Day 6 - Practice Plan

The daily, step-by-step development of the batting swing and pitching delivery continues. We get in more training on Ball, Base, Back-up, while working in ground ball and fly ball work.

The first five days involved working on the various skills involved in executing the Relay to Home play. Today those pieces are put together to practice that play on the full field.

0:00-0:15       

Skill Building Warm-up

  1.   6-1 w/LF Back-up

  2.   Toss - Angle In

  3.   Backing-up (P + OF)

[Catcher(s): Position specific work on the side]

 

 

0:15-0:35

Playing Catch Practice

Instruction

  • Batting - Bottom Hand HINGE

  • Batting  - Switch Heels (Heel-Knee)

  • Pitching & Throwing - Stride

No Bat Drills / No Ball Drills

PCP Routine

  1.   Pitching 

  2.   Position Player Throwing (35’ | 60’: Feet & Wrist)

  3.   Skills: Relay Footwork

 

 

0:35-1:00

Team Drills

Movement Instruction: Pitcher, When breaking to corners on Ground Balls: look to see if ball goes past Infield

Group 1

Relay to Home Full Field (players have extra ball available)

Group 2

5-4: Wrist snap emphasis (two groups of 3 players; mass reps)

1:00-1:05        <Break>               

 

 

1:05-1:40

Batting Practice - 12-Player Drill               

                 

 I. Live Batting (Full Field ) 

Tee Work (p.3)

 

 II. Defense

  • Play balls off the bat at a position

III. Skills Station

  • Pitching

  • Batting: Live Wiffle

 

 

1:40-2:00

Scrimmage

  • Each Player Bats 2x

 

*** Wiffle Ball Scrimmage ...on Rain/Wet Days***

 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

BATTING

Instruction

Bottom Hand HINGE

  • Any movement of the Bottom Hand, during the swing, is a result of effort from the top-hand Elbow or the Wrist Snap.

  • The Bottom Hand does not apply force in the swing.

  • The Bottom Hand works as a HINGE for the swing.  When used properly, the bat snaps Past the Bottom Hand during the ’swing’.

  (Bottom Hand also helps with Direction ...discussed later).

 

 

Switch Heels (Heel-Knee)

Our focus now, for Switch Heels, is driving the Heel (straight back) and Knee (straight forward) towards each other.  The key piece is to recognize that the Heel is below the Knee.  The Knee drives forward and Down (towards the Heel) solidifying the Anchor.

 

 

No Bat Drills

  1. Bottom Hand                x2 whole group;  x8 individually

  2. Switch Heels                 x3 (Heel-Knee)

  3. Sideways Karate           x5 (lead with Elbow)

  4. Skip-a-Rock                   x5

 

 

Tee Work

  1.  Switch Heels     (Heel-Knee)   x5

  2.  Skip-a-Rock       (Feel: past Bottom Hand) ...Until time to rotate

 

PITCHING & THROWING

Pitching Instruction

  • The Stride is a controlled, SLOWER, movement than the rest of the delivery.

  • The elbows reach Power Position a bit before the stride foot lands.

  • The torso should be centered between the feet when landing the stride. A common mistake is having the torso too far forward at the conclusion of the stride.

  • When practicing Stride

       1. It is critical to focus on the stride foot moving in a straight line towards the catcher.

       2. We want to Reach the stride foot a bit further than what is comfortable. Over time, we lengthen our stride resulting in more power in the delivery

 

 

No Ball Drills

Throwing

  • Turn & Pull    x5

  • Wrist Action   6-7 seconds

  • Shuffle, Shuffle, Pull-Snap   x1

 

Pitching

  • Seasaw           x5

  • Stride              x7

Playing Catch Practice

  • Stride

 

Skills Station

  • Rocking: Pull-Snap (Fingers start the Wrist Snap)

  • Stride (from 35’) focus

 

Skill Building Warm-up

BACK TO TOP