READY HOP BEST PRACTICE
The ready hop consists of two major points: the hop and wrestler arms. When these two practices are combined, it facilitates the best possible reaction time to field a hit baseball.
The Hop
The hop was derived from tennis and implemented into baseball/softball by the Auburn softball team where now it is commonplace everywhere from MLB down to youth baseball. The basic idea is that a muscle in motion wants to stay in motion. When standing still or on the balls of your feet, your muscles are relaxed and it takes time for them to react and create force. During the landing of the hop, the muscles are already in action so when the player reacts, the rate of force development to move is faster.
Basic points:
Step towards the batter when the pitcher is releasing the ball. How this is done is player dependent. As the ball gets near the plate, roughly 3/4 of the way, the hop should begin.
When the ball is crossing the plate (or the batter is making contact with the ball) the player should be in the air.
When landing back on the ground the player should stay in motion, they do not want to land and be stationary. Its either react to the ball or go forward to the batter.
Wrestler Arms
In wrestling, you do not know where the opponent is going to strike, it may be up, down, left or right. By keeping your arms in a neutral middle position with your thumbs up, you can be ready to move in any direction quickly. Notice in the video below how the short stop is ready to catch the line drive. If his hands were on his knees or glove at the ground, he likley would have not caught the ball as his glove would have to travel too far.
