Infield Fungo Drill
Cherly Fleitas
The infield fungo is an old school classic that has endured the test of time. Featuring a slightly flared handle transition in to the fungo knob, it's great for hitting grounders to the infielders.
For softball coaches, the slower transition from handle to barrel make it a solid choice for grounders and fly balls. All of our fungos are made from birch for extra durability. So, don't plan on seeing us for a fungo for a while after you purchase one...they last!
This is also a valuable drill to run in a tryout situation, whereby many players can be looked at, in multiple positions. The opportunity is built in to evaluate arm strength, ground ball technique, footwork and throwing mechanics.
Watch as Coach explains, and infielders demonstrate this short fungo drill. The infielders get instant feedback on their foot movement and rhythm. The coach will hit different types of ground balls and hops working on the forehand, backhand, and slow rollers.
With regard to the fundamentals of fielding a routine ground ball, a focus must be placed not only on the hands, but also more importantly, on the feet. Most understand that all good infielders possess good, soft hands. Well, when you see those sure-handed infielders, be sure to take notice of what their feet are doing. The two work together, and below is a drill progression that will help improve both.
A short distance fungo is hit from about half way in between home plate and each infield position and done so with a softer pace to the ground ball which enables infielders to really concentrate on a controlled approach to the ball, while reading and creating a good hop to field, before setting the feet up to throw. Additionally, an emphasis can be made on the pre-pitch stance (or ready position as many refer to it) where we are looking for infielders to be on the balls of their feet (front part of their feet, not solely on the toes) at the moment of contact, which makes for a great first step to the ball. Want to put a focus on the backhand? The softer pace and the shorter distance allow the infielders to concentrate of perfecting his feet and hands on what can be a very challenging play. You can put that kind of emphasis on any type of ground ball with the short fungo.
The circle drill with the short fungo can serve two purposes. Draw a circle in the dirt, and for players who sit back on ground balls, start them 10-15 feet behind the top of the circle, and force them to field the batted ball inside of the circle. This helps develop an approach of going to get the ball. For infielders who are flat-footed upon fielding the ball, have them start inside of the circle, and teach them to aggressively move their feet out of the circle when they go to field the ball. This not only helps them get their legs into the throw, but also gets them moving thru the ball.
A regular fungo hit from home plate gives infielders as close of a game rep as they can get in a practice environment, truly combining every aspect of the entire drill progression detailed above. Not only can the ground ball be hit at any speed, from routine to rocket, situations can be added into each rep (like runner on 1st, fast runner, or bases loaded with the tying run on 3rd in the 9th with one out) to introduce some on the fly thinking, a skill that all good infielders have.
Coaching youth baseball successfully involves implementing baseball drills that repeat fielding and throwing in every day strategies. Since making the routine play is so important it makes common sense in running practice to spend the majority of time practicing the plays that happen the most.
The professionals use baseball practice drills for the routine defense plays in spring training every season. Forget wasting time and energy on trick plays and pick-offs that you rarely need or are high risk for making mistakes on.
This is a pretty fast paced defensive baseball practice drill. If a player bobbles the ball give them instruction by telling them they can pick the ball up quickly and still have a chance to throw out the runner then let him finish the play.
Coaching Side NOTES: Put the lefty players at 1B. If the right-handed players also play other infield positions then rotate them in and out of 1B so they all get groundball fielding practice. The lefty players will get a defensive turn fielding and throwing to 2B after the doubleplay round.
For Part II and learn more baseball practice drills, strategies and coaching fundamental options using the 15 minute Rapid Fire Defensive Drill. Go to Part II of Baseball Practice Drills Rapid Fire
First, it helps the guy with the fungo if he is not good in his ability to toss the ball to himself when hitting fungos (poor self-tosses are usually what hurts the fungo-challenged the most). Second, the infielder benefits because he has the ability to practice seeing the ball off the bat in a more realistic manner than if the coach tossed the ball up to himself.
If you have an infielder who also pitches, you will need to adjust based on when he last pitched and how many pitches he threw. I also believe that middle infield is a position, and that every middle infielder should be able to play both shortstop and second base.
The fungo hitter should alternate ground balls to the third baseman and shortstop, then hit two balls in a row to either position. If the fielder misses the ball, move on to the next fielder. The first baseman should take these throws and drop the baseballs into a bucket beside him.
To give the third baseman some rest between reps, the fungo hitter should hit two ground balls to second for each one hit to third. The first baseman should take these throws live, and then drop the baseballs into a bucket beside him.
Set one player at each infield position, extra players at the edge of the outfield grass, the first baseman holding the runner on, and the middle infielders at double-play depth. The fungo hitter can hit the ball to anyone, and the fielders will go for two. If an infielder bobbles the ball, he should pick it up and throw to first.
We use this drill at the beginning of the season. It gives players a lot of reps at fielding ground balls and fly balls. It is a great drill at the beginning of the season as a judge to see which players are outfielders and which are infielders.
The drill requires two fungos, one on the first base side of home and one on the third base side of home about half way between the bases. The drill works best with 10 players. Each fungo has a shagger. Align four players at the infielder positions. The other four players should play outfield, with a LF, LCF, RCF and a RF. The 1B fungo hits ground balls to the third baseman and shortstop that return the ball to his shagger. He then hits fly balls to the LF and LCF who relay to the 3B and SS respectively. The 3B fungo hits ground balls to the 2B and 1B who return to the third base shagger he then hits fly balls to the RCF and RF who relay to the 2B and 1B respectively. After three reps the players rotate.
The 1B becomes shagger for the third base fungo, while the 3B shagger moves to LF. The RF becomes shagger for 1B fungo, while the 1B shagger moves to 3B. All other player rotates to the position on his or her left.
I have a drill that I run every so often that the kids really enjoy. This drill is designed to teach the kids to get rid of the ball and not hold it. The younger kids sometimes get confused and just hold the ball.
The drill consists of your squad broken into two teams. The first team will line up one behind the other in the shortstop position. The others line up behind first base. A five-gallon bucket is placed upside down on first base. A coach will drop a ball in front of the first person in line. The player has 3 seconds (which the coach counts out loudly) to pick up the ball and throw at the bucket. If the bucket is missed the fielders behind first will field the ball and throw it back to the coach. This drill works best with a large number of balls. You go through each team member 4-5 times and keep track of the hits. Switch sides and keep score.
The tosser throws a ground ball so that the player has to charge the ball at about midway between the tosser and the player. The player then throw the ball back to the tosser, turns to the right, and jogs back to the end of the line. A variation of this drill would be for infielders to start about 70 feet in front of the tossers, outfielders should start about 90 feet in front of the tossers. The tosser still attempts to throw the ground ball so that the player has to charge the ball at about midway between the tosser and the player. Rotation can also be varied so that the player replaces the tosser who in turns goes to the end of the line.
This is a fun drill to help the 1st and 2nd graders I coach develop good hands, quick release, and hustle to a loose ball. I have the players line up across from a partner about 20 feet apart. They are to make good throws back and forth as many times as they can while I count down from 30 to zero. The player who does not have the ball at zero wins. (Winning usually puts you in the first group for batting practice.) You should see the kids scramble for a dropped, or passed ball. Baseball is fun. Let's make practice fun too.
At the end of each practice the entire team competes in a contest to see which player can keep the most out of ten balls from hitting a chain link fence at his back. The fungo hitter stands only thirty-five or so feet from the fielder. The fielder has 20 feet of fence to cover. The fence is 6 feet tall. We hit to the left and the right, up and down. The pace between fungos quickens. A clean catch is not necessary to score. The player need only keep the ball from hitting the fence to his rear. By the end of the summer players need 8 to 10 to win. (PS. I caught for FSU from '59-61. Love to hear from anyone on that squad.
This drill helps with the basic fundamentals such as getting into a proper fielding position, lateral movement, throwing, and lots of running. It also has the advantage of working indoors as well as outdoors.
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