Saturday, August 20, 2005
Fielding Cone Drills
By: Jerry Kreber, Omaha Central High
Assistant Baseball Coach, Associate Scout Cleveland Indians
Our program has incorporated the following drills to engage players in situations that promote agility and lateral movement. Since these drills are not traditional, they really help break practice up from the customary routine of fielding balls off the fungo. Our infielders get very excited about doing these drills and often participate in competition against one another.
Objective: To promote infielder’s speed and quickness while staying in good fielding positions at all times.
Materials: 20 Baseballs
5 Orange Cones
Baseball Glove
Procedure: The cone drills will be divided up into 3 different stations. They will be illustrated and listed below.
Station I
3X 2X
5X
4X P 1X
C
X= Cones
P= Players
C= Coach
Set Up: Space cones about 15 feet apart
The coach, on a knee, will be stationed directly in front of the player with a bucket of baseballs. On the coach’s command, the player will take off toward cone #1. At cone #1, the coach will flip the player a ball asking him to swipe the tag, while straddling the cone. After swiping the tag, the player drops the ball outside the square. The coach then says,” Drop step!” The players instantly drop steps toward cone #2. The coach throws a over the shoulder pop up to the player. After catching the pop-up, the player discards the ball outside the square. Then, the coach will say,” Backhand!” and the player shuffles to cone #3 and fields a backhand rolled by the coach. Again, the player discards the ball outside the square. The coach will then say,” Slow roller!” and the player will sprint toward cone #4. The coach will roll a soft grounder to the player. Again, the player discards the ball outside the square. After fielding the slow roller, the coach will say,” Tag!” and the player will shuffle to cone #5 to swipe the final tag. This drill should be done quickly to keep the flow moving. The coach should challenge his players conditioning and stamina by increasing the speed of the drill each time the player goes through the cycle.
1X= Tag
2X= Over Shoulder Catch
3X= Backhand
4X= Slow Roller
5X= Tag
Station II
2X
P
3X 1X
C
X= Cones
P= Players
C= Coach
Set Up: Space cones about 15 feet apart
In the triangle drill the coach, on a knee, will be stationed directly in front of the player with a bucket of baseballs. On the coach’s command, the player will take off toward cone #1. At cone #1, the coach will roll a groundball asking the fielder to make a diagonal cut at the ball. For safety, the player should discard the ball outside the triangle. After fielding the groundball, the fielder will sprint to cone #2 and receive a short hop. The player will field the short hop and swipe a tag, while straddling the cone. Again, the player discards the ball outside the triangle. Finally, the fielder will sprint toward cone #3 and catch a shallow pop up thrown by the coach. The throw should really challenge the fielder to stretch out in front of their body and make the catch.
1X= Diagonal Cut
2X= Short Hop with Tag
3X= Shallow Pop Up
Station III
P
1X 2X 3X
C
X= Cones
P= Players
C= Coach
Set Up: Space cones about 8 feet apart
During the line drill the coach, on a knee, will be stationed directly in front of the player with a bucket of baseballs. The coach will start by rolling a ground ball outside of cone #1. The player will field the ball and discard it outside the playing space. The player will sprint back to starting spot and field ball between cone #1 and 2. He player will repeat process until they have worked their way throughout all the cones. The last ground ball should be fielded outside of cone #3. Again, this drill should be done quickly to keep the flow moving. The coach should challenge his players conditioning and stamina by increase the speed of the drill each time the player goes through the cycle.
By: Jerry Kreber, Omaha Central High
Assistant Baseball Coach, Associate Scout Cleveland Indians
Our program has incorporated the following drills to engage players in situations that promote agility and lateral movement. Since these drills are not traditional, they really help break practice up from the customary routine of fielding balls off the fungo. Our infielders get very excited about doing these drills and often participate in competition against one another.
Objective: To promote infielder’s speed and quickness while staying in good fielding positions at all times.
Materials: 20 Baseballs
5 Orange Cones
Baseball Glove
Procedure: The cone drills will be divided up into 3 different stations. They will be illustrated and listed below.
Station I
3X 2X
5X
4X P 1X
C
X= Cones
P= Players
C= Coach
Set Up: Space cones about 15 feet apart
The coach, on a knee, will be stationed directly in front of the player with a bucket of baseballs. On the coach’s command, the player will take off toward cone #1. At cone #1, the coach will flip the player a ball asking him to swipe the tag, while straddling the cone. After swiping the tag, the player drops the ball outside the square. The coach then says,” Drop step!” The players instantly drop steps toward cone #2. The coach throws a over the shoulder pop up to the player. After catching the pop-up, the player discards the ball outside the square. Then, the coach will say,” Backhand!” and the player shuffles to cone #3 and fields a backhand rolled by the coach. Again, the player discards the ball outside the square. The coach will then say,” Slow roller!” and the player will sprint toward cone #4. The coach will roll a soft grounder to the player. Again, the player discards the ball outside the square. After fielding the slow roller, the coach will say,” Tag!” and the player will shuffle to cone #5 to swipe the final tag. This drill should be done quickly to keep the flow moving. The coach should challenge his players conditioning and stamina by increasing the speed of the drill each time the player goes through the cycle.
1X= Tag
2X= Over Shoulder Catch
3X= Backhand
4X= Slow Roller
5X= Tag
Station II
2X
P
3X 1X
C
X= Cones
P= Players
C= Coach
Set Up: Space cones about 15 feet apart
In the triangle drill the coach, on a knee, will be stationed directly in front of the player with a bucket of baseballs. On the coach’s command, the player will take off toward cone #1. At cone #1, the coach will roll a groundball asking the fielder to make a diagonal cut at the ball. For safety, the player should discard the ball outside the triangle. After fielding the groundball, the fielder will sprint to cone #2 and receive a short hop. The player will field the short hop and swipe a tag, while straddling the cone. Again, the player discards the ball outside the triangle. Finally, the fielder will sprint toward cone #3 and catch a shallow pop up thrown by the coach. The throw should really challenge the fielder to stretch out in front of their body and make the catch.
1X= Diagonal Cut
2X= Short Hop with Tag
3X= Shallow Pop Up
Station III
P
1X 2X 3X
C
X= Cones
P= Players
C= Coach
Set Up: Space cones about 8 feet apart
During the line drill the coach, on a knee, will be stationed directly in front of the player with a bucket of baseballs. The coach will start by rolling a ground ball outside of cone #1. The player will field the ball and discard it outside the playing space. The player will sprint back to starting spot and field ball between cone #1 and 2. He player will repeat process until they have worked their way throughout all the cones. The last ground ball should be fielded outside of cone #3. Again, this drill should be done quickly to keep the flow moving. The coach should challenge his players conditioning and stamina by increase the speed of the drill each time the player goes through the cycle.
