Feet in Concrete is a throwing drill typically done as part of the Throwing Progression (a routine to follow while warming the arm up).  Depending on age, this progression involves Two Knee Catch, One Knee Catch, and then Feet in Concrete.  Thus, Feet in Concrete is frequently combined with other throwing drills.  Dugout Captain practice planning programming follows this logic often, following Feet in Concrete with some sort of catch play or even long toss.

EXECUTION – Feet in Concrete is a standing, no-stride drill that allows the athlete to focus on both glove arm and throwing arm mechanics.  The feet are anchored “in concrete” and thus can’t move.  Emphasis is on getting good torso rotation, while keeping the glove in front of the body and using top-to-bottom arm action.  Run this drill with broken movements first.  Meaning, turn the body, extend the arms, and FREEZE!  Athletes are to throw only on a coach’s verbal, and then also HOLD THE FINISH.  Here, coach can check that the glove is still in front of the body (“chest”) and that the throwing arm has followed through to opposite thigh.

Keep Feet in Concrete short and focused.  Throwing is one of the harder skills to teach.  It is best affected with consistent encouragement over many days, weeks, and months.  Keep throwing focused and move to next drill when you feel the group wavering.

• Feet – Outside shoulders
• Knees – Slightly bent
• Glove – Extension (“reach”) and finish (“chest”)
• Arm – Top-to-bottom.  Follows through to opposite thigh or knee (“tap, tap, tap”)

DC KEYS

1. Freeze to Feel Finish – Glove arm “shield”, throwing arm “tap, tap, tap”
2. Careful No Collapse – Too much upper body follow through is no good
3. Arm Action (advanced) – Top-to-bottom arm action is desired.  Order of execution is (1) Hand, (2) arm, (3) body.  Helps to put the ball on a downward trajectory (“tilt”).

EQUIPMENT LIST