Okay. 2017 player who spent last season on JV (missed freshman year due to injury). Went to workouts as an infielder, had to play catcher to fill team need. Now varsity coach says that he wants me to work on OF/1B for next season. My question is, is there a way to get OF work in during the winter in the NE? How would one go about doing that indoors?
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Take a tennis racquet and a tennis ball, have a friend hit a tennis ball in the air.
Can be accomplished in a gym. If your friend is a catcher, he can practice on catching pop ups.
Bob
NYC - sounds like your son is pretty athletic, and coach values his versatility. Congrats!
Great opportunity to work on OF footwork and technique. dropstep, route to the ball, crow hops, etc.. ALOT of the OF drills that the program my son plays for here in Ga could easily be used indoors to get lots of reps and help your son to be much more efficient in the OF when you get good weather and onto the field in the spring.
Good Luck to ya!
Go to the link below. Then search around the site. This guy has been running indoor practices long enough to get really good at them. I coach in Tx, so it is far from my specialty! But I've used this site as a resource when we do go indoors. Enjoy.
Where are you in NY? There is a new facility in Pleasantville (Westchester County) that has a large indoor turf complex. There is plenty of room to work on footwork, technique, dropstep, route to the ball, etc. It is a youth training center with a baseball focus - the co-owner was a pitcher at SUNY Cortland and one of the trainers was a player and then assistant coach there.
Throwing, you can throw into a nearby net with proper footwork..
Hitting, you can also hit off a tee into the same net.
Not super exciting, but I might add hitting off a tee gives you the opportunity to work on your swing. Over using a pitching machine can mess up your swing and timing. The tennis racket idea is good. I know it doesn't sound sexy but it works and you can even hit the balls to yourself if no one else wants to help out. The tennis ball forces you to use "soft hands" to catch the ball.
