I have played baseball for 21 years, been a batting coach for 6/7 years, and last year started my own team. I know lots of drills for working on infielders and batting, but since I have never really played the outfield I don't know any outfield drills. Hitting and solid infield helped us win the championship last year but we are in a more difficult division this year and either way I don't want to neglect my outfielders. Any help would be appreciated.
2007-03-05 06:14:23 · 6 answers · asked by tommyguard3 3 in Sports ➔ Baseball
Lots of very good answers, I'm going to have to put this to a vote, thanks everyone for your ideas they will definitely help in the upcoming season.
2007-03-06 07:09:46 · update #1
While doing fly ball practice, have them hit the various cut off men. Not properly hitting the cut off can give up extra bases as I'm sure you know. You can have a runner on the bases to better help the idea of the timing.
2007-03-05 06:41:50 · answer #1 · answered by Justin M 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lay a barrel on the ground at second base. The outfielders are required to throw the ball into the barrel. This drill helps the outfielders keep their throws down rather than cutting it loose to show off how far they can throw the ball.
The advantage is that the barrel cannot jump to catch a wild throw; it is up the the outfielder to get the ball right on target. You can make it a competition for individuals or teams if you have a barrel for third base and home plate as well. You can even get the cut-off and relay from deep in the outfield with the infielders involved too. Good Luck Coach!
2007-03-05 10:46:13 · answer #2 · answered by jpbofohio 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Outfield drills other than conditioning (flexibility is important in the outfield, they run more than any other position) are more about positioning and communication practice. Fundamental practice is throwing on target and low enough to hit a cutoff man - it sounds dumb but the infield needs to practice this as well, knowing arm strength helps with their positioning for cut off. Communication, hitting fly balls and having your center fielder make the calls, ie..back, in, call the base or cutoff etc. Again it seems a little basic to practice but I see mistakes about twice a week in MLB.
Believe it or not, most outfielders don't know they actually have some place to be on every play whether the ball is hit to them or not. So positioning practice on ground balls hit to the infield is also an important factor in preventing a 1 base error from turning into a 2 or 3 base error. My biggest pet peave is OF who don't catch the ball in the proper throwing position. All year I yell at the TV as I watch MLB players catch the ball with one hand still moving backwards or standing still with a runner on base and then try to make a throw to the infield, in the mean time Podsednik has scored from third on a shallow fly ball. I drill this one over and over by hitting fly balls and having another outfielder off to the side making the calls of "Back or In" to position the player to catch the ball moving forward. Just for fun I will also run dive drills, similar to infield drills where you roll the ball off to one side. Stand about 20 feet back and toss the ball wide to one side and have the player dive. Don't be afraid to make the toss too wide, they will try to take a cheat step anyway so mix it up with a straight toss as well as an arc type toss. Again it seems like a waste of time, but I believe that every great play is made as a result of previous attempts.
2007-03-05 07:10:02 · answer #3 · answered by EnormusJ69 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One thing we used to do in high school was use our jugs machine for outfield practice. One guy would turn the pitching machine to its highest speed and point it straight up in the air and the other guy would shag it. What makes it so cool is that sometimes the ball goes so high that you lose it in the sky. It is much more extreme than any fly ball in a game situation. Also you can have them turn their back to the machine and make them pick it up out of the sky that way you simulate a late jump and increase their recovery speed in the mean time. It's also great to simulate line drives.
2007-03-05 06:51:10 · answer #4 · answered by Dah veed 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Line them up in Center Field, hit pop ups... make them run, dive, wait, move up, move back, etc. Try hitting them a series of different shots (i.e., pop flys, line drives, run up grounders, hard grounders). This will get their eyes working with their feet, and their hands where they need to be. Hit them to the left and the right... make 'em get it right, or don't let 'em come in.
2007-03-05 06:48:05 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Take the things that shoot balls
2007-03-05 07:45:34 · answer #6 · answered by GUrjinder S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋