Coaching Baseball for Dummies by The National Alliance For Youth Sports

Author:The National Alliance For Youth Sports [The National Alliance For Youth Sports]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sports & Recreation, Coaching, Baseball, General
ISBN: 9780470089606
Google: tvW-NAEACAAJ
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2007-04-02T20:34:11+00:00

Figure 10-2: Getting low to field ground balls.

Figure 10-3: Using the bare hand to secure the ball.

When teaching the steps in the previous list to your infielders, keep in mind the following tips regarding fielding ground balls and recite them to your players:

Greet the ball. Encourage your players to move toward the ball instead of waiting for it to get to them, when possible. Short, quick steps get a player to a ball quicker, which gives the hitter less time to reach base.

Another reason to greet the ball is to try to field it on the best (or highest) hop possible. A common baseball cliché is, “Play the ball; don’t let the ball play you.” What that means is that players should control a situation by moving forward to field a grounder on a nice, easy hop rather than stepping backward and increasing the chances of having to field a weird, difficult hop.

Use two hands. Bad hops and unexpected bounces are a part of an infielder’s job description. Instill in kids the habit of keeping their arms out in front of them and using two hands to field every grounder — even the most routine ones. Knocking down a ball often is enough to give a player a chance to retrieve it, make a throw, and still record an out.

Keep your head down. If you can’t see the top of a child’s cap as he’s fielding a grounder, you should instruct him to keep his head down and watch the ball into his glove. Don’t allow the kids to take peeks at base runners, because doing so leads to errors.

Use your glove. On hard-hit balls, kids have no choice but to use their gloves. Kids need to use the same approach for slow rollers, too. Young players tend to want to pick up balls with their bare hands — especially if they’ve seen their favorite pros do it on television. Instruct your infielders to bare-hand balls only when the balls aren’t moving or are barely moving.

Get dirty. You want your infielders to do everything possible to get in front of ground balls — especially with runners in scoring position. Knocking down a ball often prevents a runner from scoring from second base. Encourage your kids to get their uniforms dirty by diving for balls — they’ll love it!

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