Line Grounders Drill

Purpose: To work on your player’s proper positioning and receiving of ground balls

Equipment: Plastic Balls

Description: This is a great way to analyze and work with players on the fundamentals of receiving ground balls

Execution:  Introduce the drill by showing the proper way to set up and receive a ground ball. Then set up your fielders in mulitple single file lines facing you. Have a coach for each line on one knee with a ball.

Coaches roll the balls to the first player and have them work on fielding a ground ball barehanded. Then the player runs the ball back to the coach and moves to the back of the next line. This allows players to get many reps of groundballs in a short period of time. You can have more inexperienced coaches or parents focus on watching the kids do one thing correctly.  While your more experienced coaches can look for several things. Be sure to sandwich a correction with plenty of praise on what they are doing correctly.

Coaching Tips:

Players use alligator hands to receive the ball with the glove hand underneath.  Do not let the hands be on each side of the ball.  They must be on the top and bottom.

Players get low when they receive the ball.

Players receive the ball out in front and bring it in.

Players move their feet to get in front of the ball.

At some point during the season you can progress to hardballs and then hardballs and gloves.