35 Competitive Drills to Build a Complete Infielder

with Shonda Stanton,
Indiana University Head Coach;
2023 ATEC/NFCA Midwest Region Staff of the Year;
2023 was Indiana's first 40+ win season since 1994;
Marshall University Head Coach from 1999 to 2017;
winningest coach in Marshall softball history;
2x Conference Champions;
2017 Conference USA Regular Season Champions;
2017 Conference USA Coach of the Year;
2017 Conference USA Staff of the Year;
2013 Conference USA Tournament Champions;
4x Conference champions;
Akron Racers (National Pro Fastpitch League) Head Coach in 2007, 2008;
IUPUI Head Coach from 1998 to 1999;
Ashland University GA from 1997 to 1998;
1998 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Coaching Staff of the Year;
played professionally in Women's ASA Fastpitch Summerball for Chet Smith Lady All-Stars and Buckeye Slammers;
1994 Class B National Champions;
played college softball at UNC Greensboro

Good infielders are athletic, can move quickly, and are able to make difficult plays look easy. Coach Shonda Stanton brings you a fully comprehensive instructional video filled with over 35 innovative drills to make your athletes better infielders.

Teaching footwork to go along with glove work is a necessity to quality infield play. Working from the ground up, Coach Stanton isolates the hands and feet before putting it all together and drilling the full skill, which leads to the finished product: a complete, athletic infielder capable of making every play.

Mechanics of Fielding a Ground Ball

Coach Stanton takes you through what to look for in your players when they field a ground ball:

• Good footwork
• Smooth and quick hands
• Good posture (chest forward, butt out, create a hinge with wrist and elbow)
• Transfer ball at mid-line

She emphasizes the four key points above during each drill. You'll also see her team run through an assortment of drills to drive the key components of sound mechanics.

Glove Work and Footwork

Footwork and glove work are necessities to getting outs. Learn from Coach Stanton the pre-pitch movement to put your body in a good fielding position to make a play quicker. She cover six drills to isolate the footwork necessary to get to balls hit to all sides of a player, as well as 15 drills for hands and glove work.

In one drill, Coach Stanton sets out hula-hoops that her players have to step in to emphasize the need to gain ground on their first steps. The first steps are the most important, as you cannot make up for a poor start to a ball.

Infield Fundamental Drills

Putting it all together, Coach Stanton offers 19 infield drills she uses to develop athletic fielders. She progresses her drills from working with a stationary ball, to rolling, and finally fungo fielding. Teach your players several key pieces to being an athletic infielder, including:

• How to make plays and field a ball while moving
• How to react quicker
• How to transfer the ball faster

At the end of the video, Coach Stanton gives an assortment of drills that puts everything together for the athlete. The Scramble Drill has base runners and infielders competing against each other. It incorporates fielding, throwing and tagging runners out as well as slides for the runners.

You can't make an out unless you field the ball first! Coach Stanton gives you over 35 drills to help even the newest infielders develop into great players. Mastering the skills in this video will help your players become complete infielders.

80 minutes. 2017.