Helping daughter with confidence in the outfield

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Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
You need to hit her fly balls that curve to the right. Hitting dead-on balls won't help her.

Use a hitting aid or a pitching machine.

She needs to be doing long toss so she can throw people out at home.
This is a good point. While taking a bunch of fungoes is certainly going to be helpful, balls coming
off of a bat from a pitched ball do spin differently (both ground balls and fly balls) . That is why on field BP, which hardly anybody does anymore, is useful for both hitters (to see ball flight) and fielders. I never played an inning of OF in my life in an organized game but through pickup games and on field BP with my friends, I probably wouldn't have had much of an issue transitioning if I needed to . I have seen some HL baseball teams have coaches give IF/OF by having somebody do flips and then they would hit them.
 
Last edited:
Sep 28, 2015
150
18
Spend some time to explain how to play the OF and differentiate LF and RF. I think we forget that lots of this is not explained or learned at 14u.

Key points is to go over when to dive and “make the play” and when to lay up. How to scan the base situation and have a plan for a slow ball and quick ball to her and what her play will be...before the ball is pitched.

Know your pitcher and batter and adjust a little. RF get used to getting ahead of the ball that will be slicing from a RH batter.
Pop ups will be spinning and will run on you and become triples.

Throws home need to be low and a 1 or 2 hopper.

So yeah you don’t need talent to play RF ;)



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Aug 20, 2017
1,474
113
We do lead up drills with outfield only working on step catch timing, do or die grounders, nobody on grounders, balls hard/soft/left/right, overhead flyballs, flyballs back left/right. Teach creep drop sprint! Control the environment at first. Self catch, partner catch, machine ball catch and then fly balls off a bat
 
Oct 21, 2016
189
28
My DD plays RF and took a similar journey. She played C and 3B on her 12U and 14U B teams. She hit 2nd was one of a couple players who were a few steps above the rest of the girls on the team. So this year she skipped 2nd year 14U and jumped to a 16A team where she doesn't sniff the infield. She starts in RF and hits towards the bottom of the lineup but she's playing with older girls with more experience. It was tough for her at the beginning but she sees the value of RF and realizes playing is the most important part.
 
Jun 11, 2019
14
3
Hi all-
Just wanted to say thanks for all the replies, advice and support. I am thrilled to let you know that my DD is starting to settle in and feel much more confident in RF....even after just a week since I posted this message. She has had about 10 games in the past week (2 double-headers and a tournament) and I see improvement with each game. Not even just in fielding and tracking the ball, but also in confidence. She still has a ways to go, but she told me in the car after this past weekend's tournament "I'm starting to really like RF!" :)
 
Jun 10, 2018
19
3
My DD had a similar journey. She ended up in RF because she can run, catch and throw. This weekend she caught 4 fly balls, doubled up a kid off first, threw out 3 kids at first and saved a run with a relay throw to 2b to home for the out. Also saved bases by being alert and backing up 1B.

Not all weekends are that exciting, but this one was!
 
Jun 11, 2013
2,619
113
Getting the jump on balls and tracking will come with time. Use every opportunity to work on them. During BP or drills, just keep working. What she can fix right now is the mental side of the position. She needs to be backing up every throw to first, be there in case of pickoffs,etc. If she isn't going to play IF for a bit she needs to become an asset in the OF or face sitting a lot of Sundays. On a good TB team 14U and above there are no bad fielders (unless they can just hammer the ball).
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Hi all-
Just wanted to say thanks for all the replies, advice and support. I am thrilled to let you know that my DD is starting to settle in and feel much more confident in RF....even after just a week since I posted this message. She has had about 10 games in the past week (2 double-headers and a tournament) and I see improvement with each game. Not even just in fielding and tracking the ball, but also in confidence. She still has a ways to go, but she told me in the car after this past weekend's tournament "I'm starting to really like RF!" :)

That's great!
 

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