Baseball drill

One-to-three ball juggling catching drill

Name: How to Teach a Young Baseball Player to Catch a Baseball (WITHOUT BEING AFRAID/SCARED OF THE BALL!)
Channel: YouGoProBaseball
Description: Players work up a ladder of tossing and catching challenges, from one ball caught with two hands to two balls at once and, for the most coordinated, a three-ball juggle. It sharpens hand-eye coordination and soft hands, and players can do it alone.

Players work up a ladder of tossing and catching challenges, from one ball caught with two hands to two balls at once and, for the most coordinated, a three-ball juggle. It sharpens hand-eye coordination and soft hands, and players can do it alone.

Video by YouGoProBaseball on YouTube. The write-up below is ours.

At a glance

Sport: Baseball and Softball
Skill: Catching the ball
Ages: 6U to 14U
Players: Any number, one to three balls each
Time: About 10 minutes
Level: Intermediate
Equipment: One to three tennis balls or baseballs per player
Indoors: Yes

Juggling sounds like a circus skill, but the steps leading up to it are plain catching: watching a ball in, catching with either hand, keeping tosses the same height, and knowing where a ball is without staring at it. This drill turns those steps into levels, each with a ten-in-a-row target, so players always know what to work on next.

It works for a whole team on a foul line, and players who get hooked will practice it at home. Few will reach the three-ball juggle, and that is fine; the early levels are where most of the catching work happens.

Setup

Line players up on a foul line or a gym stripe with room on each side.
Each player starts with one ball; keep extras nearby for players who move up.
Feet stay on the line for every level.

How to run it

Level one: toss one ball to eye height and catch it with two hands, ten in a row without moving the feet.
Level two: the same toss caught with one hand, ten with the right and ten with the left.
Level three: toss the ball from hand to hand while looking straight ahead, then looking to one side, so the player feels the ball rather than staring at it.
Level four: a ball in each hand. Toss and catch one, then the other, then both at the same time.
Level five, for players who are ready: two balls in one hand and one in the other, tossed in turn in a three-ball juggle.

Coaching points

Feet stay on the line. If a player has to step, the tosses are out of control.
Elbows near the ribs keep the tosses at the same height.
Ten in a row moves a player up a level; a drop starts the count again.
Keep it a challenge, not a punishment, so players want to do it on their own.

Common mistakes

Tossing too high, which makes every level harder than it needs to be.
Skipping the one-hand level with the weaker hand.
Moving up before reaching ten in a row.

Printable drill card

Take this drill to the field: the setup, steps, coaching points and equipment on one card, with the video's address to find it again. Free, no account needed.

Print the drill card

Smaller: half page or quarter page (PDF).

By age

Coach pitch

Stay on levels one and two with tennis balls. Ten in a row with each hand is a real achievement at this age.

10U to 14U

Work through levels three and four. Older players can catch each ball in a throwing grip on the hand-to-hand tosses.

Next: Free defensive lineup generator.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does juggling help baseball and softball players catch?

The steps toward juggling train what catching needs: tracking the ball, soft and quick hands, and using both hands well. A player does not have to master a three-ball juggle to get that benefit.

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