On-field baseball drills help develop talent and refine skills. An amateur ballplayer can become better on the diamond than a pure athlete, but he must dedicate himself and stay focused during drills. Predicting the bounce of a ground ball, timing the speed and trajectory of a fly ball or laying down a perfect sacrifice bunt are they kinds of skills players can only learn on the field.
Nothing in the Gap
On defense, you don't want to give the other team any free bases, and a bad angle on a ball hit into the gap will do just that. For this drill, you need a bucket of balls, one infielder standing next to the thrower and every outfielder lined up in a row 20 feet to 30 feet from the thrower. Start by throwing a ball on the ground or into the air out in front of the first player at an odd angle. Have him find the best angle to cut it off, field the ball and throw to the infielder who will act as the cutoff man.
Sacrifice Bunt
The ability for a team to manufacture runs immediately gives it an edge over the opponent. An integral part of manufacturing runs is consistently sacrificing base runners over. For this drill, you need a pitcher, four cones set up in pairs approximately 15 feet away and one fielder behind each set of cones. The pitcher will throw a set of pitches, which the batter will then have to bunt between one of the set of cones.
Double Play Setup
A double play is the ultimate rally killer and a pitcher's best friend. Teams can turn double plays in several ways, but the entire infield has to be ready to execute one. For this drill you need a full infield of players, including the pitcher. A batter should hit ground balls and low line drives to all of the players. Just before the batter hits the ball, someone should yell out the base at which the double play should start. Then the players need to execute the play.
In, Out, Middle
A batter who can hit to all fields strikes fear in a defense and eliminates the advantage of defensive positioning. For this drill, you need a bucket of balls, one fielder in each position in the outfield and three lengths of rope. Split home plate into three areas, inside, middle, and outside, and lay each length of rope as a divider. Throw several pitches to a batter, and just before he hits the ball, have him yell "in," "out" or "middle," followed by him hitting the ball to that area of the field.
Fly Ball Communication
Fly balls rarely go right to a fielder. Often, a few players will converge on a ball at the same time, making it imperative for one of them to call the others before a collision occurs. For this drill, you need a bucket of balls and a full team in the field. Throw or hit balls all over the field, but only between players. Do shallow fly balls, middle infield pop-ups and balls in the gap, forcing the players to practice yelling "got it!" based on which fielder has the best angle.
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