By: Coach John (Anaheim, CA)
Equipment Needed: Balls, a team, and an open space.
This Drill Involves the whole team, the purpose is to combine lightning fast hands with proper footwork, therefore building accuracy throws with quickness. this is how it goes.
Line up your team on a straight line (along baseline between first and second base)
Have one of the members facing the other players 10' away and in the middle of the line.
Each player along the basepath has a ball in his throwing hand.
Starting from the first base side player he throws to the player facing him as the single player receives the ball, the player next in line throws the ball to the single player as he returns the throw to the first player.Then the second player and so on, all the way down the line of players.
Once the player makes his throw to the last player in line he goes to the back of the line and the next player goes to the front. go all the way through the line, it takes about 10 min for a team of 12.
COACHES make sure you instruct the line of players that it is very important for them to make firm accurate throws to the single player in order for him to catch with 2 hands. You must also instruct the single player to use proper footwork combined with hands (2) to quickly and accurately get rid of the ball. As you work your way down the line you will see the importance of the footwork as the single player must turn at more of a angle to accurately return the ball to the thrower.
As your players get better at this you can instruct the next player in line to start his throw at the time the single player receives the ball from the prior player.
The players will love this drill and treat it like a game, coaches use your imaginations with it, keep it fun. Reward the players who do it correctly and accurately, I use a stop watch and time them going through the entire line. At the end of each player my whole team cheers on the player and builds their self-esteem. You won't believe the difference when seeing your infielders turning a double play. Remember most important with any drill is for the kids to enjoy it the more it seems a game to them the better they will respond to it.
Good luck,
Coach John
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