Hanson Little League Player Fundamentals and Drills Scott Sawtelle 3/1/2010 A special thanks to Mike Pakalnis of the Kingston Youth Baseball League who provided a vast majority of content, insight and ideas for the document. Table of Contents Hitting Fundamentals: ........................................................................................................ 4 Selecting a bat..................................................................................................................... 4 Getting in the box and batting stance.................................................................................. 4 The Swing ........................................................................................................................... 5 Teaching the language of hitting: ....................................................................................... 6 Hitting Drills....................................................................................................................... 6 Proper Stance ...................................................................................................................... 6 Pivot Foot............................................................................................................................ 6 Soft toss (from the side)...................................................................................................... 7 Tee-Work ............................................................................................................................ 8 Zoning a Pitch and Pitch Counts (Minors/Majors/Seniors, etc.) ........................................ 9 Be a patient and aggressive hitter (Minors, Majors, Seniors, etc.) ................................... 10 Quiet hands ....................................................................................................................... 10 Soft hands, fingertips and bat action................................................................................. 10 Bunting (Minors/Majors/Seniors, etc.) ............................................................................. 11 Base running Fundamentals:............................................................................................. 12 On The Bases ....................................................................................................................12 Run Through First Base (ONLY) ..................................................................................... 12 Ready to run position (Instructional, Pee Wee, Minors, Majors) ..................................... 13 Don’t watch the ball (Head on a swivel) .......................................................................... 14 Stay in the Base path......................................................................................................... 14 Force or No Force Play..................................................................................................... 14 Tagging Up ....................................................................................................................... 15 Rounding the bases ........................................................................................................... 15 Belly Out or Banana Turn................................................................................................. 16 Know the situation – how many outs?.............................................................................. 16 Sliding............................................................................................................................... 16 Secondary Leads ............................................................................................................... 17 Running Drills................................................................................................................... 17 Run Through First............................................................................................................. 17 Running the bases: ............................................................................................................ 17 Body and Mind Warm-up for Instructional level players................................................. 18 Run down, Pickle or “Monkey in the Middle” ................................................................. 18 Throwing Fundamentals:.................................................................................................. 18 The Grip............................................................................................................................ 18 Get to a throwing position................................................................................................. 19 Crow hop and throw.......................................................................................................... 19 The “Shuffle throw” or underhand flip............................................................................. 20 Hitting the cutoff............................................................................................................... 21 Advanced Throwing Concepts:......................................................................................... 21 Pivot (advanced) ............................................................................................................... 21 2 What NOT to do................................................................................................................ 21 Throwing Drills: ............................................................................................................... 22 Nose, Toes and Throws..................................................................................................... 22 Short toss to long toss ....................................................................................................... 22 Accuracy Counts............................................................................................................... 22 Hit My Mitt....................................................................................................................... 22 Around the Horn ............................................................................................................... 23 Cutoff drill ........................................................................................................................ 23 Fielding Fundamentals:.................................................................................................... 23 Ready position ..................................................................................................................23 Creep-in............................................................................................................................. 24 Ground balls...................................................................................................................... 24 Backhanding a Ground ball .............................................................................................. 25 Bare hand a ball that is stationary..................................................................................... 26 Double Play Depth............................................................................................................ 26 Double plays (Shortstop) .................................................................................................. 26 Double plays (Second Base) ............................................................................................. 27 Pop ups - Call it Up........................................................................................................... 27 Fly balls and pop-ups........................................................................................................ 28 Fielding Drills: ................................................................................................................. 28 Roll Drill ........................................................................................................................... 28 Infield/outfield practice..................................................................................................... 28 Starting Right.................................................................................................................... 29 Fly balls – “Call it” ...........................................................................................................29 Circle of Doom ................................................................................................................. 29 Double play flip drill......................................................................................................... 30 Outfield Drills:.................................................................................................................. 30 Over-the-Shoulder Football Drill...................................................................................... 30 Athletic Plays Drill – ESPN Hi-Lights ............................................................................. 30 Live Fly Balls.................................................................................................................... 31 Live Ground balls ............................................................................................................. 31 Catching Fundamentals:................................................................................................... 31 Catcher’s Stance:.............................................................................................................