— Baseball is a Game of Movement —

DRILLS

TEAM DEFENSE

Backing up (OF)  

Backing up (OF + Pitcher)

Bunt Defense     

Eat it! Run it In!  

First and Third Defense

Ground Ball Communication

Infield Base Coverage

Mass Ground Balls & Fly Balls             

Rundown (Ambush)                                                     

Wild Pitch/Passed Ball Communication   

Backing up (OF)

Eat It, Run It In

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Backing up (OF & Pitcher)

This drill (and the OF Backing-up drill above) leads to a revelation for the kids. The outfielders and pitchers are sprinting to assist in Team Defensive Play on every ball hit to the infield.

Rarely is a youth level game played without an overthrow; it is not unusual for games played at lower levels to have upwards of 10 missed throws. When our outfielders and pitchers are trained to sprint to get into backing-up position, we change the entire dynamic of the game.

Also, when outfielders are in the habit of sprinting towards every ball hit in front of them in the infield, we eliminate base runners attempting to advance extra bases, which eliminates more throwing attempts and subsequent missed throws and overall chaos.

Bunt Defense

Fly Ball Communication

On a pop fly in the middle of the infield, the Pitcher can call off any other position by calling “I Got it!!”.  The Pitcher is the only position that would use this phrase. We give this authority (and phrase) to the Pitcher for two reasons:

  1. At the youth level, the pitcher is often one of the best athletes on the field.  We assign them absolute authority over all positions.

  2. When the Pitcher is in the area of a pop fly, it potentially creates a situation where three players are converging on the ball.  The phrase ‘I Got It’ gives the Pitcher a different statement than what is used by the other positions.  This insures that clear communication is maintained.

Additional positional combinations for this drill:

  • LF Dominant over SS

  • CF over RF

  • 3b over C

  • SS over 2b

  • 2b over 1b

Mass Ground Balls & Fly Balls

Below is the first in a series of set-ups for Mass Ground Balls & Fly Balls. 

There is no secret, or complexity, to this activity.

Set up two ground ball groups, allowing for balls to be delivered and thrown, where nobody is in the path of throws & potential overthrows.  In most cases we want coaches rolling balls to players from 25’-30’ (Video Example; watch 3:42-4:37), though there are set ups where one, or both, coaches deliver the ball with a bat).

One outfield group working on fly balls tossed by the coach. Tossing is more accurate; it is a common practice at the professional level (Video example; watch 0:00-0:20). We eliminate flubbed hits from using a bat.   No ‘do overs’ minimizes waiting around; gets players more reps.

Our objective is to get kids as many reps (footwork) catching and throwing in a short period of time.

Important Note: Remind players that Fielding the ground ball or fly ball is only 50% of the skill work. We put equal emphasis on the player making a Quality Throw each time (regardless of how well they fielding the ball).

Rundown - ‘Ambush’

Wild Pitch / Passed Ball Communication