Fielding Drills

In these drills players are working on tracking the ball all the way into the glove. This is a crucial habit to get into along with getting low to the ground so the ball can be seen better.

These drills are mainly for your assistance in supporting the development of basic fielding skills for groundballs. Maintaining a a focus on simple body movements and good strong form instead of results-based will create a stronger athlete for the long-term.

Drill 1 – Getting Into A Good Fielding Position

Purpose

This drill assists players recognize a good fielding position and provides coaches with an opportunity to observe and help players. It also strengthens and stretches the muscles in the hips to allow a lower, stronger fielding position.

Instructions

• Line up two groups of players with partners facing each other roughly 30-40 feet apart. One ball per group.
• On the coaches whistle or call, the players with the ball pretend to field the ball in a good position and then throw to partner.
• The partner catches the ball and immediately go into a throwing position, working on receiving and transferring the ball into a good throwing position.
• The players with the baseball on your call or whistle gets into a proper fielding position, pretends to field the ball and then throws the ball to his partner.
• Continues for 10-20 throws each.

 

Drill 2 – Forehand Fielding

Purpose

Players here are working on a ball that is hit to the forehand side, right handed throwers will field on glove side left, left handed throwers will field on glove side right. Once the ball is in the glove the drill allows us to either throw the ball to a partner or continue to work on just the fielding position.

Instructions

• Same as above. Two groups of players, 30-40 ft apart facing a partner. One side has baseballs.
• Players with the ball gets into a forehand position on coach’s call. This position (for a righty thrower) will be left foot stepping to the left and right knee down towards the ground to drop body lower to ground. The glove in front of the left foot, not behind.
• From here the players bring the ball to the center of the body and steps toward target.
• The other partner on catching the ball will catch and transfer into a good throwing position.
• The partner with the ball now will do the same as above, going through the motion of a proper low to ground
  forehand position and throw to partner who than receives and transfer into a throwing
  position before repeating forehand position.
• 10-20 throws each.

 

Drill 3 – Roll in Front, Field and Throw

Purpose

This drill works on the ball that gets past the fielder or a ball not picked up cleanly. Every fielder experiences bad hops , hit off a shoe or the chest and carom nearby. Educating young players on tough bounces and errors do occur but we can still recover to make a play and not giving up on a play is important.

Instructions

• Same as above. Two groups of even number of players per side, partners facing each other.
• Players with the ball start in a proper fielding position. On coaches call and in this position, the players roll the ball out in front.
• Players when approaching the ball go to the side of the ball while fielding it and throwing it to the partner. If the ball is rolling, they scoop the ball up with the glove and throwing hand like picking up a bundle of hay. If the ball is stopped they can pick up the ball bare-handed if comfortable. (Still bring the glove and head
  down to keep our body controlled).
• Throw ball to partner.
• Partner catches the ball and immediately works on receiving and transferring into a throwing position.
• Partner with the ball gets into good fielding position and repeats above movements on coaches call.

 

Drill 4 – Roll Ball Behind

Purpose

This drill is practically the same as the above drill however we work on a ball to the side or slightly behind a fielder. Again the emphasis is to teach players that bad bounces occur and how to respond positively. What we do when tough bounces happen needs to be second-nature as there is very often still a play to be made.

Instructions

Same as above. One noted difference is to have the players after they pick up the ball to shuffle towards the partner to gather throwing power. The previous drill has forward momentum while picking up the ball.

 

Drill 5 – Side Shuffle, Field, Toss

Purpose

Build understanding and strength of a good fielding position as we move side to side. This drill is a continuation of Drill #1 but includes movement. The earlier the age an athlete becomes comfortable with a deep fielding position the quicker he/she develops.

Instructions

• Two cones are placed 6-15’ apart depending on skill level. Either using a coach as the roller or players take turns rolling to each other in sets of 8-12. The roller is roughly 5-10’ away.
• Fielder starts in a proper position, the roller begins by rolling the ball towards the other cone.
• The fielder shuffles to the side and centers his body with the ball and fields it.
• The fielder under hands the ball to the roller and begins to side shuffle back to the original cone.
• Repeat 8-12 times.

 

Drill 6 – Four-Corner Team GBs (ground balls)

Purpose

Drill works on teamwork, communication and has multiple groundball repetitions. It allows the coach an opportunity to observe and work with individual players as the group continues the drill. Also can be split up into groups or competitions and is a fantastic pre-game warm up drill for footwork.

Instructions

• Set up stations of four players roughly 40-50 feet apart. Form a square and place one player at each corner with no glove. Start with one baseball and go clockwise.
• On coaches call the player will roll the ball to the next player and so on in a clockwise direction.
• With no glove the players will need to bend their knees more to field with both hands.
• As they improve we can either add a second ball at the opposite direction or switch the rolling direction which than makes us move our feet more.
• Challenge the players by thinking a 3rd ball is possible to do well, or have two groups challenge each other for amount in 30 or 45 seconds fielded cleanly.

 

Drill 7 – Good ‘Ol Batted GBs

Purpose

Players are to react to groundballs off the coaches bat as if live game play. Players are expected to get into a ready position prior to the ball being contacted, reacting to the ball in which direction and field the ball and get into a good throwing position.

Instructions

• Players are in a single-file line, or two groups of single-file lines if coaches are available. After a ball is fielded and thrown in, the players goes to back of line.
• Player is to be in proper fielding position and slowly creeping towards the coach as the ball is batted.
• Player reacts to ball and fields it, shuffles his feet into a good throwing position and completes throw to the coach/player catching for the hitter.
• Player goes to the back of line and the GBs are continued for 10 minutes or so for repetitions.
• Can challenge the players by hitting left, right, choppers to mix it up and make it as game like as possible.

 

Drill 8 - Short Hop Drill

Video (5 min) 

Purpose

Improves a fielder’s mechanics and confidence when fielding short hops.

Coaching Points

• Player is in correct fielding position.
• The ball is fielded with fingers down.
• The fingers are relaxed. “Tight muscles are slow muscles.”
• Don’t get wristy. In other words, don’t flip fingers up when fielding ball. Keep fingers down as much as possible to catch ball where the fingers meet the palm. That area is equivalent to the pocket of the glove.
• Don’t field the ball too early (i.e., too far out in front) as the player will get locked (i.e., arm is straight rather than slightly bent) and have hard hands that will not be able to absorb the ball.

Second Position

Backhand. Player turned 90 degrees to pick up ball on backhand.

Coaching Points

• Player’s back is flat and parallel to the ground.
• Player’s nose is pointing down.
• Don’t field the ball too early (i.e., too far out in front) as the player will get locked (i.e., arm is straight rather than slightly bent) and have hard hands that will not be able to absorb the ball.

Final Position

Fielding to glove side facing feeder.

 

Drill 9 - Short Hop to Power Position Drill

Video (2 min)

Purpose

Improves a fielder’s ability to efficiently transition his body from fielding a short hop into a good power position.

Coaching Points

• Player is in correct fielding position.
• The ball is fielded with fingers down.
• The fingers are relaxed. “Tight muscles are slow muscles.”
• Don’t get wristy. In other words, don’t flip glove up when fielding ball. Keep fingers of glove down as much as possible to catch ball in the pocket of the glove.
• Don’t field the ball too early (i.e., too far out in front) as the player will get locked (i.e., arm is straight rather than slightly bent) and have hard hands that will not be able to absorb the ball.
• Knees are bent at all times. Don’t want to stand up straight as that will waste valuable time.
• Fast movements into power position. Watch for little hop to get feet and body turned quickly.

 

Ozzie Drill

Video (3 min)

Purpose

Improves a fielder’s ability to trust his instincts when fielding a difficult short hop.

Coaching Points

• From his knees a player must stay tall.
• Player should draw an arc in the dirt in front of him (fielding zone) and try to stop the ball as it enters the arc. Ball may bounce outside the arc.
• Player needs to trust his instincts and not second guess himself or hesitate.
• Soft hands and flexed glove arm to absorb ball.
• Player needs to make quick transition throw back to partner.

 

Other Drills

Cap in Mouth

Each infielder removes his hat, puts the bill of the cap in his mouth, and holds it in place upside down with his teeth. This small trick reinforces a good fundamental fielding position. Players can execute all fielding drills in this manner to force them to catch the ground ball out in front of their body where they can see it. If they let the ball get too far underneath their torso, they will lose sight of the ball, making a clean catch difficult.

 

Perfect Fielding Position Throws

While they are warming up, each infielder can spend time getting into a perfect fielding position with the ball in his glove prior to making a throw. Each fielder then moves his body into a power position and finishes with a quick throw to emphasize good fielding and throwing mechanics.

 

Wall Ball

With or without a glove, players throw a tennis ball against a wall and move their bodies to field the ball in a perfect fielding position. Then they should quickly transfer to a good throwing position in the direction of their imaginary first baseman. Fielders can simulate routine ground balls, and, with some creativity, can work on double play fees and pivots. This drill can also be executed with a partner who makes a throw to the wall from behind the fielder, who must successfully react to the speed, angle, and bounce of the ball to make the pre-detemined play.

 

Live Repetitions

First, the coaches roll ground balls to fielders, then they hit them to the players, and eventually they progress to game-like repetitions, where players field and throw to a base or turn double plays at game speed. Note. An infielder will benefit more from fewer repetitions performed correctly at full speed than, say, fielding one hundred ground balls with lazy mechanics at three-quarter speed.

 

Cone Drills

Use cones in creative ways to force players to execute fielding skills correctly. For example, players can go around a cone to get the feel for rounding off a routine ground ball hit right at them. This can help them visually perceive your teaching cues as well as to assist their actual performance in practice or executing specific drills.

 

Stopwatch Grounders

Players field ground ball against the time of a stopwatch to ensure they are fielding at game speed. The watch starts when the ball is hit and stops when the ball is caught at first base. On fields with 90-foot bases, all plays should be executed in four seconds or less.

 

Get Wide to Field Low

Ask fielders who are having trouble getting into a proper fielding position to create an exaggerated, wide fielding stance with their feet. This will help them get their body extra low and assist them with extending their hands to catch the ball in front of them. A coach should hit firm fungos or throw the ball firmly directly at the fielder from thirty or forty feet away. Once players learn to routinely field the ball cleanly from this stance, they should advance to a standard fielding position to make the catch, and quickly transition to a power position to prepare to make their throw.

 

Bare-Handed Grounders

Have advanced infielders take some practice time fielding routinely hit ground balls with their bare hands. The ground balls should be hit softly with a fungo bat or rolled by a coach. This helps create soft hands and forces better footwork to get players into a good fielding position. Be sure not to hit the ball too hard because you could possibly injure the fielder’s hands or cause players to fear the ball, which can result in bad habits. If a fielder does not catch the ball cleanly to complete the drill, he should always retrieve the ball with his throwing hand off the ground to reinforce the process of when a ball is bobbled or dropped in a game. A variation of this drill can be done with fielding paddles, which are tools used by some coaches to reinforce soft hands when catching the ball.

 

Quick Feet Quick Release

Players stand approximately twenty feet apart and see how many throws and exchanges they can make back and forth in twenty seconds. They should attempt to quickly move their feet and throw the ball at the height at which they receive it.

 

Jumping Rope

Jumping rope is a great exercise to improve footwork. Players need quick feet to be consistent fielders. They should use a variety of footwork combinations to help master body timing and control.

 

Juggling

Infielders should learn to juggle a minimum of three baseballs with both hands and two baseballs at one time with one hand. This promotes coordination, peripheral vision, and the ability to trust their instincts. When a player become proficient with baseballs, he should vary the size and shapes of the objects he is juggling to add increasing difficulty.

 

Transition Practice

Simply throw the ball into the air, spinning it in various directions, before making the catch. Once the ball enters the glove, it should be removed immediately without looking at it. Players must quickly feel for a four-seam grip. The process of instinctively finding the four-seam grip is critical for all infielders who want their throws to travel straight in flight to the intended destination.