Around the Horn
March 2008
By: Scott Moore
Fielding, throwing, conditioning, and hustle! This drill has it all! We start by positioning a player at home, one at first (on the base),
one at second (on the base), and the rest of the players lined up at third base, in the third base position. Two baseballs are used.
The coach starts the drill by hitting a ground ball to the first player up at third. He fields it, then makes a throw to the player at
second. As soon as he throws it, he has to sprint to second and the player in line behind him steps up into the position at third.
When the player at second catches the ball, he promptly fires it to first and sprints to first. The player at first catches the ball, fires it
home, then sprints to home. The player at home catches the ball and flips it to the coach, who by this time has already hit the second ball to
the next player in line. This is a very fast drill that requires/teaches the players to do the following:
- Field the ball at third.
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Make a good throw from all spots, with the emphasis being on accuracy, crispness of the throw, and getting the feet set.
Because they run after they field or catch the ball, many have a tendency to try and throw on the run, which is a no-no.
- Hustle! Players must hustle. As the coach hitting the ball, you control the speed of the drill—not the players. Make it fair but make them hustle.
- Teamwork. The players must work together to accomplish this drill. If one player falls off, then it can disrupt the entire drill.
- Conditioning. This is a “fun” way to get some conditioning in while accomplishing other goals.
We typically will set a goal of one or two successful rounds where we finish with the same player at home who started the drill at home. Any bad throw,
missed ball, etc., that disrupts the drill will cause the drill to start over again.
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