KC&BO Drill Outline 4U and 5U

• Introduction / Welcome
• Warm Up / Band Work Proper Throwing Grip / How to Throw a Baseball
• Grip -
• Finger Placement -
• Arm Motion "Thumb to thigh, Ball to sky" Direction (Opposition)
• Playing Catch Drills (Lost Art, must make it a priority)
• See "Winning Baseball" Throwing Skills Handout
• Catching Drills (Review from T-Ball Stationary Drills) Work above and below belt
  • Stationary Glove Side
  • Advance to Movement Glove Side
  • Advance to Stationary Backhand
  • Moving Backhand
  • Going Backwards Movement Glove Side Two hands out front
• Fielding Ground Balls Keep it Simple (IF Play) Review all skills from Tee Ball
  • Ready Position - Balls of feet / Weight out front / Glove out front / Bend in Knees / Feet Wider than shoulders
  • Charge the Ball and Field (Should be more comfortable now) Cut the distance down and glove open as they approach the ball Draw a triangle to show where the glove goes. (Toe to Toe with long side from throwing foot toe to out front of glove foot toe
    • Get feet wider than shoulders bend at ankles, knees, and hips to get glove out front and "Mouse Trap" hands / create a ramp with glove fingers down
      • "Alligator Hands" help understand what to do with top hand. Glove is the "Mouse Trap" and ball is the mouse. Set the trap and go get the mouse
    • Power Position and Throw - Funnel and get to power position and step and gain momentum to target throw to 1B
• Outfield Review from all Tee Ball skills, start with glove side
• Stance / Read Position - Verbal Clues to get them to ready position, they will get bored. "Baseball Ready" Creep into similar position as with IF Balls of feet / Weight out front / Glove out front / Bend in Knees / Feet wider than shoulders
• Introduce Opening and running, use tennis and whiffle balls start with glove side and move to backhand -
• Running soft on our feet. The harder they run on their feet the more their eyes bounce. Run on balls of feel and try to be soft to prevent head from moving as much.
• Ground Ball Play - focus on getting to the ball in a good fielding position and getting the ball in quickly to the IF
• Crow Hop introduction back foot - Drive the back leg towards your target with back foot turning perpendicular to drive off of and throw to the intended target.
• Fly Ball Drills - Use cones for lines and getting to ready position and tennis racket with whiffle balls (Glove or Bare hand based on skill level) Advance to tennis balls and baseballs if skills level dictates.
• Catcher Position Introduction
  • Stance - Squared up in the center of the plate, feet wider than shoulders toes pointed out sit down and weight on their heels, glove elbow above chin guards throwing hand back behind heel with glove over center of the plate.
  • Simple Receiving - track and catch the ball inside and out
  • Simple Blocking - Fall forward on his knees, glove covering "5 Hole" throwing hand behind glove and lean slightly forward.
    • Use tennis balls or soft baseballs to let the catcher get used to blocking with their chest protector
    • Drills - Tennis ball receiving bare hand
      • Blocking with tennis or soft baseballs
• Hitting "Fix One Problem at a time" / Overcome the fear of getting hit with the ball
• Bat selection make sure they can handle it. Baseball Express and other sites have bat sizing guides based on either height or weight and / or wing span
• How to hold - Door Knocker Knuckles align to let the hands work
• Stance - Athletic position / Relaxed Elbows
• Load Introduction - Momentum Shift back before the stride to help weight and bat control
• Stride - Land soft to not move head and prevent too much weight going forward
• Letting the Ball travel to the hitting zone - Try and keep head over the middle part of the body during stride to prevent jumping at the pitch and too much weight getting out on the front side
• Swing Path - Rotational vs Linear swing paths
• Extension - thru contact and around with back knee turning into front knee
• Drills
• Tee Work -
  • Outer 1/3
  • Middle
  • Inner 1/3
• Power Thru Balls
• Front Foot Elevated Hitting
• Small Ball and Bat
• Base Running
• Running Bases - Running to 1B / Making Turns / Knowing where the rest of the bases are
• Picking up 3B Coach
• Questions

Winning Baseball Throwing Skills

1. Kneeling Flips (All Ages)
2. Kneeling Figure 8s (8U and up)
3. Kneeling to Power (All Ages)
4. Standing Figure 8s (8U and up)
5. Standing to Power (All Ages)
6. Rhythm arm cross throws (8U and up)
7. Boxer Throws (9U and up)
8. Jump Back Throws (9U and up)
9. Position Specific Throws (9U and up)
10. 180 / 360 Throws (9U and up)
11. Throws on the Run (12U and up)
12. Long Toss (8U and up)
13. Pull Down throws at 90' (15U and up) 65' (9U to 14U)
14. Step Catch and Throw 45' (15U and up) 32.5' (9U to 14U)

Alternative Position Specific Throwing - MIF flips and throws / OF Spin and Rev Pivots, Shuffle Crow hops / Corner IF DP throwing angles / C Short throws to bases / P Pick off moves and throwing to 1B