My son is a freshman shortstop. He has played very well this year, and really has a great arm. Today he was told by his coaches that they are tired of him popping his glove before he gets his throw off. He had one play today, and threw the batter-runner out by four steps. I believe he pops his glove as a que or trigger to get his feet under him. I don't get it, he has a great arm. I see college and pro players pop their gloves too. If the infielder has time, and has a great arm, what is the problem? Is this poor technique?

Player's use it as a timing thing it help's set there feet,
and concentrate on a good throw.
The problem is it become's a habit even when they don't have the time to do it.
Are they make a routine play to close for comfort in the coaches eye.
The quicker and more smooth a player can make the throw the better.
It's all about timing, not just for the thrower, but also the receiver of that throw.
It may be more comfortable for your Son, But causes the receiver to have to hurry his Action's if you get my drift.

This is considered a bad habit and poor technique. I am sure your boy is not too old to learn something new. When a bang-bang play occurs, many youngsters who pat or pop the glove will either rush or be late. Thru good drills and constant practice, I am sure he will learn to get rid of it without patting.

I agree with the other two posts.

Patting the glove before fielding or after fielding the ball is a bad habit that should be avoided. Try to eliminate any unneccessary actions before and after fielding the ball. Some players will take a while to get used to this, but just keep taking quality reps and it should go away over time.

Every 2/10th of a second (about as fast as you can start and stop a stopwatch with your thumb)a quick hs runner will go 5 feet. How many plays are that close or closer?

No offense d8 but what point are you making? Are you supporting or refuting the popping?

I am against it. You are looking for a quick release to get the ball going. Remember a thrown ball is always faster than a runner. If you give that runner extra steps then you cut down on your time to get a quick throw over.

On the times I did play 3b this year,I did it.

It part of the routine.I have the same approach to get the ball,field it,bring it in towards the gut,pop and throw.Its a timing issue as well as it helps me square up.

if he pops and throws guys out by 5 steps on a routine play its fine, however, if this bad habit occurs during bang bang plays, thats a no no. is he doing it on every play or just the easy ones as a timing mechanism. personally, he needs to break his hands, thumbs down and get his arm out and up in proper throwing fundamentals. i would break him. as you can see some coaches see it as poor mechanics and he very likely will not be able to use his arm every time to make up for this flaw. sounds like he needs to do some basic drill work like the beanie drill either bare-handed or with glove to work on quick hands and help get the ball out of the glove quickly and the arm quickly into throwing position. your "coaches" need to do a little drill work. sounds like they like to yell more than teach.

beanie drill: stand 10 to 15 feet apart, roll ball to preferably no glove fielder in the crouched fielding position,(in juco ball we have the fielders that aren't catching the ground ball yell "sit", yes, during the game.). roll ball to him directly in front first and fielder looks ball into hands and works on getting the ball "out and up". he points beanie on top of cap so the driller or coach sees the beanie. this is a great drill in getting the throwing hand into a simultaneous action by bring the throwing hand at the same time into the glove hand. keep in sit position and stretch the fielder by rolling the ball to the right and then to the left.

Maybe the "coaches" have spent a great deal of time drilling and the player still chooses to do as he sees fit, might get you to yell too ? I'm sure the point they are trying to reinforce is that wasted movement is just that, a waste. Simpler is better, less chance of things breaking down, plus as stated earlier, each "pat" is giving the baserunner about 5 feet. Even if he has plenty of time it is best to deliver the ball as quickly as possible ie 1st drops the ball but has time to recover.