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Teaching young players the need to keep their eye on the ball might not always be as effective as we as coaches would like.  This baseball drill for kids focuses things on a much smaller area of the ball.

What you need (set up):  Set up a tee that is about waist height for the player.  Put a dime size dot on the backside of the ball, just above the halfway circumference of the ball.  Always place the ball with the spot facing toward the backstop.

How this drill works:  Often times younger players don’t grasp the entire concept of keeping their ‘eye on the ball.’  Therefore, this drill has been designed to get them to keep their eye on a certain spot on the ball.  Once they focus on a target smaller than the ball itself, they can swing at the spot using the fundamentals they have been taught to this point.

Results:  Children see the ball as a target that needs to be hit.  When they aim for a bigger target, they have a larger room for error.  When they focus on a smaller target, they naturally assume a smaller margin for error.  This helps them build confidence in hitting the ball, and also develops muscle memory when they are swinging.

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A common situation in baseball is the run down.  A player caught in between two bases – either one of them being safe.  Executing a proper defensive set up is important to getting the out. Pickle is a classic baseball practice drill you can add to your workouts.

What you need (set up):  Set up a number of stations that is divisible by three.  You will need three people per station (2 fielders, 1 runner).

All distance between bases is 30 feet (in all directions)

How this drill works: The fielders need to work the ball back and forth in an attempt to get the runner out.  The runner needs to try to advance to third base or get back safely to second.  You can award the fielders two points if they get the runner out.  One point if they get the runner back to second, zero points if the runner gets to third base.  Play the game until the fielders get 5 points.  Rotate the players at this point.

Result:  Both the runners and the fielders will understand what they need to do when they are in this situation – both on offense and defense.  Rundowns occur often in Little League ball, and even in high school league with regularity.  It is good for young players to know how to get the out.

Note:  Once the players have mastered this aspect of the drill, then you should advance it to the standard tactic where players are backing each other up and rotating as the rundown advances.

Even professionals will go back to the basics of using a tee.  It helps batters focus on their target area to hit a baseball.  Encourage your players to use a tee to work on the fundamentals of hitting–a baseball fundamental drill.

What you need (set up):  You need a batter, a tee and several balls.

How this drill works:  If you have a batting cage this is great, but against the backstop also works just fine.  Raise or lower the tee to reflect the different heights in the strike zone.  This drill isn’t intended for a player to smash the ball against the fence, but to iron out kinks in the swing.

Focus on hitting on top of the ball, striding towards the field (not the ball), swinging down on the ball and making solid contact with the ball.

Results:  If a player is not so focused on hitting it out of the park and strives toward making solid contact with an easy swing and focusing more on the fundamentals of hitting, their improvement will be marked.

The ultimate result is to get players to stop swinging for the fences all of the time and to learn the basic of hitting.  Once a player can learn to make regular and solid contact at an early age, you as the coach can impart to them that they will gain power as they grow older and gain strength.  Contact is more important at this stage in their baseball development.

Baseball has so many different defensive combinations, and it is important for players to understand their responsibilities and to make the play when they are called upon.

What you need (set up):  You need to field an entire defensive team for this baseball skill drill.  Along with that, you need one or two runners for this drill.  The coach will be setting up different scenarios with the runners.

How this drill works:  This is your standard fielding drill, but with a twist.  It isn’t just a throw to first, although it could be.  The coach can set up any number of different plays to cover.  It could be a player stealing bases, a fly ball with a runner tagged up on third, or a potential double play ball.

The good thing about this drill is that the players don’t know what the drill is going to be.  They need to read and react to the play that is going on.

Results:  Once your players go through all of the different situations, they will become more prepared to deal with those situations when they happen during a game.

One of the first things you should do to teach younger players how to field properly is to get them in front of the ball.

What you need:  Gloves and balls.  Two pylons about 10’ apart.

How this drill works:  Explain to the kids that they cannot let the ball get past them and cross the imaginary line between the two pylons.  You (coach) will roll, or bounce the ball towards the player in an attempt to get the ball past them.  Instruct them on how to shuffle from side to side with their glove in front of them to get their entire body in front of the ball.

You will probably have a few players who don’t want to get in front of the ball because they fear it will hurt them.  This is completely normal for players at a younger age.  If you want, try the drill with soft baseballs (for T-ball level) or with tennis balls – just to get the kids used to getting hit.

Results:  Players need to learn at an early age how to shuffle their feet to get in position for the ball.  This drill, keeping them between the pylons will help them gain range in their shuffle and help them learn to keep the ball in front of them.

This is one of the best youth baseball hitting drills. It teaches that the follow through is important to get the most fluid and powerful swing.  If you are trying to stop the bat, the swing loses momentum as you slow the bat down.
What you need (set up):  You need a tee for the batter to hit from, and you need a ball set up (either on a tee or other apparatus) that will be along the proper follow through plane of the batter.

How this drill works:  When a batter swings through the ball, they will maintain their swing plane through the drill and first hit the ball on the tee in front of them, and then on the tee in their proper follow through plane.

If a player is not hitting the second ball then the coach must help them achieve the appropriate swing plane.

This is also a great baseball drill to experiment with different swing planes and swing directions when teaching opposite field hitting.

Results:  Having the appropriate swing plane will help the batter achieve more consistency in their battings, and ultimately help them achieve a fuller swing, which assists in increasing overall power.

Running hard around the bases is important for the players to learn.  This online baseball drill will keep them on their toes and have them compete against their teammates to stay ahead.
What you need (set up):  Two lines – one at home plate, the other at second base.

How this drill works:  One the coaches’ signal for players to take off, the players on second sprint towards third, and then home, first, and back to second to tag their next teammate.  The runners from home do the same thing, only they round the bases in the correct order.

The teams will continue to do this, tagging the next baseball player in line when they reach their team bag, until one team overtakes the other rounding the bases.

Results:  Aside from getting into shape with this great conditioning drill, the players will understand the value of running the bases as fast as they can.  The competition aspect of it makes them try a little bit harder, too.

Although this baseball drill indoors can be used in different ways at different levels, it still underlines the fundamental need to make sure that a player’s stance is adequate.  This drill is intended for the younger players;  players at all levels can use proper stance training.  

What you need (set up): A group of 6 batters (with helmets and bats).  Line the players up evenly spaced along the 3rd base line.

How this drill works:  Not as much a drill as it is a baseball skill clinic, the coach will call out ‘stance!’ and all of the players will get into their batting stance.  The coach(es) will then go through the line of players and make any adjustments the first few times.  After doing it three or so times, the coach can then call ‘stance!’ and if any of the players still need the same stance corrections, they are eliminated from the game.

Results:  The repetition alone will be good for the younger players.  The stance is one of the most important elements of setting up a good swing.  By learning the right stance, it sets up a great foundation for solid batting in the future.  And it is always good to have some indoor baseball drills in your back pocket during the Spring rains.

Running the bases properly to help increase the speed and decrease the amount of area covered is important to successful baserunning.

What you need (set up):  You will divide your baseball team into two groups and they will be on opposite sides of the first base bag.  They should be about 40 feet from the bag.  The base should be secured.

How this drill works:  From both sides of the base, the runners run toward the base and then turn as though they were going to second base.  The key to this baseball drill for young players is for the players to take the best path to second base, and hit the bag with the proper foot.

If the players don’t take the right direction on their run, they will likely end up going too wide and they will run into each other.  The first couple of times you do this drill, it should be at a jog, so there are no injuries if players collide.  As the players get more accustomed to the drill, they can increase the speed in which they round the bases.

Note: If you want to get a little more daring, then you can have four lines going to each of the inside corners.  Make sure you start at a jog to begin, otherwise you will most certainly have collisions.

Results:  After this drill, your players should be taking a better angle to the next base, and they should have the proper technique for running the bases quicker and more effective.