8u practice 8 | eaconsulting

PRACTICE 8 Focus: Agility, Pitching/Catching, Infield Dailies, Hitting, Catching, Throwing, Fly's, Fielding Circuit, Base Running

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

Running with their glove tucked in and out of cones
Every other time, have the player drop step around the cone

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

Hitting (30 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
- Have the player just get 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
- Have the player take a full swing finishing high at the shoulder
- Position the tee to the middle contact point and have the player take a full swing
- Position the tee to inside contact point and have the player take a full swing
- Position the tee to outside contact point and have player take a full swing
- 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
Sacrifice Bunts
- Athletic stance with feet opened up towards pitcher
- Bat start at the top of the strike zone
- Bat is at eye level
- All pitches above the bat, the bat is pulled back
- All pitches in the strike zone, the legs get the bat to the ball
- Arms are flexed and upon contact a small push can be made to the ball
- Bat is slightly angled for placement down 3rd and 1st

Base Running (10 Min)

Running with proper mechanics
- Running on the balls of the feet
- Elbows in, arms pumping
- Head up looking at the base ahead
Running through the first base bag, touching the front of the bag and breaking down
Rounding first base touching the inside of the bag
Focus on taking proper angles when rounding
Time players running from home to first and home to second
Log the times and compare them to their past timed run to see their progress

Catching/Throwing/Fly’s (15 Min)

Knee wrist snaps with glove
Throwing from the knees
Regular throws starting close and slowly move back.
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
Catching and moving through the ball
- Player sets up in an athletic position
- The player steps forward with her glove foot as she receives the ball fingertips up and throwing hand to the side
- The player continues working through the catch by carrying her momentum forward as she crosses over with her throwing hand foot
- The players momentum continues through the ball as she plants her throwing hand foot
- Her glove foot strides toward the target finishing in a throwing position
Introduce coaches tossing short fly balls directly to the player from a short distance using a tennis ball
- Focus should be catching ball above the shoulder finger tips up
- Player’s left foot should be forward when catching if possible
- Encourage the player to communicate “ball”, “ball”, “ball”
Start with short fly balls and progress higher as appropriate

Infield Dailies (10 Min)

Dailies are performed by two players that are 5-7 feet apart
If the players are having difficult feeding to each other and it's not efficient, have the coaches step in

Fielding Circuit (20 Min)

Circuit 1 (10 Min)
- Equal players are positioned at 3rd, short stop, and 2nd
- For the first five minutes
- The player at 3rd fields a ball rolled from the coach at home and throws to 1st, Player then rotates to short stop
- The player at short stop fields a ball from a coach close to the pitching mound and throws to 2nd, then rotates to 2nd
- The player at second receives the throw from the short stop with the footwork to turn a double play, then rotates to 3rd
- Next five minutes
- Same fielding positions, only the coach rolls to 2nd and the throw is received by the short stop
- The player at short stop receives the throw from the second baseman with the footwork to turn a doubt play, then rotates to 2nd

Circuit 2 (5 Min)
- Equal players are positioned at short stop, and 2nd
- The player at short stop fields a ball from a coach at home and throws to 1st, then rotates to 2nd
- The player at 2nd fields a ball from a coach at home and throws to 3rd, then rotates to short stop

Circuit 3 (5 Min)
- Equal players are positioned at short stop, and 2nd
- The player at short stop fields a ball from a coach at home and throws to 3rd, then rotates to 2nd
- The player at 2nd fields a ball from a coach at home and throws to 1st, then rotates to short stop

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

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

Running with their glove tucked in and out of cones

Every other time, have the player drop step around the cone

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

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

Have the player just get 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

Have the player take a full 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

Sacrifice Bunts

Bat start at the top of the strike zone

Bat is at eye level

All pitches above the bat, the bat is pulled back

All pitches in the strike zone, the legs get the bat to the ball

Arms are flexed and upon contact a small push can be made to the ball

Bat is slightly angled for placement down 3rd and 1st

Running with proper mechanics

Running on the balls of the feet

Elbows in, arms pumping

Head up looking at the base ahead

Focus on taking proper angles when rounding

Time players running from home to first and home to second

Log the times and compare them to their past timed run to see their progress

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

Player sets up in an athletic position​​

The player steps forward with her glove foot as she receives the ball fingertips up and throwing hand to the side

The player continues working through the catch by carrying her momentum forward as she crosses over with her throwing hand foot

The players momentum continues through the ball as she plants her throwing hand foot

Her glove foot strides toward the target finishing in a throwing position

Focus should be catching ball above the shoulder finger tips up

Player’s left foot should be forward when catching if possible

Encourage the player to communicate “ball”, “ball”, “ball”

Start with short fly balls and progress higher as appropriate

Infield Dailies (10 Min)

​​

Dailies are performed by two players that are 5-7 feet apart

If the players are having difficult feeding to each other and it's not efficient, have the coaches step in

Circuit 1 (10 Min)

Equal players are positioned at 3rd, short stop, and 2nd

For the first five minutes

The player at 3rd fields a ball rolled from the coach at home and throws to 1st, Player then rotates to short stop

The player at short stop fields a ball from a coach close to the pitching mound and throws to 2nd, then rotates to 2nd

Next five minutes

Same fielding positions, only the coach rolls to 2nd and the throw is received by the short stop

Circuit 2 (5 Min)

Equal players are positioned at short stop, and 2nd

The player at short stop fields a ball from a coach at home and throws to 1st, then rotates to 2nd

The player at 2nd fields a ball from a coach at home and throws to 3rd, then rotates to short stop

Circuit 3 (5 Min)

Equal players are positioned at short stop, and 2nd

The player at 2nd fields a ball from a coach at home and throws to 1st, then rotates to short stop

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

Player sets up in an athletic position