WRSSBA Skills Development - Infield
WRSSBA Skills Development - Infield
There are many factors that influence the type of practice and what skills to work on at each practice which commonly leads to missing some aspects of the game due to lack of time or amount of days between practice. The idea behind this document is to provide a variety of drills and cues for different skills within baseball. In addition to this there is a ‘Practice Checklist” that provides information on organising a practice suitable for the teams skill. Using these pages as a foundation you will have the drills and movement focus points that will greatly benefit the players skill set this season which in turn makes the game more fun and provides an athlete with a foundation for future success. These drills are a handful of hundreds of drills, some more modern than others but just like all drills are not the same, neither are the athletes. Some drills work best for one weakness and other movements are best for a specific strength, this is the responsibility of the coach to work with the player in recognizing what needs to be worked on and tinkered with.
In-Fielding Drills Fielding a ball consistently is a difficult and specific fundamental skill for many reasons. The main reason at the younger ages is the fear the ball will take a bad hop and hit you. This fear is real. Another reason is players must get into an uncomfortable position to field a ball correctly. In the drills provided here, 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.
1. Fielding Position
Purpose: This drill assists players recognize a good fielding position and provides coaches with an opportunity to observe and critique individuals. Strengthens and stretches the muscles in the hips to allow a lower, stronger fielding position. Setup: Line up two groups of players with partners facing each other, roughly 30-40ft apart in the beginning. One group has a baseball in each players glove while the partner is in a ready position to catch the baseball, paying attention to the partner. Procedure: (1) On the coaches whistle or call, the group of players with the ball pretend to field the ball in a good position and throw to partner. (2) The partners catch the ball and immediately go into a throwing position, working on receiving and transferring the ball into a good throwing position. (3) The players with the baseball on your call or whistle get into a proper fielding position. This process continues for 10-20 throws each. 2. Forehand Position 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. Setup: Same as above. Two groups of players, 30-40ft apart facing a partner. One side has baseballs. Procedure: (1) Group with the ball gets into a forehand position on your 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 step toward target. (2) The other partner on catching the ball will catch and transfer into a good throwing position. (3) 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.
3. Roll in Front, Field and Throw
Purpose: The 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. Setup: Same as above. Two groups of even number of players per side, partners facing each other. Procedure: (1) 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. (2) 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 than we can pick up the ball bare-hand if comfortable. (Still bring the glove and head down to keep our body controlled). (3) Partner catches the ball and immediately works on receiving and transferring into a throwing position. (4) Partner with the ball gets into good fielding position and repeats above movements on coaches call. 4. Roll Ball Behind Purpose: The 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 emphasises 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. Setup: Same as above. Procedure: Same as above. One noted difference is to have the players after the pick up the ball to shuffle towards the partner to gather throwing power. The previous drill has forward momentum while picking up the ball.
5. Side Shuffle, Field, Toss
Purpose: Building 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. Setup: 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. Procedure: (1) Fielder starts in a proper position, the roller begins by rolling the ball towards the other cone. (2) The fielder shuffles to the side and centers his body with the ball and fields it. (3) The fielder under hands the ball to the roller and begins to side shuffle back to the original cone. Repeat 8-12x. 6. Four-Corner Team GB’s 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. Setup: Set up stations of four players roughly 40-50ft apart. Forma a square and place one player at each corner with no glove. Start with one baseball and go clockwise. Procedure: (1) On coaches call the player will roll the ball to the next player and so on in a clockwise direction. (2) With no glove the players will need to bend their knees more to field with both hands. (3) 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. (4) 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 45seconds fielded cleanly.
7. Good ‘Ol Batted GB’s 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. Setup: 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. Procedure: (1) Player is to be in proper fielding position and slowly creeping towards the coach as the ball is batted. (2) 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. (3) This player goes to the back of line and the Gb’s are continued for 10mins or so for repetitions. (4) Can challenge the players by hitting left, right, choppers to mix it up and make it game like as possible.
Now the above is mainly there 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. If any questions about these drills, have a drill to share or need a person to bounce an idea off of or talk baseball, feel free to contact our Player Development Director Jordan Broatch. He can be reach via phone at 604-897-6607 or email at [email protected].
There are many factors that influence the type of practice and what skills to work on at each practice which commonly leads to missing some aspects of the game due to lack of time or amount of days between practice. The idea behind this document is to provide a variety of drills and cues for different skills within baseball. In addition to this there is a ‘Practice Checklist” that provides information on organising a practice suitable for the teams skill. Using these pages as a foundation you will have the drills and movement focus points that will greatly benefit the players skill set this season which in turn makes the game more fun and provides an athlete with a foundation for future success. These drills are a handful of hundreds of drills, some more modern than others but just like all drills are not the same, neither are the athletes. Some drills work best for one weakness and other movements are best for a specific strength, this is the responsibility of the coach to work with the player in recognizing what needs to be worked on and tinkered with.
In-Fielding Drills Fielding a ball consistently is a difficult and specific fundamental skill for many reasons. The main reason at the younger ages is the fear the ball will take a bad hop and hit you. This fear is real. Another reason is players must get into an uncomfortable position to field a ball correctly. In the drills provided here, 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.
1. Fielding Position
Purpose: This drill assists players recognize a good fielding position and provides coaches with an opportunity to observe and critique individuals. Strengthens and stretches the muscles in the hips to allow a lower, stronger fielding position. Setup: Line up two groups of players with partners facing each other, roughly 30-40ft apart in the beginning. One group has a baseball in each players glove while the partner is in a ready position to catch the baseball, paying attention to the partner. Procedure: (1) On the coaches whistle or call, the group of players with the ball pretend to field the ball in a good position and throw to partner. (2) The partners catch the ball and immediately go into a throwing position, working on receiving and transferring the ball into a good throwing position. (3) The players with the baseball on your call or whistle get into a proper fielding position. This process continues for 10-20 throws each. 2. Forehand Position 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. Setup: Same as above. Two groups of players, 30-40ft apart facing a partner. One side has baseballs. Procedure: (1) Group with the ball gets into a forehand position on your 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 step toward target. (2) The other partner on catching the ball will catch and transfer into a good throwing position. (3) 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.
3. Roll in Front, Field and Throw
Purpose: The 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. Setup: Same as above. Two groups of even number of players per side, partners facing each other. Procedure: (1) 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. (2) 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 than we can pick up the ball bare-hand if comfortable. (Still bring the glove and head down to keep our body controlled). (3) Partner catches the ball and immediately works on receiving and transferring into a throwing position. (4) Partner with the ball gets into good fielding position and repeats above movements on coaches call. 4. Roll Ball Behind Purpose: The 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 emphasises 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. Setup: Same as above. Procedure: Same as above. One noted difference is to have the players after the pick up the ball to shuffle towards the partner to gather throwing power. The previous drill has forward momentum while picking up the ball.
5. Side Shuffle, Field, Toss
Purpose: Building 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. Setup: 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. Procedure: (1) Fielder starts in a proper position, the roller begins by rolling the ball towards the other cone. (2) The fielder shuffles to the side and centers his body with the ball and fields it. (3) The fielder under hands the ball to the roller and begins to side shuffle back to the original cone. Repeat 8-12x. 6. Four-Corner Team GB’s 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. Setup: Set up stations of four players roughly 40-50ft apart. Forma a square and place one player at each corner with no glove. Start with one baseball and go clockwise. Procedure: (1) On coaches call the player will roll the ball to the next player and so on in a clockwise direction. (2) With no glove the players will need to bend their knees more to field with both hands. (3) 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. (4) 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 45seconds fielded cleanly.
7. Good ‘Ol Batted GB’s 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. Setup: 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. Procedure: (1) Player is to be in proper fielding position and slowly creeping towards the coach as the ball is batted. (2) 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. (3) This player goes to the back of line and the Gb’s are continued for 10mins or so for repetitions. (4) Can challenge the players by hitting left, right, choppers to mix it up and make it game like as possible.
Now the above is mainly there 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. If any questions about these drills, have a drill to share or need a person to bounce an idea off of or talk baseball, feel free to contact our Player Development Director Jordan Broatch. He can be reach via phone at 604-897-6607 or email at [email protected].
