Outfielders-- ball hit right at you

I always told my outfielders it was first step back on any line drive right at them that's above the waist.

Baseball is a game of overriding your natural instincts.

It's not natural to run at a hard hit ground ball and look it into your glove. It's not natural to drop to your knees and block a fastball in the dirt. It's not natural to stand in the box and let a breaking ball curve away from your ribs.

And it's not natural to take a step back on a ball hit at you in the outfield. But that is what you have to train yourself to do.

I always told my son that the only way to train yourself to do what is against your natural reflex is through repetitive practice. For outfielders, it isn't all that easy to get a lot of hard hit line drive fly balls hit directly at you in practice, so taking that first step back is one of the harder skills to develop.

I think that is why it is so common to see that "Run in, oops!" response even at the higher levels.

It's the toughest play for an outfielder. A step back is the safest approach, almost always better to keep the ball in front of you if possible. Certain situations do require a bit more gamble.

One of the main things in baseball is to trust your instincts. Some are much better at reading the swing, the contact and the ball than others. Even the sound can be helpful. After seeing enough of them, your instincts will be right nearly all the time. It's those that second guess their instincts who have the most problems.

The greatest fielders ever have this trust in their instincts in common. Willie Mays had it, Ozzie Smith had it, so did many others. For every time their instincts failed them, they would get to many balls that would have been impossible to get to. Some call this getting a jump, some call it cheating. It's actually seeing the whole picture and reacting with instincts.

Ryne Sandberg was a great 2B, but I saw times when he would be moving right and the ball was hit left. Then there were many more times when that first step reaction was what made the play possible. For every play he would misread, he would make many plays using this method. It helps to extend the range a player has.

All that said, the line drive hit right at an outfielder is still the toughest to read.

The best move an OF can make is to squat down 4-6". This will change his eye level and allow him to get a read on the ball.

Great post PG. redbird gave some very good advice imo. I have always taught my guys to squat on a drop step and read. Some situations dictate a more aggressive approach. Winning run on 2nd 2 outs you might have to take a more aggressive approach. Otherwise a squat drop step will give the player an opporunity to get a read and a better one. And its always better to be safe than sorry on these.

Some kids simply get better reads off the bat. Some kids can read the ball off the bat and some can not. Some kids simply have carry on the ball and some do not. How deep are you playing? Who is the hitter? Whats the amount of field at your back? Whats the game situation? What type of read did you get on the ball off the bat?

This is one of those reasons that BP shagging is so important. Every ball hit in BP is an opportunity for an outfielder to get more experience in reading balls off the bat. Every opportunity you can get to get more experience should be taken advantage of. And be in the game on every pitch. Some guys simply do not focus on every pitch and it cost them dearly in these situations because they are tough enough already.

Well said Coach May. I agree with everything you stated 100% and we go about our approach in the same manner.

Interesting..never heard the squat and read taught but now that I think about it, thats what you see major league outfielders do. Thanks for the insight.

I like the squatting idea! Even so, an outfielder's first step is always back. If it is right at you, it is still better to take a step back and have it land in front of you than to stand still and have it go over your head.

I would enjoy seeing some video from MLB.com or wherever of a corner outfielder turning his back to the plate and catching up to a rising line drive hit right at him. Again,
a rising line drive--not a lofted ball-- hit right at him-- not hit 10 ft. or more to his right or left.

IMO, this play gets made so rarely at any level of the game that it's proof that it's virtually impossible to get an adequate read on the ball in time to do anything about it.

When a ball is hit right at you, you can't read its trajectory.

I hate to say it but the biggest key is practice. The more liners the kids see the more comfortable they will be with any training.

Just because a ball is hit right at you does not mean you can't do anything about it. When you take your drop step drop at an angle to get a better read. Dont simply drop step straight back. And Wklink your right. Practice. Experience. Your going to get many of these in a round of bp. Maybe one in a weekend or a week in a games. Hit them with a fungo. Its one reason I never take bp with more than my 3 outfielders at a time. And in their position they will play in games. BP is not bs shag time. Unless thats what you want your defenders to get out of it.

practice

practice

I agree. Practice is great. But make sure your practice relates to game situations. Dont just hit fly balls. Hit hard shots through the infield glove side, arm side, right at them, line drives right at them, line drives in the gaps, high shots, bombs, cans of corn, etc etc. And then understand when there standing out there knowing your going to hit them a ball its totally different than a live shot off a batter. So have them play everything off a bat in bp like a game situation. Working on reads, learning to see how it comes off. Give them situations. 2 outs runner on 1st. 2 outs runner on 2nd. No outs early in the game no one on. Etc etc. Teach them approach many times can be dictated by score, baserunners, etc etc.

Drop steps, cross overs, reads, routes, - and the situation can dictate the approach many times. It is not as simple as just hitting fungos to guys standing in the outfield or telling guys to shag bp for practice. BS practice is worthless and sometimes worse than no practice. Proper practice, proper instruction, experience, thats where it is at.

Make your OF's play their positions during BP (IF too for that matter)...it is amazing how much better they get when they play their spot and play every ball live and full-speed off the bat...as Coach May said, simply hitting fungos doesn't do a ton...for one thing THEY KNOW YOU ARE HITTING TO THEM!...