I checked with the owners of this site and members CAN post what they do in practice. I'd sure like to read some other thoughts so that I can help my dd. If your practice ideas aren't international secrets or posted "top secret" by the USA Government, how about sharing?
Situational Practice:
I don't know how many of you do situational practice with runners or how you do it but here is a little of what we do. We put a runner in the left hand batter's box and we call out a situation. For example, runner on 1st, runner is fast, no one out, and then we give a count to the pitcher. The coach then has the defense look away and gives a sign to the runner. For instance in this example the runner has the steal sign. The pitcher throws a pitch and the coach, who is holding a ball can:
- Hit the ball.
- Fake bunt and so, the catcher has to attempt to throw the runner out.
- Simulate bunting the ball in any direction he/she desires.
- Hit a popup.
We try to do a lot of situational work but beware, if you go into the practice and think you'll just create scenerios on the fly, you'll end up making practice drag along. Be organized and pull out a sheet of paper with team flaws that need to be address. This will make practice a lot of fun. Oh, and don't forget that OF work hitting the cutoffs is often overlooked or boring. In this drill, the OF gets a lot of action.
Finally, I have another drill or two I'd like to share. I'd like to read what others do before doing so. Otherwise, I might be giving the impression that I'm trying to run this forum. (Either that or I'm trying to demonstrate how dumb I am once you read this stuff.)