Looking for some fun conditioning drills to play with your team? Last Man Standing is a way to help players stay competitive individually while still playing as a team. This is how the mock runs:
Have your players remove their gloves. Using only the hands makes the game less aggressive. Divide players into groups of 3 or 4. Each player throws 5 ground balls to the person to their right. The fielder becomes a roller as the players move down the line, with the first fielder running all the way to become the last fielder.
Where does the competition come in? Let it be a relay race! The teams rush to finish first, because they get the “safety”. Everyone else has to run sprints while the winners watch. Play this multiple times to get your players’ heart rate up.
Once the kids seem ready to go (and a bit tired), switch them to a mock knockout. Have your pitcher throw soft balls to the players, who don’t have gloves on yet. If they can’t field the ball with their hands, they’re out. The last man standing, again, is left out of the sprint. Players are much more competitive when they know they can bypass sprints, and it’s a real reward for those who win.
These drills can be executed at the beginning or end of practice as a fun way to help players prepare for quick runs from standing positions, a key skill on the field that surely can’t hurt a player struggling to get there either. first.
