Crushing Grounders

[RADcatchers]

Haven't seen this display in a while.
Was reminded of it recently.

Crushing grounders.
The kind that are wickedly ripping towards the infield. Gnarly high speed slices & bounces at first year 12u.

Ping off the hip.
Ding one to the shin.
Plunk off the arm.

What is this for?
Is that fear conditioning or what's going on with that?

 

[warbird]

I never one time crushed ground balls at DD. She developed a confidence that she could field any ball hit to her and to this day shows no fear of any ball hit at her. I have seen WAY more dad's crush ground balls and ruin an infielder.

 

[Orange Socks]

I definitely crushed grounders! But the field surface was turf. I also liked to practice the in betweeners that are hard to field. Not slow and not fast. You will more likely see those in games that end up in chaos. Pop ups between fielders. Infield/Outfield. Behind the Circle. etc. You will get more benefit practicing these drills.

 

[Strike2]

It's a good test of where you are as a ball-stopper. If you can deal with hard hit balls in practice, you probably won't be overwhelmed by anything that comes in a game. That doesn't mean you hit scorchers in game warmup or in practice to any player who isn't ready for it.

I occasionally hit some pretty hard grounders and liners to DD...but only on good ground after she was warmed up, showing good technique, and warned. She also wore a fielding mask. I rarely hit that way during a team practice, but when I did, it was when players were capable, ready, and literally asking for it.

 

[ANNASDAD]

In 12U I definitely hit hard ground balls, but I had an infield full of girls that could handle it. Strike2's post is spot on!

I think teaching infielders to read spin at this age is just as important as just banging hard ground ball after ball. I can/could hit a ball anywhere I wanted, top spin, back spin, line drives, infield fly balls, the number of bounces I wanted a fielder to have, cause we really stressed not having a ball get to that third bounce where they can get tricky.

What taught our 12U teams infielders to shine....when they were being lazy, whiney, or just not up to our standards in practice, three horrible words were yelled out.....SHORT HOP DRILL. Oh the look on their faces!

I'd take half of the girls in front of one dugout and the other coach would take the other half to the other dugout, 15 to 20 minutes of all types of short hops can teach a lot, teaches both the girls and the coaches!

So yeah, I didn't try to kill our girls but they knew at practice they were definitely going to see hard ground balls!

 

[chinamigarden]

There is a difference between hitting a ball as hard as a good 12 year old can hit, which is how a 12u team should be practicing, and grown rear man swings on grounders to 12 year olds.

 

[Rolling Hard]

I like getting on one knee to better mimic the average ground ball hit at 12u players so the ball is being contacted 20 to 30 inches from the ground. You also can't swing as hard.
Also, I use tennis racquet and tennis balls when I want to hit rockets and work on reaction speed. It might sting a little but it avoids hospital visits.
I never would hit ground balls to 12u players as hard as a can. That would be child abuse

 

[GunnerShotgun]

I love the coaches who crush ground balls at players without masks on. That tells me all I need to know about that coach.