By: Joe Carrus

EQUIPMENT: Balls, Buckets, Bats, Gloves, Helmets

Purpose: Teach kids how to get down into the proper position to field a ground ball. While I have found it to work best for seven to eight year-olds, it can be adjusted to players of all ages.

To start, I ask all of my players to line up and put their gloves and bats down. I then kneel a few feet in front of a ball bucket that is placed about 15 feet to their left. One at a time, I ask them to run to the bucket, sit down and look me in the eyes. As they sit down, I make sure their legs are spread next to the bucket, toward the front and knees are bent. I usually have a little fun with it by asking them at this point who thinks I’m crazy and know nothing about baseball! We go through this version two times.

I then tell them to do it again with their gloves and, as they sit, the players position their gloves on the ground in front of them as if they are fielding a grounder. We do it yet again adding an actual ground ball. I keep rotating through the line with a few more grounders eventually removing the bucket.

Each time I remind them to “keep your rear low to the ground, eyes forward, glove in front.” As the season goes along, whenever a ball goes through a player’s legs, I always ask them if I need to go and get the bucket for them so they will stay low to the ground.