Tracking fly balls

That does not sound like you're doing anything wrong. To me it sounds like it is more about the night and losing the ball in the lights or in the dark than about a mistake you made.

I assume that you will be able to stop losing it as you get more used to right field since you will know more about what path the ball will take.

Often a good OF will cut a glance away from the ball to check his path, then pick the ball back up. This is harder in bright sun, or if the ball is in the lights at night, or if it's in darkness (possibly above the lights or when lighting is poor).

What you may need to do is work on never glancing away so as never to lose track of the ball even for an instant.

Also, it is a symptom of early nearsightedness that you see much better in bright daylight than at night. So if you haven't had your vision checked lately, just a thought. If your hitting has also dropped off in night play, the two things can spring from this one problem. Nearsightedness often creeps in during the HS years. Contact lenses (or an updated prescription if you already wear them) have cured this problem for a whole lot of ballplayers.

P.S.

I also recommend getting corrected to 20/15, not 20/20. You'll be surprised at the difference.

Thanks...I'm going to get my eyes checked just to make sure.

Got my eyes checked Monday....needed some correction. Now see 20/15....thanks for the suggestion.

It's all about VISUAL SKILLS according to a January 2010 study (Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology).

Question: How does an outfielder know where to run for a fly ball? And, how does the brain use visual information to guide action?

Results: Ball players do not necessarily predict a ball's landing point based on the first part of its flight, a theory described as trajectory prediction.

Rather, the outfielder continuously tracks the visual motion of the ball, letting it lead him to the right place at the right time.

Players tended to adjust their forward-backward movements depending on the perceived elevation angle of the incoming ball, and separately move from side to side to keep the ball at a constant bearing, consistent with the theory of optical acceleration cancellation.

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editorial staff, sportsvisionmagazine.com
- training visual, cognitive and intelligence skills

Here's an article about Carl Crawford you might find interesting. It details Crawford's pre-game activities: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/...kjian_tim&id=4478998


One of the things he does that surprised me is he stands in the outfield during BP and just tracks balls with his eyes. He does this because the surface at Tropicana Field wears out his legs. Still, he is able to get something out of BP without wearing himself out.

Just an idea of something you could give a try.

Stu