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 1st 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 2nd
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.
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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