| No matter what age your players are, they can always benefit from improved accuracy when throwing the ball. This drill - tell your players it’s a game - will improve the the throwing accuracy of your players, and also helps emphasize the need to do the same under pressure. Best of all, you can run this drill without taing away from anything else you do at practice; after all, the vast majority of baseball practices already begin with the plaers tossing the ball back and forth as a warmup exercise.
Pair your players off, and have them stand far enough apart that they the throw is not automatic, but should be very doable if they try. A good staring distance is twenty to thirty feet, and you can adjust this up or down according to the age and skill of your players. Make sure to emphasize proper throwing techniques, and let the players go.
Have them keep track of their accuracy with points.
- A throw to the chest or head, not requriing the reciever to reach, is worth three points.
- A throw that is esy to catch, but requires the player to extend his arms fully is worth two points.
- A throw that requires a stepto catch is worth one point.
- An uncatchable throw is worth nothing. Or alternately, you can deduct points for bad throws.
Set a target point total - say, twenty to thirty points - and reward the winners (a stick of sugarless gum is great for this). Depending on how quickly the competition is finshed, you may want to repeat it a time or two before moving on to your next drill. | |
