Short-Hop Ladder

Goal

Build soft hands and trust the lowest hop in baseball.

Equipment needed

• Glove
• Tennis or rubber ball
• Partner 8–10 ft away

Setup

Player in fielding stance. Partner 8–10 ft away with a tennis or rubber ball.

Instructions

1. 1Round 1: 10 slow short hops directly at the glove.
2. 2Round 2: 10 short hops to the backhand side.
3. 3Round 3: 10 short hops to the forehand side.
4. 4Round 4: 10 random — partner picks the side.
5. 5Round 5: 10 fast random hops.

Coaching cues

• See it in
• Soft hands
• Funnel to the chest

Common mistakes

• Pulling the glove back at impact instead of giving with it.
• Standing tall — short hops require a low base.

Why it works

Short hops are the hardest hop because there's no time to react. Repping them builds the trust to NOT pull the glove away — which is the source of most fielding errors.

Variations

• Bare-handed for the first 5 of each round, glove for the rest.

Make it a game

All 10 of round 5 fielded clean.

Progression

Use a real baseball instead of tennis ball — bigger hop, harder feedback.

Regression

Drop to 5 hops per round and stop after round 3.