What is “glove curl” or “glove roll”?
I see many middle schoolers and elementary schoolers approach a ground ball with their glove close to their chest and the palm facing up or toward their chest as well.
There are 2 problems with this…
- The player develops a habit of “stabbing” at the ball at the last second, which in turn gives the ball a better chance to scoot under the glove.
- If the player does get the glove to the ground in time, most likely the fingers of the glove are turned up a bit and the ball has a tendency to bounce off the tips of the leather fingers.
It’s exceedingly important to get the glove out early and “fork” the ground with the fingertips of the glove to give the ball the best chance to enter the glove cleanly.
In other words, “keep the palm of the glove facing the ball”.
Stay on plane…
About CoachK
It sounds like the parents in your team need to do some work. Each one needs at least a ball and a glove for practices. Plus they have to talk to the children at home about the basic concepts of the game and practice catching and throwing in the backyard or at the park at least a few times before the season starts.My son has finished this T-Ball season here in California (it started back in February) and it was kind of a challenge, after all he was the only autistic kid in a regular team of kids who were REALLY good (because they had been practicing with their parents since they were little). But even my son showed a lot of progress and learned (more than he cared to) about the game.