Three-Color Concentration

By: Jerry Penner III

This is a great warm-up concentration drill before games or during practices. Players enjoy the drill because it is very fast and can hold the concentration of even the most challenging young players. I’ve used it for players from 10- 15 years of age and, invariably, all have enjoyed it.

Equipment:

1. 3/4-inch PVC pipe, cut to 32 inches in length, taped with sticky grip or medicine tape on the grip, for safety. Batting gloves are recommended also.
2. 12 red/orange, 12 yellow, 12 white (or any other colors of plastic practice golf balls)
3. Any JUGS portable practice net.

Procedure:

1. Much like Soft Toss, the coach-practice partner kneels down just outside the batter’s swing radius. The batter faces the hitting net and sets up in a proper stance, like for Soft Toss.
2. The coach/practice partner grabs two balls out of the bag and holds them in one hand, hidden from the batter’s view. The bag hides the color of the balls while the batter focuses forward on the hitting net. The coach/practice partner tosses two balls into the hitting zone and calls for a color to be hit (Red ball, White ball, etc.).
3. The batter must correctly hit the colored ball that is called by the coach/ practice partner. If the coach/practice partner calls for a colored ball that is not tossed, the player must be disciplined enough not to swing.
4. If the player misses the ball completely, hits the wrong ball, or swings at two wrong-colored balls, he is penalized (up to the coach). You can also set up teams of two or three players to increase the competition.

Note: As players get more confident with the drill, the 3/4-inch PVC pipe can be replaced with 1/2-inch PVC pipe.