Pepper Drill

The Pepper Game for fielding is my favorite and most memorable childhood activity.  This is a great drill to build hand-eye coordination, quick reaction and to teach older players the value of knocking the ball down at all costs.

Have one or two groups set up with 5 or 7 players in a line facing the coach. Gloves on and players are spread out about 10 to 15 feet apart. One player should be snagging balls for the coach.

The coach will be about 15 feet away from the player and will begin by hit grounders and line drives to the players. He or she does this in random order – the players do not know where the ball is going to be hit. They need to react quickly and then throw the ball to the coach. The coach will hit the ball as quickly as he can to the different players. Players are given pushups for missing balls or making errant throws.  At the end, the players must complete their pushups.  Substitute the coach with players.  Teach players to choke up on the bat when swinging.

Coach's Point:

The focus should be on: reading, reacting, and making a good throw to person collecting balls for the coach. The players must also communicate with one another so there is no problem with collisions on the field. This happens in baseball and can be eliminated if players talk to each other while on the field.

From a hittin gperspective, this drill allows the batter to work on control, bat speed and making consistent contact.