TAKE YOUR DEFENSIVE SKILLS TO A NEW LEVEL
Boy’s and Girl’s, Mom’s and Dad’s, step right up, step right up! You are about to learn a defensive tip that will take your child’s defensive skills to a whole new level! There are no expensive training aids to purchase, and this tip will bring you immediate results.
Who doesn’t like getting dirty diving for baseballs and making heroic diving catches? The defensive tip I am about to share with you won’t take any of that away from you, but you will find you won’t have to as often. By applying this defensive tip to your game, you will vastly increase your defensive coverage area, AND reaction time to the ball.
I have worked with many youth ball players over the years, and find this player tip in particular, often being overlooked by coaches.
It is as easy as “training” a player’s eye to track the ball from the very point it leaves the bat, OR from the point the ball leaves the hand. Most youth player’s that come to me have their eyes trained to pick up the ball right around the Pitcher’s Mound. The difference between tracking the ball from the mound, opposed to from the bat, is approximately a 1.0 – 1.25 second difference. That is a significant amount of time that a defensive player is doing nothing, but giving that time to the base runner(s).
To get that time back to your favor, you MUST have your eyes trained to see where the ball is leaving the bat. From that moment, you will be able to quickly gauge the route and speed of the ball, and with quick reflexes, give yourself the time to get yourself squared up to the ball.
The same is true for when a ball is thrown to us. If we train or eyes to pick up the ball from the point of release, we then give ourselves more time to get in position to receive the throw, as well as more time to read and react to errant ones too!
How to train the players eyes to track the ball from the Bat
TIP #1
It may sound odd, but toss up the ball in one hand and catch it, while asking your ball player(s) to glue his/her eyes to the ball. Continue to toss the ball up and catch it in your hand three times. Then, on the fourth toss hit the ball with the bat. You should see your ball player now react instantaneously to the ball. If not, repeat by tossing up the ball three more times, then swing on the fourth.
TIP #2
Without actually releasing the ball, simulate a throw to the players right side, then to the left. As you motion to either side, the player should be reacting to where you are positioning your hand. When you feel their reactions are in time with your hand movement, throw the ball to them. To do so, step back about 25′ from the player(s) and throw the ball about 5′ to either side of the player(s). The player(s) should be able to square up to the ball when receiving it, without any difficulty.
If they are tracking the ball the release point well from your hand, try hitting the grounders with a bat. As the player(s) feel more comfortable, take your position at Home Plate. From there, player(s) will take their position(s) to field the grounders with increased ball speed, and range, from side-to-side. DO NOT DISCOURAGE THE PLAYER. Go back to Tip #1 to train the player’s eye and reaction to the ball.
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