Above The Shoulders

Infielders…Are you tired of making routine errors? Here’s why 👇

Stop trying to field EVERYTHING with two hands. It might feel “safe,” but it’s actually killing your range and slowing down your first step.

When you train to field with ONE hand, everything changes:

✅ Your hands get loose and quick
✅ Your actions become more athletic
✅ Your range opens up on balls to both sides
✅ You react instead of “set up” for every ball
✅ Your transfer speeds up

Two-hand fielding teaches your body to slow down and square up to every ball but the game doesn’t always give you that time. One-hand fielding trains your body to adjust, adapt, and attack the ball with confidence.

If you want to cut down errors and expand your range, ditch the two-hand habit and start training like an athlete, not a robot.

Parents will drop thousands of dollars a season on travel ball tournament fees, hotels, gas, uniforms, the works. And exposure matters, to an extent, during the right season. Getting your kid in front of scouts and coaches at the right time has its place.

But let’s be honest about what that actually is: it’s a bill, not an investment. Travel ball doesn’t develop your kid’s skills. It showcases them. There’s a difference.

Development happens in the reps. It happens in the lessons. It happens when a coach breaks down your kid’s arm action, their footwork, their fielding mechanics and builds something better.

So when that same coach charges $100-$125 for a lesson, that shouldn’t be the thing you balk at. That’s the actual investment. That’s where the return is. That’s what turns a roster spot into a starting spot.

You can’t skip the development and expect the exposure to carry your kid. Stop paying for the stage and skipping the training that gets them ready for it.

Infielders you need to be aggressive you can’t play scared. You need to attack the baseball, pick the hop you want to field. If you make an error on being aggressive a coach should never be mad about you. Being aggressive allows you to be a better decision maker. Even when playing infield when it’s defense, we need to be on the offensive. We have to hunt the baseball don’t let the baseball hunt you!

Hank Aaron Invitational. Grateful for weeks like this. There’s nothing better than coaching this game helping players get better, the conversations, just being around it. Truly Blessed.

Every infielder has stared at their glove after an error, wondering how a routine play got away from them.

Usually it’s not one thing. It’s two.

Rhythm and timing. Feet and glove not in sync with the each other, arriving at the ball early or late instead of on time.

And watching the ball into the glove. Eyes coming up too soon, head pulling out to see where the throw’s going before the ball has actually settled into leather.

Either one on its own will cause an error. Both together, and it’s almost guaranteed.

Slow down, get your feet under you, and keep your eyes on the ball until it’s in your glove, not before.

Stop doing so many cone drills.

I get it, they look good on camera. But cones don’t force real reaction time. They train your feet to hit the same spot every rep instead of training the rhythm and timing that actually shows up on a live ground ball.

Real infield play is about reading the hop and creating angles based on the way the ball is actually hit.

To play infield at a high level, all infielders need a great internal clock. The game only gets harder and faster the older you get. The key for infielders is the ability to not get sped up. Play under control.

Having a good internal clock depends on how hard the ball is hit, the speed of the runner, the situation of the game, and who’s on the mound (do you need to get the easiest out so they don’t panic with runners on)

Yes, the average runner might run a 4.2, but that’s just the floor when it comes to developing an internal clock. I like teaching 4 seconds. If infielders learn to play at high speed under control in practice, it makes the game easier.

I love this reel from ONLYINFIELDERS that shows different ground balls hit and how this dictates how much time we have as infielders.

Every infielder has to check off these three boxes

✅Rhythm & Timing: this is what lets you field the ball smoothly instead of standing flat-footed waiting for it. Dance with the ball

✅Adjustability: the difference between a good infielder and a great one. The ability to adjust to bad hops, playing aggressive. Playing on any surface!

✅Clean arm action:fielding the ball doesn’t mean anything if Tupi can’t throw consistently A repeatable arm action is what turns a good play into a routine out, every time.