Most ground balls are easy because the glove gets in front of the body. The hard ones are hit to the side where the glove has to reach across the body, turned upside down. This is the position kids fail in tryouts. Teach it now.
What you need: 10 baseballs, a glove, a fence or wall to throw against.
Setup: Kid kneels on one knee, glove out in front, palm up. You stand 15 feet away with the bucket of balls.
How to run it:
- Cue: Drop, Show, Funnel, Send. On a backhand, the Show is glove turned over.
- Show the position first. Glove turned over so the back of the glove faces up and the thumb points down. This is called the backhand. It looks weird. That’s right.
- Roll 5 slow balls to their throwing-hand side. They reach across with the backhand glove and stop the ball. No throw yet.
- Roll 5 more at faster speed. Same position.
- Now they stand up. Roll 5 from standing. They drop into the backhand position as the ball comes.
What to watch: The thumb pointing down. Most kids keep the glove right-side-up because it feels normal. The back of the glove has to face the ball.
If they’re struggling: Stay on the knee. Don’t add the standing version yet. The position is the whole lesson.
If they’ve got it: Roll harder and deeper to their throwing-hand side. They have to take two quick steps before they drop into the backhand.