8u practice 12 | eaconsulting

PRACTICE 12 Focus: Agility, Pitching, Catching, Throwing, Catching, Hitting, Front Toss Live

Agility Warm Up (10 Min)

With a glove, player shuffles left and when in front of the ball, breaks down into the proper fielding position and then shuffles to the ball opposite and repeats
Encourage staying athletic
Do this 3 times to each side

With a glove, player starts at bottom right cone and sprints forward to the cone ahead, back pedals to bottom left cone and approaches the ladder and ball breaking down into a proper fielding position

Stationary feeds to a player with no glove
Have player get into a proper fielding position and roll balls directly to them so their feet can stay stationary
Focus is on getting the player into the proper fielding position and reaching out for the ball with their glove hand palm facing the ball and throwing hand over the glove hand
Roll 3 to each and rotate

Catching/Throwing (10 Min)

Add a competition for fun having the players attempt to throw into a bucket from 10-12 feet
The focus is on elevating the ball with a proper release point and wrist snap
Stay athletic when receiving moving the feet to the ball

Hitting (20 Min)

Tee
- Athletic stance with no stride approach
- Feet positioned straight or slightly inward with weight on the inside
- Feet are positioned just outside the shoulders with equal weight on each
- With a bat utilizing a tee, to contact and through to extension starting slow then progressively getting faster maintaining proper form
- Focus on staying athletic through to extension with chin staying down
- Finish the swing finishing high at the shoulder
- Move the tee to inside contact point
- Move the tee to outside contact point
- Make necessary adjustments to a player’s swing

Soft Toss
- Coach kneels to the side and slightly in front of batter
- Coach slowly tosses the ball to batters strike zone
- Batter swings through with focus points above
Front Toss
- Coach pitches from 12-15 feet away
- Keep focus on proper mechanics
- Make necessary adjustments

Front Toss Live (50 Min)

Front Toss
- Have the coach pitch from 12-15 feet away with a catcher
- Put players in to appropriate defensive positions
- Have 2-3 players hitting together and rotate after each get 2-3 at bats
- Each at bat is live with the batter running
- You can start each batter with a 1-1 count to speed things up
- The coach can vary how many outs there are to change defensive options
- Encourage the defense to communicate where the plays are
- The coach should help with defensive positioning based on each situation
- When runners are on base they should work on their lead offs

Pitching (20 Min)

Wrist snaps restraining pitching arm shoulders stay isolated
Long Toss
- The pitcher starts at the mound and moves back about three feet after each successful pitch across the plate
- Once the pitcher fails to reach the plate, she moves forward and starts her long toss from that location
- The pitcher pitches 20 pitches from this location
Full Motion from the mound

Catching

Setup/Positioning
- Feet are shoulder width apart
- Knees fully bent
- Back is straight
- Glove arm is at 90 degree with glove opened towards pitcher
- Throwing hand is behind back
Framing/Receiving
- Glove arm stays flexed and out in front
- For an inside pitch, upon catching the ball the catchers thumb is up
- For an outside pitch, upon catching the ball the catchers thumb is down
- For a high pitch, upon catching the ball the catchers palm is down
- For a low pitch, the catcher receives the ball finger tips up

With a glove, player shuffles left and when in front of the ball, breaks down into the proper fielding position and then shuffles to the ball opposite and repeats

Encourage staying athletic

Do this 3 times to each side

With a glove, player starts at bottom right cone and sprints forward to the cone ahead, back pedals to bottom left cone and approaches the ladder and ball breaking down into a proper fielding position

Stationary feeds to a player with no glove

Have player get into a proper fielding position and roll balls directly to them so their feet can stay stationary

Focus is on getting the player into the proper fielding position and reaching out for the ball with their glove hand palm facing the ball and throwing hand over the glove hand

Roll 3 to each and rotate

The focus is on elevating the ball with a proper release point and wrist snap

Tee

Feet positioned straight or slightly inward with weight on the inside

Feet are positioned just outside the shoulders with equal weight on each

With a bat utilizing a tee, to contact and through to extension starting slow then progressively getting faster maintaining proper form

Focus on staying athletic through to extension with chin staying down

Finish the swing finishing high at the shoulder

Make necessary adjustments to a player’s swing

Soft Toss

Coach kneels to the side and slightly in front of batter

Coach slowly tosses the ball to batters strike zone

Batter swings through with focus points above

Front Toss

Coach pitches from 12-15 feet away

Keep focus on proper mechanics

Make necessary adjustments

Front Toss

Have the coach pitch from 12-15 feet away with a catcher

Put players in to appropriate defensive positions

Have 2-3 players hitting together and rotate after each get 2-3 at bats

Each at bat is live with the batter running

You can start each batter with a 1-1 count to speed things up

The coach can vary how many outs there are to change defensive options

Encourage the defense to communicate where the plays are

The coach should help with defensive positioning based on each situation

When runners are on base they should work on their lead offs

The pitcher starts at the mound and moves back about three feet after each successful pitch across the plate

Once the pitcher fails to reach the plate, she moves forward and starts her long toss from that location

The pitcher pitches 20 pitches from this location

Setup/Positioning

Feet are shoulder width apart

Knees fully bent

Back is straight

Glove arm is at 90 degree with glove opened towards pitcher

Throwing hand is behind back

Glove arm stays flexed and out in front

For an inside pitch, upon catching the ball the catchers thumb is up

For an outside pitch, upon catching the ball the catchers thumb is down

For a high pitch, upon catching the ball the catchers palm is down

For a low pitch, the catcher receives the ball finger tips up