Baseball Drills: To Begin Spring TrainingBaseball Drills and Spring Training are synonymous no matter what age or skill level. I remember when my players became older and more experienced they would whine or begin griping “We’ve already learned this.” I also remember my answer “So have every Major League Player currently in Spring Training and who are doing this exact drill.” An unnamed MLB player said “Spring Training is like the movie Ground Hog Day …You keep doing it until you get it right. Then you do it again.” What a great description and how very accurate. So when your players go to whining, remind them players earning 10 million dollars a year are performing the same drills they are. It’s not about knowing the drill or exercise or whatever …it’s about perfecting it. Big difference. Baseball Drills - Spring training for a little league baseball coach is in theory, the same as a high school, college or professional coach. It’s time to get your players in peak physical condition, perfect skills, learn new skills, go over strategies while recruiting players. Theory is as far as it goes because the youth league coach doesn’t have an army of coaches, assistants, physical therapists and the list continues, to help him. If he’s lucky he has one enthusiastic coach, but more than likely he’s a follower and won’t do anything unless he’s instructed to, and if the Head Coach is an avid baseball instructor, he’ll want to insure the players are being taught the correct method anyway. In other words, you’re pretty much on your own. Experiencing and knowing this, we’re going to begin a series called Spring Training in which we’re going to demonstrate Baseball drills which you can use to teach your players.
Baseball Drills - Now everybody’s situation is unique. Some Coach’s have an excellent pitching staff, others a great defense, while others have a tremendous offensive attack. Baseball Drills - In an effort to not bore anyone or not address at least one or two issues everyone usually shares, the drills will be offered in a Shotgun approach, which means we’ll offer fielding, pitching, catching, running and etc. drills in each series. Hopefully that approach will benefit the greatest number of coach’s needs. *** In case any new coach is looking out at snow and a 20 degree day and wondering how in the world they’re suppose to practice, welcome to the world of North of the Mason Dixon line. Check out the availability of school, church and fraternities organizations who have gyms or large recreation rooms. There are also hundreds of batting and fielding cage facilities opening up in the country, check to see if one is near you.*** 
Back Hand Infield Drill This drill is designed for all of your infielders, but especially the third baseman and shortstop. You can perform this drill one on one, or one side of the infield then the other. As the intent is to field as many balls back handed as possible and quickly as possible, to have too many participants defeats the purpose. I suggest one on one, two on one limit. The player is stationed at his position and goes into his natural fielding position. The coach stands @ 20’ away and throws ground and hopping balls to the player’s back hand side. ( You can use a bat to hit the balls if you have enough bat control to hit the grounders consistently to their backhand.)I found throwing the balls more accurate and you can control the velocity the ball is traveling. Have the fielder catch the ball, set and throw to first base. If the actual act of throwing the ball is restricted by size of gym or whatever, have the player simulate the throw. Baseball Drills - When performing this drill with the first baseman, concentrate on him feeding the ball to the pitcher who is covering the base. You can practice two skills with two separate players at the same time. The fielder catching back handed hits, throwing to first and the pitcher developing his skill and timing covering the base. 
The Cone Drill This drill is designed to teach the infielders to take a straight throwing line to the target by squaring up their body and shoulders and applies to the third base, shortstop and second base positions. Taking each position individually, set two to three orange cones in a straight throwing line from the player’s fielding position and first base. Throwing or hitting the ball slightly to the player’s right side or right at him, have them field the ball, set, crow hop moving forward to first base, making sure they are in direct line with the orange cones.
This drill will teach them to be moving directly towards their target with their shoulders in throwing line. A lot of players will field a ground ball, but have no real indicator as to where they are in alignment to their target, in this case first base. If the player is veered to the right of the target, his throw will be off the target to the right or he’ll be forced to throw across his body, which reduces velocity. Blocking Balls in the Dirt Drill This drill is pretty much self explanatory. The intent of this drill is to teach a catcher how to keep a ball in the dirt from getting past him by blocking it with his body and to cradle the ball so it bounces out in front of him. Baseball Drills - The catcher is to be in full equipment, including a cup. The Coach will stand on either side of the pitching mound, @ 2/3 distance, and throw pitches into the dirt in front of and to each side of the catcher. The catcher will assume his normal catching position with the assumption the situation is there are runners on base. When he sees the pitch is going to be in the dirt his mental game should immediately change from catching the baseball to Blocking the baseball. 
For pitches directly in front of him, he should drop to his knees, his catcher’s mitt should be placed in front of his crotch, on the ground to keep the ball from skipping underneath the mitt. His body should bend slightly forward. This is to allow the baseball to bounce in the dirt, coming up and hit him in the chest, having some to most of the energy absorbed by the chest protector. Therefore, the ball will bounce back a relatively short distance out in front and away from the catcher so he can quickly retrieve the ball, either holding the runners from advancing or throwing them out as they attempt to advance. On balls in the dirt to the left or right of the catcher, he is to jump or leap frog, his entire body to the side the ball is on. The intent is to square the body up in front of the ball, exactly as if it were bouncing in front of the plate. You always want to use your body to block the ball, never take a swipe at the ball with the mitt. You’ll probably miss the ball, but if you were to make contact, the swiping motion will send the ball careening off into an unknown direction, eliminating any chance of anticipation. Catcher Cheating Drill: This drill is to teach the catcher to cheat a little bit in his stance with a base runner on first. This little bit of fudging or altering the squat position, will result in a quicker response time to throw to second base. As with any fielder making a strong and accurate throw to a base you must lead with your opposite foot of your throwing arm and be moving towards your target.
With a runner on first, and second if there’s a threat of a steal attempt, instead of assuming your normal squatting position as a catcher, you alter it somewhat. Position your left foot (assuming a right handed catcher) slightly forward of your right foot and slightly outside your left thigh. As the pitcher goes into his windup, rise from your squatting position to a crab position, balanced on your haunches. By making these slight adjustments, you are already in position to immediately start your forward motion towards the base, your left foot out in front and pointing towards the target, and you’re already half way out of your crotched position, which allows you to explode out of the catchers box and release a strong, accurate throw to second base. 
Baseball Drills - Infield Tryout Drill This drill is intended to teach infielders how to handle the pressures of tryouts, while perfecting their fielding techniques.This drill is actually a qualifying drill when infielders are evaluated for any professional or College baseball team. This little advanced knowledge, although it may not yet apply to a 14 year old player, will make the drill more fun and intense. Have the player assume his normal fielding position, we’ll use SS as a random choice, while the Coach hits ground balls to him. Hit groundersDirectly at him. Make sure the fielder stays low on the ball, attacks it, watches it all the way into the glove and makes a strong accurate throw to first. Baseball Drills - Hit grounders to his Left and Right. Make sure the balls are far enough to either side to stretch his ability to reach the ball. A huge part of this drill is to increase and evaluate side to side range. Do not let the fielder know ahead of time where you intend to hit and hit the ball as hard as possible while still making fielding it feasible. Hit Soft Slow Rollers towards the fielder. Teach him to charge, coming in low, fielding with a bare hand if necessary, throwing from a bent position while on the move forward. This is a skill intensive play which Major League 3rd basemen practice and perform hundreds of times a year. You’ll know when the play is not a result of luck, when the fielder consistently performs the play well. Baseball Drills - This is but the first of a series of Spring Training Drills. The drills will vary, but one thing will never vary: Always Warm Up Before Starting Any Baseball Drills. I realize your players are anxious to get going, but a pulled or strained muscle resulting from not warming up sufficiently will delay the training program only further and could end the season before it begins.
There are literally 100s if not 1000s of skill enhancing drills related to baseball, here are a few to practice: The Beginning - Has To Be Somewhere:
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