How to Master Backhand Short Hops: An Infield Reaction Drill for Soft Hands

Ask any infield coach which ground balls cause the most trouble, and the backhand play will be near the top of the list. The ball is moving away from your body, you often have to field it on the run, and a clean transfer has to happen in a fraction of a second. The good news: the backhand is a trainable skill, and a few minutes of focused reps each day can turn it from a liability into a strength. This guide breaks down why backhand short hops matter, the technique that makes them work, and a simple reaction drill you can run anywhere.

Why the backhand short hop matters

Infielders don't get to choose the hop they receive. On balls hit to the glove side, you frequently can't get your body fully around the ball, so the backhand becomes the only option. Combine that with a short hop — a ball that bounces just in front of you — and you have one of the hardest plays in the game.

Here's the key insight: a short hop is actually *easier* to field than the long, in-between hop, because you catch it on the way up out of the bounce when its path is most predictable. The mistake most young infielders make is backing up and trying to catch the awkward in-between hop instead of attacking the ball and taking it short. Training the backhand short hop teaches players to move toward the ball with confidence rather than retreat.

The three skills it builds

Soft hands

Soft hands means letting your glove and arm "give" as the ball arrives, absorbing it into the fingers rather than stabbing at it with a locked, straight arm. When you reach too far out in front, the arm locks out and the hands become hard — the ball pops out or rattles around. Letting the short hop travel to a relaxed, slightly bent arm and recoiling toward your body keeps the ball quiet in the glove.

A clean transfer

Fielding the ball is only half the play. The transfer — getting the ball from glove to throwing hand with a good grip — is where outs are won or lost. Funneling the ball to the middle of your body, instead of out to the side, makes the exchange short, repeatable, and quick.

Reaction and footwork

Because backhand balls come at varied speeds and angles, training them sharpens your ability to read a hop and adjust on the fly. Adding a lateral step or crossover before the catch turns a static drill into genuine reaction work that mirrors what happens in a game.

How the pros teach it

The most respected infield coaches keep coming back to two ideas: relaxed, giving hands and the feet that put you in position to use them. Darren Fenster, a USA Baseball contributor and longtime Boston Red Sox minor league coordinator, uses one of the most durable cues in the game for soft hands:

"The ball is an egg…catch it like an egg! That's what soft hands are all about." — Darren Fenster, Boston Red Sox minor league coordinator / USA Baseball (source)

That "egg" image is exactly what a short-hop drill grooves: the hands give and absorb instead of stabbing. Fenster also frames the backhand as a feet-and-hands problem, not just a glove problem, which is why a controlled, short-distance feed is the ideal teaching environment:

"Want to put a focus on the backhand? The softer pace and the shorter distance allow the infielders to concentrate of perfecting his feet and hands on what can be a very challenging play." — Darren Fenster, Boston Red Sox minor league coordinator / USA Baseball (source)

This is the same principle behind the daily "infield vitamins" routines that big-league coaches like Ron Washington run before games — short, repeatable hop work that reconnects the eyes, the glove, and the feet before live grounders ever start.

Backhand technique, step by step

• Get low, keep your eyes low. Bend the knees, flatten the back, and bring your eyes near the level of the hop so you can track the ball out of the bounce.
• Thumb under, fingers up. On the backhand, turn the glove thumb down and under the ball and let the glove fingers point toward the sky. This presents the pocket to a rising short hop.
• Attack the short hop. Move toward the ball and take it on the way up. Don't sit back and wait for the long hop.
• Give to the ball. As it hits the glove, let your hands recoil toward your body. Catch it in the fingers, not the palm.
• Funnel and go. Bring the ball to the center of your body, find a clean grip, and get into throwing position.

The drill: backhand glove-side reaction

This is a partner drill that isolates the backhand short hop and keeps the reps fast. You can run it as a daily warmup with nothing more than a bucket of balls and a flat surface.

For the complete setup, coaching cues, common mistakes, and a five-stage progression from stationary reps to live game tempo, follow the full backhand glove-side infield reaction drill. Here's the short version:

1. A feeder stands 12-15 feet in front of the fielder with a bucket of balls.
2. The feeder firmly rolls or throws a ball so it takes a short hop just in front of the fielder's backhand.
3. The fielder reaches across with thumb under the ball, catches the short hop on the way up, and gives with soft hands.
4. The fielder funnels the ball to the middle of the body, gets a four-seam grip, and shows a quick throwing position.
5. Reset and repeat in continuous rounds of 8-10 reps.

Start with predictable hops so the player can groove the feel, then mix speeds and angles to force real reactions. A softer ball — tennis ball or incrediball — lets younger players get high-rep work without beating up their hands.

Common mistakes to coach out

• Backing up to catch the in-between hop instead of attacking the short hop.
• Locking the arm out in front, which creates hard hands.
• Standing tall, which hides the hop and steals reaction time.
• Catching in the palm rather than the fingers, leading to drops.
• Rushing the transfer before the catch is secure.

How to fit it into practice

Backhand short hops make an excellent warmup because they demand focus and engage soft hands right away. Three to five crisp rounds before fielding work primes infielders for the day. In season, a couple of short sets keep the skill sharp without adding fatigue. Keep the volume reasonable — clean, confident reps beat tired, sloppy ones every time.

The bottom line

The backhand short hop looks intimidating, but it rewards players who attack the ball, stay low, and keep their hands soft. Build it into your routine, progress from predictable hops to live tempo, and you'll watch nervous backhands turn into routine outs.

Sources

• Infield Drill Progression — Darren Fenster, Little League University
• Defensive Excellence Q&A: Darren Fenster, Red Sox minor league infield coordinator — Sports Info Solutions
• 3 Infield Drills To Work On Short Hops and Footwork — MegRem Softball
• MLB Infield Drills You Need To Be Doing — Ron Washington (Northern Baseball Training)