The Eyes Down Drill helps players focus on keeping their eyes on the ball while fielding grounders.
Setup
Players should set up as usual, but with this drill we need to force the players to focus on the ball while fielding grounders. To force the player to watch the ball, they should either tuck a baseball under their chin or clench the bill of their hat in-between their teeth. The hat or baseball trick will force players to keep their eye on the ball in order to make the catch.
Drill Instructions
A coach should throw or hit ground balls at the player. The player’s job is to keep their eyes on the ball throughout the catch while maintaining the hat between the teeth or the baseball under the chin. This drill should force the player’s head to face down towards the ball in order to secure the ball. This drill can be repeated, 10, 20, or 30 times.
