Fielding off the mound

If you're confident you can field it, take it. If not, let it go through. It's judgement. There is no magic formula, IMHO.

What do you do during PFP? (Pitcher's Fielding Practice) You should be fielding balls to the left, right and in front of you. You should have to know which balls you can catch and "step and throw" and which you have to get to to use a "dead leg" to get the ball on it's way to first. Just as you have to communicate with the catcher, 3rd and 1st basemen on balls you can field, so should you have an idea of which balls are "in your range." If you do this enough, you'll know which balls are yours.

Texan is right, there is no real formula. My rule of thumb was always: is the ball was hit sharply anywhere near the mound, it was mine. If it looked like a routine ball the to fielder, then let them get it. You will learn to judge these with a little practice. But keep being a strong fielder up the middle and you will definitely help yourself on the mound.

just got to learn from pfp - like said above. you have to communicate with your teammates. pfp is critical and should never be overlooked in practice.

Every player needs to know his limitations. I tell my players to make every play THEY can make...not every play they WISH they could make, or every play our ACE can make...they play they KNOW they can make consistently.
Pitchers are a lot better athletes than they are given credit for...and I want my pitchers to be aggressive fielding balls just like I want everyone else.

coach knight i agree. thats one of those adjustments you have to make at the high school
level thats different from colleges and pros - the priority system on popups and grounders. in a big game 99% of the time its one of our best if not our best overall players on the mound. on the rare ocassion he might be just a pitcher but not often. you've got to let him field grounders and popups that like you said he knows he can make the play on. the key word is know.
we never use our pitcher as a cutoff man - hes going to backup - because thats the way its supposed to be done. BUT i understand why people do use him as a cutoff - hes usually one of your better players and knows what to do with the baseball.

One thing I have always taught my son was not to fall off to the side when completing his pitch. You see it in the pros and just about every level of ball.
I taught him to have a big stride towards the plate, finish low with head still and eyes fixed to the plate. The trailing leg come around and lands so you are squared up with the plate. This makes sure you can defend up the middle and you can move left or right because you are low with your legs under you. This also cuts the angle down so he can leve the ball that he can't of should not try to field that would be slowed or deflected so SS 2nd can't make a clean play.
As far as pop ups I generally tell him its a judgement call but generally not too far off the dirt area of the mound.
In a very intense game he chased a popup ball over by 1st baseline and ended up getting cut down by a guy that looked like a locomotive. Ended up in a tangled pile but fortunately was not hurt. In that case he probably was the best one to go get it but it could have been a disaster.

quote:

... This makes sure you can defend up the middle...

While virtually guaranteeing him throwing 3-5 mph less than he could.

How many balls are hit to the pitcher?

How many pitches are made by the pitcher?

And you want to plan for the minority?

I didn't think that falling off to one side was the best pitching mechanics to begin with.

Falling off to one side is poor mechanics and even the pros do it.It opens your front side up and actually slows the ball down and reduces accuracy.
How many go up the middle ? I have seen lots and no one their to defend. Look at the position of the middle infielders. The best coverage is when the pitcher covers the mound area.
The real bonus is that a hard come backer looks like a big water melon when you finish properly and staying low equals less risk to the pitcher.
I see a hard thrower falling off I want to bunt him silly on the other side.

I had a hard throwing RHP come to me depressed because he had a bad outing. He asked me why my son who does not throw as hard as he does and he rarely gives up a run.
My answer was that his front was opening up and he was falling off the mound. I told him to close his front foot and drive towards the plate. The difference once he got used to planting his front foot close to a direct line from the instep of his back foot and finishing hard towards the plate, staying low and finishing squared up in a BFP was huge. He thanked me over and over.

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:
I told him to close his front foot and drive towards the plate...

I have a bridge for sale......

And swamp land in Kansas...

Interested?

Guys and Gals you better listen to linear becausehe has all the answers--notice he never discusses just disses