Infield Defense: The Importance of The Prep Step and Body Position Set Ups

Infield defense is like many other topics in the baseball coaching community, hotly debated. With this in mind, there are certain fundamentals that are helpful for teaching infield defense. In today's post I will go over the prep step and proper body positions to field a ground ball properly no matter the level the player is player at. 

Prep Step:

The prep step is arguably the most important aspect of making a play in the infield. This phase of infield defense puts the infielder in the position possible to make consistent plays. There are several ways for the player to be in the proper position to make a play to the infielder's left, right, front, or back. When going into the prep step the infielder has several options. First, he could take a left step, right step, and present the glove. He can also take a right step, left step, and present the glove. Lastly the infielder could take a hop and get in the same position instead of taking steps. The end result should have the infielder on the balls of his feet, his feet shoulder width apart, hips hinged, body pointed towards home plate, and the glove open either presented at the batter or in the thumbs up position. The thumbs up position is prefered because it easily allows the infielder to field the ball to the middle of his body, forehand side, or backhand side.  Allow your infielders to try these fundamentals out to find out what works best for them. 

Fielding the Ground Ball

No matter if the infielder is fielding a forehand, backhand, or ball to his middle there are positions that the infielder needs to be in. When fielding all ground balls the infielder must see the ball into the glove. The only way to see the ball into the glove is to have your eyes behind the glove. In other words, the infielder must have the glove out front to see the ball being caught. When catching the ground ball the infielder must have his hips hinged, hands out, chin down, knees bent, and back flat. The infielder can either push through or funnel the ball into the belly button to get a four seam grip. A push through is when the infielder catches the ball with the glove and moves the glove straight forward. This technique is typically used for forehand or back hand plays. The funnel technique is when the fielder has his throwing hand on the heel of the glove and the infielder catches the ball with the glove and the hand closing down on the ball. The infielder traps the ball with both hands and brings it up to the middle of his body. This technique is used mostly when the ball is hit to the middle of the body of the infielder. With that being said, the infielder can use the funnel technique on balls to the middle of the body, forehand side, or backhand side. Again, allow your infielders to try out these fundamentals to find out what works best for them. 

Getting in Rhythm

Head Coach of the Northwestern Wildcats Spencer Allen has a timing drill for his infielders to use. The infielders have their glove hand side foot pointed upward with the toes pointed up and the heel on the ground. When the infielder catches the ball, the infielder will plant his foot in the ground. This allows the infielder to get in rhythm with his body to  get a four seam grip on the ball and make a strong throw to his target. He allows his infielders to use this strategy in games as long as it provides the infielder rhythm and consistent plays made.

 

Lastly, the infielder must understand the cadence of the pitcher on the mound. The infielder will need to find the proper timing of when to get in his ready position depending on the pitcher's pitching motion. The worst thing an infielder can do is to have dead feet when a ball is hit at them. It is better for the infielder to be late on his timing instead of super early. If the infielder is late, at least he won't have dead feet. To find the proper cadence of the pitcher on the mound, the infielder needs to work on his ready step when not taking reps during the pitcher's warmup pitches on the mound. This prepares the infielder and allows him to get his head into the game in between throws in the warmup phase of each inning. 

To sum all of this up the key to helping all of your infielders become their own best coach is to give them the freedom to try out different strategies. When you allow your players options they will be find what works best for them. This also will build their baseball IQ ,while also not feeling pressured to a one size fits some cookie-cutter system. The best systems in the world provide the athletes the freedom to explore and become their own best coach.