7u Back handing ground balls

[$tinky]

My son and I for the first time since spring got on the field today and actually hit some infield. He seemed to be much more sharp just from growing and maturing. I hit ground balls to his non glove side and he's totally went goofy on how he's trying to backhand a ball. Its almost like he's trying to kill a roach.

Any ideas on how to get a (very tough to coach) 7yr old back on track backhanding grounders the correct way?

[clayadams]

Show him what you want him to do, then roll him grounders...

[DerekD]

Show him what you want him to do, then roll him grounders...

THIS. And roll them very slowly at first so he's almost doing it in slow motion. And then just pick up the pace.

[bryan2137]

The 1st thing I would get him to do is get comfortable stopping balls I roll with his glovehand foot. That will help him start to get that crossover step footwork down. Once he has that he should be able to just start reaching down and picking the ball in front of that foot

[tg643]

If you're going to instruct him you must know how to crossover and plant. When possible, a good fielder is planted when he gloves the ball. It may be a bit much for a seven year old.

[Ursa Major]

No point in trying to give piecemeal textual advice on a complicated subject. Best $35 you'll spend over the next 10 years of your son's career is to NOW buy the Stubbs Infielding DVD, which has been lauded by many here. It efficiently but accurately breaks down each move a player will make to catch every kind of ground ball, along with everything else a kid needs to know to play infield.

You can look at a schmaltzy promotional video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liEw4KAouzg The video clip doesn't do justice to the DVD, but it gives you a small sense of what they teach.

You can order the video here: https://secure.itinio.com/collegebas...&faq=Y&coach=Y

[tg643]

If you have NetFlix I believe there's a Ripken video on fielding. I've never seen it. I don't know if it covers crossovers.

[dominik]

If you have NetFlix I believe there's a Ripken video on fielding. I've never seen it. I don't know if it covers crossovers.

what does the crossover thing mean? the step when you throw?

[bryan2137]

what does the crossover thing mean? the step when you throw?

The crossover is when you cross your gloveside foot over your throwing side foot