Drills for short hopped throws/hopping grounders

[4pointDoc]

When my son was 2 years old, he was hit it the head by an errant football which was thrown extremely hard (he was a couple yards out of my reach and I couldn't stop the ball or get to him--long story). He had a slight concussion at the time. Ever since then (now age 11), he is very wary of objects getting close to his head. I have to say, he has overcome this fear remarkably well and is the starting shortstop on his team. However, there are times when I see him pull up prematurely, ever so slightly, that has caused him to miss a few (and I mean very few) grounders that are hit his way that bounce at the last second. His problem comes more when he is taking the throw-down from the catcher to tag a stealing runner at 2nd. Our catchers are not very accurate and seem to short hop the throw in a 2ft radius around his feet. This is a difficult place for anyone to scoop a short throw, but it ends up looking like his fault b/c he flinches instead of a bad throw from C. Does anyone know of any drills or ideas that I can use to help him overcome this last bit of flinching? I know it frustrates him but I don't know what to do to help other than tell the catchers to throw the ball all the way to 2nd or make sure it hops further away so he (or the 2nd baseman) has a better shot of scooping the throw. Thanks.

[BamaYankee]

My 8 yr old son is playing 1B on a team that cannot consistantly throw the ball all the way to first. Most of his catches and catch attempts are one hoppers.

I would get a bucket of tennis balls and throw down one-hoppers, two-hoppers to his left, right and center. Get him more comfortable with the action of short ball and the feeling of scooping them up.

See if the flinching subsides and then change over to baseballs.

Good Luck.

[ralanprod]

As for the flinching issue, I can't offer too much advice.

It's a mental thing he's got to work out on his own. There isn't a drill that can make a player stop flinching. It's a natural reflex that some people can learn to control better than others. You can provide him with the opportunity to learn to control it, but other than that you are pretty powerless.

As for the throw downs on steals, the throws you are getting are pretty par for the course for this age group. With 11 year olds, a throw within 2 feet of the bag is pretty good. It may not be good enough to get the runner, but I expect my SS to come up with those, or at least knock it down.

[azmatsfan]

Buy a few t-balls. They're the same size and weight of a baseball, but aren't as hard. Throw him short hops until he's confident he can get his glove out there without flinching or turning his head.

[skipper5]

Try some drills, but be prepared to temper your expectations. Some players never get comfortable with short-hopping a throw while a spikes-up runner slides in. For others--sometimes just one or two per team-- it's the most natural thing in the world.

I was a center fielder who would run through a fence, but I don't think I would have been any great shakes at the short-hop play you're talking about.

[4pointDoc]

First of all, thanks for the input. I will try the tennis ball/t-ball idea.

As for the throw downs on steals, the throws you are getting are pretty par for the course for this age group. With 11 year olds, a throw within 2 feet of the bag is pretty good. It may not be good enough to get the runner, but I expect my SS to come up with those, or at least knock it down.

I guess I should clarify, the throws are usually within 1-2 feet of where he can reach without moving his feet. Our manager has got on him about coming off the bag to get those "close" throws and then he's just a bit too far away to tag the runner. The dirt isn't great at all the parks we play at and the angle of the ball doesn't always predict the bounce well. Some hit and bounce up while others skid on the ground. While he does knock most of them down, the coach gets after him when he doesn't field them cleanly.

Along with the drills, does anyone have any advice on how to play these balls and keep the coach happy? Should he move off the bag to field the ball cleanly or should he stay and take his chances with the bounce?

[skipper5]

He should stay back and take his chances with the bounce. That's part of the job description of a middle infielder on a catcher's throw to second.
With all the drills discussed on this site, it seems that none of the dads/coaches work for a living and that none of the kids have any interests other than baseball.