By: Chip,
I've found that the standard infield drill (grounder throw to 4, grounder throw to 1, grounder throw to 2, grounder throw to 3, one & cover, double play, around the horn & slow roller) is the best. First, it is standard; second, it duplicates most fielding situations; third, its very familiarity gives you a chance to teach players the reasons for the routine. We go over the idea or theory behind each play. For example, the grounder go 4 is a play used ONLY when the infield is playing in to cut off the baserunner breaking for the plate. We ONLY use it with the infield in -- a SS NEVER throws home on a ground ball when he's playing behind the baseline. Put some runners at 3B and see if the team can really get the out in game-like conditions. You should show the catcher how to block the plate with his left foot pointing to 3B to protect his knees, and you should teach the infielders where to stand with the infield playing in. (You might also make sure the runners know how to slide). If you're ambitious, you can add a game setting component to the situation -- i.e., no outs, one out, or two outs. Tell the IF that the winning run is on 3B Needless to say, the kids probably won't back up to normal depth with two outs until you tell them -- and tell them and tell them and tell them. But they will learn that "in practice we back up with two outs and make a play at first" -- and eventually they will (almost) automatically do that in their games. That's when you know that the practice is paying off. By my count, there are exactly thirty (30) game situations that occur in LL games. The standard IF/OF drill rehearses the twelve (12) most common. These twelve should be drilled repeatedly (at least several times each practice and every day) & should be reviewed in extreme detail, with everyone going to the designated base/backup each time. Other plays (like bunt plays, foul popups, double steals, catcher pickoffs, appeal plays & the like) need to be rehearsed separately, if at all (usually with very experienced field
teams or all-star teams). Leagues using leadoffs still only have about 45 total plays (including pitcher pickoffs, hit & run, etc.), but the twelve basic plays remain the same. (Pro teams have twelve different ways just to execute the double cutoff!) Two final notes on this matter. When I came to pick my son up at a baseball camp, he was just going to a one-on-one fielding lesson with one of the camp instructors. I tagged along to watch the week's tuition at work. I expected something difficult or at least exotic. Instead, the instructor spent twenty or thirty minutes hitting soft grounders from twenty or thirty feet; my son had to backhand them & throw back to the teacher. At first, I was annoyed -- I've seen five foot putts hit harder than these ground balls. What was wrong with the instructor??? Then I noticed that the real task was to make the backhand play in EXACTLY the right way. If the glove wasn't opened properly, if the throwing hand wasn't set, if the knees weren't properly bent, iuf the head wasn't centered just so -- if anything at all was not done textbook perfect, there was immediate feedback. And, of course, there was plenty of positive feedback for each little thing done right. My son learned to backhand well (he's 3B as the youngest player on his HS team) -- and I learned that the pros coach by reducing difficult & complicated plays to their basic components, then rehearsing them slowly. When the action heats up, the skill & confidence will be there. On the other hand, I'll never forget the only game one of my teams lost. We were comfortably ahead (4+ runs) in the 6th inning when everything started to break down -- my best fielder dropped a routine fly, 1B missed a normal throw, etc. The bases were loaded, 2 out, with the tying run on 3B. "Play at nearest base," I shouted, and the players all shouted "Play at closest base!" right back. The batter hit a high bouncing ball down the line. My 3B grabbed it on a high hop and had to step over the bag -- to throw home?!?!?!? Afterwards, I asked my
fielder why he didn't just step on the base when I'd just told him he had a play there. "Oh, you call out plays all the time, but I don't know what that means, so I just tried to get a force and the runner was in the way and my throw . . . ." I learned not to assume the kids know what you're saying -- be sure they do.
Date: March 28, 1998 at 09:09