OUTFIELD

(Other than plays covered by “Team Defense”)

Item #

Situation

Required Play or Action

Refer to Chart OF throughout this Section

1	Drop Steps	An outfielder needs to position herself appropriately for the hitter and the baserunning situation. One of the key tools for an outfielder is the Drop Step. When a fly ball or line drive is first hit the outfielder needs to determine if the ball is over her head or in front of her. If she feels that it is over her head she then needs to see to which side of her body the ball has been hit. She then needs to turn the foot sideways that is on the OPPOSITE side and run towards where the ball is headed (not where it is NOW). She needs to keep her eyes on the ball by glancing backward while she is running and “watch it” into her glove. DO NOT turn your body backward-merely turn your head as you’re glancing backward. The Drop Step provides the outfielder a method to get a ball over her head without running backwards and losing her balance. Since you are now moving toward the ball in a controlled fashion you have the opportunity to stop or slow down if you have misjudged the ball.
2	Angling (“Banana Curl”) to the ball	“Angling” or “Banana Curl” refers to the outfielder’s ability to approach a ball hit in front of them or to the side of them. With “angling” the outfielder DOES NOT directly run towards where the ball is expected to land. Instead, a curved path is taken so that the outfielder is positioned to catch or cutoff the ball. This allows #3 below.
3	Be in a position to throw immediately	Outfielders need to catch the ball in such a way that they can IMMEDIATELY deliver a quick strong throw to stop a runner from tagging up. This is accomplished in three phases: · Angling (banana curl) to the ball as discussed in #2 above. · Catching the ball with 2 hands on the throwing side of the body. · Being in forward motion when the ball is caught and allowing this momentum to channel into their throw to the infield. These 3 phases are broken down for discussion purposes but during actual practice they are ONE continuous motion. The angling allows the outfielder to approach where she believes the ball will land. Catching the ball with forward motion already sets you to throw in a continuous motion. Catching the ball on the throwing arm side of the body permits the quickest transfer time between your glove hand and throwing hand. Many of these throws can be made directly to the base without needing to hit the relay person. Obviously, not every hit to the outfield can be gotten by angling. Hard hit line drives and deep flies cause the outfielder to approach the ball on a dead run. Perhaps the hit even needs to be played off the fence. When this occurs, the outfielder needs to scoop up the ball and make a strong glove-side turn. She then needs, in a smooth motion, to do a crow hop in order to get enough motion to have a strong throw. Also, in these situations, the outfielder should look to throw to the relay person rather than throwing to the base herself.
4	Back up plays in the infield	The Team Defense section shows many plays that involve significant amounts of backup by the outfielders. This is critical to the success of the team. The message is: OUTFIELDERS SHOULD BE MOVING ON EVERY PLAY. They should never just be standing out there when the action is taking place.
5	Backing up plays in the outfield	Outfielders need to back each other up. For example, if a hard hit line drive goes into the gap in Left Center and the ball gets by the left fielder (his glove side) the centerfielder is there to immediately scoop up the ball and throw it in. If the ball has gotten by one outfielder then the second outfielder is probably pretty deep towards the fence. She should look to throw to the relay person because of the length of the throw AND because she is probably not planted with solid footwork in this situation.
6	Long hard throws – body positioning	It is very important for an outfielder to use her momentum of running forward to help with the strength of the throw. If the outfielder had to move sideways or behind them to get to the ball then there is no forward motion to help them. These situations require the outfielder to: · bring their throwing arm and shoulder back behind them farther than normal · take an aggressive crow hop towards the intended target · make a strong overhand throw with a much bigger follow-through of your arm towards the target At the end of such a throw the outfielder’s head is down and shoulders are actually level with the ground (after the release and at the end of the follow-through). This is because all of the energy and motion needed to make this long throw has to be generated by the outfielder since there is no forward motion to help her. It is very important that you complete the full follow-through. This will help enormously with the accuracy of the throw. Even when the outfielder has the forward momentum working for her, she still needs to cock her throwing arm back farther and follow-through with the throw more completely (as above).
7	Ground balls to the outfield	Ground balls to the outfield are handled in two different ways depending on the game situation. · Routine ground balls need to be handled very much like they are in the infield. The outfielder needs to have the glove down and react from a “ready position”. She needs to be ready to block the ball from getting by her if it takes a bad or unexpected hop. She may even go down on one knee to ensure that it will be blocked in case of such a bad hop. The location of the throw depends on the situation but most routine ground balls are thrown into 2nd base. · The approach to a ground ball is much different if the game is on the line. Here, the grounder must be fielded on the run probably with just the glove hand. This is because there is absolutely no time to spare and must be charged. You can’t afford to plant your feet or stop and transfer the ball from the glove to the throwing hand. You must scoop up the ball while running, transfer the ball to your throwing hand while running, and make a strong accurate throw while running. Here you will also have an exaggerated follow-through. The big risk here is that the charging outfielder may mishandle the ball or it takes a bad hop. It will then miss the glove and probably not bounce off the outfielder due to her preparing to throw rather than block. Another outfielder should be trailing the primary outfielder but it would be doubtful that a later throw would get the runner. THIS IS A PLAY TO USE IN A CRITICAL WIN-LOSE SITUATION ONLY.
8	Throwing to the relay man vs. the base	This has been covered to some degree in #3 and #5 above. There are other reasons to hit the relay person however. If you know that you have a weak throwing arm but the relay person has a strong arm then hit the relay person by all means. If you are tired, throw to the relay person. If the sun is glaring in your eyes and you can’t see the distant base but you can see the relay person, then throw it to her. You must attempt to make the throw to the base when the game is on the line such as tie score at the bottom of the 6th inning. You must make a strong throw (#6 above) and make sure that it is a straight throw so that the cutoff person (generally either the 1st or 3rd baseman) has an option to stop it or let it pass through.
9	Positioning depending upon the runner situation & whether the batter is right or left-handed	Generally speaking, outfielders should shift a bit depending upon whether a right-handed or left-handed batter is at the plate. Right-handed hitters should initially be played to hit to left and left center. Left-handed hitters should initially be played to hit to right and right center. Throughout the course of the game outfielders need to keep track of where batters have hit the ball. Adjustments then need to be made based upon that and whether it is similar pitching now to when they hit the ball earlier in the game. For example, if a left-handed hitter is swinging late she will hit the ball into left field. The outfield should make an adjustment to shift over towards left even though it is a left-handed batter. The runner and game situation also has a bearing on where the outfield should play. If it is near the end of the game and your team is up by only 3 runs, you cannot afford to let a ball get passed the outfield. In this case, the outfield may play deeper than normal, fully prepared to give up a single in order to ensure that they don’t give up a double or triple. This is a preventative defensive approach to the inning. Furthermore, if runners are on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, you again cannot afford to give up a double or triple because you only have a 3 run lead. A double would score two runs, a runner would still be in scoring position (2nd) with the tying run and there would still be only 1 out.