43Drills

baseball

staffordyoung — Thu, 08 May 2008 03:56:01 +0000

Great Defensive Baseball Drill, Bad Hop drill

admin — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 04:19:16 +0000

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“.

The Hat in the Mouth Drill - Force Players to Field the Ball Out in Front

t_catt11 — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:46:54 +0000

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.

Bunt Loops - a Hard Charging Defensive Drill

t_catt11 — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:43:38 +0000

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.

Catcher Drill

y-base — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 04:45:09 +0000

Get a catcher in full gear, coach with a number of baseballs about 5 feet from the catcher. Another catcher in full gear, coach with a number of baseballs about 15 feet from catcher, coach with a bat in the batters box.
Catcher will place both arms behind back and the coach will underhand balls to the catcher aiming for the mask. Then the catcher will catch a thrown pitch from the coach. coach should aim for the catchers mask. The other coach will swing the bat missing the pitched ball. In both parts of this drill the catcher should concentrate on not blinking or flinching.

Dunt Defense

y-base — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 04:42:14 +0000

Have a pitcher stand on each side of the mound and have 2 catchers on each side of home plate. Each pitcher will go through the pitching motion and throw a pitch to the catcher. The coach will roll out a ball down the third base or first base line. If down the third base line the pitcher will field it and make the pivot and throw to third. If down the first base line the pitcher will make the throw to first. Pitchers can practice at fielding bunts and make plays both at 3rd and first.

Pitching - bunt defense, baseball defensive drills

yikes — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 17:53:41 +0000

Purpose:
Give pitchers practice at fielding bunts and making plays both at 3rd and 1st. This is a great bunt defense and baseball defensive drill.
Equipment:
Baseballs

Setup:
You can run this drill with 1 or 2 pitchers at a time. If using 2 pitchers have a pitcher stand on each side of the mound and have 2 catchers on each side of home plate.

Execution:
Each pitcher will go through the pitching motion and throw a pitch to the catcher. The coach will roll out a ball down the third base or first base line. If down the third base line the pitcher will field it and make the pivot and throw to third. If down the first base line the pitcher will make the throw to first.

pitching bunt defensive drill

Have one pitcher throw and then the other to keep the drill running continously.

You can also roll some just in front of the plate to have the catchers work on the same drill.