Why It's OK To Field With One Hand

      As a young baseball player most of us were taught to use two hands to catch the ball, to get in front of everything you can, keep it in front, etc. While these are all great things to teach a young player, it should not be the last thing they should be taught. As the player evolves and their skills improve infielders, especially shortstops, should learn to trust their glove hand more. A typical thing that I've seen with the shortstops and other infielders that I've coached over the last several years is that they seem to be rushing to get in front of balls that they don't need to. They have this worry that if they don't get in front and field it with two hands they will not be able to catch the ball and get rid of it in time. The reality of the matter is that the majority of the time these infielders have more than enough time to make the play. Don't get me wrong fielding with two hands is not a bad thing and the routine ball should be fielded with two hands, this post is talking about balls to the left, right, and slow.

     A friend of mine that spent some time in minor league baseball told me the first thing they tell you as an infielder in rookie camp is "just catch the ball, the throwing part is easy". That really stuck with me as a player and has been a point of emphasis for me as a coach. When I was at Windermere Prep I worked with Seattle Mariners' 2014 shortstop Brad Miller during his off-season, the drill that he worked on the most was playing on the grass, catching ground balls with just his glove hand. He would take them on both his left and right side just working on catching the ball. Most players have become so dependent on their throwing hand in order catch that they are unsure of themselves going to either side. It is important for infielders to trust their glove hand because it will allow their feet and body to be in better position to throw, while keeping a good pace.

    The young shortstops that I've coached over the last couple year have both had the same problem, they rush to get in front of the ball and end up throwing the ball away because they don't get their feet in the right position. When going after the ball to the left players should approach looking to keep the pace of their feet the same as to keep the upper body on the same plane. As I've mentioned before a good angle is important for being able to make a good throw, but as the player approaches the ball he should adjust his route based on the pace of the ball and his relation to it. If he beats the ball to the spot then he should move his route towards first attacking the baseball and fielding it off his left foot. If the infielder times it perfectly he will catch it moving to his left and should then shuffle his feet towards first and throw it knowing that it will tail back based on his momentum. The ball the the fielder catches behind him will require him to spin keeping long strides and again throwing the ball knowing it will tail back towards the plate.

   Balls that take the player to their right more than a few steps should always be fielded with one hand. The options that the player has are usually the backhand or getting around the ball fielding it moving towards first. When players try to get in front of the ball to their right they end up fielding the ball flat footed and tend to rush the throw attempting to put more on it and end up sailing it. If the player instead trust his glove hand and back hands the ball he will then be able to set his feet into better position to throw the ball.

The Importance of Aggressiveness as an Infielder

Photo Credit: zimbio.com

            As an infielder, one of the most common mistakes is to sit back or wait for the ball to come to you. The reason that this is considered a mistake is because of multiple reasons; the longer you wait you are allowing the runner to get further down the line, you have not cut any distance off of your throw, you are allowing the ball more opportunities to make a bad hop, and your feet and glove tend to become stagnant while waiting on the ball. Infielders, particularly middle infielders, can avoid this with a mindset.

 If the fielder is looking to attack the ball before the ball is even hit they will be more likely to make that first step towards the ball. This does not mean that the players should be running forward before the ball is hit, but more so expecting to attack the ball. When a player is aggressively attacking the baseball he is more likely to have his head and glove in the right position. Having the head down with the glove (as shown by Tulo in the picture above) allows for the eyes to stay on the ball and see it all the way into the glove. It also keeps the glove in front of the eyes because it is making the aggressive move towards the ball rather than waiting and possibly funneling too soon.

Those first couple steps towards the ball can be the difference between a good hop or a bad hop, between safe and out. Being aggressive with the feet and hands helps to cut down the throwing distance and exchange time. When fielders are moving towards the ball the distance to first is cut down, and likewise when the field is aggressive with the glove movement it speeds up the exchange process because the hands are already moving quicker. There is no rush involved with the exchange, it is more so an aggressive move with the glove that in turn speeds up the hands during the exchange.

As a middle infielder, especially a shortstop, attacking the baseball should be a priority. This does not mean that every play is fielded on the run and thrown off balance, it means that each play the fielder is looking to cut down distance and have a quick smooth exchange with the hands by making an aggressive move with the glove. The more aggressive a fielder is, the less you will find them on their heels. Of the shortstops I’ve worked with over the last several years the timid ones are the one who’ve made the most errors. Aggressive infielders have more success and seem to encounter less bad hops.

Turning The Double Play From Shortstop

Turning a Double Play (From SS)

          Turning a double play from the shortstop position is probably the easier of the two middle positions, mainly because as a shortstop you’re already moving in the general direction of first base. Making the turn at short really comes down to getting the hips and feet in position. To make a successful turn the shortstop need to remember a few things; approach the bag so that your hips are squared to the player fielding the ball, catch the ball with two hands, as you receive the ball move your feet and hips in position to throw to first, and finally follow the throw with the back leg. A very important thing to remember in addition to everything else, is that being prepared for a bad throw will make the turn that much easier. A bad throw may create different techniques, but if the being ready for it will allow you to handle it. Expect a bad throw and you will be able to handle anything.

          First let’s talk about the approach; when the shortstop approaches the base preparing to turn the double play his hips and feet should be squared to the person getting ready to throw him the ball. He will have his feet about shoulder width apart, in an athletic position and be positioned with the right foot on the bag or about half a step behind the bag. Whether you’re on the bag or just behind it is a little bit preference, and a little bit where the ball is coming from. On balls that bring the 2^nd baseman closer to the bag the shortstop will most likely stay behind the bag. Balls that take the 2^nd baseman away from the bag or balls from the 1^st baseman the shortstop will be better off starting with the right foot on the bag allowing the shortstop to stretch to the ball and get away from the bag as the runner will be closer to him when he receives the ball.

Photo Credit: www.kansas.com

          As the ball is being thrown to him, he then reacts to the throw. A good throw, being on the outfield side of the bag, will allow the shortstop to step towards the throw with his left foot gaining ground away from the bag and slightly towards first. This also helps the shortstop get out of the base path where the runner will be sliding. After the ball is received and while it is being transferred to the hand to throw the feet should be moving into a throwing position, allowing the hips to get pointed in the proper direction.

          There are some throws that will take you in a different direction, but the majority of the throws should be to the shortstops left of the bag. For the throws that take you in a different direction the footwork changes. If the throw takes you to the infield side of the bag the left foot should be placed on the bag and the shortstop will catch the ball and step to his right to complete the throw, avoiding the “danger zone”. Footwork is extremely important to turning the double play at shortstop.

Photo Credit: espn.go.com

          When making the throw on the backside of the double play, the shortstop should keep a short arm action and focus on keeping the ball down. It is very common for a shortstop to try and rush the turn and end up throwing the ball too high. By thinking about keeping the ball down and staying on top he will be more likely to keep the ball in a range where the first baseman can catch it. One piece of advice when turning a double play from either side of the bag is to think about being smooth. Many young players are trying to be fast when they turn a double play, but if the player focuses on being smooth they will in turn be faster and be more likely to complete the play errorless. If the player does their pre-pitch analysis correctly they should know how much time they have to make the turn. Knowing the speed of the ball and the speed of the runner is key to being smooth, because the fielder can then adjust their quickness based on that knowledge. 

Drills and Techniques to Overcome the Fear of a Bad Hop

Photo Credit: www.incirlik.af.mil

        One of the worst problems to have as an infielder is being afraid of the ball, or more specifically the bad hop. Every infielder goes through this phase at some point in their career, whether it’s when they’re in little league, high school, college, and sometimes even in pro ball. Yes, you can even see fear in the guys who get paid to play the game. Usually this fear comes from the devastating experience of getting hit by the ball due to a bad hop. It happens to everyone at some point or another, the ball takes that funny hop off a rock or catches the seam just right on the clay and jumps up and hits the fielder in the face. Since everyone has this problem at some point, the real question is how do you fix it? Here’s how I have tackled this issue in the past.

        I’ve been hit in the face a few times in my career, twice that really stuck with me. Both times it happened during practice, the ball took a funny bounce off the lip and jumped over my glove hitting me square in the mouth. Obviously you first deal with the issue at hand which is making sure that the fielder is ok, but after the fielder is physically ready to return it’s important that they get “back on the horse” as quickly as possible. Getting back on the field and taking ground balls is important for the psychological well-being of the fielder. The longer they have to think about the play the more likely that they will be afraid of it happening again. They need to realize that a high majority of ground balls will take the expected hop, and that hops like the one that scared them are extremely rare.  Once the player realizes this it will drastically help them be a better fielder.

Photo Credit: www.TampaBay.com

        For those that have not been hit before and just have a natural fear of the ball a good drill for them is to take their lower half out of the equation. The first thing players who are afraid of the ball do is to field the ball off to one side, by placing the player on their knees it doesn’t allow them to move away from the ball. There is a progression to this drill that will help the player become more comfortable. First have the player on their knees and the coach about 10 feet away, the coach will throw the ball to the player giving them a short hop. The coach should progressively throw the ball harder and consistently throw it directly at the player so they get use to fielding a ball in front of them. The player should be in an athletic position while on their knees, meaning not straight up and not sitting on their heels, somewhere in between. After the player has fielded about 30-40 of those, the coach should then back up to about 25-30 feet away and hit ground balls with a fungo to the fielder, while they are still on their knees. The player will then be forced to stay in front of the ball and trust their hands to catch it, again starting with slower grounders and building up to hard hit balls. This is great for players who are afraid because it forces them to be down closer to the ball.

        Another drill that I use often with my fielders is the step up drill. This is drill that I described in a previous post, the drill is simple. Start the infielder about 50 feet away and hit them ground balls, the grounders should be hit with some intensity. After each catch the fielder will take one step forward. This continues until the player is within 10 feet. This is a great drill to turn into a game, players get “knocked out” by missing a ball, last player standing wins.

        Many players don’t realize that they are afraid of the ball. I’ve dealt with several occasions where the player is thought to be a good player and just struggles fielding. They think that they are getting in good position when really they are in a position that hinders them from catching the ball. Often the position will have the player’s arms extended (locked elbows) and chin up too high. These players will find themselves getting handcuffed on in between hops, and having balls that stay down roll underneath their glove.  Fixing this takes time, requiring the above drills on a daily basis for months, but there is a quick fix. The quick fix for this problem and something that helps many young players (especially SS’s) is to attack almost everything. When a player is afraid of a bad hop the best thing they can do is attack the baseball. There are balls that are hit hard that they won’t be able to come and get, but the majority of ground balls the fielder will field with one hand out in front of them off to the side like an outfielder. I know that based on the drills I mentioned earlier this seems counterproductive; here is why it is not. When an infielder charges a grounder, it forces them to get low in order to catch it. It also forces them to be aggressive keeping them from being on their heels. So while the technique doesn’t necessarily look like it helps the fielder with the ground ball, it actually changes their thought process. If you watch multiple MLB games, you will find that many infielders (especially SS’s) attack any baseball that will take more than 2 hops. Most hard hit ground balls have back spin and will only take 2 hops or less, if the ball is going to take a 3^rd hop before it gets to the fielder it wasn’t hit that hard. This is not an “absolute” rule, but it’s a guideline that can help fielders determine when they can stay back.

        One of the shortstops that I coached a few years ago was very good at attacking the baseball. He was initially hesitant to change the way he fielded the ball because he was a very hard worker and thought that his technique was very good. The problem he had was the locked elbows and high chin, he often found himself getting handcuffed on balls that he should catch. We decided to do the quick fix and make him attack everything, during the first few weeks of spring practice he struggled getting the first step going in the right direction. After a few weeks of forcing the issue it began to be 2^nd nature for him. After the season we looked at his fielding percentage (.975) and realized that the errors he did make were primarily throwing errors. He only had one error on balls that he charged.

        Getting over fear of the ball is about commitment. Without the commitment of the player to first realize they are afraid, then want to make the change it won’t happen. Players should do the drills listed above and always remember to be the aggressor when it comes to fielding ground balls.  If the fielder is aggressive then they will find themselves in a better fielding position the majority of the time. I also recommend for younger players to start these drills with tennis balls, it helps eliminate their fear of being hurt by the ball and you can throw and hit the ball hard at them without them being afraid. They then learn how to catch these balls and when it comes time for the baseball to be hit at them they know how to catch it. 

Try these drills and let me know how they work for you. Subscribe to the blog and check out www.RobinsonAthleticsFL.com to see what Robinson Athletics offers. 

Interview with FGCU Assistant Coach Mark Jones

   Playing and coaching baseball in the hot bed that is Central Florida I've been blessed to meet many very good players and coaches. When I played at DeLand High I played against current Florida Gulf Coast University assistant coach Mark Jones. Back then Mark played for the Flagler Bulldogs, later we would wear the same uniform for some travel baseball. After Mark's decorated career as a Stetson Hatter, he got into the high school coaching scene. Mark spent the last two years at DeLand High School under Head Coach Andy Lyon, this past summer after being offered several different college coaching jobs Jones ended up at FGCU. Here is the interview between myself and Coach Jones.

Photo Credit: http://www.fgcuathletics.com/coaches.aspx?rc=222&path=baseball

Micah Robinson: We both know that there are thousands of drills out there for infielders, when
you get the freshman for the 1st time in the fall what are your go to drills you run them through?

Coach Jones: I think that defensively, you got to be able to go and take reps and not give away reps. This game is hard enough and I think you have to take pride in going out and doing things right, doing your early work, doing your footwork drills. Just taking pride in trying to be the best defender you can be, because everybody like to go take swings, I mean that’s the fun part. Going out and taking ground balls and working on repetition, I think that gets over looked. Just taking pride in your craft I would say was the biggest thing to help me along the way. 

MR: You were at DeLand High the last 2 years and helped those infielders take the Bulldogs to the Final Four, now you’re at FGCU what’s the biggest difference you see in the players you’re coaching?

Coach Jones: Obviously at DeLand I was very blessed and very fortunate to work with not only a great coaching staff, but we had some unbelievable players come through our program. I say when it’s all said and done we had 10 guys who went on to play at the next level, and the majority of those guys going to division 1 programs and being contributors. That’s really a tip of the cap to the players that we had and them buying in and listening and sticking to the process. But the biggest difference between the players that I’m coaching now at Florida Gulf Coast and the players that I had at DeLand high, there really isn’t much to be honest with you. I mean maybe that they are a little more physical just from being in college and being able to play a little more baseball and lift a little bit more. There isn’t a big difference, all of our guys have come from very successful high school programs. I’d say the main difference is just physicality, but other than that I’d say there are a lot of similarities. 

MR: We both know that there are thousands of drills out there for infielders, when you get the freshman for the 1st time in the fall what are your go to drills you run them through?

Coach Jones: I’ll tell you when we get those guys out there for the first time we usually do a bunch of glove work stuff, so we have training gloves that are a little smaller than your regular size normal infield glove. I know a lot of guys use a 11 ¼ or 11 ½ inch glove, these training gloves are only about 7 inches so it really forces you to get down in a good fielding position and cover the hop. We have the training glove we use a padded glove, some people have paddle gloves, they’re all pretty much the same concept. We really work on cutting down distance, I mean that is so, so important to playing the infield. With baseball, playing 56 regular season games at the collegiate level, then your conference tournament, and if you make it to the regional, super regional, and college world series I mean you’re playing a bunch of games. As an infielder that’s a bunch of throws that you’re having to make day in and day out. As we know this is a game of repetition. The more distance you can cut down I think in the long run is going to help your arm. So we really work cutting down distance and glove work with those freshman when we first get them on campus.

MR: Many young players find taking ground balls all the time to be “boring” what would you say to them about the importance of repetition?

Coach Jones: I mean our guys here me say it all the time, I mean it takes a different type of commitment level to be elite. To be elite day in and day out and be a well rounded baseball player, you just can’t go in the cage and hit off the tee or take BP or take swings for two hours and bear down, and just then forget about defense. There are two sides to this baseball game and you have to be committed and devoted to making your craft better. Hitting is fun, I get it and I love offense, but I do know that you have to be a well rounded baseball player to keep progressing and to keep helping your team out. For guys who think ground balls are boring, it’s a mental thing. If you think it’s boring, then yeah it’s boring, but if you think about just getting better day in and day out not wasting reps. I think you’ll get something out of it, and over time it’s not boring. You’re really getting something out of it and you can really make yourself a better ball player. 

Photo Credit: www.gohatters.com

MR: Playing against you back in our high school days we always talked about how soft your hands were at SS, what would you say helps an infielder have soft hands?

Coach Jones: I think the main thing is having a plan each day when you go out there and obviously baseball’s a game of repetition. You’ve got to be consistent, you have to be consistent if you want to be good at anything so you’ve got to work on your craft. So if that means 5,6, sometimes 7 days a week you have to work on it, then that’s what you’ve got to do. Even if you only spend an hour a day working on your craft. If you really want to get better at something you’ve got to be consistent and you’ve got to have a passion for it. I think those are just a couple things that’ll help guys get better at anything they want to do, not just fielding, in baseball and in life. You just got to have a passion and a drive for it.

MR: If you had to pick a few major league infielders for young players to watch and try to imitate who would they be and why?

Coach Jones: Well Derek Jeter just retired, but you can go on Youtube and you can pull up any film of Derek Jeter playing. He does a really good job of slowing the game down and making it look so easy. That’s what great players do, they slow it down. He, over a course of 20 years, did a really nice job of doing things right and making the routine play. Jimmy Rollins is another guy that I think is another guy that I think younger guys can emulate. Jimmy Rollins has been around a long time, shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies, he’s another guy that can slow the game down, makes a lot of routine plays and has a really big arm. He does all the little things right. I would say the last guy is Eric Aybar Shortstop for the Los Angeles Angels who does a really nice job of getting to a lot of balls, he’s probably a little faster than Derek Jeter and Jimmy Rollins right now seeing that he’s a little bit younger, but he does a really nice job getting to a bunch of balls. Again if you’re going to be an infielder, you’ve got to be able to make the routine play, and he makes the routine play at a high level. 

MR: Awesome thanks for taking the time to answer these questions coach.

    More interviews will be coming soon with other college and high school coaches. Stay up to date with everything Robinson Athletics at www.RobinsonAthleticsFL.com. Don't miss any post, subscribe to this blog!

Turning the Double Play (As a 2nd Baseman)

Turning A Double Play (As a 2^nd Baseman)

Turning a double play from the second base position is all based around footwork. While many people focus on the hands when turning a double play, without good footwork it is very difficult. Don’t get me wrong you have to have good hands to turn an efficient double play, but you can have the best hands in the world and if your feet are bad it will be a challenge to turn a double play. As a second baseman the first part to turning the double play is getting to the bag and being set up correctly. Next you want to let the throw dictate where you’re going to step to make the turn, once you’ve stepped for the turn it’s important that you use your legs to create momentum towards first base.

Being in the correct set up will make the following steps much easier. In order to achieve the correct set up the second baseman need to start in double play depth, which is at most 10 steps from the bag, but more often closer to 6-8 steps away giving him ample time to get to the bag and set up. The position that I’m talking about is having his left foot on the bag and his hips squared to whoever is about to throw him the ball (SS or 3^rd). The reason for being squared to the ball is to give him the ability to adjust to a bad throw, being athletic with his left foot on the bag sets the second baseman up to catch anything and he never has to look at the bag. Even the ball that he shortstop catches behind the second base bag the second baseman should have his left foot on the bag and be squared to where the ball is coming from. If the second baseman gets in that position he will be able to catch almost anything.

Letting the throw dictate your next move is very important. If you get “robotic” and try to step in the same place every time you will find yourself not being able to handle the ball cleanly or missing throws that you could have caught. This is similar to the first baseman that stretches towards the ball before it is thrown, finding himself out of position to catch the ball and limiting his range. The throw will tell the second baseman where to go, if he’s catching the ball from third most of the time he is going to step to the throw to shorten the distance and to avoid any contact with the runner. It is important that the step with the right foot gains ground and moves in the direction of the ball to help make the transfer smoother. It is much easier to transfer a ball that is in the center of the chest than the ball that is on either side of the body, so the step towards the ball should be an attempt to force the throw to the center of the chest.

When the second baseman is catching the ball from the shortstop there is more of a read involved. Depending on the runners and where the ball is thrown the second baseman can decide whether he wants to step through or step back, either way is ok, but the important part is getting out of the path of the runner. Up until pro ball the runner has to slide into the base, with that rule in place the second basemen needs to avoid being in line with the base as the runner comes in. He has the right to the area on either side of the bag to step for the turn, so he should use it.

After the set up and the first move for the turn the second baseman has to make the turn. This is the part where the exchange happens and all the action takes place. The previous two steps will make this part much easier if they were done correctly. During the turn the second baseman should first catch the ball with two hands (more of a deflection than an actual catch), and begin the short arm action to make the throw to first. During this exchange on the upper half, the lower half should have planted the right foot and be pushing with that right foot to gain some momentum to first base. Doing so will help your throw be on target and have some velocity behind it.

Those are the basics of turning a double play as a second baseman. There are always going to be throws and different situations that require abnormal moves to complete the play, but if following those basic principles will help make those abnormal plays possible, and the routine plays seems even easier. One thing I would like to address is the play of Robinson Cano, Cano is an outstanding baseball players and one of the smoothest fielding second basemen to ever play the game. But I want all the young players out there to understand he is able to play the way he does because of his arm. His arm works better than almost any other second baseman, he is able to throw from many angles and still be accurate with velocity. Many second basemen can use different arm angles, but he takes them to an extreme because he can. When it comes to turning a double play he tends to run right through the bag and throw across his body, because his arm allows him to do so. That is not the way young players should be turning a double play, they need to use their legs to make a strong accurate throw to first. 

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3 Drills That Help Infielders Extend Their Range

3 Drills That Help Infielders Get More Range

         There are several theories that believe the key to having more range is by working on agility drills, which may help some, but in the end the fielder needs to take a good angle to increase their range. Read this article by LA Dodger’s minor league strength coach Ryan Faer about agility vs. strength training. The reason I don’t stress traditional agility drills when teaching players how to get more range is because the angles that they take are more important and you can’t teach speed. You can improve speed, but you can’t turn a 7.5 guy into a 6.7 guy. That is why I’d rather have players working on the correct angle to a moving ball opposed to the random running from cone to cone, which to me doesn’t give them the same effect. When they are trying to cut off a moving ball there is a read involved, a math problem “how deep of an angle needs to be taken to get to this ball”. They will not get that effect when they are going from 1 cone to another, because the cone is not moving. As I mentioned in the previous post about reading a ground ball, putting yourself in the best position to catch and throw the ball is what makes a player a good fielder, the same is true when extending range.

A player may have a quick reaction, but if it’s the wrong angle the player will find themselves in bad position. Part of reading the ball is knowing; the speed of the ball and the speed of the runner. Based on the answer to those two questions the fielder should take the appropriate angle to first get to the ball and secondly be able to make a strong enough throw to get the runner out. I preach to my players to take deep angles on ball to their left and right (assuming the ball is not a slowly hit ball). When a player takes the deep angle they set themselves up to be moving towards first when they catch the ball, if the angle is too deep they can always cut forward and catch the ball moving towards first, where as if they were to take a shallow angle and the ball is hit harder than they think, then they will be moving in the opposite direction of their target. All that being said; here are 3 drills to help infielders take those deeper angles and there by cover more ground.

        The first drill forces the fielder to take a better angle on the ball. The drill requires several cones to insure that the player doesn’t cheat.

·        The set up: place the player in their position, and once they are set take several cones and create two triangles to either side of them. These triangles should be about 3-4 cones wide on either side depending on the size of the cones.

·        The drill: Once the player is set the coach should set up about 15 feet in front of the player and will roll balls to either side of the player, the player will then be forced to take and angle back or forwards to attack the baseball.

·        The purpose: When the player is forced to take deeper angles to get to balls they will end up extending their range. Many infielders take a very shallow angle when going after a ball to their left or right and that limits the range that they are able to get. This drill will force players into deeper angles and will extend their range. If the player gets to the spot where the ball is going to be before the ball gets there they should redirect their momentum in to towards the ball and field it on the run moving towards 1^st base.

The second drill will help with the first step for the middle infielders. This drill gets the players reacting to ball quicker and will find they are getting a better first step.

·        The set up: The player should be about 10 feet in front of the coach with plenty of space to either side.

·        The drill: The coach will tell the player to jump (a small hop like the prep step) and before the player’s feet hit the ground the coach will roll the ball to either direction, far enough and hard enough where the player must take several steps to get to the ball.

·        The purpose: This drill repeated over and over will drastically improve that first step of the player and will prove to them that the prep step (hop) is essential to getting that good 1st step. This also will force the player to take the correct angle, the coach should roll the ball hard enough that it forces the player to take a deep angle. This will help the player make the first step in the right direction, setting the correct angle to get to the ball.

The last drill is not so much a drill as it is a part of practice and is probably done quite often already. One of the best ways to extend one’s range is during batting practice.

·        As an infielder batting practice can be one of the best places to work on fielding. You are getting live ground balls off the bats of your peers and they are unpredictable. You as a fielder have to anticipate a ball being hit in your direction the entire time (much like in a game).

·        This is also a great time to work on anticipation as far as which side of you the ball is going to be hit. As a 2^nd baseman I’m paying attention to what the hitters are trying to do each round, when coach has them hitting opposite field I’m expecting the ball to be hit in my direction from a right handed hitter. The fielder can anticipate where the ball will be hit because they should have an idea of what kind of hitters their teammates are. This is where they will pick up tendencies and will be able to apply them to game action.

·        The fielders should test their range during BP, and in doing so should make every play they can.

o   Testing the range during BP is a great opportunity to see how much range you actually can cover, working on taking deep angles and sometimes fielding the ball in the outfield grass.

o   The reason for making every play that is possible is that it encourages the player to go until failure. They don’t have to worry about a runner, they are able to practice controlling their bodies and knowing where they are on the field. It also shows them that with the correct angle they can get to balls that they didn’t know they could.

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            The point of these drills is to give the player the best opportunity to get as much range as possible. These drills will not turn a 13 year old into Asdrubal Cabrera, but they will help them with taking better angles and getting a better jump on the ball. That is the key to increasing the range of a fielder; the jump and the angle. A good infielder is able to anticipate the direction of the ball and take an angle that puts them in position to throw to first. The first 2 drills should take about 15 minutes with as an individual and about 20 minutes if it’s a team practice. Batting practice obviously takes as much time as needed. One note on batting practice is that as a coach I prefer to have my infielders (especially middle infielders) in the same hitting group so that they are in the field at the same time. This allows them to get use to each other’s range, this will help them play together and allow them to make decisions better based on knowing what balls their teammates can get to.

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