Pure athleticism is helpful for playing baseball, but a player is not likely to enjoy much success if he doesn't master the fundamentals of the game--batting, fielding and throwing. Practicing these skills may seem boring at times, but a player needs to work on them regularly to reach his potential. The first step is learning how to perform the fundamentals properly so the player knows what to practice.
Batting
Batting is the most important fundamental of offensive baseball. A batter tracks the ball as it moves from the pitcher to the catcher, decides whether or not to swing and then executes the swing if that's his decision, all in about one second or less. Additionally, a coach may ask a batter execute a special play, such as a bunt or a hit and run.
Developing a consistent and powerful swing is an essential element of batting. This requires hours of practice, repeating the mechanics of the swing thousands of times by performing a variety of drills. A batter prepares for each pitch by standing about a foot from the inside edge of home plate with his feet at least shoulder-width apart, knees flexed, hands holding the bat close to his back shoulder and head turned so he can see the pitcher with both eyes. After the pitch, the batter takes a small step toward the pitcher and powerfully rotates his hips, followed by his shoulders, and then extends his arms and snaps his wrists to accelerate the bat barrel to and through contact with the ball. He finishes in a balanced position with his hands near the front shoulder and bat behind his back.
Fielding
Every baseball player, regardless of position, must catch the ball at times during a game. A pitcher catches the ball each time the catcher throws it back and a catcher catches every pitch; a first baseman catches balls thrown by other infielders, and all infielders and outfielders catch fly balls and ground balls.
To prepare to catch a ball, a player gives a target with the glove about a foot in front of his chest. He catches the ball with the glove fingers pointed upward if the ball is thrown above the waist and downward if it is thrown below the waist. After catching the ball, immediately secure it with the throwing hand.
A player fields a ground ball with knees flexed to 90 degrees, chest forward and glove on the ground, angled at about 45 degrees and open toward the ball. A player catches a fly ball above his face with the glove fingers angled backward and upward. In each case, the throwing hand should quickly be placed over the glove to secure the ball and prepare to make a throw.
Throwing
All baseball players need to throw accurately and with as much velocity as possible. A pitcher must throw strikes consistently, a catcher throws out baserunners trying to steal, an infielder throws across the diamond to retire baserunners and an outfielder throws the ball to infielders to make a play on baserunners.
Every player uses a similar technique to throw the ball. After catching the ball, a player turns his upper body so the front shoulder faces the target, raises his arms to about ear-height, points the glove-side arm at the target and cocks the throwing arm behind the head, steps toward the target with the glove-side foot, then throws the ball with his body weight helping propel the arm forward.
References
- "The Baseball Coaching Bible"; Jerry Kindall and John Winkin; 2000
- "Coaching Baseball Successfully"; Andy Lopez with John Kirkgard; 1996
- "The Baseball Drill Book"; Bob Bennett; 2004
- Major League Baseball: Official Baseball Rules
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