Baserunning: Drills and Skills to Keep Practice Engagement
"Tell me and I forget, Teach me and I remember, Involve me and I learn." - Ben Franklin
In last week's blog I went over baserunning leads and dirt ball reads. I also went over the aggressive mentality that a base-runner must have. This week, I will go over three drills that will be helpful for you to bring to your practices that will keep your student-athletes engaged and there will be no wasted practice and instruction time. A practice that has wasted time and instruction time is a practice where horseplay and injury can occur. Both horseplay and injury are two things we do not want to have as coaches.
Drill 1: Tagging Up Drill (https://coachesinsider.com/baseball/videos-baseball/tagging-up-andy-lopez-univ-of-az-video/)
Last week I didn't cover tagging up. Tagging up is a play where a base-runner can take the extra base on a caught fly ball. This play can also catch an outfielder off guard. If an unsuspecting outfielder just nonchalantly catches a fly ball and the base-runner tags up and goes to the extra base, the outfielder will have to speed his reaction up, which could cause an errant throw. An errant throw could cause the base-runner to take two extra bases or, even go home and score, depending on how poor the throw is.
What I like about this drill, is that everyone on the baseball field is being involved. The players who are waiting, are resting and catching their breath, but they are also watching each other and learning from each other. In this instance, Yogi Berra was right, "You can observe a lot by watching."
When teaching the skill of tagging up there are four points that the base-runner must keep in mind. The first point is to be in an athletic stance. Think of this kind of athletic stance as being in a running stance. The second point is for the base-runner to be tagging up on the correct part of each base. At first base the base-runner must have his right foot on the edge closest to the outfield. At second base, the base-runner must have his right foot on the infield side of second base to run in a straight line to third base. At third base, the base-runner must have the right foot on the third base dugout side of third base. The third point is that the base-runner must have the chest pointed at wherever the ball is put in play at. If the chest is not pointed at where the ball was put in play, then there is no way for that base-runner to judge the fly ball. As coaches we don't want our base-runners to have any hesitation if they are going to advance to the next base. The fourth and final point is for the base-runners to descend down into the above mentioned runners stance, so that the base-runner can have his momentum going forward to the next base.
Drill 2: Four Corner Baserunning Drill (https://coachesinsider.com/baseball/videos-baseball/4-corner-baserunning-drill-jim-schlossnagle-tx-christian-univ-video/)
The next drill can be used during batting practice. You will have four groups. The first group is at home plate working on the hit and run play, after contact the batter-runner must run through or make a turn at first base. The first base coach will be timing the batter-runner's time from home to first base. After the batter-runner touches first base, the first base coach tells the batter-runner his time. The base-runner on first base, is practicing his leads and jumps on stealing second base. To make this more game like for the base-runner on first, have the BP thrower practice holding the runner. The BP thrower could even have a mock throw over to first base so the base-runner at first can practice his head-first dive back to first base. The base-runner on first base can also practice stealing on the hit-and-run play. During this play, it is important for the base-runner to look at the third base-coach, to see if he can advance, or has to go back on a fly ball. It is important to practice this play in a quality fashion, because practice makes permanent.
The base-runner on second base is taking reads off of the bat of the hitter at home. The base-runner on second base must freeze on all line drives to make sure he doesn't get stuck into a double play. The base-runner on second base can advance on a ground ball on the 1st base side. The base-runner on second can advance to third on a ground ball hit on his left side. If the ball is hit on his right side, or third base side, then the base-runner must go back to second base. On a slow roller hit to the third baseman or shortstop, the base-runner can advance to third base. It is also important to practice jumps on deep fly balls hit to the left side of the base-runner at second. Practice is a great environment where base-runners can learn what they can and cannot do well, so they can continue to get better at their weaknesses. Another thing to keep in mind, is whenever the BP thrower has a mock throw over to first, the base-runner on second must practice either running back to second, or diving head first back to second base.
The base-runner at third base is practicing the contact play. The contact play means that any ball hit on the right side, the base-runner is going home. On fly balls, the base-runner on third base is finding the ball, opening his chest to point to where the ball is so he can see the play, and descending down with the ball to get into an athletic stance to go home. On a line drive, the base-runner at third is freezing and staying close to the base, he must make sure that the ball goes through the infield. You do not want to make a silly out at home. When the ball is hit at third, the base-runner must watch to see if he is looked at before the third baseman throws to first. If the third baseman doesn't look the base-runner back, then the base-runner at third must go home. If the third baseman does look the base-runner back, then the base-runner must go back to third base with less than two outs.
Drill 3: Everyday Base Running Drill (https://coachesinsider.com/baseball/videos-baseball/everyday-base-running-drills-ed-servais-creighton-univ-video/)
This last drill is perhaps my favorite of the the three drills mentioned. The reason being is because this drill can be done every day, and you get a lot of repetitions on practicing one specific aspect of baserunning. In addition to this, you can involve your catchers into this drill. They can get blocking and receiving practice in while your base-runners are getting base-running practice in as well. In addition to all of this, you can practice any baserunning situation with this drill as well.
In summation, each of these drills are excellent drills to use to give your players a ton of repetitions. The best way to learn what to do is through game-like repetitions. Like I stated above, practice makes permanent. So it is our jobs as coaches to first go step by step before using these drills to review and recap, so the players can recall and get prepared to practice each drill. It is also important for your coaches and you to not waste any opportunity to take a teaching moment.You must make this teaching moment short, simple, and concise so that you are not wasting any practice time. Each of these drills will improve practice engagement and make practice more fun for all involved.
The base-runner on second base is taking reads off of the bat of the hitter at home. The base-runner on second base must freeze on all line drives to make sure he doesn't get stuck into a double play. The base-runner on second base can advance on a ground ball on the 1st base side. The base-runner on second can advance to third on a ground ball hit on his left side. If the ball is hit on his right side, or third base side, then the base-runner must go back to second base. On a slow roller hit to the third baseman or shortstop, the base-runner can advance to third base. It is also important to practice jumps on deep fly balls hit to the left side of the base-runner at second. Practice is a great environment where base-runners can learn what they can and cannot do well, so they can continue to get better at their weaknesses. Another thing to keep in mind, is whenever the BP thrower has a mock throw over to first, the base-runner on second must practice either running back to second, or diving head first back to second base.
The base-runner at third base is practicing the contact play. The contact play means that any ball hit on the right side, the base-runner is going home. On fly balls, the base-runner on third base is finding the ball, opening his chest to point to where the ball is so he can see the play, and descending down with the ball to get into an athletic stance to go home. On a line drive, the base-runner at third is freezing and staying close to the base, he must make sure that the ball goes through the infield. You do not want to make a silly out at home. When the ball is hit at third, the base-runner must watch to see if he is looked at before the third baseman throws to first. If the third baseman doesn't look the base-runner back, then the base-runner at third must go home. If the third baseman does look the base-runner back, then the base-runner must go back to third base with less than two outs.
Drill 3: Everyday Base Running Drill (https://coachesinsider.com/baseball/videos-baseball/everyday-base-running-drills-ed-servais-creighton-univ-video/)
This last drill is perhaps my favorite of the the three drills mentioned. The reason being is because this drill can be done every day, and you get a lot of repetitions on practicing one specific aspect of baserunning. In addition to this, you can involve your catchers into this drill. They can get blocking and receiving practice in while your base-runners are getting base-running practice in as well. In addition to all of this, you can practice any baserunning situation with this drill as well.
In summation, each of these drills are excellent drills to use to give your players a ton of repetitions. The best way to learn what to do is through game-like repetitions. Like I stated above, practice makes permanent. So it is our jobs as coaches to first go step by step before using these drills to review and recap, so the players can recall and get prepared to practice each drill. It is also important for your coaches and you to not waste any opportunity to take a teaching moment.You must make this teaching moment short, simple, and concise so that you are not wasting any practice time. Each of these drills will improve practice engagement and make practice more fun for all involved.
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