Infielders

I was taught, and teach to field it on a line with the inside of the left foot. That should be where the glove arm will extend straight and give the best range of movement if the ball takes a bad hop. 

I say right left down right left throw. Try to get your momentum going through the ball in the direction of the bag, rather than standing flat footed and then trying to get your motor going once the ball is in the glove.

Another thing I picked up recently from the head coach of last year's Div2 champs...

Work on clearing low.  What he meant by that was to have the ball out of the glove before it came back above the knee after fielding a ball on the ground. I'm just starting to use that concept with some younger kids, and it makes a noticeable difference.

Trying to understand clearing low.  Ball out before it came back above the knee.  What you mean?

Nathan posted:

Trying to understand clearing low.  Ball out before it came back above the knee.  What you mean?

Basically, if you field a ball at ground level,  by the time your hands come back above the knees,  the ball should be in your throwing hand, not still in the glove.

Rob T posted:

I was taught, and teach to field it on a line with the inside of the left foot. That should be where the glove arm will extend straight and give the best range of movement if the ball takes a bad hop. 

I say right left down right left throw. Try to get your momentum going through the ball in the direction of the bag, rather than standing flat footed and then trying to get your motor going once the ball is in the glove.

Another thing I picked up recently from the head coach of last year's Div2 champs...

Work on clearing low.  What he meant by that was to have the ball out of the glove before it came back above the knee after fielding a ball on the ground. I'm just starting to use that concept with some younger kids, and it makes a noticeable difference.

Disagree with ball out of the glove that early.  You have to think ball security first.  Field, secure, stay low through fielding the ball to keep momentum, the body will be in a powerful position to launch it to first.  Now, if you have a slow roller, you'd be correct.  

Former professional player tweaked this with my son this past summer.

Gov posted:

Rob T posted:

I was taught, and teach to field it on a line with the inside of the left foot. That should be where the glove arm will extend straight and give the best range of movement if the ball takes a bad hop. 

I say right left down right left throw. Try to get your momentum going through the ball in the direction of the bag, rather than standing flat footed and then trying to get your motor going once the ball is in the glove.

Another thing I picked up recently from the head coach of last year's Div2 champs...

Work on clearing low.  What he meant by that was to have the ball out of the glove before it came back above the knee after fielding a ball on the ground. I'm just starting to use that concept with some younger kids, and it makes a noticeable difference.

Disagree with ball out of the glove that early.  You have to think ball security first.  Field, secure, stay low through fielding the ball to keep momentum, the body will be in a powerful position to launch it to first.  Now, if you have a slow roller, you'd be correct.  

Former professional player tweaked this with my son this past summer.

It's definitely a trade off. I'm kind of giving it a test drive.

Definitely had some botched on the exchange,  but at the same time came out on the right side of some close plays.

One thing it does do is keep the players down as you mention. I think that is a key point in making better throws.