Pre Game

What do you mean by "in and out routine"?

In CA we do not have BP. We take a pre game in which or players take the field and a coach hits balls to the OF where they throw to bases and the infielders get 1, turn DP, slow rollers...things like that.

Here's our routine, but it's pretty, well, Routine. The exception may be catcher throw downs and scoops at 1B.

Hit to OF

1) L,C,R to 3B
2) R,C,L to 2B
3) L,C,R to Home
While OF
1) During #1 Catcher throw downs
2) Dururing #2 Scoops at 1B, Catcher to 1B

Then InField
1) Star Drill
2) InField-in, throw to home
3) InField-in, look runner back at 3B throw to 1B
4) InField regular to 1B
5) 2 and cover need a pitcher on the mound.
6) to Home and then 1B

OF takes Flyballs off Coach B during IF

Looking really good in pregame in and out can intimidate the opposing team.

Saw a coach one time hitting the meanest toughest fungos you could imagine in pre-game. Their team looked terrible and was so demoralized by it that they might as well had not played.

I can't imagine that he did that every game all year. The Coach only lasted one year.

Ours is routine for a reason. We use it as a confidence builder for the players going into the game, and even if it's not the prettiest on a given day, I make sure they think it was the best round ever!

I've seen some fancy sceems. Four fungos at once, and after 2 min every fungo switches who they're hitting to. One fungo at each base for each OF. I understand the reps part, but it always seems like too much.

Coach I am with you 100%. Its all about getting some reps before the game on the field your getting ready to play the game on. You need to do everything you can to instill confidence before a game.

Fly ball to LF - cut 2
Ground ball to LF - cut 2
Fly ball to CF - cut 2
Ground ball to CF - cut 2
Fly ball to RF - cut 2
Ground ball to RF - cut 2

Fly ball to LF - cut 3
Ground ball to LF - cut 3
Fly ball to CF - cut 3
Ground ball to CF - cut 3
Fly ball to RF - cut 3
Ground ball to RF - cut 3

Same thing to home plate

Ground ball bag depth 3b to 1st
Ground ball to ss to 1st
Ground ball to 2b to 1st
Ground ball to 1b tag 1st

Ground ball to back hand 3b to 1st
Ground ball to right ss to 1st
Ground ball to right 2b to 1st
Ground ball to 1b tag 1st

Ground ball to forehand 3b to 1st
Ground ball to backhand ss to 1st
Ground ball to backhand 2b to 1st
Ground ball to line 1b to tag 1b

Turn 2

Slow roller

Throw home

Catcher throws to 1b on bunts / blocked 3rd strikes while of is getting hit to.

Catcher throws to bags on ground balls to inf on second set.

It does not take very long. Its about getting some reps and leaving the field confident. Its not about the coach looking good. Its about the players feeling good.

One thing that I do that is different is how I end pre game. I have never been able to go up the chute and frankly I do not care to learn. What I do is take 4 balls and get about half way between the mound and home plate and throw to the catcher and have him throw down.
1 third
2 2nd base
1 back pick to 1st

I have been blessed with good catchers in my time and it is very intimidating. However there was one year that my catcher was horrible and I really wished I learned to go up the chute.

Pre-game Routine

Outfield
1. Coach 1……LF to 3rd, CF to 2nd (SS and 2B are cut-offs and covering 2nd).
Coach 2….... RF to Home w/ 1B cut-off.

2. Coach 1……LF to Home, CF to 3rd (SS cuts to both bags)
Coach 2……RF to 2nd w/ 1B covering the bag at 2nd and 2B working cuts

3. Coach 1……LF to 2nd, CF to Home (SS cuts to both bags)
Coach 2……RF to 3rd, 2B working cuts

At this point our outfield coach may work specific things with the outfielders while the infield goes through their pre-game.

Infield
1. Coach 1……SS to 2nd
Coach 2……3B to 1st

2. Coach 1……3B to 2nd
Coach 2……SS to 1st

3. Coach 1……3B and SS to Home
Coach 2……2B to 1st

4. Coach 1……2B to 2nd and Home
Coach 2……1B to 3rd and Home

Ground balls can be varied greatly to work specific skills such as forehands, backhands, slow rollers, all feeds at 2nd, etc. At home games we will put a screen up to protect the 1B and have 1B up the second base line taking throws from the middle. On road games, middle infield work foot work at the bag, but do not make a throw to first. Sometimes between the transition from outfield to infield, we will include a throwing drill in which all infielders throwing to all bags. When we do this, we will throw bag to bag and not shorten up and throw 45’.

I agree with what some of you guys said......this is not practice. We try to hit good ground balls and let the players field a few and throw across the field.

We used to work a lot on the pregame routine not only because of the mechanical benefits but it serves notice to the other team. If you have a routine that moves fast with a lot of hop and a lot of movement and it's done well, it can cause the opponent to take a step back, put them on their heels. It really is a choreographed performance where you want the players to get a rhythm and flow. It takes a quality fungo hitter(s). And I do believe that coaches should practice the pop up to catchers so they can finish with it...it's not easy but the other team will be saying that their own coaches cant even do that...I love going early to games just to watch pregames. Went to Omaha a few years ago and the pregames were fun to watch.

Does anyone have a school they know of that has mastered the pregame?

I am not trying to be sarcastic but any baseball team that gets intimidated from watching another team take infield is not very good to start with. It may be fun to watch. Just make it productive and get on with why you came to the field in the first place. To play the actual game.

I agree with Coach May and I'll add that I see some team's infield drills and they appear very complicated. I just think to myself about how much time they must have spent coaching the players on the mechanics of their infield drill when they should have been working on stuff that will actually help them win.

If a team takes advantage of their other pregame time (during BP, while other team takes BP, etc), then a simple round of infield is plenty. Then you don't have to spend time in practice working on the mechanics of your complicated infield drills. During BP, get your players taking balls off the bat as if the game was live, then get a little criss cross going and you should be fine with an "ordinary" round of infield.

well i have to respectively disagree....please understand that under no circumstances is a pregame intended to replace all the preparation to win the game. and if there is a player on the team that doesnt fully understand that the reason they put the uniform on and show up is not to look pretty for the pregame but again, it's to win the game....but as with everything a quality program does the pregame should be something that is not only to allow for warmup etc but also to show the opponents that you do things right and just dont go out and fungo some grounder flys and then have everyone run in...nothing drives me more crazy than a pregame that is not prepared for and executed with precision.

I don't think anyone is arguing that the pregame shouldn't be prepared for and executed with precision. I just don't believe you should spend a ton of time coming up with and implementing some type of "chinese fire drill" type of pregame.

well i reread my original post and am having trouble seeing that a chinese fire drill was what i was saying but if it reads that way then i too agree....also i am not saying that a team should be concerned about the opponents thoughts, but i do think teams see a well executed pregame as an indicator that the team they are about to play is well coached and a quality team....again, i am talking about one that has a lot of hop/enthusiasm and a proper execution....however, i agree it's not all cases....there are some teams that do very well in a pregame but get clobbered....just like a pitcher can throw 95 but cant throw a strike...as a previous poster mentioned, if you got a catcher who has a gun and you demonstrate during a pregame it will have an affect on the willingness to steal

I guess the extreme opposite of that would be taking pre-game with no ball at all. I have seen this done once before.

For those of you who want to keep it simple yet do something different. Give what we do a try. It is a simple routine. We just have two coaches hitting fungo. If you will split the two up and just read what one coach does it is pretty simple. And by the way, we do not practice our pregame....but we will do an extended pre-game rountine some days to get our fungo work.

Outfield
1. Coach 2….... RF to Home

2. Coach 2……RF to 2nd w/ 1B covering the bag at 2nd

3. Coach 2……RF to 3rd

Infield
1. Coach 2……3B to 1st

2.Coach 2……SS to 1st

3.Coach 2……2B to 1st

4.Coach 2……1B to 3rd and Home

A crisp infield is a sign to the other team you are well prepared and ready to play. I recall the U of Maine doing a double ball infield which left us very impressed before they knocked us around.

I know I am probably going to get hammered on this one but I think pregame IF / OF is fairly overrated. My teams have played plenty of games where we got off the bus, stretched, throw and played and won (and lost).

We have played teams who took some of the fanciest IF / OF I have ever seen in my life and we beat them (and lost). We have played teams who took the most basic IF / OF I have ever seen in my life and we beat them (and lost). We have played teams who looked crisp and sharp during IF / OF and we beat them (and lost). We have played teams who took the ugliest and most embarassing IF / OF and we beat them (and lost).

My teams have taken really sharp and crisp IF / OF and won (and lost). My teams have taken IF / OF and imitated guys trying to catch the ball with no arms and won (and lost).

If you take care of business in preseason and practice then you don't need anything fancy. I pretty much take IF / OF because I feel like we have to because if we don't then something just doesn't feel right or people think we are weird.

My thoughts are if you do hit IF / OF then hit them routine but somewhat hard (but not crushed) balls. I crack up at the coaches who hit one ground ball and the guy boots it. So the coach gets mad and hits a missle at him on the next one. I mean the kid probably didn't mean to miss it so why embarass him on a ball he might have 2% chance of catching? Just hit him another one and let him get the rythm back.

Ok my question is do you guys take everyone out or just the starting 9 (actually 8 but you get my drift)?

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Ok my question is do you guys take everyone out or just the starting 9 (actually 8 but you get my drift)?

For us, that just depends. If we're at home then most likely everyone is going to take infield. If we're on the road, then we'll normally just have the 9 take infield. (Yes, 9.. often the starting pitcher will take a few ground balls off the mound) Sometimes instead of the starting pitcher taking a little bit of infield, we'll have the next starting pitcher take some the day before or so.

We have our catchers work on throwing to first on bunts, drop 3rd strike, etc while the outfield throws to 2nd and 3rd. Then, the catchers will throw to second and third at the end of infield right before the long/short and off for the infielders. This highlights the catchers' arms since that is the only action going on at the time.

On more than one occassion, having seen the catchers throw to bases, teams do not run on us.

Pre game is either intimidating or self assuring to the other team. If you watch a GOOD in and out whether or not its complicated and all of the players make the plays, play catch and talk it up I would think you would be fooling yourself not to think it is not intimidating. Think about the times you see bad in and outs as a coach. The first thing you think of is your getting a couple of extra runs. Granted we have taken stellar in and outs and have lost but I know when I see a team take a bad in and out I know I feel like we are getting more runs out of it. In regards to the numbers I let all players take in and out if they can take it. There has been situations, due to time constraints, in which I go starters only.

I think the flip side is more true than being intimidated by a good IF / OF. I have seen (coached) teams that see a team take a terrible IF / OF and then we think it's going to be a cakewalk and end up losing.

I just can't see being intimidated at all if you are a competitor. In fact what purpose does it serve to watch the other team take IF / OF other than to see the OF arms to find out who you can run on or not.

I have never seen a run scored in pregame. It is simply a way to get in some reps before the game starts. The only plays that will matter are the ones made or not made once the game starts. Legit players do not get intimidated. The ones that do are not very good to start with.

You can make it as complicated as you want. Thats up to every coach. Our players like to keep it simple and so do I. We save our energy for the game. We take it light and loose before the game.

I send 'em all out there that are suited up that day. There are usually 2-4 in the bullpen also.

Mine is pretty basic:
OF all throw 2 to 2, 2 to 3 and one to home. Then they get fly balls from another fungo.
IF get a bunch of "ones", turn a couple of dps, one or two slow rollers, one or two in the hole and we are out of there.

Sometimes I don't even have a catcher out there if they are in the bullpen or another position. So i'll just use pitchers.. sometimes I'll have a catcher or two and incorporate some one and cover...

The really good in and outs you see are usually due to the fact that the kids out there can field and throw the ball well.... (gee, I wonder why it looks so good ?)

some years we dont take pregame infield at all. some years we do. ive seen no difference in results.we've had really good defensive teams that never took a round of pregame infield. we take some one hoppers in the outfield and play.
when we do take it we use 2 coaches to get more reps. we'll go 2 or 3 rounds to the outfileders throwing to 2nd, while the 2nd coach hits to 3rd baseman throwing to first. we then go 2 or 3 rounds of outfieders throwing to 3rd with 2nd coach hitting to 2nd baseman throwing to first. we then go 2 rounds throwing home while 2nd coach hits to ss throwing to first. outfielders then all go to center and get flyballs. infield goes one round home. one to first, one doubleplays, one slow rollers to first and in. this is quick and practical with alot of reps.
but like i said performance hasnt varied from when we take pregame infield and when we dont.

I like to go starting 8 only, unless I've got one sub really pushing for a position where I know he'll be playing alot of the game. Starters only, builds a better rythm.

I've often thought about the sub who doesn't take any Pre and then is expected to come in cold and play. I've just had too many subs and sub-subs chasing the ball around taking up time and rythm.

I remember once during my playing days we were so bad during the pre game the coach pulled us off the field.

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
I remember once during my playing days we were so bad during the pre game the coach pulled us off the field.

I did this once before. I was so mad I couldn't see straight. Played our best game ever and won.

We've all been to those football games where one team goes out all calm and orderly while the other team is jumping all over each other.... I've seen the winner go to the calm or the excited...

quote:

I did this once before. I was so mad I couldn't see straight. Played our best game ever and won.

I do not know when you did it but better be careful these days as you might be cited for cruelty to athletes as you embarrassed them and hurt their self esteem

quote:

I do not know when you did it but better be careful these days as you might be cited for cruelty to athletes as you embarrassed them and hurt their self esteem

I do not agree with this at all. Pre game is not a right and there is no rule about it. The theory about pulling your players off during pre game all surrounds how you do it. When we take pre game we take the field with 4 balls. If I am out then they get pulled off the field, and the players know it. This way nobody gets singled out and embarrassed.

I think Will was being a little tongue in cheek with his comment. I would never pull the team off for one guy having a bad day but if it's a majority of the team then we are coming off the field because we are just wasting time. Get them into the dugout and let them sit and think about it some. If you have competitors they will use the time to refocus and come out better during the game.

I won't rip them if it's a lack of focus but when they are in the dugout I will tell them to refocus and leave them alone. If it's about a lack of maturity and goofing off (which is very rare) I will lay into them.

If people are worried about pulling a team off the field hurting their feelings then you should be too late. Their performance on the field should be more than enough embarassment for them.

quote:

I think Will was being a little tongue in cheek with his comment.

Yes and a little no

quote:

Originally posted by trojan-skipper:
We've all been to those football games where one team goes out all calm and orderly while the other team is jumping all over each other.... I've seen the winner go to the calm or the excited...

We have a quote down here about that......they were fired up at the Alamo too.