3 Drills to Improve Your Ability to Catch Fly Balls

3 Drills to Improve Your Ability to Catch Fly Balls
By guest author: Jim Bain

Just like any other position in baseball, playing the outfield is not nearly as easy as it appears, and just like any other position, there are drills which are intended to teach players how to properly execute their responsibilities. We'll briefly look at three drills which will increase your skills to catch a fly ball.

When someone says "The outfielder caught the fly ball," we normally visualize a player standing in one place, moving slightly to the flight of the ball, and easily catching the ball above their head with two hands. This type of play happens 1000s of times a day through out the youth ball parks of America, however just as many 1000s of times a day the player has to go get the ball, and those are the situations we'll review.

*** Whether a fly ball will be caught for an out or not is often determined in the initial reaction of the outfielder, his determination of what he must do before he even begins to move from his position, and should he determine wrong, well... he'd better hope he's extremely fleet a foot.

The Which Way to Turn Drill at first glance may appear rather odd, but the disciplines taught by this drill are extremely serious. Ever see a player going back on a fly ball only to realize the ball is on the wrong side of his body in order for him to catch it, then attempt to turn, tangling his feet and falling. That mistake was created by turning the wrong way when he initially began giving chase to the ball.

For this drill the coach will hit fungos, (fly balls) to the outfielders, but with a twist to the normal fielding exercise. The outfielder will be instructed to look down at the ground instead of at the coach or flight of the ball, until the coach yells "Now!" At that instant the player is to locate the ball, determine which way to turn, then attempt to field the fly ball.

The intent of this drill is two fold, forcing the fielder into instantly deciding on the proper way to turn and quickly reacting to give chase, which is a real plus when the ball is lost in the sun or lights, then relocated.

*** TheFootball Drill is a takeoff from the "Turn Drill" as the fielder will be running after the ball, as if choosing the correct direction to turn, and will catch the ball over his shoulder similar to a football receiver.

In order to correctly utilize this drill, unless the coach is very accurate with his hitting of fly balls where intended, it's better to loft the balls by hand. The intent is to familiarize the player with catching the fly ball while running sideways looking back, not to chase balls hit well beyond his reach.

*** The third drill is Turn and Go Drill. This drill is intended to teach players to anticipate the flight of the ball, run to an anticipated spot, then relocate the ball and catch it.

Let's assume the player is stationed in left field, the coach will indicate to the fielder he's going to hit the ball to left center field. Once the coach hits the ball, the player is to quickly analyze where he thinks the ball will land, run to that spot, then turn, locate, readjust and catch the ball.

These are extremely difficult drills intended for higher skilled players, but just another stepping stone in the long baseball education.

Jim Bain - Former Minor league baseball player, who since retiring has dedicated his life to teaching baseball to youth. Visit his exciting info packed website: http://www.Learn-Youth-Baseball-Coaching.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Bain

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