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Published: December 2011
Categories: Infield Defense Game Day Mental Game
Type: drill
Purpose: This is a fun drill designed to create pressure on the infielders without the need for baserunners.
Explanation: This drill can be adjusted to different age groups, but at the Gold level we start at 2.75 seconds.
One coach fungos ground balls while another coach has a stopwatch. He or she starts the clock on contact and stops it when it hits the first baseman's glove. The ground balls can be routine at first then build up to hard plays. Everyone throws to first, with the exception of the first baseman, who throws to third. We challenge the second baseman a little more since her play is obviously easier. We will also do a time infield while turning two.
Always at the end of the drill, we will have a few elimination rounds. If everyone makes the time, we will keep moving the rounds down by a half a second until there is only one (the winner) left.
We will also play "You're Fired" using this drill. If you make an error or fail to make your time, you are fired and another player races out to take your place. The infielders learn really quickly hat they better be aggressive on poorly hit balls, get backhands out of the glove without taking a n extra step, etc. There will be do-or-die balls, under the body throws, etc.