3x Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Champions (1996, 2021, and 2022);
2x in the NCCAA National Tournament (2007 and 2022);
2021 NCAA National Tournament participant;
#1 in UNW history for all-time career wins (505), seasons coached (28), and most games coached (1034);
Nine 20 win seasons, two 30 win seasons, and has recorded nine of the top ten win/loss records in UNW history;
Has worked with the Minnesota Twins Summer Instructional Program and MYAS Instructional ClinicsCoach Dave Hieb conducts a valuable video chalkboard session where he details all the best drills he uses to improve the position fundamentals for infielders, outfielders, pitchers and catchers. The coach takes the time to speak on the finer points of each drill, explaining the purpose behind the drill and how he has implemented each drill into his team’s daily defensive routine. During this time, Coach Hieb also highlights the importance of throwing drills that incorporate different arm slots to help prepare his players for game situations – which perfectly incorporates both team and individual drills into his practices, while providing plenty of repetitions so that players are game ready. He explains that a mastery of these key fundamentals are built on the back of many practice repetitions – adding that these mastered traits are the skills that carry over to game situations and lead to a winning culture.
Fielding Fundamentals
After completing the pre-practice chalkboard session, Coach Hieb takes his players through a position-specific warm-up period. The athletes put their techniques into action with a variety of ‘hand work’ drills. The drills are designed in the form of progressions, so that the athletes can work from a slow and focused-pace, and build up to a faster game-like pace. Coach Hieb instructs infielders to begin with basic ground ball technique drills, working specifically on hand placement and actions to utilize when fielding a ground ball. Coach Hieb then takes viewers through a full progression of catching drills designed to improve a catcher’s framing, blocking and throwing techniques.
To finish up the position-specific period, Coach Hieb goes through a series of drills with his outfielders, designed to refine their techniques on ground balls, throwing and perfecting the proper angles to take while chasing and tracking fly balls.
Full-Team Defensive Fundamentals
Next, Coach Hieb transitions to a team defense portion of practice, which covers all aspects of defensive baseball and shows viewers how this critical work benefits both the team and individual aspects of defensive skill level.
The team starts off with their ‘Double-Fungo Drill,’ where Hieb works players through a variety of game-like situations and forces them to practice receiving ground balls and defensive plays while moving at game-like speed. Coach Hieb transitions next to what he calls ‘Eagle Infield Drills’ that include work on PFPs, double-play technique and infield communication. This is followed by a thorough demonstration of the defensive ‘Mass Fungo,’ ‘Double-Play Fungo,’ and ‘Situational Fungo Series.’ Placing a perfect finish to this all-inclusive defensive practice, Coach Hieb walks viewers through an overview of Bunt Defense and an in-depth coaching discussion on catchers making live throws to various bases.
Coach Dave Hieb ‘covers all the bases’ when it comes to building and executing a defensive practice – including defensive philosophy, fielding fundamentals and full breakdown of how to conduct a practice that covers full-team defense that gets everyone involved with plenty of repetitions and work.
This video provides baseball coaches with all the tools necessary to develop their players defensively and turn their squad into a group of players who consistently execute winning defensive baseball.
The manner in which Coach Hieb organizes his defensive practices, the variety of defensive techniques shown and the all-out energy displayed by both the players and coaches in this video, will be a great benefit to all intermediate and advanced level baseball athletes and coaches!
66 minutes. 2022.
LD-06023B: with Dave Hieb, University of Northwestern - St. Paul (MN) Head Baseball Coach;
3x Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Champions (1996, 2021, and 2022);
2x in the NCCAA National Tournament (2007 and 2022);
2021 NCAA National Tournament participant;
#1 in UNW history for all-time career wins (505), seasons coached (28), and most games coached (1034);
Nine 20 win seasons, two 30 win seasons, and has recorded nine of the top ten win/loss records in UNW history;
Has worked with the Minnesota Twins Summer Instructional Program and MYAS Instructional ClinicsCoaching players on the skill of hitting a baseball is an extremely difficult process, and yet, it is also one of the most-important skill sets that every baseball player needs to develop to be successful. In today’s game, pitchers are becoming more adept than ever at disrupting a batter’s timing through speed changes and ball movement. Therefore, it is necessary for coaches to have an effective hitting plan in place that will help hitters at all levels to master any pitcher.
In this video, Dave Hieb, goes step-by-step through a progression of dry ball, tee, soft toss, front toss and live batting practice, in an program that teaches coaches how to help their hitters to develop the swing calibration, rhythm and timing they need to hit more effectively and improve their overall skills at the plate.
Hitting Drill Progression: Dry Ball, Tee Drills, Soft Toss & Front Toss
Coach Hieb begins by teaching a series of drills that work the fundamental skill sets of any hitter, such as stance, balance, load, strike and a concept he defines as ‘gathering’ to analyze and teach swing mechanics that promote complete plate coverage. Using these drills, coaches and hitters can find and address holes in their swing.
Hieb then goes through a highly informative teaching section that highlights a series of progressive drills that promotes key hitting skills such as: contact in all 9 hitting zones, the concept of timing as a hitter, correct swing plane, bat path, and swing calibration – while stressing that the ability to cover the inside, middle and outside contact points ensures that hitters are on the path to success. Hieb also provides coaches with key advice to make sure their hitters understand their purpose for hitting during every plate appearance and possess an understanding of the purpose of each drill they work on.
Next up is a series of soft toss drills, mixed with a variety of tee drills – all designed to teach a hitter timing, tracking and swing calibration. Hieb shares a practice innovation he has developed for tossing soft toss from a standing position to promote tracking and rhythm. Focusing on the timing needs that hitters need to develop, each of the drills covered in this section promote the importance of adaptation, mental fortitude and success.
Coach Hieb then teaches a series of front-toss drills that promote plate coverage, hard contact and the keys to utilizing a successful bat path. Tracking drills such as the ‘Pointing-To-Release-Points Drill’ and ‘Pointing-To-The-Plate Drill’ force hitters to be aware of the process of hitting – and Hieb stresses the importance of a hitter’s ability to identify a variety of hitting-zone pitches and how doing so relates to success at the plate. Lastly, Coach Hieb concludes the drill section with a highly valuable mix of ‘Tee Drills’ and ‘Front-Toss Drills’ that promote how to hit off-speed pitches and teaches timing. The ‘NOW Drill’ is designed to ensure that hitters allow the ball to travel and teaches them how to use all gaps as a hitter.
SUPER Batting Practice
Coach Hieb showcases a practice segment he’s developed called ‘SUPER Batting Practice’ as a means to teach hitters to learn timing for hitting baseball’s most-effective pitches. Since pitchers learn how to use fast balls and plane appropriate off-speed pitches, the ‘SUPER Batting Practice’ segment forces hitters to compile all the hitting skills showcased in the other sections of the video and use them to hit pitches effectively – whether they are inside, middle or outside pitches. Hieb explains that he is a proponent of a ‘gap-to-gap power’ and ‘hitting for multiple bases’ style of play and how his drill series and practice segments all reinforce those goals at the plate.
To cap off the hitting lessons covered in this video, Coach Hieb provides a complete list of drills that develop all aspects of hitting and provides a framework to teach and improve a hitter’s mechanics, swing calibration, timing, rhythm, pitch recognition, pitch tracking and developing powerful contact.
With the drills shown in this video, baseball players at all levels of competition can enhance their abilities in the batter’s box. This is a must-see hitting resource for baseball coaches!
Coach Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars.“I rate this video 5/5 stars! … Coach Hieb is just a great teacher. In many instructional videos… coaches sometimes struggle to explain HOW they teach players. But not Coach Hieb! This video is a great resource for everyone – even a parent starting off in coaching. I haven’t seen a hitting instructional video of this quality in a long time. I highly recommend this video!.”
104 minutes, 2022.
LD-06023C:
With a limited amount of sanctioned practice time, baseball programs must get creative with indoor and auxiliary space to prepare arms for the season. In this highly valuable and informative video, Dave Hieb shows how he prepares his entire roster by utilizing indoor space in the gym and turf on the football field. Coach Hieb shows off a hidden gem of a baseball workout he’s created and refined while utilizing the facility space that’s available – with a workout regimen that focuses on the fundamentals of throwing and catching – while using the built in and painted lines and structure presented within these athletic facility locations. In this athletic facility environment, Hieb shows viewers the benefits he’s seen from focusing his team’s efforts on the three primary pillars of throw work: Dry Drills, Throwing Drills and Footwork Drills.
Dedication and focus on the often-overlooked aspects of throwing – such as throwing direction and throwing intent – allows baseball players of all defensive positions the opportunity to master the critical skill-set of throwing and catching, while executing the physical movements needed in live-action, game-like situations.
Dry Drills, Throwing Drills
Coach Hieb begins by showing viewers the painted lines on his athletic facility’s gym floor and football field as examples that can allow coaches to use focused efforts in practice that help improve a fielder’s footwork and throwing direction.
Using the width of the football field and the hash marks, for example, or the volleyball boundaries in the gym, Coach Hieb explains how these commonly-found facility markings can provide a perfect perspective and set of boundaries for a throwing program focused on improving fundamental throws and catches. If an athletic facility doesn’t have similar paint lines or taped boundaries as ready-to-use markings available, Hieb shows viewers how to use towels and lay them out as an alternative set of lines and boundary markers for any of the 12 Dry Drills he covers to improve throwing. Critical skills covered in these Dry Drills include:
‘Balance Points’ (such as pitchers set, balance, power, and finish positions),
‘Quick Turns’ (perfect for middle infielders perfecting double-play mechanics) and
‘Fly Balls, Ground Balls’ (which help outfielders focused on fielding and crow-hopping for fundamental throws).
For his ‘Throwing Drills,’ Hieb explains how a laser-like focus on both throwing and catching allows for perfecting fundamentals, regardless of position. As he goes through each drill, Coach Hieb explains the key ‘throwing musts’ for each position, including:
1) Every throw must be made with intent and precise targets,
2) Pitchers must focus on aiming for the partner’s belt while executing defensive throws,
3) Infielders must aim for one another’s chest on throws,
4) Outfielders must focus on the recipient’s head while throwing, and,
5) Catchers must rep throwing while making the transition from the chin and ear area.
Coach Hieb covers 13 drills that encompass each of these defensive positions and their responsibilities for throwing accurately and receiving athletically. For pitchers, Hieb focuses on four priorities for effective throwing:
1) Accuracy,
2) Pitches that change speeds,
3) Pitches that move, and
4) Velocity.
Accuracy is emphasized and perspective is discussed in utilizing a variety of pitch grips while playing catch at various distances. Pitching approach to properly stagger the gap between fastball, slider, curve, and changeup velocities is a focal point of Hieb’s throwing routine. The coach explains how a 10-to-12 mph progression from fastball to changeup must be mastered to effectively throw pitches that change speeds and move.
Footwork Drills
Keeping true to the focus and philosophy of ‘intent’ during drills, Coach Hieb outlines a variety of footwork drills that emphasize both speed and game-like situations – including moving quickly while staying accurate on throws and using the ‘big muscles’ on every throw that is relevant to your position.
The coach stresses that once each player properly masters the fundamentals, they can speed up their execution of game-like throwing drills and rely on muscle memory and technique – which will help them execute when the competitive pressure is on.
Hieb’s philosophy is to start slow and do the basics better than everyone else, starting with playing catch. Each position has a key set of footwork drills within the 12 Drills demonstrated in this section, including:
1)Pick Movements (pitchers playing catch by executing inside and outside turns),
2)Catcher Transfers (let the ball get deep and keep your feet in a straight line to target),
3) Infield Situations (such as throws to 1st, double-plays, and ‘anywheres’ that allow athletes to be athletes), and,
4)Outfield Situations (ground ball and fly ball footwork preparing for a game-deciding throw).
Utilizing indoor or multi-purpose space in an athletic facility can make or break a baseball program that relies on weather cooperation or limited resources. Coach Hieb covers over 35 throwing/catching drills that can be done inside a gymnasium, while allowing for a full baseball roster to prepare for the upcoming season. Viewers will learn how to take their practices and throwing-workouts to the next level!
69 minutes. 2022.