Jon Hoelter's Baseball Drills

Dr. Jon Hoelter's Drills

This page was taken directly from Dr. Jon Hoelter's Competitive Youth Baseball home page located at Competitive Youth Baseball Home Page . Dr. Hoelter is an expert in many areas of baseball and has also written an Illustrated Hitting Guide . He has graciously allowed us to reprint a portion of his Competitive Youth Baseball Home Page here. In addition to this article check out the other articles we have listed below. We sincerely appreciate Dr. Hoelter allowing us to use his work here. When asked for permission to use his writings Dr. Hoelter said "I am for whatever helps the kids." After reading the other articles contained on our site be sure to stop by the Competitive Youth Baseball Home Page on the World Wide Web and express your thanks.
Anyone with good practice drills for young players are invited to submit them. Several of the drills included here were obtained from the CYB message board.

As a high school coach the biggest problem I see with hitters is their tendency to want to "drift" forward, especially with their heads. I Can't stress enough to the hitters that they need to be still to see the ball and not let their heads move at all. There are several different, very simple drills that can teach the kids to keep their heads still. If they can start these habits at an early age (as it sound like you coach younger players) I think it will help them progress. One easy drill is to have them put their gloves on the ground and line up the shadow of their head onto the glove (best done outside with the sun as a light source). Once their head shadows are lined up on the glove get them in their stance while staring at the shadow. Have them take full swings while looking at their shadow, making sure the head stays right on the glove. This can correct several problems... problems like drifting forward, dipping down and bailing out. Several cuts while looking at the shadow is recommended. This same drill can be done at home with a large mirror or sliding glass door and a piece of tape on the glass used to line up the head with. Just keep the head matched up on the tape and make sure full swings are taken while keeping the head lined up on the tape (just don't get too close to the glass!).

Time a boy from home to first, or from first to second. Have him run again and he will ask if he beat his first time. Have the boys run like this but without having given them any instruction on how to run properly. Then show them the correct way to run and retime them. When they see that their times have improved they will really be excited and will have learned a valuable lesson: proper technique is everything in everything. Teaching how to properly use the crossover step, whether it is a runner trying to steal second, or your shortstop going after a ball in the hole is crucial. And just as crucial, is teaching them that when they do crossover, they should not stand up. So much of how a runner moves is exactly how a fielder moves, its just that one has a glove on and the other doesn't.

A drill that I find is really helpful and also brings out the competitive juices in the boys is grading their fielding techniques, throwing techniques, accuracy, and timing of ground balls. All of the boys watch each other take their turn. I hit them two grounders for practice, then three that count. I grade how well they field the ball on a scale of 1-5, how accurate the throw is on the same 1-5 scale, and I time each play from the second the ball touches the fielder's glove until it touches the first baseman's glove.

A rocket arm is nice, but if it takes you a second and a half to regain your balance because you didn't get in front of the ball, or if he wastes valuable time because his throwing hand wasn't near his glove when he fielded the ball, etc., it will show up in his time just as much as a weak arm will. How fundamentally sound they field the ball is more important then actually catching a ball with the boy's head turned away because he was afraid it would bounce up and hit him.

Finally, I grade the throws accuracy. Again, if a player fields the ball well, rifles it to first, but it ends up in the bleachers, he hasn't accomplished anything for the team. By scoring each play separately, I can later go over the results and will often find that a boy is weak in only one area, and we can work on that area with a little more diligence then the other two areas. I do this drill early in the season and then repeat it several times during the season to see how the boys are progressing. I purposely have the boys all watch each other. If Johnny feels he should be my shortstop, but then proceeds to miss the balls or bounces his throws all over the place, hopefully he and his dad will see why Johnny isn't playing short. In a short period of time I can clearly see where I need to concentrate extra practice time on. The key to all of this of course is that you as the boys' coach must know the proper techniques for fielding, throwing, etc., and teach the boys' in a way that is clear to them.

Though my boys are only 10-11, some of them are already fielding balls correctly, getting the proper grip, and breaking their arms so that they can throw the ball even before they have stood up. Many coaches are content if their players catch the ball, stand up and then break their arms and then throw. However, you can knock off 1/2 of a second if they break more quickly.

Another great drill is timing how long it takes for the boys to throw the ball around the horn. Go one way for a few turns, then reverse it. Going from home, to first, to second, etc. will take more time then the other way simply because there is so much more foot work involved for the right handed thrower. Again, it isn't enough to simply get the ball around without missing it. If each kid is jumping and diving for the throw, their time won't be any better than three good throws and a miss. After timing several attempts, challenge them to beat the best time. Finish it off with seeing how many times they can go around the horn without missing. Also, break the boys into two sides and start playing catch, and after several throws move them back. Keep going back until only two boys are left who haven't missed.
R. Bing

One of the best ways to increase arm strength, is to play "long toss." You must stretch first! After you have completed your stretches, get a partner and start throwing the ball. At this point you are not throwing hard. As you continue to get loose you and your partner should begin moving backwards about 6 to 7 feet and play catch at that point for a while. Then continue to move back until you almost have to put a little loft on the ball.

Play catch there for a while. Remember to use proper mechanics when throwing. This will help strengthen the arm and add MPH to your fast ball.

NOTE: For pitchers 11 and 12-years-old, we play long toss at about 120 to 150 feet. This distance, of course, will depend on the pitcher.