Indoor Practice Plan
Duration- 93 minutes
Recommended for ages 13-18 or advanced 10-12 year olds.
Focus:
Defense- advanced ground ball mechanics
Offense- hand/barrel path and creating power using the lower half
8 minutes- Team dynamic stretching routine
Defensive Focus
5 mins- Everydays (barehand and glove)
15 mins- 4 stations (2 at a time) (3 minutes each station with transition time)
1. flamingo drill
2. 5 cone drill
3. big hop reads
4. bad hop drill (landmines)
15 mins- 3 stations (simultaneous) 4 mins each with transition time
1. Machine GB forehands
2. Machine GB backhands
3. Fungo GB (slow rollers and big hops)
5 mins- Flyballs (drop step left/right and reacting to short fly balls)
2 mins- waters and transition to hitting
Offense Focus
8 mins- Hit off tees (get loose and individual T work)
15 mins- 4 stations in 2 cages (simultaneous) 3 mins each station with transition time (hand and bat path)
1. Rapid fire drill
2. Slow stride and go drill
3. Split grip drill
4. Bucket bounce drill
15 mins- 3 stations in 2 cages (simultaneous) 4 minutes each station (lower half power)
1. Turn-hands back- Turn and go
2. Bosu ball swings
3. Pro velo bat or regular front toss
5 mins
Closer and wrap up/quick sign review/situational hitting review
The Why:
Defense:
Everydays- we use these every single day we are inside as the name suggests. We start with barehand on our knees, then use the glove on knees and finish with glove standing. We work 10 short hopped balls to the middle, 10 to the forehand and 10 to the backhand.
Flamingo drill- the flamingo drill is to help players with footwork in planting their throw side leg and getting that other foot down heel first to properly field a ground ball (GB).
5 cone drill- we use this drill to simulate approaching a ground ball from the right and fielding out in front.
Big hop reads- force a player to read the ball and get the short hop. Vary the hop heights on this drill to challenge players each time through. Players must field on 1 short hop.
Bad hop drill or landmines- Use a bunch of cones to simulate a bad hop and forces players to react to the ball taking an unexpected hop. it’s all about hand quickness and reaction time. Roll a ball into random cones to get different hops.
Forehand ground balls- force players to work on forehand mechanics.
Backhand ground balls- force players to work on backhand mechanics.
Fungo ground balls with varied hops- allow players to see the ball off a bat and react to different hops that the fungo hitters hits.
Fly ball drop steps- have players set up facing you and work on the drop step left and right to track fly balls over their head. They are to read and catch the ball. If they can stop and come back to the ball…that is ideal.
Offense:
Rapid fire drill- trains players to have quick hands and react to a ball in different parents of the strike zone with the end goal of barrel contact. To toss the ball too rapid here so players can not reset their swing. Stress finishing the swing. Players like to cut their swings short and that is a no no here.
Slow stride and go- slow stride, front foot down with a slight pause, then we unload the backside. This drill trains players to keep their hands back after foot plant in case it’s an off speed pitch. We can still hit that ball with power if our hands stay back.
Split grip- This drill emphasis not rolling over through contact. Players split their grip dramatically and focus on palm up palm down through the zone and not rolling over.
Bucket bounce drill- This drill forces players to react to the ball quickly as we bounce it off a bucket. They must get the barrel to the ball. The ball will bounce high, low and sometimes inside and outside. This is a great reaction drill and barrel recognition drill. Bounce a ball off a bucket top and the players hit the ball.
Turn-hands back- turn and go- This emphasis keeping the hands back as we start our lower half. We want the lower half to work first to generate more power in the swing. The lower half pulls the hands through the zone.
Bosu ball-Players set up on the decline of the Bosu ball and try to feel their weight shift into the ball and then explode out of the ball to get more backside into the swing. This helps them push down into the ball as well as we want to apply force into the ground with our back foot when we swing.
Pro Velocity bat- This drill help with layback and snapping the barrel through the zone. If you don’t get a good turn you will not hit the ball on the barrel of the pro velocity bat.
Thank you for your support and good luck this season!