Kai Correa, assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado and creator of the fantastic #FridayFielders series on Twitter, lays down the foundations we should be teaching to young players and presents a ton of ideas for how to teach them. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. Missed Part 1? Catch it here.
In this 32-minute episode, you'll learn:
- how to decide which player should play which infield position
- whether young players should learn to play shortstop even if they don't currently look ready for it
- a better way to play catch
- how to improve hands for fielding, handling hops and transfers
- why you shouldn't start your fielding work with live ground balls
- 9 variations for dry fundamentals to keep them interesting for young players
- 3 variations for playing catch
- a three-stage progression for dry work, the three types of grounders to work them on, and the goal of this dry work
- the key principle to teach kids how to throw from different arm slots
- an easy drill to help kids learn how to throw from different arm slots
- what's wrong with the fielding cue "get your butt down" and what's a better cue
- what's wrong with the fielding cue "gator jaw" and what to teach instead
- when and how to work on specialty plays like double plays
- how to convert catch play and dry work into competitive games
- an example of how to get a lot done in a small indoor space
- Small space drills
- funnels and press-throughs
- #FridayFielders on Twitter... get great stuff like chin down at catch
- A picture of Adrian Beltre throwing off-balance. As Kai mentioned, if you print out the picture and rotate it so he's upright instead of off-balance, you can show your players how Beltre is actually still in the fundamentally correct throwing position, even though he is off-balance
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