outfield ground balls

[iMlearning]

Is the proper technique when fielding a hard grounder in the outfield to go to the side on one knee to block the ball? Daughter got her first chance to play on her new team and the first ball hit was a hard line drive past the 3rd base and then took a couple bounces and went right over her glove. I was surprised it happened and I know she was nervous, but she was not happy at all to say the least as it ended up in a triple. She fortunately got up to bat and hit one over the head of the left fielder for a stand up triple but the coach told her if she would have been watching him instead of the ball, it would have been a home run . First game at the 14u A level and the lessons are being learned fast. Hopefully the nerves will calm down and she'll get more field time, as she got about 6 innings of play in 4 games. At least she had a couple of the best hits. Tough going from star of the team to low man on the totem poll!

 

[HornetsCoach]

Depends on field condition and runners

If the rough field condition predict wild bounces play to block it, else play it like an infielder.

Also consider consequences if ball gets by. Basesloaded = three runs. Nobody on cf runner kept on first vs. runner in scoring position.

 

[iMlearning]

Fortunately no one was on and they won by a landslide.

 

[Sweet Lou]

When I played BB OF I used 3 techniques depending on the game situation, runners and what was most important.

1 - down on knee, ball in front if missed should hit hit you in the chest and not go by you. use this when it is unlikley any runner will advance unless the ball gets by you and it is really improtant not to let the ball get by you.

2 - field like an infielder would, feet apart, knees bent, butt down, hands in front. use this most times

3 - charge hard, field ball on glove side, come up into crop hop throwing to gun out runner. use when trying for PO on any of 9-3, 9-5, 9-2, 8-2, 7-2. Take a lot of reps at this or you look kind of dumb running past the ball and turning around to go get it.

 

[Steve Huff]

When I played BB OF I used 3 techniques depending on the game situation, runners and what was most important.

1 - down on knee, ball in front if missed should hit hit you in the chest and not go by you. use this when it is unlikley any runner will advance unless the ball gets by you and it is really improtant not to let the ball get by you.

2 - field like an infielder would, feet apart, knees bent, butt down, hands in front. use this most times

3 - charge hard, field ball on glove side, come up into crop hop throwing to gun out runner. use when trying for PO on any of 9-3, 9-5, 9-2, 8-2, 7-2. Take a lot of reps at this or you look kind of dumb running past the ball and turning around to go get it.

When all is said, and it is said right, there is nothing to add!

(Are you sure he knows what 9-2, etc. means, as in RF to Catcher?)

 

[WinThemAll]

When I played BB OF I used 3 techniques depending on the game situation, runners and what was most important.

1 - down on knee, ball in front if missed should hit hit you in the chest and not go by you. use this when it is unlikley any runner will advance unless the ball gets by you and it is really improtant not to let the ball get by you.

2 - field like an infielder would, feet apart, knees bent, butt down, hands in front. use this most times

3 - charge hard, field ball on glove side, come up into crop hop throwing to gun out runner. use when trying for PO on any of 9-3, 9-5, 9-2, 8-2, 7-2. Take a lot of reps at this or you look kind of dumb running past the ball and turning around to go get it.

Also on No. 3 need to make sure the outfield grass is not like a plinko field when trying this method.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Was she given a chance to check the field/grass conditions? Was she hit any ground balls, in the grass prior to going in? Tell her that experienced OFers know the lay of the land. They have looked at the lip (where the dirt stops and grass begins) and they have checked to see how balls come off the fence. She might have noticed that the ball would be bouncing, if she had known what to expect. You say that the girl got a triple. So, was it a hit? Or 2 base error?

 

[Sweet Lou]

The down on the knee looks good in the major leagues (on nice grass), but I don't think it really works on bad fields where it hurts your mobility to get in the turned leg position.

Having played on quite a few horrible fields in my day I disagree. If you can't stop the ball by getting in front of it and down on a knee, you probably aren't going to be successfull trying to stab a bad hop standing up.

I would field like an infielder and make sure the other fielders are high-tailing it over for back up (which they don't often do; this is a major weakness of girls softball today). The distance for backing up others grows exponentially at 14u, but if teen baseball players can do it (seen it) then softball players need to for sure!

I agree that not enough girls backup other outfielders these days.

It also may have nothing to do with form. The first miss by an infielder can impact the "eye" of the outfielder, so that really just has to be done enough to learn it. Typically the outfielder is overrunning backing up the infielder and needs to stay back and get a good look at the ball. It already smoked one player so no need to be a super hero, just a hero!

i usually see this problem more with overthrow backup where the player backing up gets to close to the receiver they are backing up but don't usually see this problem with balls past infielders any more often than on clean base hits to the outfield. Just what I've observed though, you could be right about the perception thing when an infielder misses the ball.

 

[iMlearning]

Was she given a chance to check the field/grass conditions? Was she hit any ground balls, in the grass prior to going in? Tell her that experienced OFers know the lay of the land. They have looked at the lip (where the dirt stops and grass begins) and they have checked to see how balls come off the fence. She might have noticed that the ball would be bouncing, if she had known what to expect. You say that the girl got a triple. So, was it a hit? Or 2 base error?

Definately a two base error. Good advice on checking the field.

 

[Sweet Lou]

Lou:

I guess I am not coordinated enough to turn in that position, while my ankles are turning in every direction. Or when the ball is bouncing sharply up. I don't do it. When I was young, I actually thought it was chicken to not catch the ball, just block it. I am not a bad outfielder, but I did start out as a pitcher with an infield approach. Some of this is style.

We all have our strengths and weaknesses. i'm sure you know more about pitching and teaching it than I ever will.

Here is a good starter drill I just found explaining the kneel down to keep ball in front. It's not that tough to get in the right position but as the clip mentions the mistake most players make is going down too soon. And if it is chicken to block the ball to keep runners from advancing call me chicken. There are plenty of times when just knocking a ball down can save a run.