was looking for advice, as pre season rolls along how many throws a day and how many days a week should a high school player be making to 1st 2nd and third for practice? Thanks in advance for advice
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A lot and then do it some more. Take a break and do it again.
Obviously the arm needs to get in shape from long toss and things like that but these are throws that will be made in games so they need to be done. I'm not sure how many we do it but it's quite a bit and pretty much daily. If it seems like they have sore arms then we will dial it back but overall we throw.
Drills we do are
1. Field bunts to 1B - I'll stand behind them and toss balls out front. They field and throw.
2. Pick throws to 1B - I'll stand out front and throw pitches. They catch and jump turn to throw to 1B.
3. Block and recover to 1B - I'll stand out front and bounce pitches. They block / recover and throw to 1B.
4. Long to 2B - We set up a bag about 3 or 4 feet deep in the OF directly past 2B. I'll throw pitches and they air it out to this throw down bag. After a few of these then we come to the normal bag and make throws. It's truly amazing how better they are after this.
5, 6, 7. Basically all we do with to 1B but just to 2B
8, 9, 10. All the same to 3B like above.
Throws from catchers really don't change much. One thing we do is have the next catcher up be the batter to work through. He will swing, take a bunt posture and anything a batter may do. I'm not a big fan of doing throws without a batter due to the fact there will be a batter in the game. Even on the bunts we will take the batter to cross in front of them. The batter watches me and as soon as he sees me toss the ball he takes 4 or 5 steps up first and the catcher throwing will react when he crosses / sees the ball down.
Another drill we do but not that much of is the catchers are at the plate, I stand at 1B and we have a MIF / coach at 2B. I say go and the catcher busts up the line like he's backing it up. I throw the ball to the fence and they get it then make a throw to 2B. This is great for conditioning and making a longer throw.
So to answer your original question - a lot.
Obviously the arm needs to get in shape from long toss and things like that but these are throws that will be made in games so they need to be done. I'm not sure how many we do it but it's quite a bit and pretty much daily. If it seems like they have sore arms then we will dial it back but overall we throw.
Drills we do are
1. Field bunts to 1B - I'll stand behind them and toss balls out front. They field and throw.
2. Pick throws to 1B - I'll stand out front and throw pitches. They catch and jump turn to throw to 1B.
3. Block and recover to 1B - I'll stand out front and bounce pitches. They block / recover and throw to 1B.
4. Long to 2B - We set up a bag about 3 or 4 feet deep in the OF directly past 2B. I'll throw pitches and they air it out to this throw down bag. After a few of these then we come to the normal bag and make throws. It's truly amazing how better they are after this.
5, 6, 7. Basically all we do with to 1B but just to 2B
8, 9, 10. All the same to 3B like above.
Throws from catchers really don't change much. One thing we do is have the next catcher up be the batter to work through. He will swing, take a bunt posture and anything a batter may do. I'm not a big fan of doing throws without a batter due to the fact there will be a batter in the game. Even on the bunts we will take the batter to cross in front of them. The batter watches me and as soon as he sees me toss the ball he takes 4 or 5 steps up first and the catcher throwing will react when he crosses / sees the ball down.
Another drill we do but not that much of is the catchers are at the plate, I stand at 1B and we have a MIF / coach at 2B. I say go and the catcher busts up the line like he's backing it up. I throw the ball to the fence and they get it then make a throw to 2B. This is great for conditioning and making a longer throw.
So to answer your original question - a lot.
Obviously, if the shoulder or elbow is sore he has thrown enough for that day.
I've never counted my sons throws, however I think "full effort" throws under 20 to the bases and it was done 3-4 times a week. Depending upon the inseason game schedule you might want to dial the freuency down depending upon how the arm feels. Once the arm gets tired and the technique falls apart you aren't gaining much more then a sore arm by continueing to throw at "full effort".
Footwork should be practiced everyday.
I've never counted my sons throws, however I think "full effort" throws under 20 to the bases and it was done 3-4 times a week. Depending upon the inseason game schedule you might want to dial the freuency down depending upon how the arm feels. Once the arm gets tired and the technique falls apart you aren't gaining much more then a sore arm by continueing to throw at "full effort".
Footwork should be practiced everyday.
I have our kids work on the following each day:
2-3 Receiving Drills
2-3 Blocking Drills
2-3 Throwing/Transfer Drills
Throwing Program (Long toss, form throwing)
Every other day:
Defense (bunts, tag plays, force plays)
Throwing To Bases
2-3 Receiving Drills
2-3 Blocking Drills
2-3 Throwing/Transfer Drills
Throwing Program (Long toss, form throwing)
Every other day:
Defense (bunts, tag plays, force plays)
Throwing To Bases
