The instructional video you're about to see features the award-winning drills that are in use daily at Baseball World Training Center in Orlando, Florida.
These drills have been proven to dramatically improve our students' arm strength, running speed, quickness, agility, and defensive skills.
Students executing these drills have shown dramatic increases of five to six miles per hour in arm strength and a quarter to half a second improvement in their 60-yard dash time in just a few weeks of drills.
The techniques contained in this tape were used as the training routine for Baseball World's back-to-back 1990 and 1991 AAU National Championship teams.
Before we get started, Coach Imansky believes it is important for our students to understand proper technique can only be acquired in a slowed-down, non-reactionary training environment.
At Baseball World, we slow it down, do it correctly, and repeat. Our students then progress in a logical step-by-step training.
Let's get started by introducing our staff. Jim Gabella, AAA Coach, Cleveland Indians Organization.
Coach Brian Penrose, Baseball World Staff Member, Houston Astros Associates.
And Coach Imansky, Director of Baseball Operations, a professional scout instructor.
Let's observe the staff in action as proper throwing action is taught.
Today we're starting with our first drill, break and throw. You notice how we're not using the baseball.
The idea of this is to have our players concentrate on the proper throwing mechanics.
You have to remember the ball is at full velocity as it leaves our hands.
So good mechanics are the utmost of importance as far as arm strength and accuracy are concerned.
The fundamentals of a strong, accurate throw are the following.
You notice how Coach Penrose freezes the kids at this point in time.
We're looking for, in all our players, extension in both his arms, both the front and the rear arms.
We're looking right now for flexion in both the elbow joints, and it looks like our glove is taking a picture from behind him.
In other words, if he had a camera in his glove, he could actually be seen behind him.
The fingers are on top of the ball, although we're not using a ball here.
He's still going to simulate it where his fingers would be on top of the ball, and he's gripping the ball across the seams.
You notice how he has a tension-free posture, and he's loose. His butts out and his knees are flexed.
This is the actual type of throwing motion that we use to promote strong, accurate throws.
Now, the first action, if he was really actually going to make a throw,
would be pulling his glove in towards his heart and rotating his backside.
And you notice Coach Penrose would just yell, command break and throw, and the group will follow through.
Let's look at a few more.
Throw. Back. Good job, guys.
Stay loose. Ready. Break.
Again, you get a lot of correct repetitions of the proper technique.
Notice how we get the good hip roll. Notice how our back is down.
How we're getting good extension in the arms, good flexion in both elbows.
The throw is actually being started with the bottom half of the body, almost like hitting.
We're not throwing with just our arms. That's why we try to keep the tension-free posture.
Remember, strong, accurate throws are started with the lower muscle groups of the body.
They are assisted by the glove being pulled aggressively into the body.
This creates powerful leverage, and this action is followed by a hip roll.
As our instructor yells break, we check for the fundamentals.
Extension in both arms.
Flexion in the elbows.
Glove taking the picture from behind.
Fingers on top of the ball, gripping across the seams.
Tension-free base, with butt out, knees flexed.
Remember, by breaking down our throwing action without using the ball,
our students must focus strictly on the proper techniques.
Back.
Together, together. Ready?
Break.
Throw.
Back.
Okay, we just completed our first drill, which is break and throw.
You notice how we didn't use a baseball in it,
and that was so we could have our students concentrate on strictly the right mechanics.
What do you think of that idea, Jim?
Well, it sounds real good to me.
It really amazes me how all the kids are doing everything with such precision there.
All the mechanics are perfect.
It's a fine testament to how hard you work with the kids, and you've done an outstanding job.
Well, thank you.
Now we're going to go to our drill number two, which is exactly like our first one.
However, in this drill, we're going to add the baseball,
and they're going to add a receiving partner,
and that makes it a little more interesting and a little more reactionary.
So let's get started with Brian as we go into drill two.
Throw.
Back.
Okay, by adding the ball, there's a little more reaction,
but we still allow for observation and correction of the problems by our instructor yelling break.
At this point, our instructor checks our students' mechanics on each throw.
Does he have extension in both arms?
Is he flexed in the elbows?
Is his glove pointing behind him?
All the things we learned in lesson one, we're now being checked on.
Does he have the hip roll?
Our receivers will receive the ball with both hands, okay?
This will allow him to immediately get the ball out of his glove.
This saves approximately a third of a second,
and if it was a major league runner running, say on a double play,
he could cover as much as eight feet.
The average major leaguer will cover eight feet in a third of a second.
I know that sounds kind of hard to believe, but it's true.
So we have our players, as they receive the ball,
to make sure that we're not actually catching the ball.
If you watch right now, as the ball comes into the player's glove,
he's immediately going to go ahead and pull it right out,
and he didn't catch it.
He shows the instructor the ball, okay?
Now, if the throw was very high or low or off to the left or right,
then he would have to go ahead and catch the ball in his glove.
But on good throws, we don't even catch them.
We just take them right out and show them to the instructor.
Some of the keys that will help our players execute a good receiving position
is to always expect a bad throw.
Expect it constantly to be bad,
and that way you're going to get ready to move your feet to the ball
rather than reach.
Remember, this requires to move your feet and not reach.
This is why we instruct all our students
to use a small-type, middle-infielders-type glove.
We don't have anybody out here that has a glove
anywhere from the 9-, 10-, and 11-inch range,
and this really helps them become agile
and really helps them to move their feet.
Lesson 2, in addition to reinforcing our throwing action,
has taught us to defensively expect a bad throw.
Move our feet to the ball, use two hands,
receive the ball out in front,
and, as always, to defensively stay down with our legs flexed.
Now let's do the ready throw drill.
Back up three steps.
Now we're going to go on to our third drill,
which we just simply call it ready throw.
This drill is more reactionary than our first two,
and it puts our throwing mechanics learns in lesson 1 and 2 to the test.
On the command, ready throw,
our students throw the ball to the receivers.
Remember, there isn't any pause,
as our instructors are still looking for good extension,
flexion of the elbows,
rhythmic actions, and hip roll,
but now, again, we're not going step by step.
We're not breaking it down.
In turn, our receivers are executing good footwork and handwork,
and we're all working together.
We recommend this drill to be used about 10 to 15 minutes a day.
Our instructors will increase the distance between our students
as they become more familiar with the proper technique.
It is important to know,
as the students increase their throwing distances,
that the players have a wider lateral separation.
This will prevent injuries caused by an errant throw
as we start getting out in long distances.
But you notice right now they're getting some pretty good mechanics,
just like 1 and 2,
but they're doing it now without having to think about it.
If they've done a lot of repetitions in the groups 1 and 2,
or drills 1 and 2,
this should start becoming second nature.
At the end of this segment, we'll show you some scenes
from an actual AAU national 13-year-old tournament
that we were in last year with the majority of these youngsters,
and you'll notice that their throws were being made
without any kind of thinking about the drill
or any of that kind of stuff.
The job right now of the instructor is just to keep things moving,
keep it organized,
and keep looking to see if his mechanics are there.
If he doesn't have the good mechanics,
then remember, let's go back to 1 and 2.
Okay, now this drill is a little more fun
because you're playing at a little bit better distance,
and we're not breaking it down step by step by step.
You notice Coach Gabello goes around and keeps everybody on their feet,
keeps them moving.
Ryan keeps the reps coming at a good pace.
We're checking to see if we have a good hip roll.
We're checking to see if we've got good extension.
We're checking to see, are we pulling that glove in aggressively,
getting good leverage on the ball?
And you notice we could go out here and throw and throw and throw
and still keep that about 95, excuse me,
that 98, 99% accuracy rate.
And again, this could be done.
These three drills could be knocked out in 20 minutes to a half hour.
It could be a fun part of your practice.
And I assure you, it's going to give you a lot better ball player
that's going to be a lot more fundamentally sound.
He's going to be a lot accurate.
He's going to have some efficient mechanics.
When you need that good, hard throw,
he's going to be able to deliver that for you.
In our first three drills, we focus strictly on proper techniques.
Now, in our next drill, back them up,
we'll add a new twist, competition.
Okay, we're now starting a new drill, drill four.
This drill is called back them up.
Back them up is a little different than our first drill.
It still stresses proper throwing mechanics
and arm strength improvement techniques,
but now back them up stresses accuracy
because we do not allow the player to move his feet.
He can only pivot just like a basketball player.
He can't move his feet like our earlier drills,
so now we're stressing accuracy.
The drill also allows competitiveness
because after the command ready throw
and our players complete an accurate throw and return it,
our coach will ask them to back up three steps.
Each time we back up three steps, we're getting further back,
and we're trying to get back who can get the furthest,
and we're working on good mechanics,
but we're also working on getting real good accuracy,
and we're working on length, okay?
This is a variation of a popular drill called long toss,
except we're adding a couple of competitive things to it, okay?
Again, let's focus on what we're working on.
Good throwing mechanics, working on some accuracy, okay?
We're bearing down on that, but we're bearing down on competitiveness.
Remember that your kids can't move their feet.
If the throw's offline, the best they can do
is reach for it like the first baseman would.
Okay, you see we're getting back right now.
We're back to about 90 feet.
We completed that segment, and there we go, backing up, backing up, backing up.
I like to be able to get out there a couple hundred feet or so.
It's nice for a coach to keep records in this drill,
and you can find out, hey, how far did I get the first day?
How many of my students, if I have 15, 20 on the squad,
how many made it over the 100-foot area?
How many made it over 150?
Right now, we're out going a little bit further back.
We're out over 100 feet going.
We're making good, accurate, strong throws.
We can't move our pivot feet, and we're staying with it, staying with it.
Okay, again, now our receivers now become the throwers,
and they make good, strong, accurate, fundamental throws back.
We've completed that cycle good.
All eight guys are still in it, and now we're back about 120-something feet.
We're going back each time.
It gets interesting. It gets competitive.
A lot of fun in this drill.
Again, if we get too competitive and we start getting some bad mechanics,
we're going to go right back to drill one, two, and three.
So we're adding a little bit more reactionary to it every time,
a little more reactionary skill.
Now, the players are allowed to jump.
If you have some players that don't have quite the arm strength of the other players,
they're allowed to bounce the ball.
What you're not allowed to do is to change,
is to go out there and move your feet to the ball, okay,
because we're stressing accuracy now.
We're not allowed to do that,
and we're going to be backing up every time we complete a cycle.
All right, all eight of us completed the cycle.
We're going back again, going back one, two, three.
We're getting out there pretty far now,
and at this point in time, make sure, coaches,
if you have 10 or 15 people executing this drill,
that you make sure that they, okay, we just lost somebody right now
with a low throw.
Make sure what they do, they hustle back and get the ball, okay,
and they hustle off the field.
Now we're down to our final six out of the eight.
So here we go again.
We're out there probably now 140 feet, 150 feet,
and we're starting to get some good long tosses.
We're working on the real good mechanics.
Remember now, we're working on accuracy.
We can't move our feet, and this stresses a lot.
Oh, we just lost one more.
Okay, now we're down to our final four of the drill.
Down to the final four.
This is getting pretty interesting now.
As we're getting back this far,
it's all right for the student to start a crow hop.
He can go ahead and move his feet to gain some momentum,
very similar to an outfield throw.
We allow them to do that.
Okay, here we go.
The throw is complete.
Good.
Both guys have made good accurate throws, 150 or so feet.
Now here comes the return segment.
Okay.
He just dropped the ball at the end.
There's the end.
There's the last two guys.
Wave to his feet.
Back them up has proven to be a popular drill
with baseball world students, especially in our camps.
It's not only fun, but very practical in building
arm strength and accuracy.
The coaches be sure as students move back
to increase their lateral separation for safety purposes.
Now let's really test our accuracy with the bucket drill.
Okay, to complete our throwing segment today,
for now, we're coming up with the drill
that really puts everything to a test.
The drill is called the bucket drill.
Down there we have a 25-gallon or 55-gallon trash can,
and our players are throwing the ball towards home plate.
The reason we select a bucket is it's a small target,
and we're out here with our young kids.
This is a junior high group.
We're talking seventh, eighth, and ninth graders
that will be starting their baseball season this year.
The coaches select a distance depending on the level.
At this distance, we're right now at 220 feet.
Bam, we just hit the bucket.
Who was the first guy to make it?
Right here, our catcher, Peter Gill,
just threw in 220 feet right into a bucket.
The key thing is now that we stay at cutoff man height,
okay, Brian just did that, and he's a little wide to the left.
Just barely missed that bucket off to the left.
The idea is, coaches, again, you can keep records
on this type of thing, but we're looking for real,
real good throwing mechanics.
And if our students start to get sloppy in their mechanics,
we always have the fun drills of going back to drills one,
two, and three.
Here's another one.
Okay, here's another one.
Who hit that one? Matt?
Good, our center fielder just hit one.
We're at 220 feet, making good, accurate throws.
Pete just missed a little bit to the left.
This is a fun drill because we're stressing quickness
and because we're aiming at a small target.
This really increases the player's accuracy.
The drill is aggressive.
Bam, who hit another one?
Wow, that's three out of the last time he throws, Jim.
Real good job, real good job.
There's other good mechanics.
Let's get a good hip roll, okay, and keep the ball down.
Remember, coaches, we want to throw this ball cutoff man
height, okay?
When it comes to the cutoff man, we want cutoff man height.
There's another one just barely missed.
If we notice mechanical problems, we're going to have
to go back to drills one, two, and three.
This is a very aggressive drill, a fun drill, and we're
monitoring our mechanics, make sure we're pulling our glove
in, and make sure we're getting good fundamental mechanics.
Now that we've worked on improving our throwing and
accuracy with a bucket drill, let's go to drill six,
where our infielders and outfielders can work together.
Our drill, called game winning throw, improves our players'
arm strength, accuracy, and teamwork while simultaneously
improving our infielders' footwork and agility.
This is the perfect combination drill for both
infielders and outfielders working together.
It really puts our fundamentals to the test.
The coach hits a ball to our outfielder who makes an
aggressive speed pickup and throws cutoff man height
towards the plate.
For drill purposes, all balls thrown are relayed.
This forces our infielder to receive the ball on his
glove side, chest high.
He must read the throw early and move his feet so he's
in a good receiving position.
He then relays the ball home.
After each outfielder has made several throws, the group
rotates.
This drill requires teamwork and is a real test of the
fundamentals.
Again, we're making good aggressive speed pickups in
the outfield.
We're making throws towards the plate at cutoff man
height, and this forces our infielder to turn to his
glove side, catch it chest high, and then relay the
ball home.
Okay, again, ball hit to our outfielder, aggressive
speed pickup, crow hops and throws, infielder turns to
glove side and throws.
In our first six drills, our students worked on
improving their arm strength and throwing accuracy.
Our next group of drills is designed primarily to
improve our youngster's footwork and agility.
Observe as our students improve their quickness and
agility in a logical step-by-step training method.
We slow it down, correctly repeat it, and progress.
In drill seven, pre-rapid fire, we work on receiving
techniques and footwork.
We start slow, gaining a feel for proper techniques
and footwork, and then progress to full speed with
drill eight, rapid fire.
This is a drill we get excited about because it
really helps our players develop good, quick feet.
Again, here we go, we see the nice feet, fingers up,
good quick feet, a good jump, and we do this as kind
of a pre-drill of a back throw type drill, which
causes you to really be aggressive.
We find that a lot of youngsters are lazy with
their feet, and this is just something to get the
juices flowing, get everybody loose, and we're
going to switch right out of that now, and we're
going to go to rapid fire.
This is a drill that's going to be done at full speed.
Now, let's get things moving with rapid fire.
Under control now, fingers up.
The coaches fire the ball directly to our athletes
who feel them by moving to their left and right.
We're executing the same points as drill six,
however, we're stressing speed.
Because the drill is more reactionary, it may cause
us to go back to earlier problems.
If we do that, we just go back and repeat six.
But the coaches stress, be loose, be relaxed, good
feet, keep in motion as a tennis player would when
he's receiving a serve.
Staying low, don't let the ball get in you, and
hustle back to the beginning of the line.
Here we go, we're showing good quick feet.
Try to catch the ball, gentlemen, with your fingers
up on the glove if it's a good throw, and actually
I try to catch my own self.
I said we don't want to catch it, remember?
Good throws, the glove's a pad, and you notice
we're not.
Ball's hitting in the glove, he takes it out.
Good job, Dwayne.
There's TR, comes through, good feet.
What we're trying to get out of these guys is good
quick foot action.
Don't cheat there, Bradley, stay in there.
Uh-oh, instructor dropped one.
At least the kids didn't, that's good, that's a
good point.
Good job, Matt.
Let's go, Jonathan, good quick feet.
Good.
This drill should be done five to ten minutes a
day, and it really helps players chop time off their
60-yard dash, it helps them become a more
efficient player.
This drill, like all our drills, is designed to be
done by all team members, whether they're a
pitcher, whether a catcher, whether an infielder,
whether an outfielder.
All right, guys, let's move it now.
Let's go, good quick feet.
Expect a bad throw.
Way to go, Matt.
Good job.
Okay, good feet now.
Bye, boy.
Coach Cabela, what do you notice so far?
What's your impression so far in this type of
drill?
We're trying to increase their agility, their
quickness, have their hands and feet working
together.
Well, with this drill here, the important thing is
you're getting two things done with one drill
again, that you're using your hands and the
feet, and I think a lot of people don't realize
the importance of the feet in baseball.
You know, with this drill here, it really stresses
using quick feet and being quick with the hands.
Well, what I find a lot in our camps is that the
kids, the youngsters come in there and they move
their hands to the ball.
You know, their feet come later.
In this drill, what we're trying to do is stress,
you know, expecting a bad throw, you know, the
magic one where if you move your feet, you're
always going to be catching it in the center, and
we're trying to get them a little bit of rhythm,
too, at the line.
We don't want you standing stationary, guys, when
you're coming up there, almost like a tennis
player receiving a serve, okay?
Real good feet.
This seems that if this drill is done
consistently, I can see people getting better
with it.
You know, if it's done consistently on a daily
basis, I can see the players really improving.
Well, what we found is after a few weeks of these
drills, we'll take them out and we'll run a new
60, and we're finding out in a 60-yard dash if a
little bit this age group, if they're running a
7'7", 7'8", at that age, or an 8'0", that we go
back and do it again, and we're finding the big
improvements.
We're finding guys chop three, four tenths.
We even have cases where we get five, six tenths
of a second off because they just haven't been
used to moving.
You know, they just haven't been used to moving
their feet.
They finally learn to use their feet, and like I
said before, people don't realize the importance
of using your feet in sports, in athletics.
Sure.
Well, you notice so far in all our drills, we're
doing everything here.
From this point on, we're going to try to keep
them five, ten minutes a time, moving, moving,
moving, moving, and then that way when we put the
clock back on, I think at the end of practice
today, you're going to see a nice improvement.
I'm sure I will.
In drills 7 and 8, we learned some important
points.
Receive ball out in front.
Use two hands.
Move your feet.
Always expect a bad throw.
Legs flexed, butt out.
Start and stay low.
Be loose and rhythmic.
In our next drill, we get a chance to put our
newly acquired techniques to the test.
We call this Coach's Feed Drill.
This drill allows our players the opportunity
to put the fundamentals acquired in drills 7
and 8 to the test.
We add a little more reaction by adding a base
and have our player straddle it, executing a
double-play type maneuver.
If the coach prefers, he can work on his favorite
double-play footwork, which we'll discuss later
at the end of our tape.
As a bonus section, Coach Gabella has volunteered
to go over that for us.
But for training purposes, we just use a simple
straddle.
The coach starts with a bucket of balls and from
approximately 30 feet away, feeds the throw to
the second baseman, who in turns aggressively
fires the ball to the first baseman, who places
the ball in another bucket.
After each play, the students rotate.
After the bucket is empty, students simply run it
back to second base and rotate places with the
first group and bring the bucket of full balls
down.
The coach continues on to perform the repetitions.
This is a high-energy, fun drill.
This drill, like all our others, gives the chance
to perform correct repetitions in a high-energy,
fun environment.
Used correctly, the coach's feed drill teaches the
students discipline as they can expect the bad
throw and moving their feet to the ball, don't get
lazy and reach for the ball, use two hands, don't
catch the good throw, and be aggressive.
This drill, again, is recommended 10 to 15 minutes
a day or for several rotations of this group.
Coach's feed drill promotes teamwork and gives
us a chance to let our hands and feet work
together.
Our next drill, drill 10, four corners, allows us
to put it all together and really put our skills
to the test.
Four corners is much more reactionary than our
other drills and this is what we've been building
for.
Players are divided into four groups and placed
at each base.
Balls are fired from home to third, second to first,
and first back to home.
After each play, the boy rotates to the back of
the group.
This drill can be very challenging.
Coaches can evaluate the progress of his students
by counting the number of successful conclusions
around the diamond without an errant throw.
He can also evaluate them with a stopwatch and see
how long it takes them to get around the diamond
and he also can visually evaluate the basic
fundamentals that we've been trying to establish
in our drills one through eight.
Our 1990 AAU team on the youth league diamond,
the 12-year-old division, was able to execute on
an average 30 repetitions around the diamond in a
row and would at times get times around the diamond
in sub-five second rounds.
This drill in the high school and college level
can add a lot of pizzazz to a practice with its
high energy and it also can develop a lot of
quickness, agility, good footwork, and it also
makes a very impressive pregame warm-up drill.
Four corners has been one of the staple diets of
drills used here at baseball world.
As you can see, four corners can really help improve
our students' quickness and agility.
And now in our next drill, we add even more energy
with four corners in reverse, a fun but very
difficult drill to execute.
This drill requires a back throw and makes the
right-handed player respond with an aggressive
turning action.
He still executes good fundamentals, two hands,
expecting a bad throw, he still moves his feet,
he still tries to receive all throws in the center
of his body if possible, but now we're forcing our
player to make an aggressive jump turn maneuver.
This vastly increases his agility and has paid
dividends with our players with their aggressiveness
and quickness.
Again, four corners in reverse requires a lot of
actions to go right and it's a tough drill to
perform and we like to end a practice with it.
We like to drill because it's very difficult to
perform and forces our students to really try to
put all his mechanics and his fundamentals to the
test.
Notice how we're trading places with our feet.
A lefty, it's simple.
Our lefty just simply catches the ball and feeds
it.
But our righty is change places with your feet,
guys.
Change places with your feet.
Our first hand drill segment is focused on
improving our students throwing action and
defensive footwork.
The next segment is designed to improve our
infielders ground ball efficiency and later our
double play feeds and turns.
Our drills have not only proven to get results but
have been very popular with our students.
The next drill, circle drill, our students work
not only on sound ground ball receiving
fundamentals but have fun at the same time.
Now we're going to a circle drill.
This drill is designed to stress a fundamentally
sound receiving position of a ground ball.
We just noted TR as he was receiving the ball and
you notice how he was staying down through the
ball well.
This drill we find does a great job.
The hands have to stay out.
The knees have to stay flexed.
The eyes must stay on the ball.
We recommend a rag ball for safety.
The players are placed in a circle, feet together
in a fundamentally sound receiving position.
Our instructor throw the rag ball to the center of
the circle and our students try to bat the ball
through the opposing players legs.
If the balls are batted between the players our
instructors simply retrieve the ball and insert it
back into the circle.
The drill has helped baseball world tournament
teams set many records.
Look at footage taken during an actual game as our
second baseman receives a ground ball.
Notice the similarities in receiving position of the
ball and the actual drill.
In the 1991 AAU national tournament our shortstop
and second baseman fielded a record 82 ground balls
in a row without an error.
A lot of this is attributed to the sound fundamentals
obtained in this drill.
You notice that ball got back in on Pete a little bit
and that's not good.
You know you can always reach in and slap it through
him if he's not ready.
You notice they're having some fun doing it too and
it's a good way to end a practice and break things
up at the end of the day.
This completes the drill portion of our video
presentation.
Now a bonus.
Let's point out the most common problems our
instructors observe in the amateur infielders
fielding techniques.
As a special bonus section this afternoon before we
go on in our tape we're going to isolate for you a
couple of problems that we find that are consistent
in amateur infielders and I say problems.
They tend to have their first movement when the
ball is hit is to move up towards the ball.
Notice to your eyes first up and he flipped his
glove in.
Again two common problems that we find in a lot of
high school college athletes type athletes
amateur infielders first movement towards the ball
up and then flip the glove and bring it in.
One more time.
Let's isolate on the first problem.
First movement is up.
He's up then he went down.
The problem with this is it causes any kind of bad
hop and causes precision like timing.
Let's focus in on the second problem which we said
is a glove curl.
Watch his glove come into his chest and curl back
out.
This causes a lot of problems again because the
athlete would have to have precision timing.
Now at baseball we recommend two things staying
low through the ball and kind of a gliding
approach.
Here we go.
Low through the ball gliding approach.
You notice the other thing TR is approaching the
ball with his glove not curled.
His actual thumbs up on the glove and he just did a
quarter turn.
A quarter turn.
Again let's focus on his glove as he approaches the
ball and notice that it just required a quarter of
a turn.
This is a very efficient method.
It cuts down a lot of errors.
Again ground ball he's staying down.
He just curls.
Another good example again ground ball just a quarter
turn.
Okay you notice the glove is not being taken back up
into his abdomen.
He's keeping the glove off his body and just quarter
turning.
He's staying nice and low through the ball.
Good hands.
Okay try to do a little more of a hip roll TR when
you follow through.
Again we want TR to follow through as he does this
rather than hurry about getting back.
Boom hip roll over.
Just let your momentum follow through to where you're
throwing.
Again staying down through the ball quarter turning.
One more time as a demonstration.
You okay?
Staying down through the ball quarter turn.
Good job.
Now before we conclude this demonstration we're going
to show you one more time the bad examples.
Okay.
These are common problems we found shared by many
young infielders.
First movement is going to be up.
Next curl down.
Okay it's a demonstration.
The correct technique gliding down through quarter
turn of the glove following through.
Good job TR.
Great demonstration.
Okay we talked about the common problems we find on
fielding ground balls in the infield.
Now let's discuss the same type of problems in the
outfield.
We roll the ball to Matt.
We notice his first movement was up and then he
flipped his glove.
Again let's try it again.
Same type of problem.
Here comes ground ball.
His movement's up.
He flipped the glove in.
And now he's forced to try to get back down.
And this requires precision type timing.
He's up and down.
That's what we don't like to see.
And it's usually what you see most of the young
amateur athletes do.
First movement up.
Then went down.
Hold them a little on that one.
One more.
Up.
Flip.
Down.
Now Matt's going to try to demonstrate for us the
proper technique.
He's going to be low.
Glide through the ball.
And he's going to run or move to the ball like TR did
with the thumbs up on his hands.
And when he does that he's only going to have to
slowly quarter turn the glove.
And he's going to glide down through the ball.
Ground ball staying low.
Quarter turn.
Throw.
Much better Matt.
Good job.
Again here we go.
Ground ball.
Matt's down.
Quarter turns.
Pulls it in.
Throw.
Okay.
Wrong technique.
First moving the hit ball up.
Curl.
Down.
Okay.
So we don't want to do.
And now our final demonstration of gliding in.
The ball's low.
Quarter turn.
Good.
We're gliding down through the ball.
We're staying low.
Not requiring precision type.
We've got to like funnel the ball.
You can see there if you watch.
If you watch he's going to go ahead and flow right
through the ball.
Down.
Easy.
Now the wrong way.
Watch how this requires precision type timing.
Quick head to get down just in time.
An error waiting to happen.
Alright good job Matt.
Another common problem our instructors observe in players
is lack of motion prior to the release of the ball.
Execute a creep step.
Stay in motion.
Remember only one out of five balls thrown by the pitcher
is actually put into play.
So as the pitcher is about to release the ball
execute a creep step.
You'll be a much better defensive player
and cover a lot more ground.
Another problem area is equipment.
Most youngsters use a glove much too big for them.
Major league sized outfielders gloves have no business
in the youth league infield.
They only cause lazy feet and poor fundamentals.
We recommend a glove in the 9 to 11 inch range maximum.
Also remember to hustle on and off the field.
Play with some enthusiasm.
The good news is we can all do it.
It does not take any ability to wear the proper glove,
execute a creep step, and hustle.
Now as another bonus, let's listen to Coach Cabela
as he speaks about double play feeds turns
from both the second base and shortstop position.
Coach Cabela is a former professional middle infielder
playing five seasons in both the Seattle Mariners
and Chicago White Sox organizations.
Jim is currently a coach in the Cleveland Indians
organization at the AAA level.
Whenever a double play is in order,
we want to move five or six steps up toward the hitter,
two steps toward second base,
and now we are in a double play position.
When using the pivot to feed the shortstop on a double play,
it is important to get our hands out in front of us
in a good basic fielding position.
As I receive the ball, I want to receive the ball
from the center of my body a little bit toward the left.
When I receive the ball, I want to spin on my balls
of my feet and put my left knee to the ground.
This will make our hips open,
keep our shoulders parallel toward second base,
and give us a good position to throw.
It will be similar to this.
When I throw the ball, I want to make sure
I am throwing the ball from a three-quarter angle,
making sure my hand is on top of the ball.
One more time.
Get in our good basic fielding position,
left foot in front of right, hands out in front of us,
pivot, and throw.
The second double play feed from the second baseman
to the shortstop is what we call the hop step.
It is very similar.
It is a lot easier for young infielders
to accomplish this double play feed
compared to the pivot feed.
All it is is, once again, a good basic fielding position,
our hands out in front of us.
As we catch the ball, we are going to hop clockwise
and face the shortstop at second base.
It is very important that we use quick feet
in this situation.
Hands out in front, hop clockwise, and throw.
The third feed from the second baseman
to the shortstop for a double play
is what we call the underhand feed.
Whenever you play second base
in your second base double play position,
you want to draw an imaginary line
from your position straight to the hitter.
I know any ball that is hit from the center of my body
to the right, I can flip that ball underhand
because it is going to be a lot more consistent
with the feed to the shortstop and a lot quicker.
As I approach the ball,
I want to take my first step with my left foot
and make a banana around
so I can have my momentum going towards second base,
similar to this.
Very important.
A lot of people do not believe
they can flip the ball underhand from this distance,
but if you do two things, you can do it.
When you flip the ball underhand,
you want to make sure that your hand
is underneath the baseball with a stiff wrist.
We do not want to have a flimsy wrist here
because we will not be accurate.
Also, after I flip the ball,
I want to follow the ball
with my left foot towards second base.
This will make my flip more accurate
and I will be able to get more on the throw.
The feed from shortstop.
There are two basic feeds that we are going to do
when the shortstop feeds the second base
before a double play.
Once again, we want to make sure we get in a good position,
double play position,
which will be about five or six steps toward the hitter
and two steps toward the middle of the diamond.
This will put me in a good double play position
where I can get to the bag in time.
The first double play feed
from the shortstop to the second baseman
is a basic feed.
All we want to do is make sure we open our hips.
We still want to make sure we have our hands out in front of us,
but like our regular ground ball,
when we have our left foot in front of our right,
we are going to drop our left foot back
about eight to ten inches
to ensure that we have our hips open.
Once again, we want to be hands out in front of us,
knees flexed, butt low to the ground.
As I feel the ball,
I am going to spin on the balls of my feet
to open my body toward the second baseman
and deliver the ball from a three-quarter angle.
The other feed we want for the shortstop to the second baseman
will be the underhand feed.
Just like second base, we want to draw an imaginary line
to the hitter,
and any ball that is hit from the center of my body
to the left of this line,
I can flip the ball underhand.
Once again, my first step on this ball
will be with my right foot.
I want to banana around the ball
so I have all my momentum going toward the second baseman.
The same important factors
when flipping the ball from second base
come into play at shortstop.
I want to flip the ball with a stiff wrist,
and when I flip the ball, I want to take my backside,
which is my right leg, toward the second baseman
to ensure that I can flip the ball from a far distance.
Here it is.
Flip the wrist, flip with a stiff wrist,
and continue to follow your throw.
One more time.
Okay.
When turning a double play from second base,
the most important thing is to get to the bag
as quick as possible.
A lot of young infielders have a habit
of trying to time the ball
and themselves getting at the bag at the same time,
and this is where we run into problems.
This is the reason why we moved into the double play position
so we can get to the bag and be under control
to react to a poor throw.
There are three types of double plays from second base
that we're going to talk about today.
We're going to talk about coming across the bag.
We're going to talk about dropping back behind the bag
toward the right field side,
and we're going to talk about straddling the bag.
The first double play we're going to talk about
is coming across the bag.
When we do this double play,
the majority of the time we're going to do it
when the ball is hit to the third baseman
or to the hole at shortstop.
The reason we're going to do it at that time
is because we can react to the throw better
because we have more time to see the ball.
When you come across the bag,
all you want to do is take your right foot to the ball.
Wherever the ball is thrown,
we're going to take our right foot to the ball,
plant, and throw.
If the ball is behind us over here,
thrown from the third baseman behind,
we're going to take our right foot to the ball,
plant, and throw.
When we plant and throw,
it is very important that we don't lock our hips.
A lot of young infielders,
when coming across the bag,
they'll plant, and then they'll step here,
and now my hips are locked,
and I cannot make an accurate throw to first base.
After I plant my right foot and receive the ball,
I want to make sure I step with my hips open
to free my hips up so I can make an accurate throw.
Very similar to this.
Plant, throw.
Remember, when coming across the bag,
we want to take our right foot to the ball.
The second double play we're going to talk about
is going to be the straddle.
When we straddle the bag to turn the double play
at second base,
we must have a fairly strong arm,
because we will not have a lot of our momentum
going towards first base
to get a lot on the throw towards first base.
Once again, the most important thing
is to get to the bag as quick as we can
and put our left foot on the bag.
As the ball comes, we want to open our hips.
This is where we're straddling the bag,
and we're going to make a throw.
Here again, we have a lot of young infielders
that get to the bag when they throw.
They keep their hips locked,
and now we cannot make an accurate throw
towards first base.
Here again, the most important thing,
get to the bag as quick as we can,
put our left foot on the bag,
and react to the ball.
If the ball is thrown poorly,
we're going to react to the ball here.
If the ball is thrown up into the baseline,
we're going to react there.
If the ball is thrown right at me,
we're going to straddle the bag and go.
The third double play we're going to talk about
is pushing off the bag.
As I read the throw,
I'm going to push off with my left foot,
open my hips, and throw.
The reason we want to push off the back of the bag
here is because we can react
a little bit longer to that throw
because the third baseman is coming toward us,
and it's hard for us to react to that ball
because he's getting so close.
Once again, the most important thing,
get to the bag as quick as we can
in a good, balanced, athletic position.
When you see the ball push off,
open the hips and throw.
Okay, from shortstop.
When taking the throw from the backside of the bag,
it is important that we get to the bag
as soon as we possibly can,
about a foot behind the bag.
When we get to this position,
we want to be some momentum in our body,
and we want to react to the throw.
If the throw is on the backside of the bag,
we want to take our left foot to the ball,
turn down our shoulder, our feet toward first base
to ensure an accurate throw.
If the throw is thrown on the inside part of the bag
from the first baseman,
once again, we're going to get to this position here,
and we're going to take our left foot to the ball,
once again, pointing our left shoulder
and our hip and feet toward first base.
Very important that we are quick with our feet.
It is one of the major problems with young infielders
is we don't use our feet quickly enough,
and that's where we get into trouble.
Once again, depending on where the ball is thrown from
will dictate how you take the throw at second base
for the shortstop.
Get to the point behind the second base,
add some rhythm and movement in your body,
and react to the throw.
Quick feet, quick shoulder.
You've been listening to Coach Cabella
cover proper double play feeds and turns.
Now let's watch as one of our aspiring
Baseball World youngsters attempts to learn
these new techniques.
The double play feed from the second baseman
to the shortstop will be demonstrated by TR,
will be the pivot feed.
If you notice, TR has his hands out in front of him.
They're out in front, low to the ground.
His butt is low.
He has a good fielding position,
left foot in front of right.
He spins on the balls of his feet,
touches his left knee to the ground,
delivers a three-quarter throw.
One more time.
Pivot.
There you go.
Three-quarter throw.
Good fielding position, left in front of right.
Pivot on the feet, balls of the feet.
Knee to the ground.
Open up.
Good feed.
Next double play feed from second base
to shortstop will be the hop around.
Once again, we have the good fielding position.
Left in front of right.
Hands out, butt down.
We're going to be very quick with our feet.
We're going to throw the ball from the high three-quarter.
Not overhand.
Hop.
Quickly.
Keep the butt down.
Stay low to the ground.
There you go.
Hands out in front.
Butt down, low to the ground.
Quick feed.
Boom.
Atta baby.
Three-quarter throw.
Three-quarter throw.
Spread your feet a little more.
OK, the third, second baseman's feed to the shortstop
will be the underhand feed.
The second baseman wants to draw the imaginary line
straight to the hitter.
Any ball hit to the right, he will field the ball,
flip it underhand, and continue to go with the stiff wrist.
TR is just starting to learn how to do this one.
And as you can tell, he's starting
to pick it up pretty good.
Stay low to the ground.
You want to take your backside, which
is your left foot, toward the shortstop,
and keep a stiff wrist.
There you go, right there.
As you can see, TR is still doing
some of the basic fundamentals as far
as getting in a good fielding position,
getting the ball out of his glove quickly,
using a stiff wrist, and continuing
to follow his throw.
One more time.
There you go.
OK, let's go to shortstop.
The first double play feed from the shortstop
to second base is just the basic feed.
We want to make sure we get our body in front of the ball.
We're going to drop our left foot back a little bit.
Behind our right foot, when we're fielding the baseball,
we're going to keep our hands down in front.
There you go.
Spin on the balls of our feet and open our hips.
Drop your left foot back a little bit.
Drop it back.
Right there, hips open, low to the ground.
Good feed.
There you go, right there.
Bend the knees a little bit.
Stay low to the ground.
That a boy.
TR is picking this up pretty good.
It's something new to him.
There you go.
Something you never did before, is it?
Stay down.
Ball is in front.
Good.
Good fielding position.
That a boy.
One more.
The underhand flip from shortstop to second base
is very similar to the one from second base to shortstop.
We want to keep our stiff wrist.
Get around the ball.
Reach out right here.
Right there.
Keep your hands down.
There you go.
Couple more.
There you go.
Good.
Jim, I'd like to thank you for coming out here today.
As a coach at the class AAA level of a major league club
and getting a chance to work with our kids this afternoon,
what's your impression of some of our basic 12 drills
that we've been doing here today?
Well, Tom, I'm very impressed,
especially with the way the kids are having repetition down.
We tell our players with the Indians
that by doing things correctly over and over again,
you get good habits,
and then the good habits carry over into the game,
and it looks like your players are starting to do that.
Do you think some of these drills would be valid
even at a higher level of baseball,
getting to the college level or even taking it down
to the rookie league systems, A-ball,
and a lot of the repetitions of the correct techniques
like we did today?
Yeah, I believe it would.
It's all basic fundamentals,
and we play the game the same way from the little league level
all the way to the major league level,
so you're teaching the correct fundamentals here,
so it's helping the little kids down here,
and I'm sure it can help professional players also.
Do you see it as a practice organization tool
for maybe somebody who's volunteering their time
or just getting the practice going,
where you take five minutes of drill one,
five minutes of drill two, and help you carry through
and run a good crisp hour-and-a-half workout?
Well, it gives you a guideline of how to set up a workout,
that's for sure.
It shows you some drills that you want to do
to give the players the proper fundamentals,
and it gives you a time limit for them,
and it's very good as far as getting the kids
doing the repetition over and over and over again.
What we found out is, too, that after we complete these drills
and the way we keep them moving in a quick hour-and-a-half practice,
we can go ahead and take a radar gun,
we can take a stopwatch and time them two weeks later,
and amazingly enough, see a third of a second faster
in a 60 to a half a second,
and see five or six miles per hour of arm strength improvement
in just a few weeks.
In fact, we were really happy about it.
Our AAU National Championship teams
that use these drills as a staple diet
ended up fielding 82 consecutive ground balls in a row
and did a little lot of nice things.
They've also been very successful in our summer camps
at keeping things moving, keeping the players happy.
It was a pleasure having you out here today.
I know the kids and myself really enjoyed having you.
Well, thank you, Tom.
It was my pleasure to come out and help out.
We'd like to thank you for purchasing
this Baseball World instructional video.
Remember, strive for excellence,
and don't be afraid to slow the drills down
to a speed where players can execute the drills successfully.
Then repeat them as the players gain speed.
Best wishes, and thank you from the staff at Baseball World.
Pittsburgh Pirate Scout Tommy Nansky
has made some startling discoveries.
Teaching the mechanics of the Major League swing
is an exciting new video program
by which aspiring young players and coaches
can join actual training classes
at Central Florida's highly acclaimed
indoor training center, Baseball World.
Rotate through.
Through these revolutionary new drills
designed by Scali Nansky and his diligent study
of the Major League swing,
you too will be able to isolate the components
common to the accomplished Major League hitter.
We have to start with our back leg.
Teaching the mechanics of the Major League swing
is simple and straightforward,
all ages and ability levels.
Hi, I'm Glenn Davis.
I'm so impressed with this teaching video by Tommy Nansky
that I've given it my complete endorsement.
And when you watch it,
you'll know why.
Call toll-free now.
1-800-833-1551
to order your video cassette of
Teaching the Mechanics of the Major League Swing.
That's 1-800-833-1551.