Fielding Drills
Fielding Techniques and Drills
These short hop/short catch drills are intended to improve a player's hand quickness along with his fielding abilities. For each drill, two players stand 20-30 feet apart, depending on the size of the player. Players should keep their feet stationary to maximize the benefits of hand quickness and overall field ability.
In each drill, players should throw 25 balls to their partner. Completing the complete set of drills provides the player with the opportunity to field 150 balls in a ten minute window. Utilizing this drill five or six times a week will greatly improve a player's fielding abilities.
Bare Hand Roll (no glove)
- Place your glove in front of you on the ground
- Spread your feet shoulder width apart with your knees bent and your hands in front of you on the ground
- Roll the ball to your partner and focus on catching thrown ball with two hands
Bare Hand Short Hop (no glove)
- Place your glove in front of you on the ground
- Spread your feet shoulder width apart with your knees bent and your hands in front of you on the ground
- Throw short hops to your partner, making sure to catch each thrown ball with two hands
- Because no glove is being used, all throws should be softly thrown
Direct Short Hop
- Put on your glove
- Spread your feet shoulder width apart with your knees bent and your hands in front of you on the ground
- Throw short hops to your partner, making sure to catch each thrown ball with two hands
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Forehand Short Hop
- Turn to your forehand side with your front foot dropped back about six inches from parallel to your back foot
- This will allow for easier throws and balance when catching the short hops
- Position your glove near your back foot on the ground
- Throw short hops to your partner's forehand side, and use only one hand to catch each ball
- This simulates running to the forehand side and having to reach for a ball
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Backhand Short Hop
- Turn to your backhand side with your front foot dropped back about six inches from parallel to your back foot
- This will allow for easier throws and balance when catching the short hops
- Position your glove near your front foot on the ground
- Throw short hops to your partner's backhand side, and use only one hand to catch each ball
- This simulates running to the backhand side and having to reach for a ball
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Quick Catch Drill
- Spread your feet shoulder width apart with your knees slightly bent
- Place your glove out in front with your throwing hand nearby to help catch the ball and make for a quick transfer of the ball from the glove to your throwing hand
- Throw the ball back and forth as quickly as possible to improve hand quickness
