All baseball players must know how to field ground balls hit in their direction. This skill is not as easy as it may look. Moving the body in front of a hard ball moving quickly can be intimidating, especially for young players. Additionally, the ball may bounce or spin, causing it to do unpredictable things. With practice, however, baseball players can become confident in their ability to field grounders. Use a variety of drills to teach your players to field grounders properly.
Knees Drill
The knees drill teaches players to position their hands properly when fielding ground balls without having to worry about their legs. Have your players kneel to both knees, lean forward slightly, extend their arms, and position their glove on the ground in front of them at a 45-degree angle and their throwing hand above the glove, ready to secure the ball. Roll balls to them gently from about 15 feet away and make sure they field them properly.
Bare Hands Drill
Baseball players can develop a habit of fielding the ball with their glove only. This is undesirable except for special circumstances. They should strive to field ground balls with two hands, using the bare hand to support the glove, when possible. To teach your players this skill, roll balls to your players from about 60 feet away and have them field the grounders properly with their bare hands, which is easier with two hands than one. Make sure they bend their knees slightly, keep their back straight, extend their arms in front of their body and follow the ball with their eyes.
Backhand-Forehand Drill
Sometimes baseball players, especially infielders, are not able to get in front of ground balls to field them with two hands. When this happens, they should use a backhand or forehand technique, depending on which direction they are moving. Right-handed throwers use the backhand technique when moving to the right by positioning one foot in front of the other, bending the knees and reaching outside the front foot to field the ball. The forehand technique is performed the same way, but while moving to the left. These directions are opposite for left-handed throwers. For the backhand-forehand drill, alternately hit or roll balls to your players’ backhand and forehand sides, allowing them to practice both techniques.
Lateral Quickness Drill
Infielders must be able to move quickly from side-to-side to field ground balls. The lateral quickness drill helps improve this skill. Stand about 15 feet in front of a player. Roll a ball firmly about 5 feet to either side of the player. He must shuffle his feet to get in front of the ball, field it with two hands, toss it back and shuffle back to the starting position. When you receive the ball back, immediately roll it 5 feet to the opposite side. Continue alternating sides for at least five ground balls in each direction. Alternatively, have your players use backhand and forehand techniques for this drill.
References
- "The Baseball Coaching Bible"; Jerry Kindall and John Winkin; 1999
- WePlay.com: Ozzie's Infield Drills
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