By: Jon Burkett

Goal: Teach actual game play conditions, and teach the batter to place the ball to specific locations.

Drill:

1. Start by dividing up into teams of 4.
2. Bring in the first team of 4 to bat, the rest of the teams play defense in the field. (short sided defense in the outfield is fine)
3. Each team bats until they get 3 outs or 4 runs. Keep track of runs. You should be able to get each team in to bat 2 to 4 times.
4. For the first half of the mini team practice, the coach soft tosses the ball to the batter, and plays catcher.
5. The coach quietly tells the batter where he wants him to hit the soft tossed ball. (such as right field line, or between fielders) If the batter does not hit to the coaches location it counts as an out for the team.
6. After a couple of trips through the teams with soft toss, switch to a pitcher/catcher or use the pitching machine.
7. By changing how a team wins you can change the focus of the practice from offense to defensive:

Offensive focus: The team with the highest score wins.

Defensive focus: Least runs given up wins

This drill gives the team real plays on both offense and defense and makes the practice fun.