Running a Successful Indoor Team Practice

Diana Pepin and her staff let the camera roll during this live, indoor practice. This entire practice takes place inside their campus gymnasium and includes the team drills you need to keep your players occupied and focused on the fundamentals when working indoors.

Dynamic Stretching
The Warriors' dynamic stretching program readies the muscles for the explosive movements of a softball practice. The warm-up ends with form running and acceleration drills.

Baserunning
See how to train your base runners to read the ball (or the pitcher) on tag-ups, running on contact and on a straight steal - all with a conditioning element attached to it.

Swing Mechanics
These team hitting drills train the basic fundamentals of the swing. Areas of concentration include stance, the heel plant, hips, staying long through the swing and head position.

Ground Ball Work
Pepin breaks her team into three groups to simultaneously work on their defensive fundamentals. The infielders work on short hops, tosses, and tags while the outfielders work on playing through a fly ball and drop steps. The catchers are working on framing pitches, blocking the ball and coming out of a stance to scoop the ball and throw to a bag.

Throwing Series
The throwing series has the entire team working on long, lofted throws to work on stretching their arms and developing good rotation on the ball. The program also works on receiving the ball. The players must catch the ball simulating a force play, tag play or cut-off position to work on their footwork. Additional drills work on quick glove-to-throw exchanges, throwing on the run and rundown throws.

Infield & Outfield Drills
These high rep infield drills focus on fielding ground balls, throwing to bases, turning double plays, and executing bunt defense. The outfield drills consist of catching on the run, working on drop steps, fielding ground balls and fly balls, and a good conditioning drill called the flying falcon.

Team Defense
Coach Pepin then takes the team defense through a series of game situations using live runners with a coach hitting or bunting.

Practice concludes with the Warriors' running through their pre-game warm-up.

This DVD is a must for any coach looking for ways to improve practice, get in a high number of reps, keep as many players as possible involved and active, and make the most of their indoor practice space!

92 minutes. 2011.