"Base Running" Drill

This drill comes from Cheryl Marsh our December 2002 Drill of the Month Winner.

This drill has been successful for my 8 and 9 year old little league baseball team. The kids love this drill and always ask if we can play it during practice sessions.

Divide your team in half. Half of the team lines up at home plate and half line up at second base. Give the first player in each line a baseball. When the coach says "go", the first players take off to round the bases and return to the base they started from (either home plate or second base.) They pass the ball to the next player in their line. Each player must touch the bases as they run, or they must go back and touch the missed base before they can proceed. As each player completes his/her turn, they sit down in their line. The first team to all be sitting down wins.

This drill teaches good base running skills. It promotes fast base running and makes sure the runners touch all the bases. Each team works together and they actually do communicate with each other during the drill. Coaches must try to "even out" the teams, as far as running abilities are concerned. We let the kids figure out the order of runners (who will be first, last, etc.) It helps to have coaches/parents on each base to check that all runners touch the bases.

This drill is fun and competitive. This age level seems to love this competition drill.