halskinner
Banned
- May 7, 2008
- 2,642
- 0
Infield defense drill
Way back in the stone age, back when my team won the A nationals, we had a very inventive coach. He was a high school football coach so we were fortunate to be able to have access to the schools gymnasium to practice indoors during the winter.
That coach came up with some drills that we had a blast doing and it helped make our teams reaction time as close to that of a superhero as a human could get. One of the defense drills was done with a ‘Mini-tramp’, the 3 foot diameter trampolines.
We would kick off our tennis shoes and get on the trampoline with our glove on. The coach would be back from us I believe about 40 feet or so. We would be bouncing from our left foot to our right, back and forth. The coach had a tennis raquet and a bucket of tennis balls. One of the guys would be standing 6 or 7 feet frowm the coach with his glove on.
The coach would fire the tennis balls at us as we were bouncing back and forth. We would catch the ball and throw it back to the other guy WITHOUT BREAKING STRIDE. He would go through a bucket, 25 or 30 balls, kind of slowly the first round, piece of cake. He gave zero time in between hitting the balls.
The next round, he hit them faster. The third round, they were bullet fast and you better react fast as lightning or you went home with some welts or on occasion, sore Cajones!
Everybody would bring old small mattresses, old bean bag chairs, ANYTHING that we could scatter around the trampoline as you would misstep now and then and fall away from it. All that stuff cushioned you if you fell.
This drill greatly increased our hand to eye coordination, our balance and our reaction times in fielding and throwing thew ball while on the move..
We would start practicing doing the regular stuff and ending the nights session with that drill. The coach also had a restored jukebox there blasting 50’s and 60’s Rock and Roll as a distraction too. That was cool with me. The rest of the team were playing catch and picking on you trying to get you to laugh and break your concentration so you would take a hit to the gut!
At the first tourney of the year, always the same one the first weekend of March we never lost. We had been working out indoors, outside when it was dry enough. We had to assume the other teams practiced a few times prior to that weekend. It showed on the field.
If you have some area that will work for this drill, your team will enjoy it and watch how quick their reaction times get.
Be sure and have cushiony stuff scattered about as they will fall now and then in the effort. If a hit ball is just way out beyond reach, try for it if it id catchable at all.
Catching the ball and getting rid of it has to be quickly and accurately thrown too. I needs to be thrown like you are throwing out someone at first base.
Oh yeah, by the end of that third round, you WILL be sweating!
Way back in the stone age, back when my team won the A nationals, we had a very inventive coach. He was a high school football coach so we were fortunate to be able to have access to the schools gymnasium to practice indoors during the winter.
That coach came up with some drills that we had a blast doing and it helped make our teams reaction time as close to that of a superhero as a human could get. One of the defense drills was done with a ‘Mini-tramp’, the 3 foot diameter trampolines.
We would kick off our tennis shoes and get on the trampoline with our glove on. The coach would be back from us I believe about 40 feet or so. We would be bouncing from our left foot to our right, back and forth. The coach had a tennis raquet and a bucket of tennis balls. One of the guys would be standing 6 or 7 feet frowm the coach with his glove on.
The coach would fire the tennis balls at us as we were bouncing back and forth. We would catch the ball and throw it back to the other guy WITHOUT BREAKING STRIDE. He would go through a bucket, 25 or 30 balls, kind of slowly the first round, piece of cake. He gave zero time in between hitting the balls.
The next round, he hit them faster. The third round, they were bullet fast and you better react fast as lightning or you went home with some welts or on occasion, sore Cajones!
Everybody would bring old small mattresses, old bean bag chairs, ANYTHING that we could scatter around the trampoline as you would misstep now and then and fall away from it. All that stuff cushioned you if you fell.
This drill greatly increased our hand to eye coordination, our balance and our reaction times in fielding and throwing thew ball while on the move..
We would start practicing doing the regular stuff and ending the nights session with that drill. The coach also had a restored jukebox there blasting 50’s and 60’s Rock and Roll as a distraction too. That was cool with me. The rest of the team were playing catch and picking on you trying to get you to laugh and break your concentration so you would take a hit to the gut!
At the first tourney of the year, always the same one the first weekend of March we never lost. We had been working out indoors, outside when it was dry enough. We had to assume the other teams practiced a few times prior to that weekend. It showed on the field.
If you have some area that will work for this drill, your team will enjoy it and watch how quick their reaction times get.
Be sure and have cushiony stuff scattered about as they will fall now and then in the effort. If a hit ball is just way out beyond reach, try for it if it id catchable at all.
Catching the ball and getting rid of it has to be quickly and accurately thrown too. I needs to be thrown like you are throwing out someone at first base.
Oh yeah, by the end of that third round, you WILL be sweating!
