Outfield - Letting Fly Ball Drop

[iMlearning]

How far away do they stand from the island? Just pick a distance where they have to run full sprint to get it?

According to the college coach that mentioned the drill, they stood in the center of the circle and ran to where ever you threw the ball to. She would have them running like crazy in all directions once the drill started. As they get better, the "island" gets bigger. If you have two people, the circle is even larger.

 

[smallball]

I once had a player tell me that when she ran in on the fly balls she slowed down and let the ball bounce to her because she was afraid to let the ball get past her. It made sense given I'd heard (and said) a million times, "OF, NOTHING GETS BY YOU" She was just doing as she was being told.

After that I made sure I did drills where I threw pop flies that they had to run in on, and I made sure that they understood that it was OK to be aggressive and get those balls in front of them instead of letting them drop. After enough reps in practice it carried over into games.

I like the competition using the pitching machine and seeing how far they can come for one, I'm going to use that one!

 

[Amy in AZ.]

My shoe string catch drill - I am sitting on a bucket, with a bucket of balls. The girls are lined up one behind the other, and coming towards me, from the side. I toss a softball and they have to try to run and grab it, before it hits the ground. They catch the ball and keep running, turn and come back to the line, putting the ball back in my bucket. They will eventually be in a circle running to catch the ball.

Then, I will have the line start from the other side.

 

[GTRH8R]

According to the college coach that mentioned the drill, they stood in the center of the circle and ran to where ever you threw the ball to. She would have them running like crazy in all directions once the drill started. As they get better, the "island" gets bigger. If you have two people, the circle is even larger.

I see now, they start in the island. I was thinking the ball was thrown to the island. This sounds like a fun contest drill.

 

[GTRH8R]

My shoe string catch drill - I am sitting on a bucket, with a bucket of balls. The girls are lined up one behind the other, and coming towards me, from the side. I toss a softball and they have to try to run and grab it, before it hits the ground. They catch the ball and keep running, turn and come back to the line, putting the ball back in my bucket. They will eventually be in a circle running to catch the ball.

Then, I will have the line start from the other side.

I like this one too.

All of these are great. Lots of variety to use so the drills do not get mundane.

 

[Arnival]

However, after being in the outfield and catching thousands of balls (and missing a lot of them too) I don't think balls straight at you are the hardest to catch; that is a fallacy. I think the difficulty is for the kids to know glove up or basket.

I played CF in college, the ball hit right at you IS the hardest ball to judge.

 

[starsnuffer]

If the ball falls in front of the outfielder, the outfielder better be in the dirt after diving, period, or she's running laps barefooted around the field (okay that last part is an exaggeration, it's best to have the whole team except her do pushups if she isn't in the dirt after a ball drops in front of her).

-W

 

[iMlearning]

If the ball falls in front of the outfielder, the outfielder better be in the dirt after diving, period, or she's running laps barefooted around the field (okay that last part is an exaggeration, it's best to have the whole team except her do pushups if she isn't in the dirt after a ball drops in front of her).

-W

Last night at practice they shot the balls from the machine straight at the girls but pretty shallow so they had to do just what you said. It was one of the funniest drills to watch as there were bodies flying everywhere. I've never seen the girls laugh so much!

 

[Wellphyt]

I played CF in college, the ball hit right at you IS the hardest ball to judge.

I played CF through HS, and I agree.

 

[Wellphyt]

I once had a player tell me that when she ran in on the fly balls she slowed down and let the ball bounce to her because she was afraid to let the ball get past her. It made sense given I'd heard (and said) a million times, "OF, NOTHING GETS BY YOU" She was just doing as she was being told.

After that I made sure I did drills where I threw pop flies that they had to run in on, and I made sure that they understood that it was OK to be aggressive and get those balls in front of them instead of letting them drop. After enough reps in practice it carried over into games.

I like the competition using the pitching machine and seeing how far they can come for one, I'm going to use that one!

I believe this is the number one reason why girls slow down. They don't want the ball to get pass them. When I hit fly balls, I always make it a point to emphasize which balls an outfielder can be aggressive on, and which balls they need to be more careful on. If it has an arc, I teach them to keep coming. If it's a line drive hit right at them, I reinforce my experience as a center fielder, that that type of ball is much tougher to judge whether or not you should go for the catch or play it on a hop. IOW, I'm a lot more forgiving on the line drive hit right at them, because it's a judgement call that has to be made fairly quickly. They get better at that one with experience.

Slowing up on a fly ball that has a decent arc, drives me nuts. It makes no sense to me at all because if the player misses the ball cleanly, it still only rolls a few feet behind them. Plus, the other outfielders have plenty of time on those type balls to back up the play. I also make sure the outfielders understand that it's much harder for base runners to tell if a ball will be caught when the outfielder is going all out. It's also makes it harder on the base coaches. If I'm coaching a base and see an outfielder start to pull up, I chance it and send the runner. I can't do that with outfielders who keep coming.