Why I Decided to Work on MLB Position Skills
So last season, my baseball team kept getting destroyed whenever I played shortstop. Felt like every ground ball went straight past me or bounced off my glove. Made me realize I sucked at the position. Started watching MLB games all weekend, taking notes on what the pros were doing different.
First thing I noticed was their footwork. Didn’t just run straight at balls – they took these weird sideways steps like crabs. Tried copying that during practice, tripped over my own feet for two weeks straight. Nearly quit until our coach showed me how to shift weight properly.
The Actual Practice Routine
Created a stupid-simple daily drill plan:
- Glove Work: Taped a shoebox to my living room wall, threw tennis balls at it from awkward angles until my girlfriend threatened to leave me
- Footwork Drills: Marked X’s with duct tape on our shitty apartment carpet, practiced jumping between them while holding two phonebooks
- Throwing Mechanics: Stood 10 feet from my bathroom mirror, watched how my arm moved until I fixed that chicken-wing throw
Nearly wrecked my shoulder when I tried imitating those crazy Derek Jeter jump-throws too soon. Woke up the next day feeling like I got hit by a truck. That’s when I finally understood why infielders spend half their lives doing band exercises.
What Actually Made Difference
After three months of this madness:
- Started predicting where balls would go by watching batters’ hips instead of waiting for the swing
- Learned to field with my feet wide like a damn frog – way more stable
- Finally stopped double-clutching throws after 100s of reps
Last week’s game? Made a diving stop that didn’t completely embarrass me. Teammates actually clapped instead of laughing. Still got long way to go, but at least now I don’t feel like human traffic cone out there. Moral of the story – sometimes you gotta look foolish before getting good.
