Teaching the Game: Fielding Skills and Drills for Youth Baseball

Iowa Western Community College Head Coach Marc Rardin shares some of his favorite drills to help youth baseball players become more efficient in the field.

Coach Rardin runs players through numerous drills that work on breakdowns, recovery, feel, fielding stance and more. Rardin's unique practice perspective focuses on cutting dead time and packing as much drill time into two hours as possible. Your practice sessions will become more productive and efficient.

In the "Four Corners" drill, players warm up their bodies and arms while working on essential throwing and catching fundamentals. This drill shows players how to use body momentum to produce crisp, efficient throws, underhand tosses and backhand tosses. As players warm up, the distance of the throws increases and variations are added to the drill. These adjustments keep players engaged while playing a better game of catch.

Other drills in the presentation include:

• Man in the Middle-Prepares players to throw the ball before they receive it, ensuring a quick release.
• Approaching Ground Balls-A great fundamental drill for getting players in position to field ground balls and for increasing their fielding "surface."
• And more...

Throughout the presentation, Coach Rardin shares nuggets of baseball wisdom that will help you run better practices and improve your team athletic ability. Running practice on your own? Learn how to run drills using cones as "assistant coaches." Get simple tips for overcoming errant throws that will keep drills moving and maximize practice time. Discover how small adjustments can improve players' chances of fielding the ball cleanly.

Coach Rardin fills each drill with teaching points, cue words and baseball wisdom. Each drill is demonstrated by a 12-year-old player.

Coach Rardin's practice drills will help your youth players improve their fundamentals and get in as much training as they can during every practice. If you're organized and ready to coach a practice, your players will know it and will respond!

55 minutes. 2014.