I just finished a lesson with a middle school shortstop. He loves watching Roch Cholowsky and Bobby Witt Jr. So before we started taking ground balls, I asked him: "When you watch those guys play shortstop, do you think they're hoping the ball DOESN'T get hit to them... or do they want the ball?" He immediately said: "They want it." He started telling me about watching Bobby Witt Jr. dive all over the field trying to make plays. I said: "Exactly. Shortstop is a mindset. You have to WANT the baseball." Then we started taking ground balls. At first, he was locked in. But after a few reps, his focus started slipping. His feet weren't as good. He wasn't fielding the ball as smoothly. So I stopped. I told him: "I'm going to keep coaching you, but I'm not hitting another ground ball until you tell me you want it." So I stood there. And waited. Finally, he looked at me and said: "I WANT THE BALL." I hit him a ground ball. Smooth. Again: "I WANT THE BALL." Another ground ball. Smooth. We kept doing it. Before every rep, he had to say out loud: "I WANT THE BALL." And something changed. He became more aggressive. More focused. More confident. He wasn't waiting to see what the baseball was going to do anymore. He wanted it. And his body started playing like it. Because there's one thing I've learned from playing this game: Your body often follows the attitude you bring into the rep. If you're thinking: "Don't mess up." "Don't boot this ball." "I hope they don't hit it to me." You're already playing defense against yourself. But when your mindset becomes: "Hit it to me." Everything changes. Your focus. Your anticipation. Your confidence. Your aggressiveness. So if you're a young shortstop, here's your challenge: Before your next ground-ball session, don't just get into your ready position. Look at your coach and say: "I WANT THE BALL." Then go prove it. Because great shortstops don't hope the ball goes somewhere else. They want the opportunity to make the play. Thank you for reading. - Jermaine Curtis P.S. - If you enjoyed this, and thought it was helpful, share it. (This tells me you want more content like this)