Infield Down and ready means just that..But what exactly is down and ready? Need some hints ? Coaching youth baseball will be a lot easier with these Baseball ready position hints for boys baseball.
Your players feet should be spread a slightly wider than the shoulders and weight should be on the balls of the feet not the heels. Butt Down! Having your butt down I feel is the most important part of the ready position…if your butt is down the knees bend and the hands go down with them. This gives balance, and allows those hands to get down and keep those ground balls from rolling under the glove. If you see a ball roll between a kids legs under his glove it is because the glove was not down. Demonstrate for all the kids. If you are coaching as young as tee ball you will have to demonstrate it several times but they will get it. I know you have heard or will hear coaches yell “get your glove down!”, I am here to tell stating “Getting your “butt” down will help solve this problem plus the kids get interested quickly stating it this way. After a few practices the humor is gone, but they know what you mean..
The players hands should be in front with the intent of using two hands to catch the ball. Two hands is not always possible but the ball should try and be fielded in front of the body. Its easier to stop a ball you can see in front of you and your body will also act as a barrier for any missed balls, thus keeping the ball in front to easily be picked up and a play still being made or extra bases not given up.
Eyes should be on the ball. I myself scream watch the batter..but in reality the player needs to be watching the ball. Its very difficult to catch what you cant see, much less actually make a play. Catch the ball in front with two hands. Its for safety too. I have seen several kids, and a few coaches get hurt because of not simply paying attention to the ball.
Creeping is a little more advanced technique but I wanted to mention for those that have players above average. Even if you dont require it..it will not hurt to introduce it to a few players. One of these days they will be in high school and the defensive coach will say we need to creep toward the ball and that player will go yeh! I know what that is! Creep in a nutshell.. As the ball is being pitched your players can take a couple of tiny steps toward the pitch to get there body in motion. The point of this is to get players off their heels, and it just is easier to react once in motion. Watch a pro game sometime and you will see what I mean. Here is a simple drill to warm up the team, reinforce the ready position, learn to gage distance throws and get the players moving right from the start.
Shortstop Ready Drill– a simple ready position drill to reinforce the ready position/fielding/and make the play at first. Do this at the beginning of every practice after players warm up throwing on sideline! Be sure and do it after the entire team arrives.
1. Line Players up at Shortstop/Coach at shortstop making sure ready position is implemented/ Coach at first to catch/Coach at home to hit ground balls
2. Hit ball to 1st player- player fields ball , throws to 1st starts a new line at 2nd base position
3. Repeat for every player
4. Start over hitting balls to 2nd and player throwing to first
REPEAT
This is a great way to get the kids in ready position, fielding, and moving, while adjusting throws from different lengths. Nice easy smooth way to warm up while reinforcing those basics. You can actually close practice with this also, and call it infield comp(competition or some other cool name). This is in addition to. The comp is meant to be fun..no coaching here guys, the kids will take care of that at this point.
