Great Drill For Hitters, Catchers, and Pitchers!

The pitcher is throwing to a catcher as he normally would in pitching practice or bull-pen work. The pitcher is throwing at his normal pitching distance. The coach has one or two batters, with helmets on, stand in the batter's box without bats. Each batter will assume his regular stance and imagine that he is holding a bat. The batters will "track" or watch the first three pitches out of the pitcher's hand until they hit the catcher's mitt, making sure to keep their head and eyes on the ball all of the way. Next the batters will swing away with their "imaginary" bats. The batters will read the location of each pitch the pitcher throws and hit the ball where it is pitched. When two batters are tracking, they will do opposites. One will pull a pitch in a location that his tracking partner will hit to the opposite field. The coach can call out a count such as 2-0, 3-1, 1-2, and 0-2 to allow the batters, pitchers, and catchers certain mind-sets in different situations. Note: If your hitters are too young to perform this drill, have a coach to stand in. The coach may wish to wear a helmet and wear a glove for protection. This is a tough drill, but it is great for developing concentration. Make sure all participates wear helmets and other proper protective equipment.

This drill involves every player on your team working on either offensive or defensive skill development. You put your regular defensive lineup on the field. Your other players are going to fungo balls and run when they hit it. The pitcher will throw a 1/2 speed ball to your catcher. When the ball hits the mitt. The batter will then toss a ball up and hit it anywhere in fair territory. The goal of the defense is to hold the batters to no runs. The goal of the offense is to get basehits by hitting the ball hard enough to get on with a hit or error. Each batter becomes a runner after he hits and the offense is allowed 3 outs before you clear" the bases. The drill is over when the offense scores 5 runs or the defense records 18 outs.

Great warm-up for certain situations

The drill is used to develop great pitcher control by having the pitcher throw strikes at varying distances. The drill has a catcher set at a stationary plate. The plate never moves. The pitcher should begin throwing at a distance 1/2 of his normal pitching distance. You should have 6-8 distance markers with the first being at his starting point and the longest being twice his normal pitching distance. The markers should be at 10 foot intervals and in a straight line with the plate. The object of the drill is to develop control by gradually moving toward and away from the targeted strike zone. The pitcher is required to throw 1-3 strikes from each marker before moving to the next. The catcher serves as the umpire. Variations of this drill may be to have 1-3 pitchers working and competing against each other. The drill teaches them to work fast, concentrate, and execute a perfect pitch. Make sure your pitchers are in condition for this drill. They will find that throwing strikes from longer distance requires great mechanics and builds arm strength. Make sure your players stretch and warm-up first.

The coach or parent uses the Hand Held Trainer to give the batter warm-up or practice swings at 5 different location, 1 - HIP TURNER LOCATION, 2 - INSIDE CONTACT, 3 - MIDDLE-IN, 4 -MIDDLE-OUT, 5 - OUTSIDE-CORNER CONTACT. You can see this drill explained and completely illustrated in the "Products" section of this site. Allowing the batter to take 5 swings at each of these locations will get him ready to hit any possible strike location that he may see in a game. Also this quick drill allows the entire team to warm-up in less then 15 minutes. The Hand Held Trainer is the best one-on-one coaching tool ever! Just 20 minutes on game days can make a kid successful. See the true story " A father helps his son succeed" in the Products section.

Great Multi-purpose Hitting Drill

This drill is a pitching drill in which the young pitcher works at a smooth, rather fast pace, but only throw 50-60%. He should not be allowed to throw full speed. The objective of the drill is to teach concentration and develop great control. The pitcher has to throw 20 strikes before he throws 4 balls. He should be allowed to perform the drill at a shorter distance at first but he should be able to move to his regular pitching distance within a couple of weeks. If he throw 4 balls, he must start over. Be careful to not overwork him. However, keeping the distance short, emphasizing accuracy not speed, and making sure he proper stretches and warms up should prevent any chance of arm injury. With younger players you may want to make the drill a 10-3 drill. He must throw 10 strikes before he throw 3 balls or he must start over.

This drill is actually a method of taking a lot of ground balls with out having your players make any throw. The drill requires 36 baseballs, two buckets and a fungo bat. The coach will be hitting ground balls to at least 3 players. 5 or 6 players can be worked at a time using this drill. The coach will place the two buckets about 45 feet apart. All of the balls are in one of the buckets. This is the bucket that the coach will get his balls from. The players are lined up single file with one behind another, on the end with the empty bucket. The coach hits grounders. The players field each ground ball and get in proper throwing position. They then sprint to the empty bucket, drop the ball in and get in the back of the line. There is no throwing of balls during this drill. When all balls have been hit, fielded and dropped in the bucket, the coach and players swap ends and the drill starts over.

This drill is a great skill builder. There will be at least 5 players on a team. They line up about 30 feet apart and stretch about 120 feet across the field. You will have two teams or "lines" competing against each other. Make sure to have you catcher, first baseman, and third baseman on one end. Have an outfielder on the opposite end. Your middle infielder should be in the middle. The drill will start for both lines at the same time. The first team to take the ball to the other end and get it back is the winner. The ball must be caught and thrown by each player in the line. Teams may not skip a man. The catchers should practice catching and tagging a runner. The middle infielders should be taught to properly "round" the ball, make a proper relay catch and quick throw. We often do this drill and the losing team must do 5 or 10 pushups or squat thrust.

The distances should be matched to the age. You may also have the outfielder let the ball go and hit the fence, before he goes retrieves it and makes his throw to the cutoff man. You may also want to make this a "total team" drill with the whole team having to catch and throw the ball to cover a long distance. If you have the room to do this, it is great to have the team work together to beat the clock. They must beat a set time or they "pay". You may also want to have the "line" make more than one trip down and back. It is great to make each "line" take the ball to the other end three times.

Great Drill For Teaching Ground Ball Fundamentals.

The distance can be changed to accommodate the speed of the groundball work.

Players are divided into groups of four. Four players field while one player bunts. This drill is a great drill for both defensive and offensive work if done properly. The bunter will bunt the ball to each of the four players starting with the fielder on the left and going to the bunter's right. The fielder will catch the bunt, move the feet to the correct throwing position, and then throw the ball to the batter so that it can be bunted to the next fielder. The bunter will bunt 2 rounds or 2 balls to each fielder. The bunter will then hand the bat to the right end fielder who will bunt next. The former bunter will take the left spot in the fielder's line. Bunter's should be coached to use the correct bunting fundamentals; Square, Pivot & Squeeze. The bunter should be cautioned to soft bunt the ball. The fielders should throw the ball at a steady, medium speed that is not too hard. batting helmets should be worn for safety.

Practice Schedule:
Coaches should make out practice schedules prior to practice. That schedule should allow ample time for warm-up and cool down. The schedule must also reflect an awareness of the attention span level of your players. Baseball and softball practice does not have to be boring. It is up to us as coaches to add spice to it. The best way to improve your team, make your practice more productive and improve your coaching abilities is to schedule and organize your practice into time periods of 3 to 10 minutes. An example of one of my varsity practice schedules is below: