As we surely enter the off season for youth baseball, it is time to focus our efforts on coming back stronger and better in the upcoming season. To keep growing and improving in baseball, it is essential to work on performance all year round. As the common motto states, “Champions are made in the off season.”

If your goal is to be a champion, to beat all your other competitors, then you have to be better than them. To be better than your opponent, you must come better prepared. If you are waiting for the season to get prepared, you’re preparing too late. There’s a philosophical mindset that tells us, “The more you sweat in times of peace, the less you bleed in times of war.” This mindset encourages preparing for the “war,” or season, before you need the skills to overcome your opponents.

While training all year round can...

Batting Drill - Hitting to all Fields

Purpose:  Working on bat control and hitting the ball where it’s pitched.

Drill Set-Up: The field will need to be set up for batting practice with a screen protecting the BP pitcher. Place cones halfway between first and second base, as well as between second and third base. You will need a bucket of baseballs for the pitcher.

The Drill: Each batter will get twelve pitches in this drill. The first four should be hit to the right field side of the cone between first and second. The next four should be hit up the middle between the two cones. The last four swings should be hit down the left field line. The BP pitcher should be trying to help the batter by throwing pitches that can be hit in the proper direction.

Make it a Game: To make this...

Experienced youth baseball coaches know just how important the fundamentals of a hitter's swing are. From beginning to end, all the stars have to be aligned in order to get that perfect hit. There are a number of aspects to the baseball swing, but here are five fundamentals, and the essential qualities you'll see in an excellent demonstration. 

1. Stance:  This is where it all starts. Your player's stance should be square, relaxed and at a proper angle to the plate. Weight should be evenly distributed between the feet, the toes should be pointed very slightly inward and knees should be bent. Be sure the player is facing just a tad forward.
2. Grip:  Here, look for players who have a death grip on the bat. Ideally, the bat will be held lightly among the fingers, not squeezed by the hitter's palms. The hands should...

Anyone who's played baseball knows that there's a lot more to the game than just trying to hit a ball. It's hard for a lot of people to conceive how this could be possible considering there aren't many opportunities to run plays in baseball like you can in football and basketball. While that may be the case most of the time, the game gets a lot more complicated with runners on the bases.

The most complex of all situations in baseball comes when there are runners on first base and third base. If the player on first takes off for second and the catcher attempts to throw him out, the runner on third has an open window to steal home. Because of that, the defense needs to be creative in ultimately preventing the run from scoring without giving away free bases. Here are some...

Place different colored baseballs in a bucket on the pitcher’s mound and choose a player to practice hitting.  Without the batter seeing the color of the ball, have the pitcher select a ball from the bucket.  Then, have the pitcher shout out a color and throw the ball.  If the color of the ball matches the color the pitcher called, then the batter is free to hit the ball if it is in the strike zone.  If the color of the baseball does not match the color called by the pitcher, the batter should not swing.  Alternate hitters and pitchers throughout the game.  The drill will focus on the reaction time of the batter to help improve his hitting game.

Have a batting drill you want to share? 

Divide your players into two teams.  One team stands between first and second base and the other team between second and third base.  Draw a line in the dirt that the players are not allowed to cross.  Set up a large bucket, upside down, on home plate and place a batting helmet on top of the bucket.  Alternate throwing ground balls and pop flies to a person on each team.  When it is the player’s turn, they will field the ball and proceed to throw the ball at the target (the helmet).  If the player hits the batting helmet but it does not fall off of the bucket, the team receives one point.  If the player hits the bucket and the helmet falls off, the team receives two points.  The team receives three points if the player hits the helmet and it falls off of the...

Place players in the baseball field in various positions throughout the exercise to see which players works best in which position.  Choose a player to hit and set up the batting tee to the player’s swinging height.  As the coach, you will analyze each player’s batting swing and provide feedback to help improve the player’s hitting game.  Or, you may adjust the height of the tee at the top of the strike zone and have the player focus on hitting a line drive, which will cause the player to stay on top of the ball and not allow the player to drop his hands on the bat when swinging.

Have a drill you want to share?  

Drill Set Up: Divide the team up; one player on First Base, half the players will line up at the short stop position, and the rest of the players will line up at home plate.

The players at home are the "slow grounders".  Each have a ball.

The Drill: Roll slow grounders to fielder (at shortstop) who run to field ball and throw to the 1st Baseman.

After throwing to 1st Base, the fielder runs to end of line at home plate (slow grounders).

Once the "slow grounders" have rolled the ball, they go to fielder line (short stop) after rolling.

Coaching:  This drills is to teach the fielders to move toward the ball and not wait on the ball.  Grounders come at all different speed, and the slow grounders can be as difficult to throw out as the hard hit one.

Challenge: How many consecutive outs can the team...

Drill Set Up: Position the player holding the bat and kneel behind him.

The Drill: While kneeling from behind the player, lightly toss the ball through the hitting zone. The player should catch up to the ball & hit it.  It is important the the batter continue to use proper batting technique during this drill. 

This batting drills help improves bat speed & batting accuracy.

For increased difficulty, gradually increase the speed of the toss.

Proper Swing Motion

• Load and transfer -Begin the swing with a little to no step toward the pitcher. Do not pick the foot up high. It’s a very subtle lift and move forward.

• The stance should remain closed –do not step out towards third.

• Throw hands toward the ball, bringing bat through the hitting zone to hit the ball.

• Squash the bug. As the hands come through, turn hips at the same time. The player should turn on the ball of back foot. Squashing the bug

• Eyes should remain on the ball through impact.

• Proper stance and swing should be balanced.

There are steady progression when learning to throw and catch a baseball.  One of those steps is learning to throw the ball to another player. All little kids seem to be Nolan Ryan when they are throwing to dad, but dad is a big targer and a great catcher.   Young ball players must learn to throw the ball to a player their own size.  The same goes for catching. Youth players must learn and practice catching a ball from another player.  The following drill is a simple drill that will teach young players to throw and catch. 

The more players can throw to other players the quicker they will be ready for game day.

Drill Set Up:  Team players with similar talent with each other.  Have the players start at distances which they can be successful. 10 feet away is a good starting point.

The Drill: 

• The players will start by throwing to...

 Side to Side Grounder Drills - Plays at First

• Have one player at a time move into the 2nd base position

• Have a player stand on 1st base.

• Hit the balls left and right of the player on second to make him move to get in front of the ball.

• The player should field the ball and make throw toward 1st base.

• Emphasize the importance of moving to get in front of the ball instead of reaching out with the glove.

Teaching young kids baseball drills requires a special touch. You have to make it fun and beneficial all at once, which can be tricky. Luckily Youth Baseball Drills are designed for the very purpose of teaching baseball fundamentals to kids ages 8 and up. Because the drills are fun and easy to teach, young kids are sure to benefit in more ways than one. And you'll have a ball coaching on the pitch, too, which makes the whole situation more enjoyable for everyone involved.

Those who need a helping hand in coaching youth baseball can find the help they need with Youth Baseball Plans. Youth Baseball Plans has youth baseball, drills, coach's boards, pop-up goals, base sets, catcher's gear, and 8 foot portable goals. There is plenty to choose from to handle all of your youth baseball needs when you visit the website at www.youthbaseballplans.com. Coaching youth baseball will become more fun to coach, and will provide you with all the help you need.