If your team has been practicing indoors for the past few months, chances are you have done a ton of drill work to get your team in shape: Ground balls, throwing drills, pitching drills, hitting drills. Your space was limited, so you made the best of it, in perfect conditions. Outdoor practices now need to prepare your team for game situations and imperfect conditions.

The first few practices the players will need to get adjusted to being outside. Now they have to deal with the weather conditions (sun, cold, wind), the sky and depth perception, and an uneven playing surface. That being said, focus initial practices on reps for the kids to get them acclimated to their new environment.

Hit them a ton of ground balls, fly balls and take live batting practice. The chances are also pretty good that the field they are playing on is a bit larger than the one they were practicing on indoors. They will have to get used to the longer throws as well. Start with the basics and build on them.

Baseball Zone’s Practice Planner [1] makes creating practice plans quick and easy. With over a hundred different drills to choose from, creating a well thought out plan is only a few clicks away.