subject: Top 3 Infield Drills for Baseball [print this page] Top 3 Infield Drills for Baseball Top 3 Infield Drills for Baseball
Infielders need to have quick hands, quick feet, strong arms, and an overall understanding of the flow of the game. Many drills have been developed over the years to help develop these infielder skills. Continue reading to discover the top 3 infield drills for baseball. 1. Four corners drillThe purpose of the four corners drill is to improve infielder hand speed and foot speed. It is perfect for all infielders although it is particularly good for middle infielders.To perform this drill, have four infielders placed about 50 feet from each other in a square pattern so that each person is at a corner of the square. To start this drill, the first infielder throws the ball to the person on his left. The person that catches the ball must use good footwork and quick hands to quickly throw to the next person to his left. This quick catch and throw process continues until the ball has traveled around the square 10 times.After the ball has traveled around the square 10 times to the left, the same process is repeated only this time to the right. The coach should use a stopwatch to record the time it takes to make the full 20 revolutions (10 to the left and 10 to the right). The faster that this drill can be performed, the better the hand speed and footwork of the infielders. This drill should be repeated at each practice and the infielders should continually try to beat their best times.2. Aim small, miss small drillThe purpose of the "aim small, miss small" drill is to improve throwing accuracy of all infielders. To perform this drill, all infielders should take their normal positions. A coach or other player should take a knee about 20 ft directly in front of each infielder with a bucket of balls. One at a time, the coach should roll a baseball to the infielder. The infielder should field the ground ball then throw to first base. However, when throwing to first base, the infielder should concentrate on any small quarter-sized target near the first baseman's glove or chest area. A small painted white dot or sticker can even be used on the first baseman's glove or jersey to help with this drill. By concentrating on a very tiny target instead of the full body of the first baseman, infielders tend to make more accurate throws because they have to concentrate to hit the very small target. If this drill is consistently practiced, then this high level of concentration will continue into games and reduce the number of infielder throwing errors.3. Communication drillThe purpose of the communication drill is to improve communication between all infielders when there are baserunners and a ball is hit into the outfield.To perform this drill, all infielders and outfielders should take their normal positions. The coach should place one baserunner at home plate, one baserunner at first base, and one baserunner at second base. The coach should then proceed to hit fly balls, line drives, and ground balls to the outfield. With each hit, the infielders should communicate so that they line up cut-off men correctly and direct the outfield throw to the appropriate base. The goal of the drill is for the infielders to use their communication to stop the lead runner without letting the trailing runners advance unnecessarily. The above three drills cover some of the most important skills that an infield must master. If learned and practiced, an infield can have a significant advantage over its competitors.
