Baseball drill
Three-spot windshield wiper catching drill
A player stands on home plate and catches underhand tosses at three spots, the glove side, the face and the throwing-hand side, sweeping the hand across like a windshield wiper with the fingers up. It starts barehanded and called out, then moves to random spots and the glove.
At a glance
- Sport
- Baseball and Softball
- Skill
- Catching the ball
- Ages
- 6U to 10U
- Players
- 2 (a tosser and a catcher)
- Time
- About 10 minutes
- Level
- Beginner
- Equipment
- A glove, Soft balls, tennis balls or wiffle balls, Home plate or a flat marker
- Indoors
- Yes
A ball thrown to a young player's throwing-hand side is the one they most often miss. They either reach across with the glove flat or turn their head away. This drill teaches the hand to travel across the body like a windshield wiper, with the fingers pointing up the whole way, so the pocket faces the ball wherever it comes.
It is built as a progression. The player catches barehanded first, with the coach calling the spot, then with the spot a surprise, then does both again with the glove. Standing on home plate keeps the feet still, so all of the work is in the hand, and it keeps a nervous player from backing away from tosses near the face.
Setup
- Put home plate or a flat rubber base on the ground and have the player stand on it with both feet.
- Kneel or stand 6 to 10 feet in front of the player with a bucket of soft balls.
- The player starts without a glove, with the glove hand up and the fingers pointing to the sky.
How to run it
- Call the glove side and toss softly to the player's glove-side shoulder. The player catches barehanded and flips the ball back.
- Call the middle and toss in front of the face. The player wipes the hand in toward the middle, fingers still up.
- Call the throwing-hand side and toss to that shoulder, then work back through the middle to the glove side.
- Run a round without calling the spot, so the player has to read the toss and move the hand.
- Have the player put the glove on and repeat the called round and the random round.
Coaching points
- Check that the player is using the glove hand while barehanded. Young players often switch to their throwing hand without noticing.
- Keep every toss above the waist, so fingers up is always the right answer.
- Head and eyes follow the ball in. A player can picture a string from the nose to the hand.
- On the throwing-hand side, the thumb turns in and the hand stays in front of the face, not out to the side.
- Feet stay on the plate. If the player hops back, use a softer ball.
Common mistakes
- Catching the throwing-hand-side ball with the palm up or the back of the hand toward the ball.
- Turning the head away from a toss in front of the face.
- Moving on to the glove before the barehand round is clean.
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 cardSmaller: half page or quarter page (PDF).
By age
Tee ball
Spend most of the time on the called round with a very soft ball. A kneeling version, with the throwing hand behind the back, keeps the youngest players still.
Coach pitch and 10U
Move to random spots quickly, use the glove, and add low tosses with the fingers turned down once the high ones are clean.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the windshield wiper drill in baseball?
It is a catching drill where the glove hand sweeps from one side of the body to the other with the fingers pointing up, like a car's windshield wiper, so the pocket faces the ball on the glove side, in the middle and on the backhand side.
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