Here in Arlington, we’ve had a baseball blessing. George Washington University has combined forces with the county to create the GW baseball team’s home park just a 15-minute drive from home. Better yet, when the Colonials aren’t using the field, our boys get to go out and play. This not only gives all the High School teams and the players playing house ball in Senior Babe Ruth access to a big-time ballpark, but the entire field, save the pitcher’s mound, is artificial turf.
Now, I hear all you baseball purists saying, “Turf? What an abomination to baseball!” Memories abound of balls bouncing and skidding off the thin green excuse for fake grass in the Astrodome, or poor Andre Dawson handing the Cubs a blank check just to get his aching knees off the carpet in Montreal. But while it still ain’t grass, turf has come a long way in creating a reasonable baseball experience rather than something akin to playing on something between a tennis court and a trampoline.
Best of all, turf stops rainouts! I can personally attest to this as I set up a game this past summer for the Greater Washington and Northern Virginia Maccabi teams (I coached the latter) to play on the GW field at Barcroft Park. Even after a virtual hailstorm came down upon us, in 20 minutes, we were able to play. I’m delighted that after a lot of lobbying, our youth players will be getting their first turf field come fall. Even for practices, it is a huge advantage.
There is, however, one place where Turf does no favors for a ballplayer—the infield. And it may not be for the reason you expect. One thing I tell my youth players is that in some ways, baseball is harder for them then their heroes in the Majors. With 50,000 screaming fans, crowd noise is just that, noise. But with 30 or so folks watching, you can hear every individual voice loud-and-clear, be it your school buddy on the other team giving you grief, or your Mom yelling for you to stop pulling your head.
Another way is on the field. MLB fields are almost always perfectly manicured. Millions of dollars on premium soil, grass, and drainage make the days of lumpy red Georgia clay divots at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium and playing through puddles at Shea a thing of the past. The game is hard enough as it is to play even on the most perfect field, after all.
Of course, turf takes care of even the marginal issues on a natural field, like a ball hitting the seam between the dirt and grass. And so, what I’ve seen in my time watching kids play at Barcroft is that those who play there too much will often struggle once they get back on a grass field. They become a bit lazy, assuming the genuine hop instead of really looking to field the ball with soft hands and funnel it back into the middle of their body.
Funneling is one of Perry Hill’s “6F” fielding system. “Bone” as he is known is the Miami Marlins infield coach, and was the 2017 MLB defensive coach of the year. I didn’t know anything about Hill until I happened on the American Baseball Coach Association (ABCA) podcast Calls from the Clubhouse. His baseline system – Feet, Field, Funnel, Footwork, Fire, Follow – had segments of much I had taught over the years, but in a form that anyone from my 11-year-old nephew to Gold Glove winner Dee Gordon could understand, with each F being a trigger to a specific skill set.
The “Funnel” F is one that I often have to teach from scratch. Using both hands to bring the ball to the middle of your body is something that simply doesn’t come naturally for most players. Indeed, when I did an early round of infield work a couple of weeks ago with my 11u travel kids, not a single one of them was doing it. They were either over-charging the ball and had their hands way out front, or were trying to field the ball right between their legs.
Neither way prepares them the right way, as controlled aggression is the key to good fundamental defense. But even with the 6F system in hand, I still felt I needed to find a way to get my kids to understand the nuance of finding that sweet spot between hard charging and soft hands.
And so while I am always looking to learn from the baseball experts on the techniques of baseball, I still tend to borrow from the world of pure imagination when it comes to creating the right mental approach.
During last week’s practice, I showed them this picture before we hit the court (indoor practice still for us):
“Can someone tell me what this is?” I asked
Hands jabbed in the air.
“Oh, a snitch!” most responded immediately (and enthusiastically—Potter’s popularity endures).
“And why would I be showing you a snitch before we go field grounders?”
Hands fell.
They pondered, and JoJo queried, “Because they’re hard to catch?”
“Good!” I boomed. “You’re on the right track. But go a little farther. Does a snitch actually want to be caught?”
“No! It tries to get away,” replied Christian.
“Exactly,” I stressed. “Now, clearly a baseball isn’t a snitch, but it’s a lot closer than you think. For instance, is a baseball round?”
Most nodded, but not assuredly. They were starting to catch on to the fact that my obvious questions rarely have obvious answers.
“It may look round, but what about these?” I said, pointing to the raised red stitches.
“Yeah, I guess it’s only kind-of round,” replied Matt.
“Yep. And how about the field? Is it perfectly flat like, say, the basketball court we’re about to use for practice?”
“No!” Connor chimed. “It’s got grass and dirt and all kinds of bumps!”
“And holes, and rocks, and divots in the grass” continuing Connor’s thought. “Indeed, the fields you play on are actually harder than the ones the big leaguers play on, right?”
“Yeah! Some are a nightmare,” Matt said, sounding more movie-critic than ballplayer.
“So while a baseball may not be alive like a snitch, it sure can act that way. So the best way to play defense is to think of the ball as a snitch. Once it comes off the bat, assume it doesn’t want to be caught. Sometimes that means being aggressive and getting it before it takes a funny hop. Sometimes it means giving ground as it tries to whiz by you. But it always means you’ve got to focus on the ball and expect the unexpected.”
As I looked at the group, I could see the lightbulbs going off. And I think perhaps my favorite part of coaching is coming up with a way for kids to expand the way they think about the game. The mind controls the body, so those lightbulb moments seem to really stick and translate to the field.
But this is baseball, not Jeopardy, so making sure the concept translates physically is vital. And I had nary a magic snitch in sight.
But I did have one of these:
“While we’re practicing indoors,” I said, flipping the odd, yellow object in my hand, “we’re going to challenge you to expect the unexpected. Some call this a training ball. But I call it a snitchball.”
“I’ve seen those!” said Sam. “Those things go crazy!”
“Yep. And you’re going to have to work together to control the crazy if you are going to get your pull from the Bag of Crap.”
We lined them up in two lines facing each other, about 30 feet apart. Both players would hop over the cone in front of them into ready position (that’s the “Feet” F) and one would roll the snitchball to the other. As long as the ball stayed in front of them, it would count as a catch. Back and forth they would go until they reached 10 in a row.
They didn’t come close.
After frustration clearly set in, I stopped them.
“Okay, okay, take a break. Why are you having so much trouble?”
“Because it’s impossible!” Matt replied despondently. There were multiple nods in agreement.
“Because people are throwing it too hard!” Logan added.
“Ah! Thank you, Wolverine!” I interjected. “Matty, this certainly isn’t impossible, and I could make it easier by just having the coaches roll the balls to you. I know these well and how to minimize the bad hops.”
“Could you?” begged Sam.
“Nope.”
“AWWWW…yeah!” the chorus responded, correcting themselves in midstream as they belched my least favorite sound.
“I won’t do that because part of this is learning how to win is how to work together. No one is talking to each other right now. No one told Matt he was throwing too hard. No one gave Connor a pat on the back for a good funnel on a tough hop. You’ve got to figure this out for yourselves.”
Now, I’d like to tell you they were a changed group, and promptly won the game. But they were still too quiet. Matty was just having too much fun flinging. There was more complaining than cheering.
And they didn’t win.
But they did get better.
And that’s all I’m looking for as a coach.
When we finally got outside for our first practice the next week, I took a Ziploc out of the Bag of Crap, and carefully constructed a plastic replica of the golden snitch, wings and all.
“From here on in, every time we go out to play defense, every player must touch the snitch.”
There wasn’t a single, “why?” in the bunch. Every player promptly went over, tapped the plastic, and headed out to the field. Indeed, they’ve inculcated it so much that they blamed me for a tough inning because I forgot it in the car for the second game of our preseason tournament.
Baseball is such a difficult and complex sport that we coaches often get caught too caught up in building the body rather than the mind. But finding techniques that build both is the real magic that builds ballplayers.
And you don’t even need to ride a broom.
Tags: babe ruth baseball, baseball, baseball coach, baseball drills, baseball equipment, baseball instruction, baseball training, cal ripken baseball, coaching, coaching kids, golden snitch, harry potter, imagination play, little league, quiddich, sports psychology, youth baseball, youth sports
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