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Step 1
Keep your eye on the ball throughout the play. If you look away for even a second, you can lose track of how the ball is spinning or in which direction it is traveling. This may cause the baseball to skip off of your glove or foot.
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Step 2
Stay in your defensive stance during the play as long as you possibly can. To properly field a ground ball, you must get in front of it. Keeping your body squared towards the ball with your feet at shoulder width keeps most of your body in the way of the ground ball. This way, if you don't field it cleanly, you can keep the baseball from rolling behind you.
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Step 3
Move in the direction of the ground ball while staying in your defensive stance. If you ever watch an infielder, you'll see that he glides sideways to make the play. You should do so in the same way as a defender in basketball moves side to side. Moving this way makes getting low to the ground much easier. You should only move forward towards the grounder if the ball is moving slowly. If you must run towards the ball, get into the path of the ball before it gets to you.
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Step 4
Begin to bend towards the ground as you get closer to it. You should bend your knees and your back so that your glove can make contact with the ground.
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Step 5
Open your glove as wide as possible. Doing this increases the chances that the baseball will cradle itself into the palm of your glove.
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Step 6
Place the fingers of your glove on the ground as the ball comes to you. The adage “glove to the ground” is not just a saying. When your glove is making contact with the ground, the ball cannot go underneath it.
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Step 7
Position your other hand over the top of your glove. This serves two purposes. First, you can place your open hand over the baseball as it enters your glove, ensuring that you don't lose control of the ball. Second, this is how you transfer the baseball from your glove to your hand.
