Favorite Advanced Baseball Drills
Because I know I will forget:
1. Separating the feet -- slight back bend, small step, separation of both feet simultaneously when pitcher is at ear
2. Field -- wide base; hand out front far; see ball and glove in same view
3. Funnel -- soft hands/separate thumbs down/hand will be behind ball at release
4. Footwork -- generally, right to left, left to target (no cross-over, except on hard forehand play)
5. Fire & Follow -- momentum throwing with 3 cones to practice
6. Routine backhand drill -- stop ball with right foot/extend & turn over glove/put extended hand in front of right foot
7. Wide base drill -- hands and glove out front far; base wider than normal
8. Knee drill -- field/funnel/discard -- alternate backhand and forehand
9. 10 different types of plays you have to make
a. Grounder right at you -- get to right side of ball
b. Slower grounder -- play at left foot or outside left foot
c. Very slow grounder -- field off left foot, keep momentum, throw when land on right foot
d. Routine backhand
e. Routine forehand
f. Hard forehand -- use cross over to adjust momentum
Hard backhand
g. Pop fly over head
h. Pop fly in front
i. Pop fly near fences
h. Double play
10. Underhand flip drill
11. Double-play staying low
12. Picks at first base & High throws to first
13. Houston drill to unload double play turn
14. Moon drill for outfielders
15. Drop step drills for fly balls
16. Quick feet drills
17. Quick hands drills
18. Harv Dorfman -- Mental Keys to Hitting
19. Anthony Robles -- 1-leg NCAA champion wrestler
20. Got it/take it -- outfield drill
21. Sliding catches -- throw straight at them
22. Use flat glove drill
23. Count hops (for earlier ages)
24. Pitcher covering first
25. Pitcher holding runners & pickoffs
26. Cut drills -- turn proper way
27. Run downs, shortening the distance
28. Bobblehead drill -- run on balls of feet
29. Houston drill -- Astros -- speed up hands for double play. Good rhythm, different arm angles, good feed, bad feed -- rapid fire -- try to hit in belly
30. Stop the ball drill -- ball in left hand (no glove), catch another ball thrown separately. Don't close -- just in palm
31. Short hops
32. Catcher throws to 2nd base -- from the catch and throw stance, have your catcher move his left knee and left shoulder forward, under control, just before the pitch arrives at the mitt. Insist that they both move together at the same moment. Then when the ball hits the mitt, the right foot is moved quickly forward, in line with the center of home plate, with the stride left foot landing just short of it.