Skill Set: Infield

Difficulty Level: Medium

Number of Athletes and Coaches: 1-2 athletes and 1 coach, or 2 athletes as partners

Average Time to Complete: 5 minutes

Equipment Required: Gloves, bucket of baseballs, base

Goal: Stride towards the throw and pick the short hop by pushing the glove through

Description of the Drill:

• Players is on 1st base, with throwing side foot on the bag facing the coach
• Coach is in the 2nd baseman position with a bucket of baseballs
• Coach throws baseballs to the 1st baseman as short hops
• 1 st baseman waits until the ball is thrown to stride towards the ball with the glove foot and pick the short hop by pushing their glove through the ball with their throwing side foot still on the bag
• 1 st baseman places balls off the side and gets ready to receive another throw
• Coach throws the 1st baseman short hops until they have had 10 repetitions (players may rotate if more than one 1st baseman)
• This can also be done with the coach throwing from different positions

Add Difficulty:

• To add a degree of difficulty, the coach can throw short hops to the right and left of the 1st baseman, making them stretch to different types of throws
• To add a degree of difficulty, the coach may also hit short hops to the 1st baseman with a bat