Baseball Defensive Drills [Paperback]

Rod Delmonico (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 11, 1997

"Rod Delmonico, one of the most innovative and thoroughly organized baseball coaches in the college universe, knows that miracles don't just happen on defense--you have to make them happen. He does this at Tennessee with a simple but highly practical drill program covering every facet of the defensive game. Coaches from Little League to Major League will find all the answers in this splendidly articulated practice manual." -- Herman Masin Editor-in-Chief, Scholastic Coach Rod Delmonico, national Division I coach of the year, shares the drills and skills that he used to take the University of Tennessee baseball team to Southeastern Conference championships in 1994 and 1995, and the College World Series in 1995. Baseball Defensive Drills is divided into sections on pitching, catching, infield, and outfield drills, and concludes with a chapter on drills for the whole team. Drills are outlined in a step-by-step format and are highly illustrated with a wealth of photos and diagrams. Players and coaches interested in improving their defensive skills and training techniques will find this one of the best visual-aid books available. About the Author Rod Delmonico has been head coach at the University of Tennessee since 1989. Since that time, the Volunteers have won three Southeastern Conference Eastern Division titles and two overall titles as well as a trip to the 1995 College World Series, the school's first in 44 years. Along with being named coach of the year for 1995 by Baseball America magazine, Delmonico has been honored as SEC coach of the year (1994, 1995) and the American Baseball Coaches Association's Southern Region coach of the year (1995). He has written other baseball books including Defensive Baseball, Offensive Baseball Drills, and Hit and Run Baseball, and has had numerous articles published in various publications.

Editorial Reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (January 11, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570281106
• ISBN-13: 978-1570281105
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #863,051 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Intermediate-to-Advanced Fundamentals, April 18, 2000

By 

Steven McCrary (Grove (northeast), Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baseball Defensive Drills (Paperback)

Good book for those looking for drills that can move their average and excellent players from the most basic fundamentals to intermediate (middle-of-the-road) and advanced techniques of baseball. The book breaks down every defensive position, chapter-by-chapter, giving extensive defensive drills to improve play at those positions. It also devotes a couple of well-written chapters to overall team drills.

This book will have more application for older and/or advanced players. Many of these drills should be used with some 8 year olds. On the other hand, some of the more advance drills will be too advanced for even 12-13 year olds.

This book does not contain drills for the most basic defensive techniques, such as the very beginning mechanics of throwing and catching. And even though these beginning mechanics are part of the mechanics taught in this book for pitching, infielding, and outfielding, the reader will have difficulty picking them up from this book.

This book does a good job of capturing the essense of these techniques, and for the money, is a good, quick-reference, resource to have on the shelf. However, the book is limited, due to the printed medium, it is ability to adequately convey the many subtleties of baseball fundamentals; so some readers may prefer to study these techniques from video tapes, or a more graphic medium.

Generally, I have been unable to find a comprehensive book that covers all aspects of the game: defense and offense, beginning through advanced drills. So overall, this book has improved my library and has filled a needed gap in understanding and coaching defensive baseball.

4.0 out of 5 stars Need defensive help?, March 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Baseball Defensive Drills (Paperback)

Some of my ballplayers (JV in high school) were having a very difficult time defensively. I started incorporating some of the drills from this book, a little at a time. Now, our team and individual defense has improved a great deal. This book breaks things down very well. It can help coaches at any level with their defensive strategies.