Reading Hops: The Anatomy Of A Ground Ball

How to "read" or "judge" the routine ground ball in baseball.

[@_shl_6103]

When in doubt, look for that short hop. Right on point 💯

[@ipfreely7918]

When in doubt be aggressive....come get the ball.

[@marcuscastillo514]

Dansby Swanson is one of the best at attacking the ball and getting the hop he can handle.

[@Kyler-17Him]

Coach RIZZ 🔥🔥🔥

[@Mitten4371]

Yea I pitched and played firstbase from little league to highschool and played travel baseball for coaches that played pro or college. But your right you have to read the hops and move your feet but some of them are easier said than done. Because I've had times where the ball was hit so hard that it hits the lip of the grass and bounces over me. But what your taught is to be on your toes before the ball hits and what we would call the creep. Because your moving toward the plate as the pitcher releases the ball but as you are fielding the ball to get your glove down all the way to ground and get in front of the ball and let it play off of your chest. Ron Washington who is the third base coach for the Atlanta Braves also is in charge of the infielder's has some really good infield drills that I would check out for all you young infielders out there

[@eliteyouthbaseball2885]

You are absolutely correct, sometimes there isn’t much the player can do to find a hop, especially at first and third base. And funny that you mention Ron Washington, my college coach played for him in the minors for a while and often told us he was the best infield guy in the game!

[@Mitten4371]

@@eliteyouthbaseball2885 Yea if there is any young players who play the infield and your goal is to get better then I strongly suggest that you look up Ron Washington's infield drills

[@highproof2735]

Fantastic video, will be applying to my son since he struggles with grounders at 3rd base

[@litness2637]

Logically correct. Putting in practise, different story

[@eliteyouthbaseball2885]

Not nearly as difficult as it might first appear. Like anything, it takes lots of reps while doing the proper drills, but most of our infielders start doing a pretty good job of "finding the hop" around 12u-13u. Considering I wasn't taught this until college, I'd say they're ahead of the game! lol Thanks for the comment

[@El-Tibu619ron]

The lower you get, meaning eye level, the better you read the hop. That’s the solution, hot roller, hot shot, chopping shot. If you can get low enough, you will have a better chance to identify the type of approach.😊

[@xxproeditingmagexx7593]

I really appreciate your insight on this topic. Do you think in the future you could make a video on how to “make” better hops with good footwork and how to create a good prepitch to get you ready for fielding? If you can, it would be greatly appreciated since good info from former d1 athletes are hard to come by.

[@chipfeliz2166]

i can give you want tip for corner infielders, if its s tough hop… step back with your left feet to create more space to grab de ball at a good spot. regards a dutch shortstop

[@unsfe]

If bros name is rizz then we got a good vid

[@mazc4ra]

“Coach Rizz” 💀

[@jellyfam9671]

It helped !!⚾️💙⚾️❤️

[@619sandiego8]

Great video

[@chbrown]

I've always felt that the short hop is the worst moment to catch a ball, because of the terrain imperfections, a ball can change trajectory, speed, angle... and you're kind of hoping that nothing will change with no room for adjustments. It's counter-intuitive to me, even if I may be wrong. I always feel like every time I'm trying to catch a short hop I'm kind of praying that nothing changes and the ball will end up in my glove.

[@redshirt1917]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@carlosfigueroa960]

I was waiting for an example of a good ground out

[@eliteyouthbaseball2885]

Thanks for the feedback. I am working on more fielding videos and will make sure to include good examples in them as well.

[@lukasarmiento4426]

Could u do first base tips

[@eliteyouthbaseball2885]

Anything for my mom! lol keep an eye out, I’m working on videos for different positions

[@jorgep1093]

Fantastic video, thank you

[@Pepe-recha]

Can i field a ground ball on the way up 🆙️⬆️ if i turn the glove upside-down? 🤔

[@eliteyouthbaseball2885]

You can, but I wouldn’t get in the habit of fielding ground balls in other way than with the fingers of the glove down.

[@waffledog7292]

0:51 to be fair that was trea turner and you litterally have to rush everything with him

[@Aoxy.Elliottツ]

ty

[@ZzWalkerso]

How I know how to move my feet ?

[@zebman9228]

Come on, with hot grounders that have big long hops there is no way you can move up10 feet or back 6 to 8 feet in a half a second to get a down hop. You are lucky to be tracking the ball with your eyes accurately. This method would work for the slower grounders that are already easy in the first place. What do you think those pros that missed the grounders in the video would say if you suggested they should have moved up 6 - 10 feet in the blink of an eye to get a down hop instead. Might be some salty language coming back. I really think most great infielders move their feet very well and have fantastic hand reaction and coordination from hours of practice and natural skill.

[@eliteyouthbaseball2885]

As a former division 1 infielder, and college middle infield coach, I can assure you that “reading hops” is absolutely a fundamental of high level infield play. In fact, the best thing I could put into a potential infielders report when scouting possible recruits was, “great feet”. Great feet = reading hops and fielding the correct one whenever possible. I will take an infielder with great feet over great hands any day. A player who has great feet will eliminate the need for great hands on 9 out of 10 ground balls because his feet will put him into position to field the easy hops. Is this achievable on every ground ball in every situation? No, you are correct, it absolutely is not. Is this a fundamental skill set that all higher level programs work on, is learnable with the correct drills, and will greatly improve the fielding percentage of players who work at it? Absolutely. Whether you choose to believe, use, or incorporate this information into your game, is completely up to you. Either way, I wish you the best, and thanks for the comment. Coach Rizz

[@gporr7004]

All of this goes out the window when playing on less than adequate fields. Ground ball hops and bounces are unpredictable to choose a hop

[@SuperSuperdude88]

bo bichette is one of the WORST short stops alive. back to back 30 plus ERROR seaons!!!! what a joke!!!

[@ryantakach4559]

Glove hand foot needs to lead the progression. The easiest way to get down is to have the glove hand foot in front to begin with. Even feet in ready position spell disaster.

[@johngarcia312]

Wow keep the good work up

[@youngceez7144]

is it okay to field with one hand if we wanna get the short hop

[@eliteyouthbaseball2885]

Absolutely, in the right circumstances of course. I’d much rather field the easy hop, even if that means I get into a less than ideal fielding position, than I would get into a perfect fielding position and try and handle a tough, in between hop. I call these “bailout techniques”, where the infielder intentionally sacrifices form at the last second to attack the easy hop.

[@johngiovanni6045]

​@@eliteyouthbaseball2885 bailouts also like last moment drop step. Perhaps more applicable on the corners when there is less time to move the feet optimally

[@ipfreely7918]

Routine play it’s all about creating your own hop,YOU field routine ground balls with your feet not your hands...think about that one.........🤔

[@chrislewis5069]

It's so tough with how fast guys are. I feel like older generations had more time to perfect their skills because there were slower guys and now they are all very fast

[@dylansaillant2161]

I did

[@marcster33]

lol just do some training in the Philippines. Yall ain't gonna get no more errors on pristine fields yall got.

[@eliteyouthbaseball2885]

You ain't kidding! lol I grew up playing on gravel (at least that's how I remember it), and now my team primarily plays on turf.

[@jxhnnyboi_yt1110]

bros name is just coach rizz😭

[@robertB2427]

This video had potential and then I heard the narrator giving a few "umm" and "uhh" and essentially stroked out on the message he was trying to give. What was this video about again?

[@danacoleman4007]

your mom

[@MichaelLoves2024]

You kind of cherry picked bad hops and hard hit grounders to make a point. Ironically it seems like those plays need great hands instead of good footwork due to time given to react.

[@TexasTough1836]

Excellent. Thank you.