Harold Reynold's Tip - February 2006

Harold Reynolds’ Tip of the Month:
Take the Ball to the Wall!

The great thing about baseball is that no matter where you live – in the cold of Minnesota, or the heat of Arizona – you can still work on your game, without needing anyone else to help you out. Just play “wall ball.”

To play wall ball all you need is a glove and a ball. I used to play all the time when I was a kid. Here is how wall ball is played:

First, find an outdoor wall. Ideally, the wall should be at least 10 feet tall and five feet wide. It can be flat or have uneven parts. It can be a wall on a playground, or one side of your house, or your garage – as long as you have permission to use it.

The ball is also important. Use a tennis ball or a rubber ball of a similar size.

Once you have the ball and the wall, simply position yourself about 15-30 feet in front of the wall and begin to throw the ball off the wall. The ball will bounce back to you as if it were hit to you by a batter. You can repeat this as many times as you desire. Using an uneven wall gives the feel of bad hops, which will really challenge you.

I recommend a routine of fielding at least 100 balls off the wall each day: 25 coming straight to you; 25 that bounce off the wall and make you move to your left; 25 that make you go to your right; 25 that you have to backhand. In about 10 minutes, you’ll have fielded a total of 100 ground balls and won’t even need anybody to hit the ball to you.

As a Gold Glove infielder I made this part of my everyday routine while I was in the big leagues. It was a key to my success.

Remember, practice makes perfect.

Harold

Harold Reynolds is a former Major League All-Star and now ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst as well as the analyst for the Little League World Series. His instructional DVD series Harold Reynolds Presents Baseball is now available through Little League Baseball. To get information on how you can order, go to http://www.haroldreynolds.com .