Fielding Drills

[Jake Patterson]

In this thread we will list fielding drills. The thread is not designed for a whole bunch of discussion, but rather to share what we have. Drills posted here should not violate and copyrights and all citation rules should be observed.

[phantom]

Glove Extention Drill
Young players often make the mistake of fielding ground balls with their glove directly beneath them, rather than extended out in front. This drill helps ensure proper extension.

Lay a bat on the ground perpendicular to a line of players. The first player in line should be 6 feet from the bat in a ready position. The Coach stands about 10 feet away opposite the players, and rolls a ball toward the bat. The pPlayer must approach the ground ball and assume a good fielding position right behind the bat, without his feet touching or going over it. In order to prevent the ball from rolling into the bat the player must have his glove extended in front of the bat. Once the player secures the ball, he sprints forward, places it at the feet of the coach, and runs to the end of the line. The Coach keeps rolling a ball to the next player each time a ball is placed at his feet.

[phantom]

This drill is designed to quicken reaction time to grounders and line drives using lateral movement. The entire team competes in a contest to see which player can keep the most out of 10 balls from hitting a fence or wall behind him.

Mark an area of a fence or wall about 20 feet wide and 6 feet high. One at a time, fielders stand in front of the fence. A fungo hitter stands about 40 feet away, and hits balls to him. The hits should be to different spots within the fence markings (left, right, grounders, line drives). The fielder has to prevent the balls from hitting the fence behind him. Each fielder gets 10 balls hit to him. The fielder with the most stops of the 10 balls wins the round.