Baseball Practice Drills – Pickle

A common situation in baseball is the run down.  A player caught in between two bases – either one of them being safe.  Executing a proper defensive set up is important to getting the out. Pickle is a classic baseball practice drill you can add to your workouts.

What you need (set up):  Set up a number of stations that is divisible by three.  You will need three people per station (2 fielders, 1 runner).

All distance between bases is 30 feet (in all directions)Baseball Practice Drills

How this drill works: The fielders need to work the ball back and forth in an attempt to get the runner out.  The runner needs to try to advance to third base or get back safely to second.  You can award the fielders two points if they get the runner out.  One point if they get the runner back to second, zero points if the runner gets to third base.  Play the game until the fielders get 5 points.  Rotate the players at this point.

Result:  Both the runners and the fielders will understand what they need to do when they are in this situation – both on offense and defense.  Rundowns occur often in Little League ball, and even in high school league with regularity.  It is good for young players to know how to get the out.

Note:  Once the players have mastered this aspect of the drill, then you should advance it to the standard tactic where players are backing each other up and rotating as the rundown advances.

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