Outfield positions ? Who to put where?

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Oct 1, 2009
23
0
Well here I go again, I have been discussing with my coaches that left field is not the same as right field and center field is totally different then both of them.

I played alot of baseball and from my experience right field should have the strongest arm for throws to third base.(does that hold true for softball ?) and possibly a hard one hop that may get thru you may have a play at first .

Question ? What are the requirements assuming all can catch the ball of course..

Right field
Center field
Left field

Lets see how many different opinions are out there....

BigBlue
 
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Oct 19, 2009
1,277
38
beyond the fences
At the 14U TB, outfield position depends on my pitcher.
If I have a 'power' pitcher, the majority of the balls are hit
to RF. This is where I position the girls who are the best/quickest at
fielding to 'come up throwing'. Unlike Baseball, softball is played
on a smaller field and is a 'faster' game. A good RF can field a shallow
well hit ball and beat the runner to 1B with her throw.

When I pitch a junk baller, my fastest OF moves to CF to cover the pitch that
hangs and is driven hard. My LF and RF are always alert to backup throws to
3B and 1B respectively. The throwdown to 3B from Catcher cannot be misplayed.
Outfield becomes relevant in SB beginning at the 12U age group.

All 3 positions require good arm strength. The weaker arms do not have a place in
OF.
 
May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
I can't think of many times that I have seen a RFer throw to 3rd. We use a cut off 99% of the time. So, I know what baseball says about RF, but my weakest outfielder has to go there.

My best arm is in center and my quickest OFer is in left. But, then sometimes my fastest girl also has the best arm. She would be in center.

I do agree that the OF positions are not equal, though.
 
Jan 23, 2010
802
0
VA, USA
As an OFer, I definitely think that the positions are not equal. When watching a college game recently, they commented on this and I was sitting there thinking, "YES! Someone who is more knowledgeable than me finally says what I've been thinking all along!" With a power pitcher, the strongest definitely goes in right field. With other teams, that is where the weaker player goes. We always want someone quick in center field.
 
Sep 8, 2008
7
0
Lancaster, SC
Agree with JV coach and amanda. I put my weakest OF in LF, the quickest in CF and the 2nd quickest in RF. The RF in fastpitch to me is the most important as we get a lot of quick throw outs at 1st base. It helps if you have a power pitcher so most hits go to the right side. I also play RF kind of short to help with the quick throw outs, of course you have to avoid her getting burnt and position her back on certain pitches like curves and rise balls.
 
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