Tag Archives: baseball defense

Pre-Game Infield/Outfield Routine

In an earlier post,  I described the importance of a good, intense, well-rounded pre-game routine. In that post, I alluded to our routine.  That link is listed here:

https://coach5150.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/polish-pre-game-ideas-on-how-to-design-a-great-pre-game-routine/

Below you will see a 14 step pre-game routine that we use.  It can be modified hundreds of ways to fit your needs.  In order to run it correctly, you will need two coaches hitting fungoes.  If you don’t have an assistant coach, I would recommend a very reliable reserve player or team manager.  The goal of this routine is to allow as many players as possible to get as many quality touches of the baseball in a short amount of time. 

The first few times your team will go through a routine like this one it will take 20 -25 minutes.  That may seem long but, with familiarity, that time will be reduced down to 12-15 minutes.  Every player will get a variety of game-like plays to practice.  This routine can also be used in an extended version at practices. 

 

 

I’m sure that others have similar routines. If you have some variations or some suggestions how to make this better, please leave a comment.

Infield Pop-up Responsibility

There is nothing worse than when two or even three players are standing in the same area and a pop fly drops between them.  It is so demoralizing for a team. It can change the momentum of a game.  Outs are precious.  The defense can’t give them away.  This unfortunate event is typically the result of  one or more of the following three things:

  1. Lack of communication
  2. Lack of knowledge of responsibility
  3. Lack of leadership on the field

  • A pop-up on the infield is the responsibility of all infielders until someone takes charge
  • You can never yell too loud
  • It’s OK to call “Ball” too early; never too late
  • On pop-ups bordering two zones, the player further away from home plate trumps
    • Outfielders trump 2B & SS
    • SS trumps 3B
    • 2B trumps 1B
    • 3B & 1B trump C
  • P should only have to field pop-ups on the front of the mound area
  • P should direct traffic by calling the name of the player in the best position to catch the ball