How to Take Infield Practice
Infield practice is to baseball players what musical scales are to musicians. They are both exercises that must be mastered before the competition of a game or the artistic success of a performance can even be considered. They are also part of the ritual of "warming up" before playing.
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Instructions
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1
Place the third baseman, second baseman, first baseman and shortstop in their positions. Place the catcher at home plate. Place a coach with a fungo bat next to the catcher.
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Begin the practice with the coach hitting ground balls to each of the positions, moving from third base around the diamond in a clockwise fashion. Each player throws to first as though throwing out a batter. The first baseman then throws the ball to the catcher who flips it to the coach.
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3
Continue this process for three or four cycles around the infield. The coach may increase the difficulty of each cycle by hitting the ball harder off to the sides of the infielders.
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4
Move to cover first base if you are a second baseman and a ground ball to the first baseman is far enough from first base that he cannot take it "on his own."
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5
Begin the next stage of infield practice by practicing double plays. The coach will designate the nature of the play by calling out "get two." Players will move to their appropriate positions depending upon where the ball is hit or if the coach calls out a specific play, for example, "get two, third to first."
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Move to the next stage of the practice by fielding pop ups. When the coach calls "come on in," the player fields the ball, throws to the catcher and charges towards home plate. The catcher rolls the ball along the ground as though it were a bunt. The player fields the "bunt" and throws to first base. The second baseman remains on the field to cover first and take the throw from the first baseman.
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End the infield practice when the coach hits a pop foul for the catcher to field.
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Tips & Warnings
At any point during the practice, the coach may call for the ball to be thrown "around the horn" and a typical sequence would be catcher to third baseman to second baseman to shortstop to first baseman and back to catcher.
