Baseball Infield Practice Plan for 11 and 12 Year Olds

Stop negotiating with grounders. Pick your hop, grow your range, learn the turn, and know the play before the ball is hit.

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Creep-step timing reps, right-left-field rhythm at jog speed (six), forehands and backhands at moderate width (four each), all finished with on-the-move throws at half effort. The 9-10 curriculum is now the warmup; run it crisp and move on.

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The reading skill named out loud: as each roller travels, the kid ATTACKS to take the big hop (ball just after its bounce peak) or the short hop (immediately after the bounce, glove firm and close), calling their choice mid-approach ("BIG!" or "SHORT!"). What they never do: drift backward into the in-between hop. Ten reps with varied bounces. Getting caught between hops is a decision failure, not a glove failure; naming the choice builds the decider.

Dedicated short-hop reps from close range (firm throws into the ground a glove's length in front): glove out front and FIRM (soft hands are quiet hands, not retreating hands), ball played off the bounce's first inch, forehand and backhand both. Twelve reps. Short hops are the infield's bogeyman until they are practiced on purpose; then they become a pick, which is a trophy.

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Balls now two-to-four steps wide of each side: the first move is the CROSSOVER (hips open, far leg driving across, never a false step backward), fielding forehand or backhand at full honest width, feet regathering for the throw. Eight reps each side at rising width. Range is a first-step product; the crossover IS the first step, and the cone-marked width makes growth visible weekly.

The play that wins close games: a slow roller charged at full speed, fielded on the RUN off the glove-side foot (glove only when the play demands; bare-hand pickups on dead balls, drilled gently), and thrown side-arm on the run to the target in one motion. Six reps. Grade the courage of the charge before the cleanliness of the throw; this play forgives bobbles but never hesitation.

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Double-play school around one base: the FEED (fielded close: an underhand toss firm and chest-high, ball shown all the way; fielded wide: the quarter-turn flip) and the TURN (receive across the base, footwork through it, the re-throw released fast to a called target). Alternate the kid between feeding and turning, ten total plays. Rhythm over speed: real double plays are two clean exchanges pretending to be one fast one.

Tag mechanics: straddle the base, receive the throw, and sweep the glove DOWN to the bag's front edge (the ball comes to the base; the glove waits low, tags, and lifts). Six reps with throws from different angles, two deliberately wide that must be caught FIRST (never sacrifice the catch for a fast tag). The tag rule that saves errors forever: catch, then tag, in that order, always.

Situation play with the plan said BEFORE every ball: you announce runners and outs; the kid answers with the sentence ("ground ball to me, I'm going two!") before the roller comes, then executes whatever actually arrives (including the surprise: a slow roller that changes the answer mid-play, called aloud). Eight situations. The sentence is the habit that separates players who react from players who decide.

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What to watch today: the backward drift. Under uncertainty, young infielders retreat half a step and get eaten by the in-between hop; every read drill here exists to replace that drift with a chosen attack. When "BIG!" and "SHORT!" start being called early and confidently, the position has changed owners: the ball used to dictate, and now the kid does.