Teaching how to play Outfield

[obbay]

DD is in her first year of HS and will be trying out in March. Her favorite position is 1B but everyone wants to play IF and lots of them have 1B listed as one of their positions. I think with some training and practice, she could be a good OFer. I'm thinking teams always need OFers and for kids moving up, that could be a good entry point to an established team of older kids.

She has a very strong arm and can easily throw a strike from 20' or so outside the infield dirt.

The problem is she doesn't know how to track balls in the OF- flies as well as line drives/one hoppers. Where she's used to playing IF, when she has played OF she finds it more stressful because-in her words- in the IF if you make a mistake, the runner is safe, in the OF if you make a mistake, they score runs".

We live in New England where the snow will be covering the ground till the season starts, so we can't just go out and do long toss. she is playing in an indoor league that starts up again in a week or so. I'm thinking of getting her some indoor time with one of the coaches there.

but other than that, what do you recommend, where do we start? Any online resources or Steve Englishbeys/ Howard Kobatas of the outfield?

thanks!

 

[Dragoncoach]

Get her to learn the drop step, run as if her glove was just her hand, teach her the bigger circle when thrown, the crowhop, fielding grounders on the run/scoop , fielding grounders off her body in a prevention type stance (bad hops) and get her to take a step back as a first move on a fly ball when in doubt, teach her to get her feet ready to throw before catching the ball. hope this helps. also practice catching on glove side shoulder and thrown side also.

 

[mudbug]

There are two kinds of outfielders.

Good teams have real OF with SPEED and very good gloves.

Poor teams put the girls there that they judge too weak of an arm or glove or skills to play IF.

Practice fielding balls on the run in front of foot beneath glove hand, teach to "get-around" the ball and catch with glove on throwing shoulder side, teach to turn and RUN toward the fence keeping eye on ball, DONT backpedal. Teach to stretch for ball with glove hand when reaching behind you, dont use two hands as taught otherwise, it shortens the stretch distance!


1/30/10
OOPS. I wrote that wrong, just realized it and corrected it . I meant to write teach to catch with glove on throwing shoulder! This minimizes the distance throwing arm has to move. What I actually wrote was misleading as totally wrong.

 

[sluggers]

Obbay, the other advice is good.

In addition: (A) Get her outside and (B) *HIT* flyballs to her.

(A) Tracking fly balls outside is much different than tracking fly balls inside. If you ever watch college softball during the spring, the northern teams are mauled during their spring trip south because the northern outfielders have difficulty tracking the fly ball against the sky for the first couple of weeks.
(B) Good outfielders track the ball off the bat. If an outfielder has to wait to find the ball in the air, it is too late. Reading where the ball is going to go off the bat is the key. Speed is an asset, but it is amazing how much faster a girl looks if she is already moving when the batter swings.

 

[obbay]

Thank you very much for the input! It's all good info, some of which I was kind of expecting and some I wasn't- so now I can get to work developing a plan.

Something as simple as running with the glove- very important but I wasn't thinking of it!

The Tracking Fly Balls is a big issue and I didn't know if there was anything we could work on short of going outside and hitting flyballs. That's fine, now that you mentioned it, we can do this in a parking lot for now, we don't need grass.

One question- what do you mean by " teach her the bigger circle when thrown"? is that referring to the arm movement being larger than the quick dart throws in the infield?

Thanks again, this is exactly what I needed!

 

[SnocatzDad]

I telll you one thing that will make her "look" like a quality outfielder prior to ever catching a fly ball. Teach her proper back up responsibilities. (i.e. RF backing up 1B on throws from left side including pick off's, backing up the throw to 2B coming from LF). An outfielder backs up probaly 10 plays for every one they are the primary fielder, so literally 90% of thier job is knowing what to do when the ball isn't hit to them.

I get tired of watching transplanted IF'ers in the OF who figure their only job is to catch a ball if it's hit right at them. Also important to reinforce going 100% for the catch. Unless the ball is outside the F7 or F9 every ball should have a primary fielder trying 100% to catch the ball (not watch it drop in front) and another backing them up in case they don't make the catch. Many kids have a tendency to watch fly balls drop in front of them because they are afraid of failure (i.e. don't want to go for the catch and ball gets past them).

 

[JC heir]

Great advise here from everyone. I am with Snocatz.... A good outfielder should run about 2 miles a game if they never touch the ball. Explain to your girl, just how good she will be looking if she is Johnny on the spot for an overthrow. Also explain what sellout softball is & teach her how to dive. My DD made a diving catch on a ball in a big game last year, & that play is still remembered while all the routine ground balls & strikeouts are forgotten.

 

[mudbug]

Yep. You have to challenge the OF in practice. Dont hit balls to them, make them go for them. If they wont make belly-sliding or knee slidiing catches in practice they wont make them in a game.

Same for IF, if you want them to dive for balls in a game, they will dive for them in practice.

If they have the right mentality for it, they will actually think it is fun to attempt to get the hardest to catch balls in practice.

 

[mrslug01]

Lots of good thoughts. One small issue is it's getting late to "start" teaching OF as a first year high school player. It's a shame more parents/coaches don't teach kids OF play when they start teaching them how to play at 10 years old. I always made my DD shag balls. She played 3rd base on a top travel team from 7th grade through 9th, but I could tell as time went on and she matured, she had the skills to play CF. Good speed, great ability to track the ball and a 3rd base arm. But, tracking the ball came from 5 years of experience practicing it any time we practiced IF work. She's a senior now and was recruited to play DII as an outfileder next year. Best move we ever made moving her to OF. So anyway, I agree entirely with the concept that good speed is nice but ability to track off the bat is the greatest asset. Teach her the drop step as previously mentioned. You can work that indoors in a gym with the over the shoulder throw drill. Have her face you from 15 feet and throw it over either shoulder and she has to drop step to that side and go back on it. I also agree the backup is important but no one will care if she turns an out into a triple because she can't track the ball and turns the wrong way. Good luck

 

[Cannonball]

Some conclusions about playing outfield:

1) Hustle at all times – it is easier for an outfielder to get lazy since they are farther away from the action.
2) Back up all plays – you never have a time to stand.
3) Throw the ball to the right base always.
4) Know how many outs there are always.
5) Have game situation in your mind. Know what to tell other outfielders if you have to tell them where to throw.
6) Throw the ball overhead. Any throw side arm will drift and can possibly get an infielder hurt.
7) Never drift on a ball. Sprint beyond the ball. The inability to do this shows sloppy practice habits and a lack of hustle and pride.
8) Know the wind. The wind is not the same at all places and is not the same from inning to inning.
9) Know the sun and the time of the year. For example in high school ball, the sun will be changing and then the time changes. Therefore, the sun poses many different problems.
10) Know the hitter and her style (ex – punch hitter, power hitter) and know her speed. NOT ALL LEFTIES ARE SLAP!
11) Back up all plays.
12) Be aggressive on ground balls. Don’t let the ball play you.
13) Ball above the waste fingers up ball below the waste fingers down in the glove.
14) Keep your throwing hand next to the glove on the catch. In fact, your thumb should be touching the glove. Don’t play like the pro’s on fly balls.
15) Take charge on fly ball between you and the infielders.
16) Communicate at all times. In fact, talk between each inning.
17) Have a player that is not playing ready to warm you up between innings. Never wait for these players. Don’t play catch with a player that has other responsibilities such as bullpen catcher. They may be warming up the next pitcher.
18) Remember, good outfielders never never backpedal.
19) Run on the balls of your feet. Never run on your heels.
20) Know your pitcher and coaching staff and how they think on pitch selection.