"Fielding" Drill

This drill comes from W. Taylor Cooper our October 2004 Drill of the Month Winner.

Equipment: Colored Poly Balls assembled on circular tubing. Use four (4) balls of different color assembled around three feet (3') of plastic tubing. One half inch (1/2") tubing works great as it just slips through the holes in the Poly balls. You can use less tubing for a smaller circle, and more challenging drill.

• Can drill up to eight (8) players, but I prefer two or four (2-4) players at a time.
• Four (4) players get in a circle of about eight feet (8') apart. Two (2) players stand about eight feet (8') apart facing each other.
• First player tosses the "Poly Circle" to opposite player and calls out color of ball to catch.
• Player catches correct ball using two hands, trying not to grab the tubing.
• Second player tosses the ring back across the circle to different player and calls out color to catch.
• The beginning tosses should be medium high lobs with little rotation of the "Poly Circle."
• As the players develop, the throws can be straighter and the circle rotation can be increased.
• The size of the circle can also be increased, and the throwing player can delay the color selected after the throw.
• This is great for hand-eye coordination at all levels. It teaches the player to focus on the selected ball then coordinated his/her catch with that object.