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Good outfield play is often under-appreciated.
It is not uncommon for the outcome of a game to turn on the handling of a fly ball,
or the execution of the front end of a good relay, or the fielding of a base hit.
In this issue, guest instructor Cory Conrad, of the San Diego-based SoCal Baseball
Academy, has ten tips to offer on good outfield play.
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Athletic position prior to pitch.
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Tip 1:
All outfield play starts with the athletic
position as depicted
to the left. The hands are positioned by the hips, the knees are bent, and the outfielder
leans his head forward and positions his body to directly faces home plate. Prior
to each pitch, the outfielder must “square up” in this same athletic position. |
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Tip 2:
When a fly ball is hit, take a jab
step to the left or right
according to where ball is hit. The purpose of the jab step (see photo to right)
is to allow the outfielder to establish the correct direction in which to run, and
to break the inertia of the standing position. |
Jab step in response to direction of ball.
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Catching a fly ball over the throwing shoulder saves
time.
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Tip 3:
Whenever possible, catch a
fly ball over shoulder on throwing hand side. This approach enables the outfielder to be in an advantageous throwing
position when runners are on base. When running to catch a routine fly ball, the
outfielder should take a route that allows him to get his body behind the ball, catch
the ball over his throwing shoulder, and square his shoulders so that he is in position
to fire the ball to the lead base. In photos A and B the outfielder has positioned
himself to catch the ball over the throwing shoulder and has squared his shoulders
so that he is in position to throw to the lead base. |
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Tip 4:
The safest way to field a routine base hit with no runners on base is to place a knee on the ground and position
the body so that it serves as a backstop. As shown to the right, the glove is placed on the ground to field
the ball, but the body is positioned behind the glove to prevent a bad hop from skipping
past the outfielder. “Amateur players must always concern themselves with defending
against a poor playing surface,” warns Cory. |
Notice how the outfielder looks the ball all the way
into the glove.
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Attack the ball while under control.
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Tip 5:
When fielding a routine base hit with one or more runners on base, the outfielder
must take an approach of controlled
aggression by attacking the
ball under control. Cory uses the term “attack” to underscore the importance of covering
ground and thereby saving time. As he demonstrates in photos A and B (left), Cory
advocates “looking the ball into the glove.” This is a critical part of good technique,
because the outfielder must field the ball while advancing and while holding his
glove low to the ground and outside of his leg. The outfielder must use his eyes
to make sure he fields the ball cleanly before he switches his mind to the task of
throwing it. |
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Tip 6:
Once the outfielder is ready to make the throw, he uses the crow hop to explode towards his lead base target (photo A and B to the right). He gives direction to his crow hop to advance toward
his target as he explodes and throws. Cory notes, “ The single most important thing
the outfielder must do is to hit the cut off. He must tell himself to throw the ball
through the chest of the cut-off man. Throwing over his head is bad baseball!” |
The outfielder crow hops to gain maximum power in firing
his throw to his target.
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Proper grip is critical.
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Tip 7:
The outfielder maintains a fairly
loose grip on the ball as
he throws it. Photo A shows the favored loose grip with a noticeable gap between
the hand and the ball. In contrast, Photo B shows a tight grip with no gap between
the hand and the ball. The tight grip costs distance and velocity. |
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Tip 8:
Be prepared for the sun and know how to shade your eyes. Before the game, an outfielder
must decide if he needs to wear sun glasses or use eye black under his eyes to reduce
the glare of a strong sun. He also needs to know how to use his glove to shade his
eyes. As shown in the photo to the right, the outfielder positions his glove and angles his body so that he is able to shade
his eyes from the sun until the last possible moment. While the ball is above the sun, he must position himself to receive
the ball. Although he knows he will lose sight of the ball when it passes directly
in front of the sun, he must trust that at a certain point, the ball will fall below
the sun, and he will still have time to locate it and make the catch. |
Shading the eyes.
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Finding the fence first on deep fly balls.
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Tip 9:
When a ball is hit to the warning track or beyond, the outfielder must waste no time
getting to the fence. He must place
his throwing hand on the fence,
as shown to the left, and then decide exactly how far the ball will travel. If the
ball will fall short of the fence, he takes a step or two forward, as needed. If
the ball will clear the fence, he prepares himself to time a leap. If the ball is
hit to the fence, he is in position to catch it. “On a ball hit over the outfielder’s
head, the first step is critical. The outfielder must explode and take the right
direction on that step without hesitating. He must run on the balls of the feet in
order to minimize the bobbling of the head,” Cory explains. Then he adds, “And if
an outfielder must turn on the ball, he needs to let his head swivel and let the
body follow the head. This avoids wasting time and losing steps and direction with
full body twists and turns.” |
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Tip 10:
The outfielder should use
his bare hand to field a ball that has stopped or is slowly moving. In so doing, as shown to the right, the outfielder
uses his eyes to look the ball into his hand. He must position his body so that at
the moment that he lifts the ball from the ground with his bare hand, he can throw
the ball to the right base. If he has to turn his body to find the correct direction
after picking the ball from the ground, he will lose time. Notice in the photo that
rather than take the ball in front of his body, the outfielder retrieves it so that
he is in an advantageous position to lift and throw the ball immediately. |
Using the bare hand to retrieve a slowly moving or stopped
ball.
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Credits
Written by: Dan Piro.
Photos: Jackie Piro.
Outfielder/Model: Cory Conrad (learn more about Cory Conrad)
Web conversion: Brett Rudy.
As originally seen in Hardball Magazine, Summer 2003. |
