Another myth of field and ground balls that you will hear all the time shouted to young players is knock the ball down. The only time you want to knock the ball down is if there is a runner on second base and you have got to keep the ball in the infield so it does not make it to the outfield and that runner scores because he is in scoring position.
But I teach my infielders, you do not want to knock the ball down because the better you get at fielding ground balls, and the older you get, you are going to find that if the ball bounces off you, you cannot have time to pick it up and throw the guy out. Rarely in a high school games or in college games do you see guys take balls and knock them out of their chest to be able to pick them up and throw them out. It is usually only done by the second baseman because he has time to make that short throw.
But third and short, they need to pick the ball and they need to pick the ball without having it get away from them. A good drill for this is you teach guys when you are hitting ground balls, is to put their hand either in their pocket or on their thigh. You will be surprised. It seems rather simple but you will be surprised because what infielders do is they use this as a crutch. They feel like they can get in front of the ball and some coaches teach the alligator, this or some coaches teach here and I do not think it matters one or the other but you will find that when you make the infielder put their hand on their thigh, it makes them much more aware of fielding the ball cleanly and fielding every grounder out in front and picking the ball with their glove so it is a great thrill when you are hitting ground balls and put the offhand in the pocket and make them come up and field ground balls and picking it with just their glove.
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