Individual baseball drills are critical tools to develop the many skills required by a player. Team drills and scrimmages focus on interaction and are important to develop “live” play smarts, but the basic proficiencies like batting, catching, and running are better developed one-on-one. Many exercises exist to help parents and coaches train players at all levels. Most require only the player and one trainer, allowing them to be performed in between team practices or as focused activities within a formal training session.
Hitting Drills
Hitting a pitched baseball has been called the most difficult thing to do in sports. Whether that is an exaggeration or not, batting definitely requires exceptional hand-eye coordination. Hitting skills can be developed by individual drills which increase speed and power as well as accuracy. Guide to Coaching Sports states that drills should focus on the following areas: stance, hip speed, timing, hands, stride, bat control and speed, isolation and power. One drill that can be done to improve hitting is for the coach to lie face down and grab the player’s ankles while she bats. The coach controls the batter’s step to teach her to step to the ball instead of out, increasing power.
Catching & Throwing Drills
A basic skill all baseball players must develop is catching a ground ball and quickly throwing it to another player with accuracy. This is especially important for very young players, as the ground is where the majority of balls are hit at their level of play. Eteamz recommends an individual drill to improve this skill. The coach throws a ground ball to the player, and as he fields the ball, the coach throws another one to him. This forces the player to focus on making a good throw back to the coach while also perceiving the second ball for a clean catch and throw. This repeats, with the pace getting faster and balls being thrown to either side of the fielder to increase difficulty as he improves.
Base Running Drills
Base running rounds out the list of skills needed for a baseball player to be effective on the field. One drill that can increase a player’s ability and aggressiveness on the bases starts at home plate, with a player taking a swing then running to first base. The player should round the base widely, then turn and dive back into the first base bag. She gets up quickly and assumes an aggressive lead stance. She then steals second base, diving into the bag. She then gets up and assumes an aggressive lead off second, then dives back to the bag. She gets up quickly to steal third, and the routine is repeated. When she steals home, she should sprint full speed toward home and not slide.
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