Outfielder positioning to catch a fly ball that comes right at her

[Easton33]

Neutral position is only for CF, if then. Left field, left foot back, right foot back in right field, center field either or. Your first step is not back either, it is "open up". Open your hips up so you can move back at a fast pace. A step back will start you back peddling. Even with a left foot back, ball on right side it is easier and faster transition than neutral. You watch young players in neutral. There legs are usually too far out, they have to get them under them then move. Try it yourself, you should be able to see how much quicker and efficient it is. You want the foot back on the same side that the most open field is. Just my opinion.

If you have access to a pitching machine, use it instead of bats. You will know exactly where the ball is going and you can use cones to have girls start at different angles. Not to mention those dimple balls will teach soft hands.

 

[Dave619]

work on drop step
work on drop step some more
then work on drop step some more

When DD is not pitching she is in RF or CF. She has been burned a few times on that exact type of hit. I agree, one of the hardest balls to judge. Sweet Lou is on the mark....drop step, drop step, drop step....then drop step some more! Go to youtube and look up drills for outfielders and you will find several good examples of drills for this. I am trying to get my DD to think during the game a little more. This doesn't always hold true but most 12U batters we face, after the first 5 batters most cannot drive the ball like that so she needs to keep up with where we are in the line up, etc.

 

[softballphreak]

I have seen this a lot this spring (between my dd's Middle School team and her travel team), where a low fly ball (almost a line drive) gets hit right at an OF. The OF thinks she is in position, but the ball ends up going 3 feet over her head. The hitter usually ends up at 3B or scores because the OF's end up chasing the ball to the fence.

Does anyone have suggestions as to how the girls should react to this type of hit and how to better position themselves?

If at all possible they should move to the side to create an angled look at the ball. IOW, try to position oneself so that the ball is not coming directly at them. It doesn't have to be very far from the straight line to have enough angle to be able to judge the flight of the ball better.

 

[lostbayou21]

Another approach

We ask our outfielders to take a basic, semi-relaxed, athletic stance to start, with one foot a little behind the other. Like a tennis player, we put them in light rocking motion in order to quicken the feet. We don't take a couple of steps back immediately, we sink on our back leg just a little until we gauge trajectory, with our feet still moving. Fewer wasted steps for us, especially if we need to explode forward. At practice, we use a pitching machine and both light flight and dimpled balls, throwing line drives long, short and side to side. We also have them count steps from the nearest base so they know the actual depth they're playing. Many times we play on fields that have larger infield cutouts, which can be confusing to outfielders who use the edge of the grass to determine proper depth.

 

[Softball_2]

If at all possible they should move to the side to create an angled look at the ball. IOW, try to position oneself so that the ball is not coming directly at them. It doesn't have to be very far from the straight line to have enough angle to be able to judge the flight of the ball better.

This. She needs to take a lateral step or circle around the ball a little so she gets a better look at it.

 

[canyonjoe]

Agree with all on how to address. I have a thought that might seem a little odd. In practice most of the balls are hit by a coach for them to catch. It seems to me that the spin of the ball from a coach versus a kid is much different so that the coaches balls are dying when it gets to them versus the kids hits that have more spin causing them to float a little more causing them to misjudge. If you can have them shagging in practice or even better at a older girl practice it get easier. This is a very hard skill that even pros misjudge sometimes and takes hundreds of reps, not 2 or 3 during practice.

 

[Jquick823]

I like the "FIRST STEP BACK" method. It is the worst ball to field regardless of age or skill. Playing old man slow pitch the low liner right at me ends up 325ft away sometimes lol. Crack of the bat they go back and circle around the ball running through it. I do a drill with my 12U girls that is the X drill. so they field a short fly ball, then drop step, run in and the drop step out again. We are a teacher team so some of these 12U girls aren't advanced yet. Once we understand the X drill I hit fly balls at them, I hit them like I would in a game, as high and far as I can. Don't care if they catch them, just want the drop step and tracking to get better. Rough at first but between now and march it's MAGIC!