DEfense help

[jsnfltn]

So my daughter is 16 and players on a showcase team. her game is solid, great bat, smart, everything is good except for one thing, fielding. she's not really fast enough to play outfield so every coach has played her in the infield. 3rd or 2nd. She can field a ball hit to her left or right good with that. But for some reason she struggles with anything hit straight to her. She pulls her head up and away causing the glove to come up. She wears a mask. I have tried everything, hitting 1000's of balls to her, slow rolling balls to her with the head down. She even pulls the head when I roll a ball on concert with no bounce. Any help?? we are very frustrated.

I wonder if this is a lack of killer instinct? or just scared? she says its not but I wonder. She's never been hit in the face without a mask so no injuries or any reason why she would be scared. This is the only hole in her game and could keep her out of college maybe,

Thanks

 

[The Man In Blue]

Is this something new or something she has always done?

 

[jmax26]

The best drill I have found for fielding is bare hand drills. No glove 3 cones and a ball is all you need. Set two cones about 10 feet apart and the third, midway between them about 5 feet back. She should start at the back cone and roll her the ball and have her field it and get to it before it passes the cones. One of my DD’s favorites. Promotes attacking the ball and gets the muscle memory of staying down on the ball.

 

[jsnfltn]

something she has done for the last couple years.

Me and DD was just talking about that drill. Going to try it tomorrow.

 

[ANNASDAD]

jmax26 has a great suggestion, we had great success with a paddle / pancake trainer, you can only use it one way, that‘s the correct way, they work!

Mizuno Pancake Paddle Training Glove 10" GXT3A 312592 on CheapBats.com

This training glove is made to promote proper fielding mechanics, while also training the hands to be quick and soft.

www.cheapbats.com

By 16 our infielders were solid and mostly committed but we would still whip out the trainer when they needed a tune up!

 

[_MIA_]

So my daughter is 16 and players on a showcase team. her game is solid, great bat, smart, everything is good except for one thing, fielding. she's not really fast enough to play outfield so every coach has played her in the infield. 3rd or 2nd. She can field a ball hit to her left or right good with that. But for some reason she struggles with anything hit straight to her. She pulls her head up and away causing the glove to come up. She wears a mask. I have tried everything, hitting 1000's of balls to her, slow rolling balls to her with the head down. She even pulls the head when I roll a ball on concert with no bounce. Any help?? we are very frustrated.

I wonder if this is a lack of killer instinct? or just scared? she says its not but I wonder. She's never been hit in the face without a mask so no injuries or any reason why she would be scared. This is the only hole in her game and could keep her out of college maybe,

Thanks

Does she do it regardless of how hard it is hit? If so then it probably isn't fear but technique. She has no issue with balls to her left or right because she is moving. Balls hit straight at she is probably not moving through the ball and is back on her heels. Every ball she fields in front of her she should be trying to get her left foot down as she is fielding it under her left eye.

 

[Northball]

If it's mostly her head popping up, maybe the trick of holding the neckline of her t-shirt in her teeth while practicing grounders will help keep her head down. Probably have to be lower speed grounders, might be kind of hard to do with a mask on.

 

[MadBandit22]

So my daughter is 16 and players on a showcase team. her game is solid, great bat, smart, everything is good except for one thing, fielding. she's not really fast enough to play outfield so every coach has played her in the infield. 3rd or 2nd. She can field a ball hit to her left or right good with that. But for some reason she struggles with anything hit straight to her. She pulls her head up and away causing the glove to come up. She wears a mask. I have tried everything, hitting 1000's of balls to her, slow rolling balls to her with the head down. She even pulls the head when I roll a ball on concert with no bounce. Any help?? we are very frustrated.

I wonder if this is a lack of killer instinct? or just scared? she says its not but I wonder. She's never been hit in the face without a mask so no injuries or any reason why she would be scared. This is the only hole in her game and could keep her out of college maybe,

Thanks

Either fear or poor technique.
Have her start deep and creep in until pitcher releases the ball. Once ball is released she should be up on her toes and ready to move in any direction.
She needs to bend her knees and get her butt down for any ground balls hit right at her.
Attack the ball on slow or moderately hit balls and stand her ground on hard hit balls.
Get a bucket and have her use this as a guide as far as how low to “sit” when fielding a ground ball.

 

[_MIA_]

Just like in hitting, there needs to be a rhythm to fielding a groundball. For younger players that is often most difficult to do when a ball is hit straight at them. Like I said above, they should be trying to field the ball as their left toe is hitting the ground (for a RH thrower) regardless of whether it is hard hit or not. See below.

 

[ANNASDAD]

Great video pattar although he could have demonstrated what he needed to show in a minute and a half instead of seven and a half!

But you're right, just like hitting.........timing, rhythm, and balance are keys to high level fielding also!