by Todd VanDerwerken
(Bellevue, NE)
Yes, an oven mitt!
One of the most common issues with young kids when trying to field grounders is using two hands, or more to the point NOT using two hands.
A drill to help reinforce the need to use two hands is to replace the fielder’s glove with an oven mitt. Since the oven mitt has no pocket like a normal glove, it is not as big as a glove, and the player can’t close the oven mitt like a glove; means they have to use two hands.
This drill is not meant to be done with game situation batted balls, but with the Coach rolling tennis balls or Soft core balls to minimize injury. Remember the goal here is to get the player to use two hands, while not making the kids “gun shy” of a ball coming at them.
Start with rolling the balls directly at the player at a slower than normal pace and just work on using two hands. Once this is mastered increase the speed and add in a few bouncing balls with throws to first base.
colin99
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