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The Basic Practice Structure - Baseball Practice
Drills
You want to make the most of every minute of practice!
I watched a professional sports team practice one summer - every
minute was accounted for and sessions were timed and signaled with a
large field buzzer. Here is a good basic formula:
First 10 minutes: Players pair up and warm up
by throwing to each other.
Next 5 minutes: Team meeting
Next 1 hour: Divide the team up as follows: 3
starting pitchers and the catcher in the pitching/catching group, 1/2
the remaining players in the infield group, and the remaining players
in the outfield group.
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Have one of the pitchers throwing to the catcher (in
full gear) while the other two pitchers throw to each other.
Have the pitchers switch off after 10 pitches to the catcher so all
have a chance to throw to the catcher. It is nice if you can get a
knowledgeable coach to help with pitching form.
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Have the infield group assume all the infield
positions with extra players going to the outfield positions. The coach or
assistant then bats balls to all areas of the field. You may have
extra players assume the positions of runners as well. Switch with outfield group after half an hour.
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Have the outfield group spread out in a wide
semi-circle in groups of two about 8 ft from each other as shown
below while a coach or assistant bats or throws balls. The
player closest to the area of the ball should field the ball (and
call it!) and the person next to this player will run behind and
back up the catch. It is important that players get used to the idea
that good baseball is all about good backup. With this setup,
only two players should be involved with each ball thrown or batted. Switch with infield group after half an hour.
Last 1/2 hour: You should devote 1/2 hour of
every practice to batting practice. Practice tees would be helpful so all players can get in a lot of practice. On some days you may want to have each player bat against one of your actual pitchers - don't worry about fielding, just get as much hitting in as possible.
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