There are so many facets of baseball that you have to practice and perfect to reach your true potential. Every kid sees their favorite baseball player crushing home runs or their favorite pitcher striking out a hitter with a 100 mph. fastball. Most baseball players growing up want to be a homerun hitter or a pitcher because of our American culture. The work of the infielder often goes unnoticed. A sure handed, accurate infielder can be a cornerstone of any baseball team, coming from a guy who's been playing baseball for about 20 years. Here are some simple drills for my fellow infielders to improve your play in the field.

Grounders Off The Bat

While fielding grounders thrown by your coach is beneficial, nothing compares to ground balls fresh off of the bat. There is a different speed and trajectory, not to mention a whole different reaction mechanism. You're going to react a whole lot differently to a ground ball thrown by your coach with fair warning to a rocket on the ground out of nowhere. This drill can be done by a batter throwing the ball to himself and hitting it or from live pitches. Don't forget to complete the throw to whatever base you choose.

Bare Hand Drill

The bare hand drill is all about the specifics. It takes the act of fielding a grounder to its roots. The drill is carried out exactly how you would assume from the name. You field medium pace ground balls with your bare hands. By doing this drill with your bare hands, it will force your hands to be soft. In addition, it will teach you to maintain the correct fielding body position and improve your footwork.

Forward, Back, Right, Left Drill

Another drill with a pretty descriptive name. This drill involves a variety of movements for an infielder. Set up with a standard infield and a batter, the batter will make you field each of these: a short bunt or slap grounder, a ball to your far right, a ball to your far left and a pop up in the shallow outfield. This drill teaches you how to react to different situations and help your footwork and mechanics.