THE ART OF FIELDING

ENSURING ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCES

INTRODUCTION: THE ART OF FIELDING

These camps and clinics were designed to help players better understand proper technique and why it is important. Once a player has proper technique his efficiency level will be much better and will allow him to make plays he has never been able to do in the past.

THE FIVE TOOLS OF BASEBALL (In no particular order)
1. SPEED
2. ARM STRENGTH
3. HITTING FOR AVERAGE
4. HITTING FOR POWER
5. FIELDING

Scouts will often say a player has "good hands or good feet." In reality, good hands, good feet and good fielding position is just part of it. The fact is a player must possess all of these factors and also understand "economy of motion" which will allow all these components to work together and make even the most difficult plays look very simple. Middle infielders, catchers, and outfielders must have the defensive skills sets required to take away base hits, know how to "read" a hitter, and know how to react and position themselves for the best chance for success.

If the average player runs a seven second 60, that equates to approximately 25 feet per second. This is where “Economy of motion” comes into play.

Economy of motion is when you are efficient with movement when doing something. In other words, removing any wasted movement not needed to do the task at hand. A skilled player with proper technique has better economy of motion than an un-skilled player with wasted movement. Thus, allowing the skilled player to make more plays than an un-skilled player regardless of his or hers natural athletic ability.

THE SIX TECHNIQUES OF BASEBALL (In no particular order)
1. REACTION AND ANTICIPATION
2. APPROACH AND ANGLES TO THE BALL
3. GLOVE WORK
4. TRANSFERS
5. ARM ACTION
6. FOOTWORK

If you break fielding down into several small separate techniques, you will better be able to understand how and where to increase your economy of motion. Once that is achieved you will start becoming more efficient and increase the range in which you can actually make a play. Giving you more time to make plays so you never panic or feel rushed, which will reduce throwing and fielding errors. If you can save 1-3 tenths of a second on just 4 of the 6 things listed above than you will be throwing guys out by 14’- 21’ instead of making every play very close. We are not reinventing the wheel here, just making players more efficient through “Economy of Motion”.

If you want to be an Infielder at the next level you will need to be a skilled player. If everyone can catch and everyone can throw than it all boils down to technique. A skilled infielder is very easily spotted, it’s a visual thing, you can see it, starting from the ground up and ending with his or hers delivery of the ball, it is the “Art of Fielding”. A player that has had Infield training and is constantly working on a 1/10 of a second, and all of their Glove & Footwork techniques are done properly and effortlessly they will clearly stand out above those who have not. By learning a solid defensive skill set you will be given many more chances to prove that you possess a few other of the 5 tools in baseball as well.

Heb teaches this philosophy for one reason and that's to help youth players reach there full potential on and off the field. "I personally guarantee that this will be the best money you will ever spend on baseball training."