Butt down, Glove out!

[danileevasquez]

Okay im having an issue with one of my lesson girls! She comes in for fielding! And has a serious issue of standing up, or picking her glove up when the ball is hit to her! Resulting in of course her missing the darn ball! What drills can i give her so she can get it body memorized that she needs to stay down and stop coming up! Its almost as if she's afraid of the ball!

 

[danileevasquez]

Anything else? how long should i do this for?

 

[danileevasquez]

Okay thankyou.

 

[robertc3]

You are probably already trying it, but slowly rolled grounders is where we work to perfect our fielding mechanics. Then move to firmly rolled grounders and then batted grounders. We actually start work on fielding during our throwing warmup. They put the ball in their glove, get in their fielding position with glove shoulder facing their partner and glove on the ground, they bring their glove to their ear, step and throw. If they are not in a perfect fielding position I don't let them throw. They have to get their butt down, their glove out and the eyes up.

 

[Lackawanna Lightning]

I have went as far as placing something on their back so if they stand up the item falls off giving them a cue as to the where the problem lies..i used magazines or small books..as soon as they stand up or straighten up item falls off ...blow the whistle....as per other post unconventional but effective..i like to use redneck inguinity!!..lol

 

[GADad]

See if you can get her to find her to find her "rhythm." Two short steps to get moving and into her ready position every pitch. Then keep coming forward, charge everything and field with the glove foot forward. Go through the ball.

Getting started with the two "creeper" steps keeps them from being too tall. Also keeps them from starting too low (if too low have to rise up to move costing time).

For GREAT infield drills and techniques look at some of Howard Kobata's stuff - Softball Skills.com

 

[02Crush]

We run the bucket drill. I saw it on You Tube. Search for it. It is a great drill about constantly moving, fielding and throwing. Lots of reps for every player. Everyone is moving and coaches can stay close in and pull players aside to correct things seen by the bucket roller immediately. We benefit from this. You can also work forehand, backhand, inline grounders, bouncing balls. You also control speed and tempo so when a player is lifting the glove you can roll harder to catch them in the bad habit and point it out. We warm up most every practice with this. Takes about 15 minutes but gets all our throwing in.

 

[4 girl's dad]

We run the bucket drill. I saw it on You Tube. Search for it. It is a great drill about constantly moving, fielding and throwing. Lots of reps for every player. Everyone is moving and coaches can stay close in and pull players aside to correct things seen by the bucket roller immediately. We benefit from this. You can also work forehand, backhand, inline grounders, bouncing balls. You also control speed and tempo so when a player is lifting the glove you can roll harder to catch them in the bad habit and point it out. We warm up most every practice with this. Takes about 15 minutes but gets all our throwing in.

We did the same thing for all stars this past week. I saw it online and it does keep the busy and makes them use good form or you can correct it immediately. You can control where the ball goes and how fast. Makes them charge the super slow rollers. We worked 4 at SS 4 at 2nd and 4 at first and would rate lines after everyone got 6-7 good reps. We also did 3 to 2 to one. Ball always ended at one for us. I also out the players in groups like middle IF w middle IF, catchers went in with first and third groups. It seemed good to have all the players work all the positions during this drill. Sometimes we could do it for 25-30 min. Stop the ball, catch and throw. Correct when it's wrong and let them go again.

We didnt win either game but it was not for lack of fielding. It was more of mound and plate issues....


Edit: just realized you are looking for single drills not team drills. But I bet you could still do this with her. Give her a huge variety of balls. Inside, outside, fast, slow, bouncers, one hops, etc.

 

[SBFAMILY]

If you get a chance watch Howard Kobata and his bucket drills. I have all his DVD's. He is the best in teaching defense and fielding. I have also been to many of his clinics. You can see some if you google him on U tube video's.

 

[David Carter]

Have you tried using the paddle versus the glove, you can buy fancy ones or just use an old piece of plywood or ping pong paddle without handle. They have to use their other hand or the ball bounces off and they have to stay down because there is no pocket or web if the paddle is not on the ground the ball rolls under.