One bounce reaction drill (1 player per coach or do in pairs)
This drill is great for practicing reaction, explosive movements and increasing the fielding each and comfort zone of the player. The drill is simple: have the coach and player stand approximately 2m away from each other. The coach holds out to balls, one in each arm and without warning the coach drops one of the balls. The player has to then, as fast as possible, go field the ball before it bounces the second time. Baseball5 balls are great for this drill as they don’t bounce very high, so the player needs to explode. If you use other balls that might bounce more, you have to increase the distance.
Adjust the difficulty by increasing the distance gradually to make the player really stretch for the ball. Eventually, but maybe not the first time doing this drill, you want the player to be comfortable diving for the ball. You can add an element of conditioning by saying each time the player didn’t manage to field the ball before the second bounce, they have to do 10 burpees or run to the wall and back. You can be creative – as long as you make sure that there is something at stake.
