Baseball Fielding Tips - Hey Get A Grip, Will You?
Posted: Thursday, February 11, 2010
by Larry Cicchiello
Larwenty Online Enterprises Inc
I know, I know. It's something that doesn't seem that important. Until an errant throw sails by an infielder late in a game and the go ahead run scores. Baseball fielding tips must include gripping the baseball properly before making your throw.
Whenever possible, try to grip the ball with four seams before throwing the ball to one of your teammates. It's one of the most important baseball fielding tips that unfortunately, very few focus on. You want the closed part of the horseshoe formed by the seams on the baseball to be either facing inside toward you or outside and away from you. In other words, your index finger is on two seams and your middle finger is on two seams and thus the name four-seam. My preference is having the horseshoe facing inside strictly because it feels better to me in my hand but this is strictly your call. The objective is to simply create a perfect backspin on the throw. It's not that difficult at all.
It is a little difficult to get your 4-seam grip on the bare-handed play on a very slow roller. As you are bringing the ball up with your bare hand, the tricky part is that you only a fraction of a second to move the ball in your hand and find your 4-seam grip. Resist the temptation to simply throw the ball before getting the 4-seam grip. This is definitely something that requires practice, but all serious fielders make it their business to learn it. And all serious coaches should include this in their baseball coaching drills. On this play, you don't want to have the ball sail and either go into the runner or have any extra movement to cause your throw to not be handled cleanly by your first baseman. The base runner may very well end up on second base because of the improperly thrown ball when he should have been a fairly easy out.
Some professional infielders actually practice getting their 4-seam grip when removing the ball from their glove when they are sitting in the dugout. Maybe that's one of the reasons they are professional infielders and it shows you how important they feel getting the 4-seam grip is.
Getting the 4-seam grip on the baseball before throwing it is one of the more important baseball fielding tips. It requires some practice but I assure you that you will be able to execute it properly after some repetition. All smart coaches should include this fundamental in their baseball coaching tips. It's one of those so called "little things" that can have major impact on the outcome of a baseball game.
If you have any doubt about its importance, just remember that all the great infielders use the 4-seam grip when throwing the baseball. On that point alone, I rest my case!
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