I have found a lot of benefit in the following drill. It is an infield warm-up drill and it serves a couple of purposes. At the beginning of the season, it helps me to assess my players’ skills. In addition, it is an excellent drill to hone their infield skills all season long.
Infield Warm-Up Drill (All ages)
Setup– a regular infield, all infield positions manned.
No runner is needed.
How this drill works:
In this exercise, the catcher throws to third, third throws to first, first throws to catcher.
The catcher then throws a short hard grounder to the shortstop to simulate a hit, shortstop throws to first, first throws to catcher.
The catcher throws to second, second throws to first, first throws to catcher.
Last but not least, the coach throws a grounder to simulate a bunt. Depending where it goes the pitcher and catcher should call it appropriately and make a throw to first.
The purpose of this exercise is to get the players to practice their most common infield throw. With young players, it will help the coach assess his players for their ability to throw with accuracy the needed distances of the infield.
You can rotate your players around to find the right match of player to position. This is typically a 15-30
minute exercise. Once you have your players warmed up, you add runners to the mix and work on strategy.