SS fielding grounders to left side

Always bend at the knees regardless of which direction you are going. Move to the ball low and stay low. Do not try to run to the ball and then get low, resulting in a "stabbing" action.

Just what my guy has been taught for years by Denny Doyle, former Red Sox MIF who played in the majors for more than 10 seasons. Denny would make my guy run around with his knees half bent. Created a lot of "burn" in those leg muscles!

Son had the same problem when he had a growth spurt. He tended to run to the ball with his arm straight instead of bent, also bending from the waist instead of the knees like the previous poster said.

Once he bent his arm he had to bend his knees to get low enough to field the ball and he was much more able to adjust to bad hops. Hope it helps.

Thanks to both. Looks like joemktgson has some pain in his immediate future practicing running around with knees half bent.

FFan gave you some good advice here. He needs to explode out of his stance low like a sprinter and stay down with his knees bent. You may want to add some glove side picks to his pregame and pre-practice warmups so he gets use to attacking the ball from the ground up. Of course his infield should include glove side work as well as backhands.

Also, make sure his glove hand reaches down in front of his foot when he gets to the ball. This puts his glove where his eyes are looking. Many times, players will reach behind their foot and not see the last 1-2 feet of the ball traveling toward their glove.

Definitely like florida's response. Another thing you make want to check with him is his hip flexibility. After his growth spurt, he may have tightened up and that could be an issue. He may not be as flexible as he was prior to...

Tremendous appreciation for everyone's guidance thus far. Thanks.