drills

FIELDING: READY FOR ANYTHING DRILL Have someone to throw the ball and to catch. First you form a line about 30 to 40 feet away from the person that is throwing the ball. Tell the players just to charge the ball. Also tell them that they could expect almost anything. Grounder, Pop Fly, or a line...

Ram Game Cones are set just behind baseline and 15-20 feet apart. Coach tries to hit balls past the two fielder teams. Bobbles are OK as long as ball doesn't pass the cones. When fielders miss ball, the next team is up. Fielders can either be at same depth, or one can move closer to the...

FIELDING: PEPPER GAME The name of this game is Pepper. A coach gathers a small group of players which are only a few feet from her. The coach then hits or bunts the ball to the players in any random order, then the players must use quick reactions to retrieve the ball and accuracy to pitch...

FIELDING: PADDLE DRILL For this drill we made paddles with straps out of ping pong paddles and stapled a strap on to the back of the paddle. Have the players strap on the paddles and hit them tennis balls on the ground. This teaches them to go to the ball with both hands and also to have soft...

FIELDING: OVER-THE-HEAD DRILL Have the players line up and have one of them selected to field a ball hit over her head. Hit or throw the ball over her head and to the right or left. Make sure that she does not run with her glove up, but rather put the glove down and run to catch the ball and...

FIELDING: OUTFIELD FLY DRILL There is a drill I have been using for the past 3 years for outfielders. Place half the team in left field and the rest in center. The coaches hit a flyball in between the first two outfielders. They both go for the ball with one catching it and the other properly...

FIELDING: KNOCK OUT GAME When my team is stuck in the gym for a couple of days it's hard to keep up their interest. I do an X-out drill where the team is divided into two teams and stands on the corner of gym on opposing corners. Each coach stands on the opposite end at the corners and...

There are many instances where the underhand shovel toss is the proper throw for an infielder. The first baseman shovels the ball to the pitcher covering first base. The middle infielders use the underhand toss for plays around second base. As the fielder fields the ball she doesn't stand...

FIELDING: GROUNDERS DRILL I coach fastpitch girls at Northwest High School and Northwest Senior League levels, in Southern Ohio. Our high school and Sr. League team works frantically with this favorite of mine. It allows for each fielder to see nearly 75-100 ground balls within 20 minutes...

FIELDING: GUTS GAME The girls have created their own names for this drill - guts, kill your teammate, the grounder game. Simply divide the girls into two teams. Have the teams form two lines about 40 to 60 feet apart, with players shoulder to shoulder three feet apart. Place something two feet...

FIELDING: GROUNDER FLYBALL GROUNDER GAME My favorite drill is called grounder Flyball grounder. It goes like this: Line all of your players up at third base. Hit a hard grounder to the first person in line. As soon as they throw it in to the coach throw a high fly to first. Make the player...

FIELDING: GLOVES OFF GAME We use this drill to teach agressive baserunning, hitting, and fielding. The drill uses a whiffle ball and a plastic bat. First set the bases at about 40 feet apart. Divide your team in two. One half fields and the other bats. Fielders do not use their gloves. We want...

FIELDING: FUNNEL DRILL This drill was one of the most helpful drills as a player, and now as an assistant coach. Players can do this drill after warming up their arms, with their partner. One player keeps their glove on, the other takes their glove off. The partner with the glove rolls them the...

FIELDING: FOUR CORNERS DRILL I call this drill the Four Corners. Players are located at 3B fielding position, 2B (on bag), 1B (on bag) and at catcher. All other players are lined up at 3B coaching box. Coach hits ground ball to 3B who throws to 2B who throws to 1B who throws to catcher. After...

FIELDING: CONES DRILL Set out some small cones in an arc in the outfield and then hit grounders to the outfielders. They must round the cones before reaching the ball. This teaches them to go to the path of the ball and keep there eye's on the ball.

FIELDING: COLORED NUMBERS DRILL This drill is to help the kids keep an eye on the ball. I write numbers on the balls in different colors 1-5. The girls have to field the ball and call out the color the number is written in. When they get the hang of that have them call out the number written. I...

Cross - Fire Drill Work on three skills and keeps 10 players busy. Hitting, Hands and Eyes Coordination. Fielding Technique, Throwing. Receiving Thrown ball. There is a hitter and catcher, and one or usually more fielders. I use 10 player when I do this drill. Place both hitters and Catchers...

Consistent Fielding work Most coaches have a universal solution to the problem of infielders committing fielding errors. The solution is quantity of repetition. The more an individual practices a physical skill the better chance one has of repeating the skill successfully in a ball game. This...

FIELDING: BOUNCE TOY TIP I came accross a fun little toy ... a spherical bunch of balls randomly put together like a bunch of molecules. It bounces every which way and very good for eye hand coordination and reaction. I get the athletes in a small circle and they call the ball and must catch...

FIELDING: BAT AROUND THE HORN GAME My name is Gary Shepherd. I'm a high school coach at Fox, Oklahoma. I call this drill BAT AROUND THE HORN. It works on every aspect of the game--Hitting, Fielding, Throwing, Base Running and requires two teams of 5 players. (It can be played with 6 players or...