5 Everyday Drills to Become a Better Fielder

        Fielding, like everything else in baseball, requires work to achieve the consistency desired. There is a lot of focus on hitting in today’s youth game because of the old adage “If you hit, you’ll play”. Don’t get me wrong this is a game where offense is hard to come by most days; and coaches want someone in the lineup that will produce. On that same note, if you’re going to cost the team runs you become counterproductive and the coach must weigh the good and the bad. Those who saw game 7 of this year’s World Series remember the play that Joe Panik made in the 3^rd inning that changed the course of the game, an amazing diving backhand, glove flip double play. Joe Panik became a hero saving the Giants chances at another title; Joe Panik was 0 for 4 that game with the hat trick. The point is that hitting will slump no matter how much you work, but fielding can be consistent with enough work. All that being said, here are the 5 drills that infielders should do every day.

Photo Credit: www.flickr.com

               1.  Pick Drills: These are probably the most common drills and for good reason, they truly work. As a coach, these are drills I have my infielders do every day right after they throw. There are a few variations of it that I like to progress through. The best way to start these drills is by partnering the players up and getting them about 7-10 feet apart and have them get on their knees. While the players are on their knees have them shovel pass short hops to one another. The purpose of the shovel pass rather than just throwing over top is to give the players a more realistic look. A ball thrown down from the player’s arm slot will have more of a bounce than a skipping action. Hard hit ground balls skip across the ground, most balls that will bounce will be caught off the ground on a big hop. Players should position themselves in an athletic position on their knees, meaning they are not straight up and not sitting on their heels. The player should then have a good glove angle and work on moving through the ball when possible, stopping the glove in front (avoiding the scooping motion) and should then funnel the ball to the center of their body. I usually have the players do about 10 picks right in front of them, 10 to their forehand side, and 10 to their backhand side all on their knees. Once they’ve completed those they will stand up and do the same thing on their feet keeping their butt down and legs engaged. The key here is to keep the hands in front and then funneling after the catch. Players should adjust their feet for the forehand and back hand to about a 45 degree angle. The player’s legs should be burning by the end if they are doing the drill correctly, because essentially they are in the squat position the entire time. These drills should be done with some pace; ideally the players get into a rhythm and eventually will be able to knock them out every day in about 5 minutes.

                2.  Step up: The step up drill is great for forcing the players to get low and forces the player to increase their focus. This is a simple drill, but requires a coach who knows what they’re doing with a fungo. Start with all the infielders equal distance from the fungo hitter, about the distance from the plate to the mound. Once the players are set, go from left to right hitting each player a ground ball, preferably a low backspin grounder. This will force the player to get low and have their hands out in front, if they don’t they will get “eaten up” by the ball most of the time. After each player has taken a ground ball, have all the players take one step towards the coach. The process repeats until the players are about 10 feet or less from the hitter, you will see the players get lower each time by themselves because it brings out the self-preservation in them. They want to be in the most athletic position possible so they can react to the ball. As I mentioned above this drill should be run by a coach who knows how to handle a fungo, and the key to hitting the ball as the players get closer is to let the ball get low and then just putting the barrel on it. The toughest balls to field as they get closer are the low back spin grounders. Those will only be caught by players who are low at the time of the hit. Players also get a kick out this drill when coaches make a game out of it, once the player misses a ball they are out. The game continues until there is only one player left.

Photo Credit: Extreme Baseball infield drills 

                       3.  Shuffles: This drill is great for getting players use to moving side to side. Players partner up with one another and have 2 baseballs per group. As one player takes a knee with the two baseballs the other player will be about 7-10 feet in front of him. This drill should be done without a glove.The player on the knee will start by rolling the ball to the fielder’s right (or left, it does not matter which way they start). As the fielder shuffles to the ball and catches the ball he flips it back to the player on the knee, as the fielder tosses the ball back the player rolls the 2^nd ball to the player’s left, far enough that the player needs to shuffle twice to get to the ball. This repeats back and forth until the player reaches the designated number of grounders. The number of grounders usually depends on the age or talent level of the player. When I work with high school players I usually have them do a total of 100, broken down into 4 or 5 sets. When I was playing college ball we used to complete 200. The keys to this drill are that the feeder is consistent with rolling the ball and that the fielder keeps their butt low and catches the ball out in front. The players are usually not big fans of this drill because their legs will be burning if they do it correctly, but it will strengthen their legs, help with hand eye coordination, and get them used to moving low.

                    4.  Count the Hops: This is a drill that can be done all the time. Telling a player to count the hops will actually improve how they field the ball. You will see the player focusing more on the ball and they will be down in position sooner because they are anticipating the next hop. Having a player count the hops is a great drill to instill to players that always seem to get in between hops. It is a very simple concept, but very effective. As the fielder is taking ground balls have them count the number of times the ball hits the ground and then announce the number of hops after they’ve finished the play.

Photo Credit: http://article.wn.com/view/2014/03/06/Mets_easing_Wright_back_into_game_action/

                 5.  One Move Drill: For this drill the infield will be in on the grass and the coach will be hitting fungo. The idea of this drill is to get the players use to throwing the ball in one move. Players will focus on catching the ball and throwing it within one move. They start throwing it to 1^st moving their feet and throwing the ball all at once. Then after a few times through the infield, the players will start throwing to the plate. This drill forces the players to get their feet around in position to throw home. Making the players throw home in one move helps the players footwork and makes the move to first seem easier. Be sure to push the concept of following the throw to the target.

These drills can be used on a daily basis and will drastically improve the players. In a team atmosphere these should take about 30 minutes to complete, as an individual working on these drills it should take roughly 20 minutes. Fielding can sometimes be a tough thing to measure because the number of balls hit to a player each game is rarely the same and each ground ball is a little different, but coaches will see improvement in the position the players are in and the way they approach the ball. Consistently using these drills will lead to very consistent infielders.

For more information about Robinson Athletics visit our website at www.robinsonathleticsfl.com

Subscribe to this blog and look for more information about fielding and drills.