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Relay and cutoff responsibilities
by Lou
Runner on second, fly ball to right field
Lou asked: With all the different relay and cutoff situations, how can coaches and young players remember all of the player responsibilities? With this drill you are able to create any and all situations they may encounter. You have 9 players on the field at a time, the extra players are base runners. Rotate players in and out as you want. This is a great drill to provide players with experience at playing all positions on the field. The more versatile a player is, the more valuable he will be for all the teams he will play for in the future. With your cutoffs and relays, I would start very basic, single cuts on base hits, no runners, gradually increase it to 1 runner, then 2, then 3. Players won't derive much, if any benefit from a diagram. Use the field as your paper, describe the situation, then walk them through where they go to, and explain why they go there every time, not just when it looks like there will be a play. The reality of defensive baseball is you, as a player, may sprint to a spot in a given situation 300 times in a season, so that you are there for that one time the ball gets away. In high school I was a third baseman. We had a drill where coaches hit a ground ball back to the pitcher who was to field it and either work on the DP, or no runner and throw to first. As a 3B, we were in on every ground ball hit back to the mound. Our job was to crash the mound, in the event the ball went off the pitcher in our direction. Over 4 years of high school and four years of college I only had to make that play twice, but the one time in college it was the difference in our getting into the regional tournament. It only works if you go every time, full out, so you are in position. It is harder to get outfielders to anticipate where they need to be when the ball is hit, rather than moving after the throw is in the air. If you go slow, walk through, then do it live, with runners they will learn it. Eventually it becomes second nature. It's a good feeling when you see them do it in practice; but the best feeling of all is to see them make it happen in an actual game. They have learned to think on their feet and there is truly nothing better to watch than a team that all functions as one entity. The second picture above is the end result of a double cut which was set up to go to 3B. The blurry Dodger outfielder in the background is the outfielder who retrieved the extra base hit. The next tow coming back towards the infield are the SS and 2B. It looks like the SS, who was the lead infielder out, cut the ball and threw back to 2B to the 1B who had trailed the batter-runner on the play. When the runner decided not to try for 3B, the Dodgers back picked him. That is a double cutoff, modified on the run, and done to perfection. Below are some site links which may provide some additional information you may find helpful. Good luck as you move forward. Yours in baseball, Rick Baseball Practice Organization Coaching Confidence Baseball Skills Checklist There are times when you begin to wonder if they are ever going to get it, and then from out of nowhere, there it is. Once they have made it happen, they will continue to repeat it. |
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