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Published: May 2009
Categories: Infield Defense Conditioning Hitting
Type: drill
Purpose: Fielding repetitions in an indoor practice setting
Explanation: Set-up: Players should be in groups of three, and each group needs a bat, a ball (or two, or more if they are younger and will miss more frequently), and gloves. lengthwise in the gym, each group sets up in a line. using basketball court lines, all groups will line up down the length of the court, about 10-15 feet apart. each group will then send one player between a quarter and halfway across the court (towards the opposite sideline). One player in each group is designated as the hitter (holding the bat), one is the feeder (holding the glove and the ball(s)) and the one apart from the group is the fielder (also with a glove).
To begin, the hitter will self-hit a ground ball to the fielder, one at a time, with each ball being thrown back to the feeder. the feeder will give the ball to the hitter and the pro- cess repeats three times. Once the fielder has fielded the three grounders, the fielder (FIELDER ONLY) moves to the group to her left. The fielder on the end moves all the way to the right, and this pattern of three ground balls, move to the left continues until the player has gone through every group and returned to the group with which she started. Once all the players have returned, the group of three rotates amongst themselves; the fielder becomes the feeder, the feeder becomes the hitter, and the hitter becomes the fielder. the process then repeats itself until all three players have done all three positions.
Modifications to the drill:
• this drill can also be done with line drives or pop-ups.
• this drill can be done with the feeder throwing the ball, but is greatly recommended with hitting in order to develop hand/eye coordination.
• the number of ground balls can be changed in order to account for time or conditioning levels.
• to make the drill more of a conditioning workout, the following can be used. Instead of stopping when returning to the original group of three after three ground balls have been fielded at each station, the players should continue and go through the same line again, this time taking two ground balls or hits at each group. when the player returns to her original group, she goes through one more time, this time tak- ing one ground ball from each until she returns to the original group.
• the amount of players involved will greatly impact how much of a conditioning workout this is. the less groups, the less movement that is necessary. this may al- low for a greater distance between each group in order to expand the running area. In larger groups, the run from the station on the end to the opposite end can be lengthy.
• Overlapping is not an issue, even when it occurs, it fixes itself rather quickly.
• Balls which are missed by the fielder should be left and not gotten until the end. this will ensure the drill continues to run smoothly. this is why some groups may need five or six balls.
This drill promotes fielding at an accelerated heart rate, hand-eye coordination, as well as being a good conditioning workout.