FIELDING TIPS & DRILLS

 

DRILLS

Fielding Beginning of the Season Drill
    Drill to judge which players are outfielders and which are infielders
Fielding Bucket Drill
    Teaches quick release, fielding and throwing accuracy to first base
Fielding Catch...NOT Fetch Drill
    Drill for improving the quality of warm-up throws
Fielding Charging Drill
    Improves the player's ability to charge a softly hit ground ball
Fielding Countdown Drill
    Fun drill to help 1st and 2nd graders develop good hands, quick release, and hustle to a loose ball
Fielding Double Play Drill
    Allows the coach to see fielding and throwing skills
Fielding Fence Drill
    Quickens reaction time to grounders and line drives using lateral movement
Fielding Field Throw and Run Drill
    Helps with getting into a proper fielding position, lateral movement, throwing, and running
Fielding Get it Out! Drill
    Helps ensure proper extension when fielding ground balls
Fielding Hoover Drill
    Gets players to feel like a vacuum and suck up all ground balls.
Fielding Lateral Movement Drill
    Improves the player's ability to react and move laterally in fielding a ground ball
Fielding Lateral Pick-up Drill
    Improves the player's ability to assume a good defensive position in fielding a ground ball
Fielding Over The Shoulder Catch Drill
    Improves the player's ability to catch a fly ball over the shoulder
Fielding Perfection Game Drill
    Makes infield play fun and competitive and puts the players in pressure situations
Fielding Play 500 Drill
    Fun competitive drill for outfielders that combines many fielding skills
Fielding Soft Hands Drill
    Emphasizes the use of the top hand to ensure the ball doesn't become loose
Fielding Soft hands - Quick release Drill

    Helps infielders to develop "soft" hands and release the ball quickly
Fielding The Rebound Drill
    Helps outfielders with fielding a ball that hit the fence then turning and throwing 100-125 feet

GAMES
Fielding Point Game
    Game that teaches the importance of backing up one another when fielding a ground ball

 Fielding The Pit Game  

    Practice fielding ground balls

BEGINNING OF THE SEASON DRILL
use this drill at the beginning of the season. It gives players a lot of reps at fielding ground balls and fly balls. It is a great drill at the beginning of the season as a judge to see which players are outfielders and which are infielders.

The drill requires two fungos, one on the first base side of home and one on the third base side of home about half way between the bases. The drill works best with 10 players. Each fungo has a shagger. Align four players at the infielder positions. The other four players should play outfield, with a LF, LCF, RCF and a RF. The 1B fungo hits ground balls to the third baseman and shortstop who return the ball to his shagger. He then hits fly balls to the LF and LCF who relay to the 3B and SS respectively. The 3B fungo hits ground balls to the 2B and 1B who return to the third base shagger he then hits fly balls to the RCF and RF who relay to the 2B and 1B respectively. After three reps the players rotate.

The 1B becomes shagger for the third base fungo, while the 3B shagger moves to LF. The RF becomes shagger for 1B fungo, while the 1B shagger moves to 3B. All other player rotate to the position on their left.

If you have more than 10 players this is also a great time for you to have your pitchers and catchers working off to the side, out of the way of badly thrown balls.

This can be a little dangerous if not done with caution since two balls are going at once, but it is a great way to evaluate the players and the rotating keeps them from getting bored.

BUCKET DRILL
This drill is designed to teach the kids to get rid of the ball and not hold it. The younger kids sometimes get confused and just hold the ball.

The drill consists of your squad broken into two teams. The first team will line up one behind the other in the shortstop position. The others line up behind first base. A five gallon bucket is placed upside down on first base. A coach will drop a ball in front of the first person in line. The player has 3 seconds (which the coach counts out loudly) to pick up the ball and throw at the bucket. If the bucket is missed the fielders behind first will field the ball and throw it back to the coach. This drill works best with a large number of balls. You go through each team member 4-5 times and keep track of the hits. Switch sides and keep score.

We also have both teams lined up and throwing at the same time and run it on a timed basis. This however involves a large number of coaches. If you have the parental involvement the head to head is also a huge hit with the kids.

The kids thrive on the competition. This teaches quick release, fielding, throwing accuracy and keeping the throw where the first baseman can catch it. This is huge hit with the kids year after year.

CATCH...NOT FETCH DRILL
For kids from 5 years to 10 years old, one of the most frustrating drills for the players and the coach is the warm-up throws.

No matter what you say, the two lines will grow farther and farther apart, the kids will start throwing huge rainbows to each other and they will spend most of the drill running after the balls.

But this is a necessary evil as the kids need their arms and shoulders stretched and warm and they need to develop catching and throwing, or else they will be playing defense all day long.

Here's a drill to get your team to stop playing FETCH and to start playing catch:

First, circle up your players with 15-20 feet between players and coach in the middle. Give one player a ball and have them throw to the next player (clockwise or counterclockwise). Have them throw around easy until you get 2 laps and expect them to drop it a few times.

After 2 laps, tell them you want 2 more laps faster but anyone who drops a good throw or makes a wild throw will owe a lap around the outside of the circle.

You can inject a 2nd ball and a 3rd ball if they get going good. Also, you can develop the relay-pivot maneuver with this same circle drill.

You'll be amazed at how the challenge aspect of this drill perks of their enthusiasm and skills!! It really works.

CHARGING DRILL
The drill can have as many tossers as desired. Drill can have three or more players in the lines, which are about 70 feet in front of the tossers.

The tossers throws a ground ball so that the player has to charge the ball at about midway between the and the player. The player then throw the ball back to the tossers, turns to the right, and jogs back to the end of the line. A variation of this drill would be for infielders to start about 70 feet in front of the tossers, outfielders should start about 90 feet in front of the tossers. The tossers still attempts to throw the ground ball so that the player has to charge the ball at about midway between the tossers and the player. Rotation can also be varied so that the player replaces the tossers who in turns goes to the end of the line.

COUNTDOWN DRILL
This is a fun drill to help the 1st and 2nd graders develop good hands, quick release, and hustle to a loose ball. Have the players line up across from a partner about 20 feet apart. They are to make good throws back and forth as many times an they can while I count down from 30 to zero. The player who does not have the ball at zero wins. (Winning usually puts you in the first group for batting practice.) You should see the kids scramble for a dropped, or passed ball. Baseball is fun. Let's make practice fun too

DOUBLE PLAY DRILL
This fielding drill is called the "Double play drill". You will need a catcher, two players at 1st base, and the remaining players evenly divided at the shortstop and 2nd base positions.

The coach hits a ground ball to the SS position, the 2B player runs to 2B and then pivots and throws to 1B. The two players then go around to the end of the opposite line they came from.

Once everyone has had a chance to field at the SS position the coach then hits the ball to the 2B position, the SS covers 2B, then pivots and throws to 1B.

Once everyone has had a chance to field at 2B the coach then randomly hits the ball to either the SS or 2B position. The two players at 1B rotate positions every three catches. The second player at 1B acts as a backup for overthrows

FENCE DRILL
This drill is designed to quicken reaction time to grounders and line drives using lateral movement. We've been doing the following for several years with our summer 12 year old traveling squad.

At the end of each practice the entire team competes in a contest to see which player can keep the most out of ten balls from hitting a chain link fence at his back. The fungo hitter stands only thirty-five or so feet from the fielder. The fielder has 20 feet of fence to cover. The fence is 6 feet tall. We hit to the left and the right, up and down. The pace between fungos quickens. A clean catch is not necessary to score. The player need only keep the ball from hitting the fence to his rear. By the end of the summer players need from between 8 to 10 out of ten to win.

FIELD THROW AND RUN DRILL
This drill helps with the basic fundamentals such as getting into a proper fielding position, lateral movement, throwing, and lots of running. It also has the advantage of working indoors as well as outdoors.

Have three players line up about 70 feet from the rest of the group (everybody can participate) and give the first player in the line a ball. The rest of the group should line up slightly to the side so the fielder can run left or right. Then the player with the ball throws it on the ground to the first player on the other side, who fields it properly, throws it to the second player in the first line, and runs over to join the first line. The player who threw the grounder should run to the other line after his throw. This then continues until everybody is dead tired.

First throw the grounders to the left, then right, then straight on so the fielder has to run in and make an underhand flip. We usually round off with both sides throwing the ball back and forth instead off rolling it. In short: throw grounder and run; field, throw, and run. Vary the distance as well as putting only two players in the first line, which will force the players to really run unless they want the ball in their neck.

GET IT OUT! DRILL
Too often, young players make the mistake of fielding ground balls with their glove on the ground, directly below their crotch, rather than extended out in front of them. This drill helps ensure proper extension.

Lay a bat on the ground perpendicular to a line of players. The first player in line should be 6-8 feet from the bat in a ready position. Coach is 8-10 from the bat, opposite the players. Coach rolls ball toward the bat. Player must approach the ground ball and assume a good fielding position right at the bat, without his feet touching or going over it. In order to prevent the ball from rolling into the bat the player must have his glove extended, rather than hanging directly down below his crotch. Once player secures the ball he sprints forward and places the ball at the feet of the coach who is already rolling a ball to the next player. Continue until all players have had sufficient reps.

HOOVER DRILL
1. Have infielders start about 30-40 ft from coach or partner. Infielder starts with glove open and finger tips on the ground. Coach or partner rolls the ball to infielder. The glove stays in contact with the ground and open to the ball the entire time the ball is motion except for the last movement. The last movement can be up, but never down. this gets them to feel the old "stay down and work up" concept.

2. Have infielder start at position with coach or partner hitting a fungo to fielder. Need not hit too hard but can make the ball bounce a little (no big hoppers). The concept is the same.

If the player fields the ball correctly tell him so and build his confidence. If not, if hands go up then down, or player flips by showing the back of the glove and then flipping around, or if the glove leaves contact with the ground too early then the player does a sprint to the outfield fence and back or does pushups-Good Pushups.

Great drill to show and feel proper fielding of groundball technique when breaking down

LATERAL MOVEMENT DRILL
The drill has two tossers near the pitching area. Each tossers has two shaggers with one standing on each side of the tossers. The drill can have four or more players in each line. One line of players is at the shortstop's defensive position, while the other line of players is at the second baseman's defensive position.

The tossers throws a ground ball randomly to the right or left of the player making the player move laterally to field the ball. After fielding the ball, the player throws the ball back to the shagger on that side. Then the player turns to the outside and Jogs back to the end of the line.

 LATERAL PICK-UP DRILL
Purpose:
1. To improve the players overall conditioning.
2. To improve the player's ability to move laterally and to assume a good defensive position in fielding a ground ball.

Procedure: The drill has one tossers and one player, who are 6-7 feet apart facing each other. (Pairs) Drill can have as many groups as desired.

The tossers rolls a ball about 5-6 feet out to the side. The player moves on a semicircular path to field the ball. After picking-up the ball, the player throws the ball back to the tossers. The tossers then rolls a ball about 5-6 feet out to the opposite side, and the player fields the ball in a similar manner. The drill sequence is repeated from five to 10 times depending on the player's conditioning level.

The number of repetitions is increased as the players conditioning level improves. It is important for the player to field the ball by moving on a semicircular path in order for the drill to be effective

OVER THE SHOULDER CATCH DRILL
Purpose: To improve the player's ability to catch a fly ball over the shoulder.

Procedure: The drill can have as many tossers as desired. The drill can have 4 or more players in each line. Each player has a ball.

The tossers stands on the left side of the player. The player hands the ball to the tossers, then runs out, and the tossers leads with a fly ball so that the player has to reach to catch the ball over the left shoulder. After catching or retrieving the ball, the player turns to the left, an jogs back to the end of the line.

A variation of this drill would be to work the players in a rotation of tossers, fielder, end of line. Make sure to have all players also work on fielding fly balls over the right shoulder

PERFECTION GAME DRILL
This drill makes infielding fun and competitive and puts the players in pressure situations.

Put your infielders in their positions with 2 players at each spot.

Rule is you must make play correctly and make good throw. If you don't do everything right, everyone on your infield team does push-ups and the next group goes.

Start with infield in and come to plate for force.
Next is infield in with runner on third.
Next is regular depth, nobody on.
Next is runner on first.
Next is runners on first and second.
Finally, move infield deep with nobody on.

You can allow for balls to be blocked as long as when they pick it up, they immediately throw it and don't pump it in their gloves.

If they do make a mistake, you start all over with that team on the step they were on. The team that loses does sit-ups while the others go home

PLAY 500 DRILL
During midseason when all your offense and defense's are installed and your practices are basic maintenance, a good competitive drill for the outfielders is called "500". It combines as many skills as you want as well as being fun for the players. We usually break it down into 2 days so the drill itself doesn't get too repetitive.

On day 1 the four skills are ground balls to the left and right around cones, line drives and fly balls against the fence. On day 2 it is deep fly ball to the left and right, do - or - dies and sliding catches. If the player does the skill correctly and completes the play then they get 25 points. If they don' t do the skill correctly or don't complete the play then they get a -25 points. If a player makes a spectacular play on the sliding catch, for instance, the then coach can give them an extra 5 to 10 points.

You can obviously use any combination of skills that you want for any of the positions. I suggest that you include at least one skill that is fun for the players like the sliding catch drill. We usually let the 1st and 2nd place winners choose their field cleanup chore. When we do this drill the other position players can also be "playing" this drill.

It is a great drill because you can get something productive done and the players aren't bored.

SOFT HANDS DRILL
One of the basic fielding drills that our kids use is called the "Soft Hands" drill.

Take a ping-pong paddle and cut the handle off and stapled a batting glove to the back. The player puts his glove hand in the glove and fields ground balls from a fungo. The drill emphasizes the use of the top hand, to ensure the ball doesn't become loose and so that the throwing hand is there to throw or flip the ball.

SOFT HANDS - QUICK RELEASE DRILL
This drill helps infielders to develop "soft" hands and release the ball quickly and one that helps with lateral movement and fielding.

Have four infielders form a square with about 10 ft. between them. Then, without gloves they flip the ball around counter-clockwise, then shift direction and gradually increase the distance. In the other one divide the infielders into pairs and have them face their partner at a distance of about 10 to 15ft., then, while moving sideways they roll the ball to each other a couple of times before shifting direction. It's important in this drill that the fielders stay low and get rid of the ball quickly

THE REBOUND DRILL
This will help develop the skill of fielding a ball that hit the fence, then turning toward their the gloved hand and throwing 100-125 feet to a relay man with no bounce.

Procedure: Have the players form a single line, the first person becomes the fielder and a coach or the second person in line throws the ball past the fielder up against the fence. The play is made, then the second person in line becomes the fielder and the original fielder goes to the end of the line.

Remember to check if the fielder is turning toward the gloved hand and that the throws are at head height. Make sure their arms are warmed up and in condition and don't let them make to many throws unless there as some rest in between.


 POINT GAME
Split your team up into an A and B team. Have the A team spread out between second and third base and the B team spread out between second base and first base.

Once this is accomplished, have a coach (from home plate) hit ground balls to each teams side. If a ball gets through on either side of the infield and makes it to the outfield grass, then that team receives a point. First team with ten points losses.

Kids love this game and are really aggressive (diving) going after the ball. This game has also taught my kids the importance of backing up one another when fielding a ground ball.

THE PIT GAME
This game is similar to the Point game, but this game is an individual competition.

Have each player take a turn in the Pit. The Pit is a 8-10 feet horizontal span area up against any type of wall surface. Have each player take a turn in the Pit receiving a ground ball. If the any ball gets past the player in the Pit, within the span area, then he or she is out of the game. For the player who field the ground ball cleanly and makes an accurate throw back to the coaches hitting, make the ground balls faster and tougher.

We usually use a soft baseball in case the ball is missed (the ball then goes directly off the wall and back towards the player) and in situations were the players are fielding cleanly and the balls are starting to come faster