Baseball Drills - Fielding Exercises

If you have a favorite drill that you think other coaches could use please e-mail me at dsports@hiwaay.net and I will add it and credit you. Many of these drills are aimed at certain age groups but can be slightly adapted for older or younger age teams. Most of the drills are located onsite but many are located elsewhere on the internet. Use your [Back] button to get back to this website. If you find a link that is not working please let me know at dsports@hiwaay.net . If you find a drill of use please let the webmaster at that site know that you appreciate their work.

Fielding Exercises

Infielder's Tips From WK
Hit The Ball.com's Fielding Drills
Infielder's Tips From Bob "Flea" Lillis
The Glove and Positioning
Glove Action and Pre-Pitch Preparation
Tag Plays and Relay Throws
Baseball Web Camp Infield Drills
Baseball Web Camp Infield Drills
Rundowns "The Slam Dunk of Defensive Baseball" by Brian Priebe
Fielding Tips from the Chicago White Sox -
Outfield Drills from Coach Don's Baseball Page
Fielding Drills from The Baseball Coaches Page by Jeff Brabant
Jon Hoelter's Baseball Drills
Playing the Infield #1
Playing the Infield #2
Infielding Drills
Playing the Outfield
Outfielding Drills
The Glove and Positioning
Glove Action and Pre-Pitch Preparation
Infield Drills from Coach Don's Baseball Page
Catcher Characteristics and Requirements
Techniques for Coaching Younger Children
The Coaching Approach
Dive Drill
Role of a Coach
Thrive on Throwing
Double Plays and 1st and 3rd
Third Base requirements and characteristics
What is a Coach?
Lateral Pick-up with mimic - gets fielders involved and enables the coach to watch the fielding fundamentals of the players
Countdown - fun drill to help 1st and 2nd graders develop good hands, quick release, and hustle to a loose ball
Fungo - provides players with an opportunity to field a large number of ground balls
Charging - improves the player's ability to charge a softly hit ground ball
Backpeddle - ground ball fielding drill that aids in conditioning
Beginning of the Season - drill to judge which players are outfielders and which are infielders
Bucket - teaches quick release, fielding and throwing accuracy to first base
Catch...NOT Fetch - drill for improving the quality of warm-up throws
Charging -
improves the player's ability to charge a softly hit ground ball
Countdown - fun drill to help 1st and 2nd graders develop good hands, quick release, and hustle to a loose ball
Double Play - allows the coach to see fielding and throwing skills
Fence - quickens reaction time to grounders and line drives using lateral movement
Field Throw and Run - helps with getting into a proper fielding position, lateral movement, throwing, and running
Fungo - provides players with an opportunity to field a large number of ground balls
Get it Out! - helps ensure proper extension when fielding ground balls
Hat in Mouth - Forces to push hands to field ball
Hoover - gets players to feel like a vacuum and suck up all ground balls.
Is it Ball #1 or Ball #2? - Use numbered balls to teach kids to keep their eyes on the ball
Lateral Movement - improves the player's ability to react and move laterally in fielding a ground ball
Lateral Pick-up - improves the player's ability to assume a good defensive position in fielding a ground ball
Lateral Pick-up with mimic - gets fielders involved and enables the coach to watch the fielding fundamentals of the players
Over The Shoulder Catch - improves the player's ability to catch a fly ball over the shoulder
Paddle - simulates the underhand and overhand flips used by 2nd basemen and shortstops
Partner Short Hop / Long Hop - work on reading short vs. long hops
Perfection Game - makes in-fielding fun and competitive and puts the players in pressure situations
Relay Speed Drill - Teach and practice catching and turning to glove side when relaying throws
Soft Hands - Emphasizes the use of the top hand to ensure the ball doesn't become loose
Soft hands - Quick release -
Split Infield - grounder fielding and throwing drill for 8-adult
Three Bag - gives your infielders to maximum reps on ground balls and throwing to first in a short time
Two Hands When You Can - Teach youngsters to field with two hands
Point - game that teaches the importance of backing up one another when fielding a ground ball
The Pit - individual competition that gives players practice fielding ground balls
Hands staying together - Keeping hands together until right before throw.
Catching - tips for developing the proper technique for catching any ball
Don't Dance - tip for fielders to improve their chances of tagging a base-runner
Groundball Approach - Formation for fielding groundballs
Making an Infielder - the proper way for an infielder to field balls
The Crucial First Base Play - Make sure that the 1B can get to the bag without having to run and catch at the same time
The Double Play Throw - Technique for speeding up the throw that leads to a double play