Fielding Throwing and Catching Techniques, Practice and Drills

Fielding Throwing and Catching Techniques, Practice and Drills Not to be reproduced without permission 1

1) Teach proper Fielding mechanics Ball grip Hand, glove and arm position Proper stance Throwing/Catching Upper body Mechanics Lower body mechanics Fielding Program Elements Expectations for participants Get positive, verbal and visual feedback on throwing and fielding form and areas needing additional focus Requirements of participants 1) Practice fielding/throwing drills 3 times a week Not to be reproduced without permission 2

Fielding Throwing the Ball Grip - You want to grip the ball in your fingers with your three (two, if that s all that will fit) middle fingers across one lace of the ball and the thumb and little finger along the sides of the ball. A easy way to do this is to put the middle finger across the seam of the horseshoe of the ball and the thumb along a lower seam and let the rest of your fingers fall down across the seams to fall naturally to a comfortable position. Since you can t look to see if you have the proper grip every time you have to do it by feel and make sure you grip with your fingers not your palm. Keeping the ball out of palm helps the speed and distance of your throw. F Drill 1 While watching TV or reading a book have a ball in one hand and your glove in the other practice griping the ball by feeling the seems and griping the ball. Occasionally looking to see if the grip is right. This will develop muscle memory for when you are fielding balls. Arm and body Position for the throw - After you field a ball take the ball and the glove up to your throwing arm shoulder and pull the ball back behind you with your palm facing down, your hand will look like a backward C. (If you have your palm facing up towards the sky you will push the ball losing control and speed).your throwing arm and hand should be pointing back behind you with a l shape in the arm. You move your throwing hand foot forward placing it on inline with your target and the toes of that foot on a 90 degree angle to the line towards your target. As your front (glove hand) foot moves towards your target you shift your weight forward and bring your elbow up and throwing arm forward remembering the elbow leads the wrist and the wrist is cocked (bent back). The glove hand is extended at the same time and points to the target you are throwing to. As part of the throwing process your body should be sideways with your feet shoulder width apart with your head looking over your glove hand shoulder at the person you are going to throw to.(it is important that the glove hand shoulder is turned in Closed before the throw starts) Just before you start to throw point your glove towards your target (opening up your shoulder), the middle of the chest of the person you are throwing to. Your glove arm will go down towards to your hip and as you release the ball from an extended arm position. As you extend your throwing arm you will snap your wrist forward you should feel the ball release from your fingertips. (If you don t snap the wrist your ball will be slower and your control will be off.) Your throwing wrist should windup outside the knee of your glove leg and both feet should be pointing toward your target. F Drill 2 - Work on your wrist snap by holding your throwing arm in your glove and your throwing hand even with your shoulder (while properly gripping a ball). Next use your glove to hold your throwing arm so it doesn t move. Your feet should be pointed towards your catcher 8ft away. Next cock your wrist back and snap throw the ball to your catcher only using your wrist letting the ball roll off your fingertips. You will know if you are doing it right if the ball spins as it goes through the air. A way to see if you are snapping the ball to give it rotation is use a ball painted on one half. If you have snap on the ball you will be able to see the spin. If not you will see color. This drill is a good starting point for younger player s first learning to throw. It concentrates on the shoulders, waist and arm motion and doesn t allow them to push the ball. Pushing the ball is where the thrower is facing their target and locks their shoulder, arm and wrist with the elbow in on the body and many times the palm up, which some coaches call throwing like a girl F Drill 3 Cross-legged throw- Pair your players up and have the players start 10-12 feet from their partners sitting cross-legged facing their partner. On command the player twists at the hips turning their glove hand shoulder towards their target while looking at their target over that shoulder. (At this point the glove and throwing hand should be together at ear level and the player then extends they throwing arm back to an L position observing the backward C grip). On Not to be reproduced without permission 3

command the glove hand should extend towards the target and the player should rotate at the hips and bring their throwing arm forward with the elbow up and leading the forearm and wrist. Walk them through this drill step by step in slow motion before executing the drill so that the player observes the proper stance, grip, cocks their wrists and understands what they should be doing. At the finish the throwing hand should be outside the glove hand knee. To isolate the arm motion the following drill is used to work on form, upper body mechanics and accuracy. F Drill 4- Have the players proceed to a one knee position, glove leg in front pointing towards their standing partners. The players should be approximately 10-15 ft apart. The kneeing player takes the ball and the glove up to their throwing arm shoulder and pull the ball back behind them into an L position, with your palm facing down, your hand will look like a backward C. Your glove hand shoulder should be turned in a closed position. As you bring your throwing arm forward remember the elbow leads the wrist and the wrist is cocked (bent back). After releasing the ball in the open position your throwing hand should wind up outside your bend front leg. Remind players to keep back straight during the drill to maintain balance. 15 reps To isolate the arm extension behind the player getting them to reach back and throw try this table drill using a card table. This one can be done from a one knee drill position or standing position. F Drill 5 Have your player get into a one knee position and set up a card table an arms length behind the player. Place 5 balls on the edge of the table an arms length away from the player and have them reach back without looking take a ball and throw it observing the form talked about in the previous drill. This will teach them to extend their arm, put their hand in a proper backward C instead of short-arming the throw. You can also do this drill from a standing position where the player gets into a throwing stance and the coach hands the ball to the player in a proper arm (elbow up and away from the body) and hand palm down and backward C position with the wrist bent. Player should be looking forward at their target. Players put all three together and begin throwing from the standing position. Again, emphasize using the glove hand to point at the target as well as proper follow through (throwing wrist should brush the outside of the knee). F Drill 6- Crane: Players begin in the crane position. That is, with their stride leg raised in the air (knee bent), their glove hand and throwing hand at the shoulder. Their throwing hand then extends to the throwing hand arm being in an L position and hand in a backward C with the wrist cocked. Players hold in this position for 2-3 seconds before throwing the ball. To ensure proper follow through, the players take one full step towards their partner when releasing the throw. Glove hand leads the throw pointing to their target.this helps the players focus on properly using their glove hand for emphasis on shoulder, hip and knee rotation. Their toes and belly button should be pointing towards their target when they are done. Not to be reproduced without permission 4

Fielding - Outfield Throws When throwing from the outfield you take the ball from your glove at the waist and start your throw with a larger circle of your arm from the waist. Your body position is the same as throwing at any other time sideways looking at your target. To get your momentum going forward and keep your weight back to get more speed on the ball can take one or two shuttle steps towards your target to get forward motion toward your target. Proper backward arm extension in the throw and follow through are key elements to the long throw from the outfield. Your throwing arm should come across your body and come down on the opposite leg at your shin or ankle when you are throwing from the outfield. Your rear leg should also come around and when it stops you should be facing right at the person you are throwing to. The other throwing technique from the outfield is called the crow hop as you receive the ball and you take it from your glove at the waist and start your throw with a larger circle of your arm from the waist. Your body position is the same as throwing at any other time sideways looking at your target. To get your momentum going forward and keep your weight back to get more speed on the ball you need to take hop off your back leg with the weight on the ball of the foot s towards your target to get forward momentum. Proper backward arm extension in the throw and follow through are key elements to the long throw from the outfield. Your throwing arm should come across your body and come down on the opposite leg at your shin or ankle when you are throwing from the outfield. Your rear leg should also come around and when it stops you should be facing right at the person you are throwing to. Fielding - Catching the ball Before we even put on a glove at any level we work the girls on proper methods of catching the ball. Catching with a new glove is difficult enough but learning to catch with one hand is even worse. So start them with the following using tennis balls or whiffle balls. It is also a good way to combine throwing and catching drills. First off lets start with the basic position of the hands for balls that are in the air: For balls above the waist the hands should be chest high with elbows bent and away from the body about six inches. Have the players start with their thumbs touching and their fingers spread wide and pointing up. For balls below the waist start with hands at the waist level, elbows bent 6 inches away from their bodies, little fingers touching and their fingers spread and pointing downward. One point to re-enforce is that they should always try to catch the ball in the middle of their body. Next tell the girls that when they feel the ball they should relax their arms, bend their elbows and pull the ball towards their body. This gets rid of the stone wall effect of a girl having their elbows locked and the ball hits their glove and pops out. Helps them with soft hands. They should be facing the thrower and their knees should be bent slightly and their weight on the balls of their feet. Make sure to tell them to make eye contact with the thrower and always be ready to catch a ball. F Drill 7- Place the players 10 ft apart and tell them to play catch with their partner throwing softly to their partner at ½ speed. Concentrate on the basic s outlined above have them do 10 above the waist and 10 below the waist. Then have them put on their gloves and repeat the drill making sure they use both hands. If you have access to training paddles insert their use in between the bare hands and the gloves to re-enforce the use of two hands in fielding the ball. This drill teaches the use of two hands on the ball. Not to be reproduced without permission 5

Grounders -At the start every pitch infielders must start in the ready position. Their feet need to be a little wider than the shoulders. The throwing hand foot should be back slightly and both feet should be squared to the hitter. Their weight should be forward on the balls of your feet with the heels slightly up off the ground. Your knees should be bent and you should be bending at the waist Your arms need to be held out in front, away from the knees with the glove hand pointing down at a 45 degree angles and the glove spread open with the tip of the glove halfway to the ground. Tell them to think of catching the ball out in front of them. If they draw a triangle in the dirt in front of their feet with the base of the triangle being the line that touches their toes, they will stop the ball at the point of the triangle. The other hand needs to be just above the heel of the glove with the fingers pointing up so you can trap the ball with two hands and have the throwing hand on the ball as quickly as possible. Once the body is in position and the ball is coming at you, reach out for the ball with both hands leading with the glove hand, keep your head down and follow the ball into the glove with your head and eyes. When they contact the ball the arms move back (give) a little to absorb the impact and so the ball doesn t bounce out of your glove. Next bring both hands up to the waist and get ready to start the throwing motion. F Drill 8 - Alligator - Have the girl s line up across from each other in the ready position without their gloves on. Their hand position should be glove hand on the bottom with the palm up and the throwing hands on top palm down with their hands spread apart like an alligators mouth. Have the players roll the ball back and forth and tell them to have the alligator bite the ball. Do this 10-15 times and then have them put their gloves on and do the same thing. If you have paddles insert them in the drill between the bare hand and the glove. Another drill for working on grounders and getting the ball out in front of their body F Drill 9 - Have the players form a circle in a ready position with their feet touching. Give a ball to a player and explain the object of the game is to use two hands out in front of them to scoop and roll the ball to any player in the circle. Players get points as a team for the number of times they keep the ball going give them a goal of 25 times. This can be done with 2-3 players also. Not to be reproduced without permission 6

Troubleshooting Fielding Make sure the Mechanics are right 1. Fielding -Stance - Are the feet slightly wider then the shoulders? - Does the fielder have knees bent slightly? - Is their weight on the balls of their feet? - Are infielders bent at the waist - Do infielders start from the ready position 2. Grip - Is the ball in the fingers vs. the palm - Is it held across the seams 3. Throwing - hand, arm,shoulder and body position - On throws is the throwing hand in a backward C? - Is the arm up and elbow in an L and extended away from the body? - Is the front shoulder turned in the closed position? - Is thrower standing sideways? - Do they point to their target with their glove hand? - Do they finish their throw with their hand outside their knee/ankle 4. Fielding - Recieving - Are they using two hands? - Do they have their gloves at a 45 degree angle on grounders? - Do they have their gloves in the middle of their bodies on flyballs? - Do they keep their hands in proper position on balls above and below the waist? - Do they bring the ball back to them when they catch it? 5. Head/eye position - Are they looking in at the batter? - Do they follow the ball into their gloves? Not to be reproduced without permission 7

Troubleshooting Fielding and Throwing Coaching solutions Issue Resolution Drill(s) Pushes the throw 1) Raise the elbow 1,2,3,4,5,6 2) Backward C: hand position Throws rainbow 1) Backward C hand position 1,2 2) Snaps wrist at end of throw Misses target 1) move back foot sideways towards target 6 Misses catch 1) Keep weight on balls of feet 7,8,9 2) Keep glove fingers up or down 3) Field ball in middle of body Not to be reproduced without permission 8