What's going on guys? Coach Madden, YouGoProBaseball.com I'm here with Doug
Bernier. You might recognize him from Pro Baseball Insider on YouTube as well as
from TV, the Major Leagues. He was a major-league middle infielder and he had
a fielding percentage of 1000 in the major leagues so when we're talking
about fielding this is a guy you want to listen to and we're gonna talk about how
to field it backhand you got some tips for us I do yeah I have a couple things
first a lot of infielders shy away from their
back here they want to use the routine fielding position whenever they can but
do you know what being able to use your backhand and and be confident it makes
it you such a better infielder so work on the backhand I
can't stress that enough I know especially there's a ground ball that
you know when it's hit to the side I see a lot of infielders want to get around
and feel the ball on the run and then try to make a throw on the run that is a
really difficult play but when that ball can come over here and you can break
down use that backhand and make a strong accurate throw it's gonna make playing
the infield a whole lot easier so I got two tips for you that are gonna make
fielding the backhand a whole lot easier so the first one is make sure the glove
is open to the baseball now you might think that's a really easy and kind of
generic tip but I would say I work with a lot of young infielders I would say
probably about 80% of guys don't actually open their glove to the
baseball so what do I mean by that so the balls coming this way from the
camera towards me and it's along this path right a lot of times my glove is
facing this way so as you can tell my glove is facing the direction over here
I want to turn my glove so it's facing the ball a couple ways to think about it
think about taking this elbow and have it facing the ball when this happens
when I have my elbow facing the ball my glove is opened up right another way I
like to think if I take the glove off I want to feel the ball between my pointer
finger and my thumb so find this way I'm working through now I got my glove open
to the baseball so that is tip number one open that glove
to the ball number two work underneath the ball work from down to up for
whatever the reason a lot of times infielders when they're working on their
backhand they're up high and then they stab down at the ball get low the lower
your eyes can be the closer that your eyes can be on the the level of the
baseball the easier it's going to be to read the hops and you just want to be
able to work underneath the baseball so as you're approaching this ball get low
and then work up through the baseball it's gonna make fielding it a lot easier
so remember to have your elbow pointed at the ball which will result in having
the glove being more open to the ball and also work underneath the baseball
it's gonna make it a whole lot easier that's good stuff what about the play
where you can't stop but you have too much momentum going to your throwing arm
side yes and you can't stop you can't get this traditional backhand where you
got to keep going whether it be running how do you
transition or stop your energy and make that throw are you doing that jump and
throw are you are you trying to slide into it are you trying what do you what
were you trying to do okay so what I'm trying to do is when I'm not able to
stop I actually got used to throwing on the run so I need to create an angle I
don't want to be going straight across what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to
get even if it's just a small little angle almost if I'm playing shortstop
feel like I'm kind of running a little bit towards the third-base bag so I'm
just cutting the angle a little bit that at least gives me a better angle
throwing to first one I'm on the run some people like to jump throw I
personally didn't for some reason I don't know if it's my arm wasn't strong
enough to make it across the infield but when I would jump throw I didn't have a
whole lot of velocity on the throw so I would field the ball on the run and I
would just continue running and then from here I would just throw the ball
across my body that way over the first base and I was able to do it that way
but I think it was important to create some sort of angle and not just be
flat across the infield the angle could be back if needed the angle could be
shallow if needed but when I had at least a little bit of an angle going
either direction it was much easier for me to make that throw to first base
that's awesome I never heard that before but it makes a lot of sense yeah what
about a ball that stretches you out even further so now you've got a layout for
it in fact I saw a video on YouTube of you in the big leagues dive into your
back can't get up and make that throw what is that just instinctual is there
any technique in that or how do you did you work on that I actually do work on
that um I would there's times work I mean I'm not diving a whole lot in
practice or anything like that I think especially as I get older I'm trying to
you know not tear up my body but what I would do is I would get on the outfield
grass and I would start in a laid out position I'd have a ball in my glove and
I would just be laying on my stomach and then I would jump up as quick as I could
and try to make throws to first base just get used to what that is like do
can I make a throw all the way across in the air or do I have to long hop it over
to first base just get used to my field get used to my arm and what plays I can
make or maybe adjustments of things I need to make if my arm is the stronger
that's funny you say that because that's what caught my eye when I saw that video
was how quick you got up from the dive - on your feet - throwing it was like boom
boom and that's what I was amazed at mostly were you fast were you fast did
you have fast 60 um my 60 actually wasn't great I was I think my fastest 60
was a six nine so I was not like a fast guy by any means but I've always been
fairly quick you know I've been fairly quick I get to top speed I think pretty
quick I just my top speed isn't a great top but like you know I'm pretty quick
around the bases I could always run decent enough with that being said let's
talk a little bit about range yes so you obviously have good range in the infield
ranges just how much ground you can cover in the hidden fee right did you do
anything to work on that like first step quick first step or anything like that
yes I did a big thing for me during batting practice after you take your
ground balls and you get your work in I would sit back here and I wouldn't just
go in the outfield and just talk with my buddies about the movie
the night before I would sit there and get some good work in and what I would
do is I wouldn't overexert myself and run like a crazy person every single
every single ball that's put in play but I would try to read the swings of the
hitter and I would watch and I would get in a ready position and I'd watch and I
would just watch the swing and see over time if I could actually see where the
ball was gonna go before it was hit and it's funny like at first I wasn't able
to do it it took me it took me quite a bit of
time it took me like months and months but I noticed that as I watched the
hitter more and more that I could start to see where the ball was gonna go
before it was actually hit and that was huge for me to try to gain any sort of
little advantage I could to you know just to kind of kickstart my rage and to
be able to move left and right and so to me that was that was a really big thing
and it's funny because if you mess up in batting practice like I'm sitting there
and I think the ball is gonna go left but he hits it right who cares right
we're just we're trying to get better and work on things so it doesn't really
matter but that was being able to read swings being able to try to I guess just
get moving earlier was really helpful for me and I can imagine over time you
just get better it's almost like you're your psychic at where they're gonna hit
it may be and it may be something that you don't even notice yourself with
their hips or something but just paying attention to it that over time you just
get better and better at it right right and another thing you can do too is look
at the catcher know what the pitcher is trying to do what pitchy is trying to
execute you know that if he's stolen you know if he's kind of gonna try to drop
in a curveball and a right-hander is hitting that good chance that the
hitters gonna pull the ball or maybe he's trying to throw a fastball low and
away and you can expect something else so a lot of those little things go into
kind of your anticipation when it comes to range that's a great point so two
things I want to mention on that one is if you can anticipate where he's going
to hit it or pay attention to the catcher
you could even creep over so now you're taking away more of those backhands you
can now get around some of those balls yeah also if you're working on your
range and your first step and being faster then you're taking more of those
away too so the better you can get those two things the less backhands
you have to make right around right make sure you are subtle though so like if
you see that you know that your pitchers throwing a curveball you don't want to
look in and then just start moving to your right you want to be subtle with it
so you can kind of see it give it a little you know kind of give it a little
just nonchalant move to your ride a little bit and then as you're getting
set you can kind of move over a little bit if you want like that just be subtle
disguise it because you don't want to be moving you know real blatantly left and
right as the pitch is coming and also you got to know what your pitcher is
capable of if he's trying to throw a fastball low and away but every time
he's missing in and he's not really hitting any spots then you're not going
to be able to you know you might not be able to trust it quite as much because
you don't know where he's gonna throw it so it also depends on the pitchers was a
great point obviously you don't want to walk over early because you're gonna be
giving it up to the hitter the hitter might see that after a while or the
coach because coaches are really paying attention to so you gotta not only you
got to kind of hide it from the coaches as well they're sneaky I did some videos
with Fernando Cortez he was a major-league middle infielder as well
and he was saying he actually used to do that blatantly move over but on
different pitches to mess with them so if it was a maybe a lefty up and they
were throwing something off-speed he would come over this way to bait them
and then creep back over as the pitch was coming I love play mind games
it's funny there's a lot of that like as you get as you kind of like talk to
different guys there's a lot of mind games going on and it's kind of fun
baseball should be fun exactly it is and you know keep it fun like it's hard
baseball is hard and don't let anyone tell you different like baseball is
tough but enjoy it enjoy it for what it is well thank you Doug for coming on
guys if you like some of this information he's got a bunch more on pro
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thanks guys you guys