Increasing Baseball Vision and Reaction

It takes only four-tenths of a second for a fastball to reach home plate which is only 60 ft 6 inches away. A hitter has an average of about two tenths of a second to decide whether to swing or not which means the hitter has only two-tenths of a second to process this visual information and react.

The hitter has to recognize whether a pitch is located on the inside or outside part of the plate, recognize a breaking or off-speed pitch. The highest level of athletes can process this information quicker which gives them more time to make adjustments to their swing.  Ichiro Suzuki has gone on to say,

” You can only hit when the information picked up by your optic nerve is processed by your brain and then transmitted accurately to your body. If your eyes can’t pick it up, then you can forget about good results”.

Try this eye exercise

 

So we now have come to know that it doesn’t matter how sound your mechanics are, how good your approach is or if you have plus- plus power. You can’t hit what you can’t see. One of the biggest differences between an advanced hitter and an average hitter is his ability to use his eyes in an effective way. He has to be able to compute what he sees and react to it quickly enough. It is well-known that athletes have better vision capabilities than the general population but through proper dieting and consistent vision exercises, your vision skills can be improved.

What you can do to improve your vision skills will be explained in a bit.

Baseball requires for players to have a unique set of vision abilities as well. In order to hit we have to judge, pitch rotation, velocity, in order to bunt accurately we have to have the correct depth perception. What is a common misconception about baseball is that there isn’t a difference between good eyesight and good vision skills. THERE IS!!!!!!!  How good your “eye-sight” is determined by your ability to interpret information and surroundings from visible light reaching the eyes. Visual skills, on the other hand, determines a whole other set of attributes which can all be improved to become more consistent hitters. Think about what increasing your vision skills can do to your batting average!!

Depth Perception

So essentially depth perception is your ability to perceive objects in three dimensions. More importantly, it allows you to judge an object’s speed and distance. In order to have efficient depth perception, you MUST be able to use your eyes simultaneously. The more functional your eyes work together, the better the results.

Visual Tracking

Visual Tracking is the process of your eyes measuring their point of gaze or the motion of the eye relative to the head. Visual Tracking is important for a hitter to see more effectively how the defense is playing you. Visual tracking is something that all successful quarterbacks have in common. Being able to scan the field in a more effective way will allow you to respond quicker and more accurately to external stimuli on the field.

Speed of eye dilation

Similar to other visual skills, the speed at which a baseball player ‘s eyes are able to focus can be trained and improved overtime. The ability for your eyes to dilate will affect your ability to pick up a pitch coming in the zone. The closer the ball gets to you the more your eyes dilate, thus the faster your eyes are able to dilate, it will also increase the time you will have to react.

Visual reaction time ( Optic Nerve Processes)

The optic nerve transmutes visual information from the retina to the brain. Think of your optic nerve process as a computer (essentially that’s what it is) the faster the information is processed the slower the ball will look in the zone. This process functions at its highest when you are relaxed. Have you ever noticed that when you are taking a pitch on a 3-0 count the ball looks bigger and you may even be able to see the seems better? The muscles surrounding the eyes have completely relaxed with very little strain. (Imagine Neo in the Matrix, I wonder how productive his Optic Nerve was:)

Visual Flexibility

In my opinion, between Visual flexibility and Optic Nerve Processes, these two attributes are the most  important vision skills to train. Visual flexibility allows for your eyes to move together to allow sight to become more efficient. Training this will allow a hitter to get his eyes on the ball with more accuracy and in less time.

Best potential call-ups in 2013

 Which minor league stars will get a chance to shine in the majors this season?

http://sports.yahoo.com/video/best-potential-call-ups-2013-001500754.html

Did pitcher and catcher take a cheap shot on umpire?

Selecting a good Baseball Bat or Softball Bat

Whether you are in the market for a baseball bat or a softball bat your choices seem endless. You're probably wondering what is the best bat to choose. Right?

Is there a difference from the $50 bats I see to the $300 - $400 bats.

What's the difference between a wood bat and an aluminum bat? Does Titanium and/or cyrogenic freezing add anything to your hitting other than just adding to the price?

Good Hitting Mechanics are most important

Let me interject a little physics in here for a moment. What good hitting is all about besides contacting the ball squarely, is bat speed. If you want the ball you're hitting to travel farther and faster, you need to develop quick bat speed. This is done again with good mechanics, but this can be coupled up with a bat you can control quickly. This will require a lighter weight bat than you might originally have thought, especially if you are using a linear swing.

 

What the negative numbers mean on a baseball bat or softball bat

A couple of other things. The number that you see on bats refers to the length of the bat (in inches) subtracted from the weight (in ounces). So if you have a bat that's 28 inches long that weighs 20 ounces you'd have a -8 bat. For boys' baseball, they will eventually need to go to a -3 bat once they get older and play at higher levels of competition, but at the younger ages they can use anything the bat manufacturers can produce, like the girls softball bats.

The current lightest weight differential is -13. These allow you to get a longer bat in lighter weights.

Generally it requires higher technology to produce these bats, thus raising the price for them. Because they are so light they are also susceptible to denting (especially in cold weather) making them illegal to use (if dented). They do help create faster bat speed and also have larger sweet spots, which is why people are willing to take the risks and invest the higher dollars.

Choosing a baseball bat or softball bat is mostly in the mind

As far as choosing one, a lot of it is psychological, i.e. which ever one the kid thinks has the most hits in it probably does :)

Just make sure they can control it. This is done by watching a swing and making sure there isn't a big hitch in their swing and another way is to have the kid hold a bat out in front of them with one hand. If they can hold the bat out for 20 - 30 seconds without having the hands drop it will be okay.

Find great bats at eyecontactbaseball.com 

Misconceptions About How to Hit a Baseball - Stay Back

I have had many hitters who take a batting stroke and keep their entire weight on their back leg as they swing. This is NOT what staying back is meant to be.

Incorrect:


Knocking-knuckles pointed forward
Improper grip produces a sweeping action.
Back elbow at 90 degrees...changes the grip

If the hitter is staying on his backside throughout his stroke, he needs to adjust out of this immediately!

In observing all better professional hitters, we can see that when they are in contact with the ball, their front side is firm, with their weight against the front heel. They are on their back toe, with the back leg making an "L." They are not on the ball of the back foot. The body's center mass is in a stacked position. The weight is not back on contact, rather, it is being transferred through the ball.

Body is stacked on contact. The hands are in front of the body, not over the plate.

The proper term here is not to stay back, but to "start back". We collect our weight on the stride. We should distribute 30-40% of our weight. Then, when we pivot, the weight is transferred from the back side to the front side. This transfer is controlled by the hips, as they come square to the pitch. This method allows the hitter to transfer his weight through the ball.

What really stay back are the hands!

Using the following steps, the weight transfer will be smooth and powerful:

1. Load (or coil). The weight goes back as the hips rotate slightly inward, lifting the front heel off the ground.

2. Stride. 30-40 % weight on the stride. When the front heel goes down, the next step occurs.

Hands are back in the stride. Throughout all of this time, the hands stay back.

This is what "stay back" really means.

When the front heel, comes down, the hips come square in the pivot and the weight transfer occurs from back to front. The hands have the option at this point to launch or not to launch.

Hands in Launch Position

The hands go last.

When a coach sees a hitter commit his hands first, perhaps that is when we hear him say, "Stay back."

This must not be interpreted as keeping the weight back throughout the stroke. A better way of saying this would be "Keep the hands back." A hitter must train his hips to take him to the ball and discipline his hands to wait for the right moment to start the stroke.

Pitching Drills for Better Pitching Mehanics

Pitching Drill - One Knee Drill

Purpose:
Isolate the lower body to focus on developing proper arm action.

Setup:
Pitchers pair up and kneel on their posting leg (right knee for right-handers, left knee for left handers).

How to perform drill:
Players get on one knee about 45 to 55 feet from each other. The pitcher with the ball will rotate his shoulder toward his throwing partner, bring his arm back with his hand on top of the baseball, use a good circular arm motion, and throw the ball, making sure the pitcher bends his elbow and finishes throwing elbow past the opposite knee.

Pitching Drill - Bucket Drill

Purpose:
Learn how to brace up over front leg once pitch is made, to encourage a correct follow through.

Setup:
Pitchers pair up and kneel on their posting leg (right knee for right-handers, left knee for left handers) while placing their kneeling foot on an upside-down 10 gallon bucket.

How to perform drill:
Players get on one knee about 45 to 55 feet from each other, kneeling foot on upside-down 10-gallon bucket. The pitcher with the ball will rotate his shoulder toward his throwing partner, bring his arm back with his hand on top of the baseball, use a good circular arm motion, and throw the ball, and popping up and over the bent stride leg, making sure the pitcher bends his elbow and finishes throwing elbow past the opposite knee.

Pitching Drill - The High-Cock Position Drill

The High-Cock Position Drill is used by youth, college, and professional pitchers looking to specifically address the release of the baseball from a high-¾ arm angle. This drill teaches pitchers to "get on top" of the ball.

To get the lower body ready to begin, the pitcher will spread his feet into a permanent throwing-position, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart with the toes of the lead leg pointing to the target.

The back foot, whose only movement during the drill is to turn over to onto the toes when the baseball is released, stays in contact with the ground at all times.

The elbow of the throwing arm should be level with the shoulders which brings the entire arm into the high-cock position.

Remember, in the high-cock position, the right-handed pitcher shows the ball to the shortstop; lefty's show the baseball to the second baseman. The elbow of the glove arm side should also be level with the shoulders and the glove arm elbow itself should point directly to the target like a "rifle site."

From this starting position, simply “pull” the glove arm back into the body while rotating the hips and pivoting on the back foot to release the baseball. Follow the motion all the way through after the ball is thrown to ease the stress on the arm.

A good follow-through consists of a pitcher bending his back and bringing his throwing arm elbow to the opposite knee.

Pitching Drill - The Quick Hands Drill 

Pictured is a youth pitcher performing The Complete Pitcher's quick hands drill.

The Quick Hands Drill is for the development of pitching velocity through muscle-memory.

Think about this: the actual mechanical act of pitching a baseball takes place in the subconscious mind. When on the mound, a pitcher is not literally thinking, "OK, now I have to lift my leg and speed up my arm" – it just happens because of the body's muscle-memory from hours and hours of practice.

This drill attempts to address that muscle-memory "imprint" by teaching the body to have quick hands. Quick hands directly correlate into increased pitching velocity.

Start with the hands together, ball in the glove. The legs are positioned in the exact same manner as the high-cock drill, toes of the lead leg facing the target. The legs remain in this permanent, shoulder-width-apart position throughout the drill. However, the back foot will pivot onto its toes when the ball is released (like when you pivot your back foot during a golf swing or baseball bat swing). However, the distance of the two feet remain the same.

The key here is not to step.

As fast, and controlled, as possible, the pitcher will break the hands, turn the hips, throw the baseball from a high-¾ arm slot and follow-through by bringing the elbow of the throwing arm to the opposite knee.

Pitching Drill - The Pause And Balance Drill

 

Pictured is former pro Steven Ellis, left, and a youth pitcher, right, performing The Complete Pitcher's pause and balance drill.

The Pause and Balance Drill is the single most effective drill to get a pitcher into a controlled and balanced balance position.

This drill is particularly effective for pitchers who "rush" their motion, fall forward too soon, have trouble getting "on top" of the baseball into a high-¾ arm slot, or are imbalanced in the balance position.

A coach or another player is needed for this drill.

To begin, a pitcher will go through his full wind-up without the baseball. When he gets to the balance position, the pitcher will stop, hold, turn his head and wait for the coach to hand him the baseball.

The coach should vary how quickly he hands his pitcher the ball from three- to five-seconds.

Once the pitcher has received the ball from his coach from the balance position, he will turn his head again and throw to his target emphasizing a good follow-through.

Pitching Drill - The Shadow To Balance Drill

Pictured is a youth pitcher performing The Complete Pitcher's shadow to balance drill.

The Shadow to Balance Drill is highly effective in getting pitchers to "learn" the all-important first stages of the pitching motion – getting from the stance to the balance position in a controlled and balanced manner. Because no baseball is used in this drill, a pitcher can practice this beneficial exercise on a daily basis, regardless of when he is pitching during a particular week.

Many professional pitchers perform this drill 25 times, five to six times a week prior to throwing.

To start, righties should take their sign from their catcher from the right side of the rubber, lefties from the left (No. 1). Take a controlled, small step back keeping the weight of the upper body over the pivot leg (No. 2). Turn your hips to the catcher and lift your lead leg from the knee into the balance position (No. 3). Do not swing the lead leg into the balance position, it's simply a "lift."

Pause in the balance position for five seconds or more and repeat.

Pitching Drill - The Leverage Drill

"drop and drive" is not a correct pitching mechanic because your pitcher will lose out on the all-important attributes of pitching leverage by dropping (and thus lowering his release-point).

Drop and drive guys typically have flat fastballs. (Of course, there are always exceptions like Sandy Koufax and Tom Seaver, but typically, the hardest throwers all stay tall to take advantage of the leverage on their fastball.)

Here's a baseball pitching drill, called The Leverage Drill, that may be helpful:

Get your baseball pitcher into his balance position, have the pitcher post on a slightly bent back leg and have him bring his knee to the height you'd like to see it during his pitching delivery. Measure the height by placing your hand palm-facing down.

Next, without a baseball, have your baseball pitcher go through his pitching delivery(as a coach, you should stand to the side out, of your pitcher's way, but in a spot where you can easily put your hand out to the spot where you initially measured your pitcher's high-knee to be in the balance position).

Have your pitcher go through his pitching delivery and have the top of his knee touch the bottom of your extended hand. This will force your pitcher to stay tall on the back leg. If he collapses, your pitcher won't be able to bring his front knee to the same height that you had previously measured when he was in the balance position.

After a few sessions without a baseball, have your 10-year-old pitcher perform the drill throwing the baseball 35-feet, and then move the catcher back to 45-feet.

Pitching Drill - The Stride Drill

The Stride Drill is designed to train a pitcher's body to get into the proper throwing position enabling him to maximize velocity while minimizing the risk of injury during game situations. This drill can be performed without a baseball and can be done individually by a pitcher if a throwing partner is not available.

First, let's take a closer look at the stride phase of the pitching motion.

A pitcher's should stride at a minimum 80% his height towards home plate during his fastball delivery. On the curveball and change-up, his stride should be six to eight inches less than his height. For example, if a pitcher is 5 feet, 10 inches tall, then his stride toward home plate on the release of the baseball should be 5 feet, 2 inches (or thereabouts).

In the stride phase of the pitching motion, a pitcher should be able to draw an imaginary line from the heel of his back foot, through the ball of his stride foot, and onward to the target. Keeping the lower body aligned in a straight line closes a pitcher's hips, directs the shoulders, and allows the throwing arm to reach the "high cock phase" of its arm path in the back of the pitcher's body. Additionally, if a pitcher lands too far to the glove-side of his body, he will open the shoulder too soon. This causes the pitch to be low and outside while creating stress on the arm and reducing velocity. If a pitcher lands too far to the throwing-side, he will inevitably have to throw across his body making the outside part of the strike zone difficult to hit. Plus, if a pitcher throws across his body, he creates an increased amount of stress on the arm.

Let's begin. A pitcher will stand perpendicular to a straight line (like a foul line in the outfield grass or line on a gym floor). If the pitcher is on the pitching mound itself, he can use his spikes to drag out a straight line in the dirt 8-feet long and perpendicular to the rubber (i.e. directly in line with home plate). Then, he simply marks out the distance of his height and drags out a second line in the dirt--only this one is parallel to the pitcher's rubber. If the pitcher is not on a mound, he will simply place a second object like his hat on the ground. This will mark the distance he should be striding toward his target.

Now, the "markings" he will have on the mound should create an imaginary letter "H" if one looks from the side. The pitcher then goes through his entire delivery (with or with out throwing the baseball at the end of the motion) and looks to see where his front foot lands in relation to the two lines he has etched out in the dirt. He can use either his full or set wind-up in this drill. Did the pitcher land the length of his height? Did the pitcher stride in a straight line toward his target? If not, a pitcher should perform this drill 50-times a day without throwing the baseball.

MLB Top Plays

Single Leg Exercises for Baseball Players

Working out your legs is very important for baseball. Not only can you become stronger, but by strengthening your legs it is possible to gain speed, power, balance, and agility. However, if you want to take your leg training to the next level to gain even more speed, power, balance, and agility, you can focus on implementing single leg exercises into your leg workouts.

Single leg exercises work more muscles resulting in greater strength and stability. As athletes, baseball players can benefit greatly from sport specific single leg training exercises. When performing double leg exercises, most of the work is done by the quads, the butt, and the hamstrings. In single leg exercises, there are many stabilizing muscles that are being used and not just in the legs either. Bottom line is, you’re getting a better workout from doing single leg exercises than you are from doing all double leg exercises.

You shouldn’t replace your whole leg routine with single leg exercises, but you should definitely incorporate them into more than half your leg workout. Here are some single leg exercises that can be beneficial to baseball players.

-Step ups
-Lunges with the back leg up
-Single leg dead lift
-Single leg squats
-Single leg butt crunches
-Skaters
-Single leg box jumps

Make sure to implement a couple of these, if not all of these, single leg exercises into your next leg workout. You will feel a big difference from using traditional two feet, leg workouts all the time.

Front Arm and Bottom Hand BatAction Drills

Drill # 1 Top-Hand Drill

The top hand on the grip is the hand that takes the bat to the ball. It is important to develop strength and skill with this hand. To do this we do a one-handed isolation drill. The batter uses just the top hand. Gripping the bat at the top of the grip and using the bat like a tomahawk, the batter tries to get over the top of the ball and hit it into the ground. The batter has a coach or player soft toss the ball above the waist. The batter hits the ball from the top and drives its straight into the ground. Suggested - 25 Swings - 3 Times a week.

Drill # 2 Power Hand Drill

A hitters power comes from the bottom or pull hand. This drill develops bottom hand strength. Have batter, using only one arm at a time, take stance, inward turn, stride and full cut at balls off of a tee. Emphasize "staying back" on the ball. Batter will need to choke up a lot, and initially need to place the unused hand under the armpit of the swinging arm for additional support. Take about 20 cuts at a time with each arm, making sure to keep the barrel higher than the hands, and follow through. At first, most players will find their top arm to be stronger; therefore, requiring more reps with the bottom arm. The objective is to reduce the gap between the ability of each arm, ideally becoming equally adept with both. (Many players suffer from a weak lead hand!) You can soft toss to older players.

Batter's View: Catching a Fly Ball in the Outfield

Batter's View: Catching a Fly Ball in the Outfield: Judging the trajectory of a fly ball is something that cannot be taught easily. It’s a skill that young outfielders will develop with prac...

Catching a Fly Ball in the Outfield

Judging the trajectory of a fly ball is something that cannot be taught easily. It’s a skill that young outfielders will develop with practice and repetition. And once that ability becomes second nature to a player, there are a number of techniques he or she will have to learn in order to properly field a fly ball.

Ready Position

Like infielders, outfielders should be on the balls of their feet with their knees bent and their glove and throwing hand in a ready position during each pitch, reacting to each swing of the bat. From this position, outfielders will be able to get the best jump on the ball.
Tip: Teach young outfielders to move on every ball that is hit, even if it is not hit to them. It will improve their alertness and reaction time, as well as their stepping techniques (to be discussed later). Besides, even a right fielder can make himself useful on a groundball to third base by putting himself in a good position to back up an errant throw to first or second (depending on the game situation).

Footwork

From the ready position, outfielders will improve the jump they get on a fly ball by using proper footwork.
For balls hit in front of and to the side of the outfielder, the first move should be a crossover step.
For balls headed behind the outfielder, the first move should be a drop step to the side that the ball was hit to, then a crossover step.
Fly balls hit directly over the head of an outfielder can be one of the trickiest plays to make in the outfield. In this case, a young player should drop step to whichever position they feel most comfortable fielding in (glove hand vs. throwing hand). However, it is generally taught to have players drop step to their throwing hand side and run back with their glove toward the infield because in the case that the fielder needs to change positions on the ball, switching back to glove side can be easier than vice-versa.
Route
Two very important things that all young outfielders should remember:

1. Avoid backpedaling at all costs—it’s slow and will probably cause you to trip.
2. It’s better to misjudge a ball and have it fall in front of you than to misjudge and have it go over your head.

That said, after the outfielder makes his or her step out of the ready position, the proper route on the fly ball should be a curl—or what’s sometimes referred to as a “banana route”—with the curve towards the fence, so that the player is essentially going behind the ball and circling back in on it.
Depending on how and where a ball is hit, sometimes a player will have to run as fast as they can directly to the ball to have a chance at catching it. Again, the ability to judge this need will come with experience, but for the inexperienced, taking a direct angle can be dangerous because if they are unable to make the play, the ball will go past them. By taking a deeper angle (the “banana route”), you can circle behind the ball and field it moving forward, putting your body in a much better position to make a strong, accurate throw to the infield. This is especially true with fly balls that a player has plenty of time camp under. If your players are advanced enough, teach them to stay back on the ball until the very last second then, as the ball is falling into a catchable distance, they will be able to run up on the ball and catch it in the same motion, providing extra momentum for a strong throw to the infield—of course, this is only useful when there are runners on base.

Catching the Ball

Again, how and where a ball is hit may not allow an outfielder to establish the ideal form when fielding a ball, but using the aforementioned techniques will put your players in the best position to field using good form.
When possible, fly balls should be caught in front of the body and with two hands. The purpose of using two hands is not just for insurance in case the ball pops out, but it also creates less time that the player will need to transfer the ball from their glove to their throwing hand.

Communication

Communication is key. A simple shout of “I got it!” can mitigate the chance of an error, and, more importantly, an injury.
Remember, when fielding a fly ball, the centerfielder’s word (not position) trumps everyone else’s. Corner outfielders should learn to defer to the centerfielder’s call. For shallow fly balls, outfielders have rule over the infielders, so infielders should learn to defer to an outfielder’s call. Why? Because it’s easier to move in on a ball than to move back on a ball.

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Three Classic Swing Mistakes

Blocking the Front Arm - The player locks or stiffens the leading arm as the swing action starts. Lots of young players will have assumed the correct stance and release positions but tend to tighten up as the swing starts.
 The barring of the front arm will cause the swing to loop and be too long. The batter has trouble taking the bat to the ball and making contact unless of course the baseball is thrown exactly on the swing plane.
The correct swing action features a "quick stroke" or path to the ball.
The easiest way to fix barring the front arm is to make sure that the player maintains leading arm elbow at an "L" position prior and during the swing.

Stepping out or Pulling Off Pitches - My coaches and I often observe this with children in our summer camp program. They always step out and their front side often flies open before the ball arrival.
This particular player has serious trouble generating contact.
Before this flaw is actually remedied, the player is only going to become discouraged and self-conscious.
To maintain leading shoulder within the correct "closed" position, train the player to hold the front shoulder closed and aimed at the 2nd baseman for right-handed players and toward the shortstop for left-handed players.
 The stepping out is really a harder flaw to correct.
Getting the player to pick the front heel up and stepping just a bit towards home plate can help. My coaches and I do not encourage placing obstacles behind the front foot to help keep it from shifting backwards, even though a lot of coaches try this to prevent this kind of poor habit.
We frequently utilize the "step in and hit: exercise using a batting tee.
The player assumes a posture off from the baseball target that needs the player to step towards the ball to be able to help to make contact.
If your player doesn't step towards or to the baseball, the player may struggle to hit the baseball.

Upper Cut Swing - The upper cut swing might be due to a couple of things which are easily determined.
Dropping the hands and back leg collapse may both result in the player swinging upward.
Be sure that the player retains his hands at the top of the strike zone and doesn't move the hands or drop the back side shoulder during the swing.
The rear leg ought to be kept straight to avoid back side dipping which could likewise trigger an upper-cut swing.
An excellent drill that we utilize to prevent this is the soft-toss drill.

Properly Fielding A Ground Ball

Every player on the baseball diamond needs to be able to field a ground ball. As a result, this fundamental skill is one of the first you should master. The technique is not especially complex, but fielding grounders cleanly, correctly, and consistently can be extremely difficult and requires a great deal of practice. This guide outlines the proper fielding mechanics and provides a few helpful tips so you can start vacuuming up ground balls all over the field.

Show No Fear

When it comes to fielding ground balls, the most important characteristic you can have is fearlessness. Unlike pop flies, grounders are fairly unpredictable. At any moment, the baseball could hit a pebble or cleat mark and take a bad hop. Many players constantly battle the fear of getting a bad hop and taking a ball off the chest, face, or groin area.

There are a few ways to combat this. First of all, always wear a protective cup. You also have to learn to accept the possibility of a bad hop. Most of the time, the ball will kick off your arms or torso, and it generally won’t hurt that bad. Just as every basketball player gets fouled, every hockey player gets checked, and every football player gets tackled, every baseball player gets hit with the ball on occasion. One of the great aspects of sports is that they force you to develop a certain level of toughness.

Gaining both mental and physical toughness will undoubtedly make you a better fielder, and you’ll find that the best fielders are able to avoid most bad hops. Accordingly, the best way to reduce your risk of a bad hop is to master your fielding technique.

Fielding Mechanics

Follow these steps to put yourself in the best position to field a ground ball cleanly. As you practice, focus particularly on keeping your eye on the ball and your glove down. Once those abilities becomes second-nature, gobbling up grounders will be a breeze!

Charge the Ball

Try to get in the habit of never sitting back and waiting for the baseball. If the ball is hit slowly, sprint towards it before you get in position. Even if the ball is hit hard and you have little reaction time, try to take a step inward as you field the ball. Charging grounders is a good way to avoid a lot of bad hops, which tend to happen when you back up on the ball. A popular mantra among baseball coaches is: Make a play on the ball, never let the ball play you.

Get In Position

Watch the trajectory of the baseball and position yourself in its path. You might barely have to move if it’s hit right at you, but in some cases, you’ll have to hustle just to get to the ball. Try to position yourself so that you can field the ball with your feet set; it’s much harder to field on the run.

Set Your Feet

Get in an athletic position with your feet spread slightly wider than shoulder-width. Keep your weight forward and knees bent; you should never sit back on your heels or try to field the ball flat-footed. In addition, place your glove-side foot a few inches in front of your throwing-side foot. Doing so helps you get your glove extended, and you’ll receive the ball more smoothly.

Get Low

Bend at the knees and waist as if you were sitting down in a chair or performing a squat. Keep your weight on the balls of your feet. The lower you are, the easier it will be to get your glove in the proper position.

Glove on the Ground

 Failing to get the glove low enough is one of the most common causes of fielding errors. Reach your glove hand out with your palm facing up and the pocket of your glove opened wide. Your glove should be out in front of your feet and directly on the dirt. If the ball takes a hop just as it gets to you, you can adjust and raise your glove to field it. But don’t try to do it the other way around — the ball can easily go through your legs and onto the outfield grass.

Track the Baseball

 You can’t field what you can’t see. And while you might be able to take your eye off a fly ball for a moment and still make the catch, such is rarely the case with grounders. Keep your eye on the ball the entire time until the ball is in your glove. If you find yourself making a lot of errors, there’s a good chance you’re taking your eye off the ball for the last few feet. As the ball approaches you, make sure your glove is extended. You should always try to field the ball out in front of you, never back between your legs. This technique allows you to see the ball better and keep your weight moving forward.

Absorb the Ball

Now it’s time to actually field the baseball, and the key is to maintain a smooth motion. Watch the ball into your glove and use your throwing hand to secure it. Get in the habit of fielding the ball with two hands whenever possible. Try to cradle the ball as you receive it, and absorb its momentum into your body. Never stab at the baseball — this usually results in an error. Instead, field the ball with soft hands and bring it in towards your body.

Patience

Like most aspects of baseball, fielding ground balls is a skill at which you cannot expect to be perfect. Even the best fielders in the world make errors from time to time. So don’t get down on yourself if you struggle at first. Be patient and diligent in your practice. A reliable defender is a valuable asset for any team, so concentrate on the mechanics detailed above and try to make yourself as consistent a fielder as possible.

Bat Positioning

When you have completed the separation phase of your swing and your hands are cocked back and ready to fire forward, the angle of your bat can determine who you are as a hitter.

Bat Angle 1 – Straight up and down (perpendicular to the ground)

• The back part of your swing will take a little longer to get to the baseball.
• Naturally, you will have a little loop in your swing
• There can be more power generated from this position because with the extra length in the back part of your swing, you are creating a longer space to build your bat speed.

Bat Angle 2 - Lying flat (parallel to the ground)

• The back part of your swing will be shorter to the ball.
• You will have a more direct path to the ball
• You will not generate as much power because your bat is traveling a shorter distance.

Option 3 - A combination of the two

• Most people use an angle that is somewhere in between straight up, and lying flat.
• This depends on how you control the baseball bat and what type of hitter you are.

Hitting Balance

The best way to find the ideal balance position is to have the hitters jump as high as they can. The hitter should freeze upon landing and maintain that position. They will not usually land flat footed, so this will work to help them understand their ideal balance position. Obviously, this is not something they will do when they get in the batter's box but is a good teaching tool for young hitters who have a hard time understanding where the balls of their feet are and what balance means. (Also, kids will have fun jumping.)

Another way of checking balance is to go up to the hitters in their stance and try to push them in each direction. If you can move them in a certain direction very easily then they are probably not well balanced to begin with. This is a good way to get hitters off their heels in their stances. For the players who are very serious about baseball, the use of a balance beam is invaluable.

Gripping The Bat

Tension is Your Enemy

Tension is your worst enemy when it comes to a fluid swing. Tension throughout the body is often the direct result of gripping the bat incorrectly. A player with a relaxed grip on the bat will be able to react faster and wait longer on a pitch than a player with a death grip on the bat. You want to be relaxed in the box; this starts when you pick up the bat.
You'll see various types of grips at all levels of baseball and you'll also read or see some people who believe there is only one way to grip the bat. If this was true you'd see all major league players using the same grip. The variables with the grip are how far out on the fingers or deep in the palm a player will hold the bat, how the upper and lower hands aligns on the bat, how tight to hold the bat, and whether to choke up or not.

Fingers or Palm or Somewhere in Between

With young players I will show them how to grip the bat and I start them out with middle knuckles approximately lined up and I try to get them to get the bat out of the palm and into the fingers where they will have better control (Image g1). Younger players have an easier time relaxing their hands when they don't have the bat buried in the palm of their hands. One quick way to check a player is to have him hold the bat out in front and look to see if there is a gap between the bat handle and the spot between the thumb and index finger (Image g3 below).
As players develop they will often adjust their grip and sometimes bring the grip back closer to the pad in one or both hands. The grip needs to be comfortable and it must provide the player with the ability to have a relaxed grip. Remember, tension is the enemy.

Knuckles, Knuckles, Knuckles

In the end you want players hands to align somewhere from the middle knuckles lining up (Image g1 below) and the middle knuckles of the lower hand lining up with the top knuckles on the upper hand (Image g2 below). Anywhere in that zone that is comfortable for the player should work as long as they don't get the bat too far in the palms of their hands.

How Firm Should You Grip the Bat?

The best answer is to grip it as firm as you'd like as long as the grip is relaxed. The grip has to allow a player to take a natural swing. In looking at the images below, Image g4 is the grip that jumps out and yells "fix me". In this grip the player has the bat buried in the palms of his hands and you can see the tension in the hands and the arms. The alignment of the knuckles will also inhibit his natural swing. One of the keys to having a quick bat is the ability for the top hand to snap the wrists forward just before contact. "Bat lag" is a term to describe the relationship of the bat head to the hands as the swing progresses towards contact. As the hands come forward into the zone the bat head which is trailing behind is whipped by the wrists forward to contact to generate a tremendous amount of bat speed. Bat lag is not to be confused with bat drag. Bad drag has a negative impact on the swing and is a common problem with young hitters. Bat drag is fairly easy to pick out as the hitter will look like he is having a difficult time getting the bat head to the ball and through the zone. It can be caused by a player using a bat that is too heavy and also by poor mechanics in general. Improper grip as shown in Image g4 can be one cause of bat drag because the grip inhibits the ability of the wrists to snap the bat forward. Gripping the bat too tight with a proper grip can also contribute to the bat drag.