Outfield - reacting to ball off the bat

[Greenmonsters]

OK this gives me an idea I'm going to try on Sunday. I'm a lefty and AC is a righty. Will report back next week.

Lefty/Righty doesn't really matter. A RH pull hit behaves the same as a LH oppo field hit and vice versa. All they really need to understand is that the ball generally will be moving toward the nearest foul line (more true for RF/LF than CF). As a coach hitting OF, you shouldn't be hitting every ball "straight" to where you want your OFers to catch them - impart the side spin (i.e., in golf terms hit fades/slices and draws/hooks) that they wil see in a game.

 

[PA SB Dad]

Lefty/Righty doesn't really matter. A RH pull hit behaves the same as a LH oppo field hit and vice versa. All they really need to understand is that the ball generally will be moving toward the nearest foul line (more true for RF/LF than CF). As a coach hitting OF, you shouldn't be hitting every ball "straight" to where you want your OFers to catch them - impart the side spin (i.e., in golf terms hit fades/slices and draws/hooks) that they wil see in a game.

I do this mostly for fun with my fielders, it is not a serious drill. However, for the corner OFs, coaches don't hit a lot of line drives that hook to the opposite field well in practice, whereas they tend to do that better when they pull. For the CF, moving to the right, it is tougher to track a ball off the bat of a LH hitter tailing away from you than a RH hitter tailing towards you, and visa versa. It takes practice to get used to the spin. I do the same thing with my infielders because the ball looks a little different to the 2B on a ball off a LH'd bat than off a RH'd bat.

 

[JerseyBall]

I do the same drill as PC except I have them start on one foul line, jog to me behind second base, toss the ball to me and then they sprint as fast as they can toward the other line as I throw the ball. You need to make sure they are tucking the glove and pumping their arms. I repeat over and over to be ready to go in a higher gear and don't just glide to ball.
I do zig zag cone drills too back and forth as well as drop step drills.

Finally I still teach the thing I was taught by dad to help read the ball off the bat, drop step left or right (glove side directly at you) and if you need to lift the brim of your hat, the ball is going behind you. Usually seemed to work for me.

 

[Perfect Circle]

I do the same drill as PC except I have them start on one foul line, jog to me behind second base, toss the ball to me and then they sprint as fast as they can toward the other line as I throw the ball. You need to make sure they are tucking the glove and pumping their arms. I repeat over and over to be ready to go in a higher gear and don't just glide to ball.
I do zig zag cone drills too back and forth as well as drop step drills.

Finally I still teach the thing I was taught by dad to help read the ball off the bat, drop step left or right (glove side directly at you) and if you need to lift the brim of your hat, the ball is going behind you. Usually seemed to work for me.

We do the same thing your doing too...That was about 1/2 of it... that wasn't me... It was just a light practice.... they were coming to watch the AC's shag flys for the best hitter in the State that practice....JMHO We put a twist on the statement...if you want to be the best, you got to play the best, and turn it into... "Practice with the best, beat the rest"


PS: I forgot...wed night after practice, they had a meeting, so the girls hung around on the diamond playing... DD came to get some water...I said you wanta catch some flies...big Yes !! I kept her on the incline 15+ degrees and threw her about 20...people must have been watchin, so she said....Come on let me track'em... I said no this is Daddy ball, wait till we are home, on our street, with some cars...I did let her shine on about 80 more....the hill may or may not be a good thing, but it looked awesome. :{)) wish I would have had my tripod :{((

 

[Huskerdu]

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but you have to start the kid's feet moving, they cannot be in a baseball spread with their hands on their knees waiting for something to happen. I teach a creep-split, moving the kids forward splitting in a 60-40 so they can either move back or forward. I have issues with getting girls at that age to understand the angles, tracking a ball down that is obviously in the gap.

 

[SBFAMILY]

We use tennis balls with a tennis racket. They tend to float and harder to catch then a softball. It also teaches them soft hands along with tracking.

 

[PA SB Dad]

We use tennis balls with a tennis racket. They tend to float and harder to catch then a softball. It also teaches them soft hands along with tracking.

I love this idea!

 

[Huskerdu]

We use tennis balls with a tennis racket. They tend to float and harder to catch then a softball. It also teaches them soft hands along with tracking.

I tried this and while it is good for kids to track the ball, the flight, the heaviness, the spin, and even sound is different from a softball coming off a bat. The same goes for pitching machines to throw fly balls, I hate that. I use a fungo bat so I can spin it left handed and right handed and so they will get the game-speed version of a ball coming at them... 12U