3 Best Fielding Drills with Small Baseballs

Developing better hand eye coordination and precision in fielding take practice and we love these softball and baseball fielding drills with small baseballs / mini baseballs that you can do on your own.

(Interested in hitting drills for precision? Check out our other post on hand eye coordination drills.)

Sometimes, you don’t have a partner available which is especially difficult because infielders need a lot of repetition to get their glovework dialed in.  

The good news? None of these drills require a partner to help you get your defensive work in!

In this video, Matt Antonelli who played with the Padres, Nationals, Orioles, Yankees and Indians, shares 3 creative small baseball fielding drills to get your fielding work in.  

First things first…  Just remember, there are no magic drills.  We need to focus on practicing the right fielding mechanics.  Below we have outlined the 3 drills Matt Antonelli covers in his video.

Precision Matters - Aim Small, Miss Small

If you watch really good infielders, you’ll notice they are very consistent in fielding the same ball the same way.   By “same ball”  we mean the same type of ball… routine grounder, backhand, etc.

Bad infielders will be fielding that ball a hundred different ways.  It’s different every time.  And that leads to a lot of inconsistency and mistakes in your fielding.  

That’s why in this video, Antonelli recommends using this smaller-than-average baseball (small baseballs / mini baseballs) for the drills.  He puts it this way:

"It forces you to focus. This is a lot harder to field than a normal baseball. You field this for a little while, and then you go back to a regular baseball, and it feels like you're fielding beachballs."

“Aim small, miss small”  

Drill #1 - Backhand Pinchers

The beautiful thing about this fielding drill is that you’re working almost everything you need to field a baseball and you don’t need a partner, field, bounceback net or even a wall!  You can literally do this drill ANYWHERE.

Equipment for this drill

• Glove
• Small baseballs

How to do this fielding drill (without a partner)

1. Get low
2. Flat back
3. Drop the ball
4. “Pinch” the short hop
5. After you’re comfortable with steps 1 - 4, add the transfer
6. After you’re comfortable with steps 1 - 5, add footwork
7. Optional - Add in a throw

Drill #2 - Wall Ball, On Knees

If you’re an infielder, the wall should be your best friend.  The best infielders know how to strategically get in reps…

• Without taxing their bodies too much
• Without needing a lot of space
• Without needing a partner

Equipment for this drill

• Glove
• Small baseballs
• Wall

How to do this fielding drill

1. Get on your knees
2. Bounce the ball off the wall so it lands in front of you and field the short hop
3. Be sure to do balls straight at you, forehand and backhand
4. When you’re ready, add in the transfer

Drill #3 - Wall Ball, Standing

Equipment for this drill

• Glove
• Small baseballs
• Wall

How to do this fielding drill

1. Start on your feet, facing the wall in your fielding stance
2. Bounce the ball off the wall so it lands in front of you and field the short hop
3. Be sure to do balls straight at you, forehand and backhand
4. After you’re comfortable with steps 1 - 4, add the transfer
5. After you’re comfortable with steps 1 - 5, add footwork
6. Optional - Add in a throw
7. To make it more challenging back up and field short and long hops

So there you go.  3 small baseball fielding drills that you can easily do without a partner.  

Important Reminder from this former Major Leaguer

“Every rep has to be perfect. That’s the biggest message. Every rep has to be perfect. If it’s not perfect in practice, it won’t be perfect in the game.”

Too many fielders think it’s going to “magically” be perfect in the game…  but it doesn't work that way!  You have to field perfectly thousands of times in practice for it to happen automatically, on “auto-pilot” in the game. 

That’s why I love these small baseballs from Tanner Tees.  

These small training balls have really helped our fielders - and our hitters - but I really like it for fielding.    

You use these and then start getting regular baseballs hit at you, it’ll feel easy, because with these you have to be SUPER focused.