These three drills can be run in a fairly small area with several players and a coach.
Colored Ball Drill
The coach hits or tosses a ball to a fielder in the ready position. The fielder calls the color of the ball as he/she is fielding it. By having the fielder call the color of the ball you insure that he/she is watching the ball into the glove.
Objective: Practice the proper fielding technique of watching the ball into the glove.
Left/Right Drill
An outfielder moves back as the coach calls “Left” or “Right”. Have the outfielder do this several times to work on turning in both directions, then throw a fly ball to the outfielder.
Objective: Practice having your outfielders learn to turn as they go back for a fly ball.
Target Drill
The coach hits or tosses a ball (grounder or fly ball) to an outfielder. The outfielder fields the ball and throws it at a “Target” The target can be a towel on the fence, a pail, a net, etc.
Objective: Practice being able to field a ball and quickly throw it to a specific spot.
Thoughts and tips on running drills.
Drills are especially useful at the beginning of the season when you want to work on fundamentals and conditioning. Scheduling a couple of early season practices and running only drills can be very productive.
Break your team up into small groups (two or three) and set up several stations. Groups rotate through each station. This will increase repetitions for each player and minimize players standing around waiting to do something.
If you are not a good fungo hitter, or if you are using volunteers to help run the drills, a good solution is to throw fly balls or ground balls. You have much more control and can get the speed and placement you want on the throw.
Make your drills challenging and fun, and competitive if appropriate. Get your players to make a 100% commitment to work hard. Watch for fatigue and schedule breaks.
Keep some drills available for days when the infield is too wet to practice so that you will be able to utilize your practice time. I call these “Drills for when you have nothing to do drills”. You can often use the outfield, a basketball or tennis court or even a parking lot for some drills.
