Softball Drills and Practice Plans - The Hitting Vault This is an easy drill that all hitters can utilize during their careers. Have 1 player stand approximately 20 feet away from the coach. This site also participates in other affiliate programs and is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. BenFred: Cardinals are cranking volume up on star prospect Jordan This drill is designed to improve an outfielders ability to catch balls that are hit directly over their head. When performed correctly, this drill will help hitters prevent themselves from wrapping the bat around their head, and instead teach the correct movement of the shoulders. /FormType 1 Ball! loudly and quickly. Once you do that, youll lose the ball entirely. ET This drill teaches catchers how to let the ball travel and be able to stick it where its thrown. Sometimes, you dont always have a baseball field at your disposal to do outfield drills on. By doing this, you diminish the amount of extra steps you will have to take to perform a quick catch and throw to the infield. /F2.0 3 0 R Barlow brought a new two-seam fastball to spring, and the feedback he's gotten from hitters so far is clear: Throw it more. Letting the ball travel means allowing the ball to come to you behind the plate; as a catcher, you want to receive the ball without reaching forward for it. Grab a cone and five baseballs. This drill is great for field awareness. In a larger area, such as a basketball gymnasium, have a player line up in the corner of one side of the room. This drill requires some space so we suggest taking this to the backyard or a nearby field if one is available. I recently purchased a Lizard Skin bat grip so I could How to Throw the Perfect Soft Toss Every Time. This one allows you to work on correctly positioning and readying your body to make a perfect throw from the outfield to the infield after making a catch. Put one or two players in the center of the circle (island) - identify who the center fielder is if two players are in circle c. Coach has a buck of balls and a player to feed the balls to the coach. The player will start at about 15 feet apart from the coachs left. Shallow Fly Balls. << BT This is a good drill that should be done at the beginning of front toss since it helps with tracking and promotes proper torso movement. 1 play with the infield in to cut a runner down at home. The goal of this drill: even though it is unlikely for outfielders to rob a home run, this drill still helps outfielders practice finding the fence. The coach will then throw the ball over the outfielders head so that the baseball rolls to the wall. On the coachs signal, the outfielder will run forwards a few steps before turning to the right and cutting across the field, perpendicular to the coach. However, like most outfield drills, the more room you have the better, but this can still be performed indoors. To perform the sinking line drive drill, a coach stands at home plate while outfielders stand in the outfield. The coach calls out a base and the player responds as if a ball was hit towards the base. ET. Another competition is the age-old hit the screen game. As soon as the team is perfect at the basics of fielding, they can then proceed to do tougher drills that focus on cutoff throws and performing double plays. In this article, youll find a baseball practice plan template that highlights the best drills for keeping your team energized and engaged throughout the training session. The hitter will then load into their back hip and stride. By simply laying on your back and catching the tennis ball into your mitt, youre subtely teaching yourself to see the ball into the mitt on every single catch. Another effective drill is the Separation Drill. To practice the shading the sun drill, a coach will put outfielders in a place where they will have the sun in their eyes when a fly ball is hit. Catching the ball on the fly while moving. We sell Wilson, Louisville Slugger, DeMarini, Easton, Rawlings, New Balance and more. Have yourself (the coach) and the player stand at one of the corners of the triangle. There is a 30-second timer between batters and a time limit between pitches. Have the hitter start in their stance with a bucket of baseballs up against their back foot. 2. Repeat until your arm falls off! From Softball Bats and Fast pitch gloves to Softball Uniforms and Cleats, you will find a selection from the finest suppliers. Likewise, to make the exercise easier, all a coach has to do is shorten the running distance for players. Blog Archives - GALENA HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled. This drill is as old as time. Heres what the right way looks like in the rocking portion of the drill: Coach Petersons shoulders are working together and the knob of the bat is moving from catcher to pitcher. The first movement will be to get the upper part of the body into a loaded position while keeping the lower half facing the pitcher. Your coaching goal should be to empower your players to develop into the best possible athlete that their drive will allow. One of the throws that all outfielders need to master is the crow hop. << Once the player reacts to this direction, the coach will then throw the ball as a pop up in the opposite direction the player started running initially. /BBox [0 0 792 612] Find weaknesses in outfield fundamentals. q The coach will stand approximately 15 feet away from the player and will proceed to toss the ball at, or near, the wall. In the left picture (below), Coach Peterson is in a good launch position. For the six balls, the catcher should slide to their left twice, slide to their right twice, and drop straight down twice. Baseball Training World was created as an online solution to peoples baseball needs. During this round, the second basemen are working on finishing double plays and turning around throws from third. Aaron Judge (left) has eight inches of height on Michael Chavis (right), but both show tremendous ability to rotate and drive the baseball with power. Teach your athlete to keep their drop-step position with their opposite hand out behind them to feel for the wall. In order to catch the fly ball, the two outfielders will need to communicate with each other. Outfield drills should be focused on those game-type situations so players can become more comfortable knowing what to do given the game situation. [Gonzalez's] tonsils caused problems from Spring Training throughout the early part of the '22 season before they were surgically removed. There are four stations you should have in the hitting part of your practice to teach different movements, build good habits and develop muscle memory. This drill will help you practice and prepare for these unfortunate occasions. Ground ball to third base, turning a 5-4-3 double play. Now sprint to the cone on your left, making sure you are properly turning your body so that you are leading with the foot closest to the direction you are trying to go. You can have your hitters take two rounds of five or one round of 8-12 swings. A coach or a player will hit ground balls to each player. So, rock back and forth three to four times to really feel the movement of the shoulders, then bring the bat up, load, stride and swing. The goal of this drill: this is a situational drill where there is a runner who is trying to score off of a base hit. 3 0 obj A strong outfield can be a pitchers best friends. endstream If you dont have one, a wall would suffice for this, but if youre going to do it against a wall, make sure you use a tennis ball or set up a piece of wood against the wall so you can throw the ball at it without damaging your drywall. It is the players job to make the catch without bumping into the wall. Its important to keep this drill at a high tempo. Great drill for athletes who float to fly balls. Pitchers need to be able to field their position. Outfielders need to have the ability to anticipate where the ball may land to be in prime position to make the catch. 5 Outfield Drills to Work on in Season | CoachTube Blog /Type /XObject Now set yourself up about 100 feet away from the bucket. As players move up in skill level and the pitching gets better, this skill becomes more and more important. During this round, players should get down three bunts, execute two hit and runs, one get him over, and drive the runner in twice. It opened in time for the 2009 season and has a seating capacity of 222, plus a terraced area beyond the outfield walls. An outfielder sets up about 15-20 feet away from a wall. Among the numerous skills and drills covered are: Outfield Everyday Drills, Ground Ball Drills, Hitting to Fielders and Making Throws, Inf. 3 Baseball Drills to Become Better at Outfielding | IMG Academy When the ball bounces off of the wall, the second player in line will charge that ball and throw the ball against the wall again. NY Mets spring training: How players look after three spring games Its a skill that will translate into charging ground balls and fielding line driveson the short hop. After a few repetitions on the right side, the outfielder will go to the left side and repeat. Make sure the player is turning their body the correct way to catch the pop fly. Mark out four bases and give each base a number. He sets up at one of the cones. Kiki Baldassari on Instagram: "Fun outfield drill for ALL AGES! Great When are NFL combine on-field workouts, including 40-yard dash? In addition to remaining aware of the wall, outfielders need to be effective communicators. The best players in baseball and softball have the ability to finish their swing and rotate around their torso like this. Well also cover how to perform each drill and how they will improve an outfielders skills. This can be a nasty habit that can be hard to break. Catching the baseball under limited space creates fielding efficiency. Hit ground balls, alternating between the first baseman and the pitcher (with some in between). As we mentioned earlier in this practice plan, understanding and implementing the correct sequence of movements is essential for producing power at the plate. If you trust yourself you can use an official baseball, but we recommend a softstitch ball. For a lot of outfielders, throwing out a runner at home will be the most memorable moment from a game. Outfielder's Drop Step Drill with Molly Bolibaugh - DMACC A player has to be quick enough to move around effectively to get any fly balls that are hit above their head. To practice the fly ball over the head drill, a coach will line up outfield players somewhere in the outfield where the players can easily run backward. Have player 1 throw to player 2 a med high fly ball. As an outfielder making long throws, using a long hop opposed to a rainbow throw will be more accurate and quicker. /Columns 125 Also, note that elite players need to be able to sprint to a spot on the field without looking at the ball, then picking it up in mid-air on the run. Nowadays, people are discovering forms of exercise that they enjoy and that work for them and stick to them. Aside from bat control, this drill also helps with learning the right sequence, since were forcing the hitter to have their hips starting ahead of their hands. This can be done on either side of the field. Have your players jog, stretch, run through plyometrics or whatever warmup routine you have in place. Atlanta Braves catcher Tyler Flowers is one of the best defensive catchers in the MLB, and this video helps dive into more of the philosophy of a strong receiving catcher. You can make this drill more game-like by getting a ball involved. When designing outfield drills, keep in mind that its crucial to have players practice ball tracking while sprinting, because they need to develop the athleticism and judgment to successfully chase down fly balls hit into the gap and over their heads. One player will practice this at a time. (Home plate - which stays the same size . Theyll need to focus on turning correctly to get a good angle on the ball while still turning their head so they can see the fly ball. Balls are so light that they have to catch them with two hands over the head. Once the outfielders have gone through the triangle drill for 10-15 minutes, hit them a mix of fly balls and ground balls, and have them work on coming through the ball as much as they can. >> Brandon Belanger, University of Louisiana Monroe: According to Coach B, this drill is his outfielders go-to drill and it is part of the Warhawks daily Outfield routine.