Glencoe Baseball Association Coaches’ Manual

Lesson 3 - Catching a Baseball

(Fly Balls and Pop Ups)

BACKGROUND:

The two most fundamental aspects of catching a fly ball (or pop up) are the POSITION of the hands (the palms ALWAYS face OUT and NEVER face UP), and having “QUIET HANDS” (hands that are NOT moving when the ball arrives).  Hand positions may be the most difficult to get across since children are used to having things tossed gently to them that drop into their hands.  Fly balls will behave most like what kids are used to.  The ball will “drop” into your hands.  However, to catch fly balls consistently we MUST teach proper hand POSITION.

HAND POSITION:  The proper position of the hands is PALMS OUT toward the ball (catching and throwing hands together – we will teach catching the ball with two hands).  The “THUMBS” will be together for fly balls (the thumbs are together for ALL balls caught above the waist).  Also, we will position the mitt by the “LEFT EAR” (or “RIGHT EAR” for “lefties”) so that we may see the ball into the mitt.

QUIET HANDS: For some unknown reason, many kids feel that they have to “snap” their glove at the ball to catch it.  Just the opposite is true.  The player must keep the “MOUTH” of the glove open and the hands steady so that the glove may “SWALLOW” the ball.  The glove (a decent glove properly broken in) will actually do almost all of the work of catching the ball if the player will let it!!

TEACHING METHODS:

First: Play a game of HOT POTATO.  (Just play, with no feedback yet.)  HOT POTATO is a game of catch where the coach throws “fly balls” at a height of about 15 – 25 feet (you may adjust the height to make it easier or a little harder, but be sure to allow SUCCESS) to a player to see how many may be caught in a row without dropping one.  Some of the players may get the proper positioning of the hands right away, others may not.  Observe, evaluate and determine what areas require particular focus.

Next: To provide feedback, describe what we are looking for: hand position (palms out) with thumbs together positioned near the left ear, and quiet (steady) hands.

Next: The coach should demonstrate how to catch a fly ball (standing up or on your back), using the cues PALMS OUT, THUMBS, LEFT (RIGHT) EAR and QUIET HANDS.  Have the child in a position so that they may see you.  You should demonstrate from several angles.  To get the player comfortable with the motions, call out each cue and have the player practice the motion of catching a fly ball.  The coach may have the child call out the cues while the coach performs the proper motions.  Repeat until you are comfortable that the player has command of the cues.

Next: Play a game of HOT POTATO.  Again, some players may get the proper motions of catching right away, others may not.  You may wish to play a modified game of BOMBS AWAY where the ball is dropped by the LEFT (RIGHT) EAR.  You may try tossing soft fly balls (with IncrediBalls) to a player WITHOUT a mitt.  Observe, evaluate and provide feedback.