I’ve been meaning to write down some notes on Infield & outfield routines.

Here are some thoughts on routines plus where I’m at currently on a routine.

Inspiration - I’ve taken inspiration for this from several places. See YouTube links below.
Vanderbilt INF/OF - YouTube Link - What I really liked about this routine was how they incorporated their catcher throws into the OF portion of their routine. I thought that this was pretty unique.
Japanese INF/OF - YouTube Link - The Japanese routines were the first ones I saw where they would not include the traditional 1B-3B throw which usually happens in American I/O routines in the first round or two. Rather than doing this rep, they’ll have the 1B turn 2.
Lake Brantley HS INF/OF - YouTube Link - I really liked this routine and thought it was truly efficient. What I got from this routine, plus other FL HS routines, was that they eliminated short throws from their OF routine. For example, they didn’t make LF-3B throw, nor did they have CF or RF throw to 2B. Those are short throws so this team eliminated them. Makes a lot of sense.

Here’s a sample routine -
Gather players together near your dugout - sprint onto field (coaches included) to your positions.
Personnel required -

• ​Full infield/outfield plus your catcher.
• Assistant coach to hit GBs to 1B.
• 2 POs - one to catch for you and another to provide pitches to catcher.

OF Rounds -

• ​Have your OFs do 2 reps each on throws below.
  • ​LF-2B, CF-2B, RF-2B​
  • LF-3B, CF-3B, RF-3B
    
• After the 3B round, work on a double-cut to 3B in each major gap 
  
  • ​LF/CF gap, CF/RF gap
    
• Then do 2 reps to home plate
  
  • ​LF-HP, CF-HP, RF-HP

After this, your OF is done. You can have your assistant coach go into the OF to hit your OFs fly balls and/or do other fly ball tracking drills. 

Catcher then throw it around the infield -
C-5-4-6-3-C -- do this as many times as you need to give everyone 1 rep. 

Infield-In round -
5-2, 6-2, 4-2, 3-2

Take it to 1B - every infielder take it to 1B. Rather than having your 1B throw to 3B on its rep, either have the 1B turn 2 -- 1B-SS-Fake Return Throw to 1B-whirl and throw to 3B-C. Or, complete a PFP rep, hit a GB to 1B, have a spare pitcher cover 1B, 1B flips to pitcher covering. 

"One & Cover" - hit GB to infielder, infielder throws to 1B who then throws to the catcher who catches and throws to the infielder covering a base. Ball goes around the horn back into the catcher. 

Turn 2 - every infielder turns 2. Don't forget about your catcher - hit a dribbler in front of HP that they have to field and fire to 2B, SS turns the play to 1B. 

"Two & Cover" - similar to "One & Cover" but once you get to your middle infielders, you can start working in your 1st & 3rd play throws. So, if you have a SS or 2B cut play, have them work on it here. 

Finish off your INF by doing a throw on the run for every position. Have your 1B make the throw to the plate -- catch & tag!

I spent the course of 2 days watching Ron Gardenhire run the “Good Morning America Drill” with the Detroit Tigers. The first day was the first day that I saw the drill and was able to get some video of it. The 2nd day, since I was mostly familiar with the workings of the drill, I focused on documenting the different rounds and movements. Attached below is a video of some of the movements (not all) and my notes for how the drill is run.

The drawback of the drill is that you end up having groups of players standing around for several minutes at a time. Also, the way the drill was run at this level was that the ground ball roller gets refilled by a line of 6-7 catchers who relay the ball back to the roller who is running the drill. Both of these points have definite positives for the major league level - you want to give your guys ample rest while avoiding injury. For youth & HS players, I would likely modify this drill to keep the idle players busy and have the roller refill via a bucket while having the receivers (1B) drop their baseballs into empty buckets. What I present here is the “unmodified” drill as it was run by the Tigers.

Setup -
Have infielders at all 4 positions (3B, SS, 2B, 1B).
Have 1 coach as your “roller”
Have a line of players from 1B to the roller to relay/exchange the ball from 1B back to the roller.

Rounds - there are multiple rounds, here’s a breakdown -
Round 1 - consists of several different types of GBs- Conventional groundballs at the player, backhands, backhand bouncers (ball played on one bounce to the backhand), Forehand plays. Throw to 1B after fielding each ball. 3-4 reps on each GB for each player. Rotate through to other positions (SS, 2B). Other position groups wait until you rotate back to them. When you get to the 1B-men, they make DP turns to the SS - roller tosses them a ball in the air, 1B-men turn inside and turn it to the SS. No return throw.
Round 2 - consists of DP turns. Roller provides both convention ground balls and backhands to players. When you get to 2B, you can include forehand spins. 1B hold runner on then catch ball in the air and then turn 2. You can bounce it to the 1B-men as well.
Round 3 - on the run plays. Coach presents a roller that requires an on-the-run play. 1B-men again turn 2.

At some point, you should also have your 1B play deep and receive a deep ball in the air that they then turn to SS — so they turn DPs on the OF-side of the baseline as well, like they’re playing deep on a 1st and 2nd and get a GB where they are throwing on that side of the baseline. 

You can also include other types of GBs, such as glove side spins, for all players. This is shown in the video below.