player’s field of vision, he will be forced to place his hands further out in front of him in an effort to see the ball into his hands - and thus, to field the ball properly. Though the drill naturally helps to ensure this (and most players do so without even being told), make sure that your players actually are reaching out, and not trying to simply field the ball blind, else you will do more harm than good!

Younger players should simply field the ball. Older, more skilled players can incorporate the hat in the mouth drill into their normal fielding routines - making throws to first, covering bases, even turning double plays.

Olan Suddeth is a Dixie youth baseball coach from Birmingham, Alabama. His website, youthbaseballinfo.com, provides free reprintable articles, tips, and drills.

The purpose of this drill is to perfect your infielders’ skill against the bunt. To set up the drill, you’ll need your typical infielders, though a pitcher is optional. You can double the effectiveness of the drill by having some of your other players rotate as batters - let them take turns laying down bunts. Alternately, you can simply have your catcher (or a coach) roll soft grounders to simulate bunts, but I prefer using batters.

To perform the drill correctly, you need to emphasize the importance of hard charging by the fielders. Once the fielders see the batter squaring to bunt, the first and third basemen must charge at full speed to field the ball. Simultaneously, the second basemen and shortstop must wheel to cover the corners - the shortstop covers third base, while the second baseman covers first.

Have the fielders throw to the opposite corner - the third baseman throws to first, while the first baseman throws to third. Stress aggresiveness, since a timind corner infielder might as well let the catcher pick up the bunt. Don’t let them be afraid to overrun the ball, to pick up the ball barehanded, and to make throws on the run if need be.

You can of course mix things up by having the first baseman throw to first, and the third baseman throw to third, since both of these situations do show up in games. Once your players become proficient at the drill, you might want to mix in some regular hitting so that the fielders do not cheat.

Work this drill from time to time, and you’ll be amazed at the progress of your infielders.

Olan Suddeth is a Dixie youth baseball coach from Birmingham, Alabama. His website, youthbaseballinfo.com, provides free reprintable articles, tips, and drills.

With so many drills and different ways to practice to improve your game, you could very easily get confused and frustrated trying to compile a perfect practice plan. Some of the main components I have always stressed with all my private basketball clients, whether they are beginners or a NBA Veteran, is to try and train smarter and just harder.

A major component you have to consider when trying to design a Basketball Improvement system is to leverage your time wisely and work on the areas that are most important to you and your game. To use an example, if you are a point guard, your main job is to be able to handle the rock under control and pressure, control the pace of the game, make sure all your teammates are doing their job correctly and be your coaches on the court general.

Why it would be great if you were a great rebounder, it is not something that you should spend alot of time practicing. You should focus the majority of your time practicing and improving the areas that are most required. Try not to get caught up in trying to work on every aspect of basketball, there just is not enough time to work on every thing in one practice.

I have outlined a Practice plan that I use to structure all of my Pro Clients workouts,they are very effective and time efficient. The practice will last approximately 1 hour and will begin with a Sports Warm-Up. Sports Warm Up ( 15 minutes) It is very essential you participate in an active warm up that will prepare you for a vigorous work out ahead. The days of static stretching as a team are long over,due to the fact that you want to prepare your self for moving, running, and explosive burst, you want to prepare your body to handle certain movements and game situations. I normally have all my players run 4 to 5 times around the court at about 50%, and then follow that up with 4 half court layups from both the right and left side.Then, we perform 3 full court layups on each side, right and left. Then we move onto two ball dribbling, full court and back 3 times, two ball alternating dribbling full court and back, 3 times, and then finish with a couple of dynamic warm up stretches that improve the mobility, stability, and flexibility of certain muscle groups.

Basketball conditioning ( 10 minutes)

I have always like jumping right into some conditioning drills as my players perform better when we get conditioning done at the beginning of practice.Many practices, the exercise or drills will change and vary, but the principles remain the same. I usually compile 6 conditioning drills that we will perform only once, but at 100% intensity. I will then give them a 30-45 second break and then move onto the next conditioning drill.We do not perform the drills for certain amount of reps, but rather for a duration of time. Usually lasting 30-45 seconds. Hers is a sample Conditioning workout:

Exercise # 1 suicide ( 30 seconds)

Rest(45seconds)

Exercise # 2 ( machine guns while dribbling a basketball) 30 seconds

Rest (45 seconds)

Exercise # 3 Basketball Pushups with a basketball( 20 seconds on each side)

Rest(45 seconds)

Exercise #4 Full court Defensive slides( 35 seconds)

Rest ( 45 seconds)

Exercise # 5 Net or rim touches ( 30 seconds)

Rest ( 45 Seconds)

Exercise # 6 Push Up Holds ( 45 seconds)

Rest Until 10 minutes is up

As you can see, if you structure your workouts and practices correctly, you can get a very effective practice in a short period of time. The next 10 minutes will solely focus on shooting. I have a simple rule when trying to improve your shooting. Think of the 5 most common shots and area that you are most likely to shoot in a game and work on those 5 shots the most. It is almost a waste of time if you are a center trying to improve your 3 point shooting. Once you have figured out your 5 most common shots, spend 2 minutes each working on them and getting up as many shots as you can in those 2 minutes from those specific spots. You will be surprised when you start working on only a couple of shoots how much more you will improve compared to trying to shoot from every where. After you finish working on your shooting, you will then dedicate the next 10 minutes on ball handling. There are millions of drills that will improve your ball handling skills and you can pick which ever ones you like, but follow these rules when you do so.

1. Try not to ever look down at the ball.

2. Try your hardest not to mess up.

3. Involve as much running and movement as you can.

4.When you have mastered a drill, do not continue to do the same drill,

move on to a more challenging drill.

5. Try to incorporate multitasking drills as much as possible, like 2 ball dribbling,

the more you can do at the same time the better.

Follow those rules and you will see a dramatic improvement in your over all game.

Now that you have gotten past those stations, it is time now to move on to the most important aspect of the practice. The last 15 minutes will solely be committed to working on your niche, the most important component of your game.

What Is Your Niche?

This is by far the most over looked aspect in basketball. A niche is what you do best, it is the one thing that you do great, the thing that separates you form the baller next to you. The One thing you can provide the team, and what the coach can count on you for.Without a Niche, you have no identity on the court. If you look at all the Kings in the NBA, you will easily discover their Niche.

Steve Nash- passing

Ben Wallace- Rebounding

Dwayne Wade- attacking the basket

Mike Miller- Shooting

Kobe - Scoring

And the list goes on….

Spend the last 15 minutes working and mastering your niche. Whatever it is, whether it be shooting, rebounding, ball handling, defense, scoring, driving to the basket, 3 point shooting, ect… Work on mastering and improving it. I guarantee you that if you take this outline and use it to structure your workouts and practices, you will have more improvement in a couple of weeks then you probably have had your whole career. Improving your game is easy when you do it the right way.

Your # 1 Fan

Rali Todd

Pro Basketball Performance Coach

Go Basketball Pro

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This drill works well with younger players, 8 to 12 year-olds especially.

Personnel:

Two coaches, Coach A at the plate and Coach B in the 3^rd base coaches box.

Equipment:

• Hit-a-Way hitting stick
• Two gloves or other suitable objects to place on the baseline.
• A bat for each player.
• A least 3 batting helmets
• Standard bases.

Place a glove or other object such as an orange cone centered between 1^st and 2^nd base and 4 feet back from the line running directly between the two bags.

Place a glove or other object such as an orange cone centered between 2nd and 3rd base and 4 feet back from the line running directly between the two bags.

Line each player up along the fence by the 3^rd base dugout. Each player should have his or her bat. Bats should remain with the head on the ground and the players should act like they are leaning on a cane. (This is to keep them from swinging the bats and possibly hurting someone.)

First player in line goes to the plate and takes a stance.

Coach A takes the hitting stick and stands on the opposite side of the plate as the batter and holds the hitting stick out over the plate.

The batter takes 3 to 5 cuts at the stick; Coach A watches the stance, swing, etc., instructing the batter to improve their technique. On one of the swings, Coach A moves the hitting stick completely around and steps forward, out of the way of a right-handed batter heading to 1^st. This motion signifies a “hit.”

The batter takes the bat and carries it for 2 steps toward 1^st and then drops it in foul territory.

Batter continues around the bases at a full run, working hard to stay inside the gloves or cones between the bases.

Coach B watches the runner round each bag and come into 3^rd either in a slide (if the player has sliding shorts on) or standing up. Coach B then can debrief the runner at 3^rd.

After the batter has taken off for 1^st, Coach A brings the next player to the plate and begins working on that player’s swing.

Repeat this for each player at least once, more if time allows.

Techniques being taught:

• Hitting fundamentals
• Maintaining control of the bat after a hit to avoid “throwing” the bat.
• Running on the inside line around the bases.
• Sliding technique or how to hold up at a base.

The angle of the bat in the stance, as we have said before, isn’t very relevant as long as the bat is in the proper position in the launch position (or after the stride when the foot is planted and the hand are over the back foot). When the hitter has no indication of whether or not the pitcher is throwing consistently high or low, the bat angle when the swing is about to begin should be at a 45 degree angle. This maximizes the opportunity of being able to hit a high strike and a low strike solidly.

When a hitter notices that a pitcher is keeping the ball down consistently, he can look for a low pitch and angle his bat up (point the knob toward his feet and the barrel toward the sky). If the pitcher is throwing high, the bat can be flattened a bit prior to the swing. Changing the angle will keep the bat head in the hitting zone longer when in fact it corresponds to the height of the pitch. Generally, looking for a high or low pitch should take place when there is some consistency on the part of the pitcher and when the hitter has less than two strikes. With two strikes, the hitter needs to be ready for all pitches in or near the strike zone.

Many coaches and parents instruct hitters to point their front toe at the pitcher when striding. Pointing the toe when striding at the pitcher will cause their hips to open before the start of the swing. Opening the hips early (before the swing actually starts) reduces the power of the swing. Premature opening of the hips can also make it difficult to hit an outside pitch. Instead, the toe should be pointing somewhere between closed (in the direction of the plate) and a 45 degree angle (in the direction half-way between the plate and the pitcher). This will allow the hips to explode open when the swing begins. Keeping the front toe closed is one of Charlie Lau’s “Ten Absolutes of Good Hitting.”

Some wrong advice given to young hitters is to hit off your back leg. During the swing, the weight should shift from the backside of the hitter to the front side. Energy is transferred to the hands by the stiffening of the front leg (similar to pole vaulting). The back leg adds nothing at the point of contact with the ball; it simply aided in the weight transfer.

The rear foot is pivoted up on the toe. Many good hitters actually have their rear toe off the ground an inch or so at contact. In addition, the advice of “squishing the bug” with your rear toe seems to emphasize one’s weight staying back during the swing rather than going forward and pivoting hard with the back foot. This isn’t a good image for hitting. The focus instead should be on getting the weight up on a stiff front leg.