PracticeField

Baseball & Softball practice plan

Ground-Ball Practice: 75 Minutes, Ages 9-10

Infields are built in the fall and spring, one thousand controlled ground balls at a time. This session supplies a hundred of them, with decisions attached at the end.

Running this plan

The stations only work if the feeds do, so spend the first minutes of each rotation coaching your feeders, parents included, on pace and bounce. Grade gloves out front all day, the single correction that fixes most of what you will see. The backhand block will produce the day’s frustration; frame it as the hard thing being learned and keep reps short and successful. The force-out game at the end converts the day’s picks into decisions, and the WHERE IS THE PLAY question before every roll is the session’s closing argument.
Ages
9–10
Skill level
developing
Duration
75 min
Players
8–14 (ideal 10)
Setting
outdoor
Focus
Ground-ball fielding and range

Practice objectives

  • Fielders move through routine ground balls with the glove working up.
  • Crossover first steps replace side shuffles on wide balls.
  • Live force-outs get converted with a called base and a clean transfer.

Equipment

  • 8-10 balls
  • 1 glove per player
  • 4 bases
  • 12 cones
  • Water

Before practice

  • Set two funnel stations, the lateral station, short-hop pairs area, and the infield for the game.
  • Recruit a parent roller and teach them the roll before practice.
  • Rake or inspect the dirt; bad hops on rough ground undo everything.

Visual timeline

Minute-by-minute plan (75 minutes)

  1. Ready-Position Mirror

    Min 0–8

    Purpose: Warmup

    Players mirror a leader through athletic-stance, creep-step, and first-move reactions, building the pre-pitch habit without a ball.

    Setup: Grid on the infield grass with glove-on final rounds.

    Coach this: Creep step and first-step direction; set the tone for fielding.

    Transition: Split to the two funnel stations.

  2. Ground-Ball Funnel Station

    Min 8–23

    Purpose: Fielding foundation

    Players field rolled ground balls through the funnel sequence: wide base, glove out front, funnel to the belly, feet to throw.

    Setup: Two stations of 4-5 players, coach and parent rolling.

    Coach this: Glove on the dirt first; funnel and replace the feet.

    Transition: Stations widen with lateral cones for the next block.

  3. Glove-Side and Backhand Ground Balls

    Min 23–38

    Purpose: Range and reads

    Fielders take alternating rolls to the glove side and backhand side, learning the crossover step and when to stay behind the ball.

    Setup: Same stations, cones 6 feet either side of the fielder.

    Coach this: Crossover step; fingers down on backhands; call the read.

    Transition: Water while pairs form in the short-hop area.

  4. Short-Hop Partner Station

    Min 38–52

    Purpose: Soft hands under the hardest hop

    Partners feed each other controlled short hops from a knee, building soft hands and removing the fear of the in-between hop.

    Setup: Pairs at 8-10 feet, glove-side and backhand rounds.

    Coach this: Attack the hop forward; watch it into the leather.

    Transition: Take positions on the infield; runners to home.

  5. Force-Out Decision Game

    Min 52–68

    Purpose: Live application

    A live infield game: coach rolls grounders with runners moving, and fielders choose the right base for the force out.

    Setup: Full infield, coach at home with a ball pile, rotating runners.

    Coach this: Every ground ball tonight had a purpose; now field it with a decision attached.

    Transition: Equipment collected by position groups; huddle at the mound.

  6. Recap

    Min 68–75

    Purpose: Closing questions and cool-down

    Setup: Mound huddle with water.

    Coach this: Players self-grade their glove-on-dirt habit tonight.

    Transition: Release players.

Transitions and water breaks

Funnel stations grow into lateral stations without moving; the infield is pre-set for the finale. Roller quality controls the session, so coach the rollers as much as the fielders.

Breaks at minutes 36 and 52, plus open access; infield dirt in summer demands extra water.

Adapt this practice

Small roster: Eight players: one funnel-lateral station with a 4-player line, short hops in pairs, and a game with three infielders plus rotating runner pairs.

Large roster: Fourteen players: three stations with two parent rollers, and the game alternates two infield units every five plays.

Mixed skill levels: Roll speed and width scale per fielder at the stations; the game starts in walk-through mode for the newest infielders before going live.

Limited space: A gym runs everything with rubber balls: two wall-side stations, short hops in the middle, and a 45-foot diamond game at jog speed.

Limited equipment: Six balls minimum with disciplined retrieval; a bucket replaces the target, cones replace bases.

Closing recap

Bring the team in, keep it short, and ask:

  • "Where does your glove start before every ground ball?"
  • "When do you choose the backhand instead of getting in front?"

Safety

Bad hops to the face are the session's risk: appropriate balls for the surface, no next roll until the fielder resets, and short hops with soft balls only until gloves attack forward. Runners in the game stay out of throwing lanes. See the safety page for general guidance.