Ready Position in Baseball

Baseball is a game full of thrill and fun experiences, and many things make this game successful, including skills, strategy, and timing. However, there’s another fundamental aspect known as the Ready Position in baseball that plays a key role in a player’s ability to react instantly.

If you’ve watched the matches of MLB and other leagues, You’d be familiar with the term ready position, but if you’re not, there’s no need to worry. Because here in this article, we’ll provide all the necessary information about the ready position. 

While watching the matches, have you ever wondered how a fielder reacts in just seconds when the ball is hit over miles? The answer to this question is that the ready position serves as a basic foundation of fielding. It’s a stance that fielders adopt in order to maximize their balance, agility, and readiness to make instant and quick moves on the field.

The ready position held so much importance in baseball. But what does baseball ready mean? This is a stance or balanced posture that a fielder takes to get ready before the delivery of the pitch. This position enables players to focus more on the game and react to situations instantly.

While in ready position, the fielder is able to react in second when the ball is hit on their side. This posture is done by taking an athletic stance with your knees bent, pushing your hips back, and making sure that your shoulders are over your toes.

However, no ready position can be suitable for all positions. Different positions like infielder, outfielder, and catcher have different techniques for proper stance and postures. The ready position provides the standard for agility and efficiency, whether it’s the infielder awaiting a hit from the ground or an outfielder adhering to a soaring fly ball.

There’re different types of athletic position techniques for different field positions. The players are required to take the ready stance before the pitcher throws a ball towards the striker.

These positions are also known as defensive positions, and every position is slightly different from the others based on the position and distance of fielders from bases. So, here we’ll take a closer look at the three different ready positions:

So let’s now talk about the ready position for an infielder. If you’re a corner, you should always be in an athletic stance with the weight on the inside balls of your feet. Keep your left foot slightly above your right in a staggered position, and make sure that your glove is touching the ground.  

Then bend your knees as much as you can while keeping your backside down with your elbows bent. This is your ready position for corner infielders which is very important. When the ball is being pitched, stay in this ready position.

The ready position for a middle infielder is slightly different; you must be athletic and balanced. Make sure that your weight is on the inside balls of your feet, your glove is open, you’re bending at your knees, and your other hand is above your glove.  

You don’t have to go all the way to the ground because, as a middle infielder, you’ll have more time to react as opposed to the corners.

A catcher stance is basic for everything the catcher does. We’re here to help you with a good catcher position.

Always remember that catching stances will make you stable but also allow you to move when you need to. if you want to move to another location, all you need is simply set up and move your foot toward the desired pitch locations.

This’ll put you in the proper catching position, and remember catching stance will get you in the definite, proper position for stability and allow you to move.

Playing the outfield is very important to make sure that you’re prepared for every pitch. When discussing pre-pitch preparation as an outfielder, we break it down into three basic fundamentals. First, how many outs there’re, where the runners are, and who our cut-offs are.

If you can take care of those three responsibilities prior to the pitch, you’ll be in a good position for success as an outfielder. We’re here to help you with a good outfield position. As we get into the ready position, we want you to take a creeping step.

The ready position has special importance in baseball for many reasons. Every fielder has a stance and posture that they need to take before the ball is pitched. Here’re some reasons that you need to know why it’s important:

In a ready position, players adjust their bodies in an athletic and balanced stance which allows them to react to pitches instantly by moving in the direction and playing effectively.

Baseball is all about making quick decisions on the field, and ready position helps players to make split-second decisions when the ball is hit, which can make a huge impact on the outcome of a game.

The ready position is also important for base running because it helps players to be prepared for the upcoming situation. For example, the players can read the pitcher for the opportunity of a stolen base or jump for a fly ball by being in a ready position that’ll keep them balanced and maximize their agility and speed.

A good ready position can help players to have a mental focus in the game. With a proper posture and stance, players can enter a state of concentration, which allows them to make quick and smart moves on the field.

The balanced posture also provides the benefit of reducing the potential risk of straining your muscle and joint. A balanced posture also promotes proper body mechanics, which helps players to protect from injuries.

The ready position in baseball isn’t just a simple exercise posture but a fundamental part of the game. Every player needs to master the skill of ready position because it’ll help them improve their fielding skills like quick reactions, catching the balls, ground fielding, and others.

However, the key point of ready position is to have a balanced posture with your knees fixed, your hands positioned comfortably, evenly distribute your weight and focus your eyes on the action. With this balanced poster, players’ defensive force abilities will improve, and they can contribute to team success.