In today’s blog post, I want to talk a little bit about the baseball outfielder, how to handle a rolling or stationary ball situation, and what players in the outfield should do once the ball comes off the fence or wall – how do they handle it?
There are different situations that you need to be prepared for. One situation is a ball that comes off the wall and is dead stopped. We pick that up in a certain way.
The other situation is a ball that comes off the wall and keeps on moving. You’re going to have to field that ball in a certain way.
Baseball Outfielder Situation #1:
This ball is stopped completely. You want the player to go to his throwing side, square himself up, and then bend down with a bare hand, force his fingers onto the top of the ball, bring his hands back together, get a small crow hop, and hit his cutoff man.
Baseball Outfielder Situation #2:
The ball is continuing to move. It hits off the fence and it’s rolling. You want your player to move to the ball, and with two hands, scoop it to the throwing side, pick it up, get a nice crow hop, and hit his target. 
These are the two techniques you want to use on any ball that’s coming off the fence. You might notice your players picking up some rocks with the ball, which is fine. That means he’s doing a good job of making sure he gets the ball.
Any great outfielder knows how to work the fence, and he knows how to do so without injuring himself. When a ball’s hit over his head that’s either out of the park or going to hit off the wall, the player will turn and run without ever looking at the ball.
He tries to pick out the spot that he thinks the ball’s going to hit, and then he’ll immediately get to the fence, and then turn and find the ball.
“Get To The Ball” Baseball Outfielder Drill
You can perform a drill called “Get To The Ball”. When the coach says go, the player is going to turn and sprint directly to the fence, and then he’s going to turn and look for the ball.
Occasionally you want to move the player a little bit so he gets comfortable being able to shift his body and move right or left. Or maybe the ball will come straight at him. You want to see your players get up and make the catch. You should see them round the ball off just like they’ve been taught. He then crow hops and gets ready to make the throw.
Soon your player will develop an instinct about where that fence is at and once he gets there he’s able to move to the right or to the left. He also knows how hard the ball’s been hit off the bat. And he knows if the ball’s out of the park or it’s up on the fence. Soon, it becomes all by instinct.
Do you have a baseball outfielder who is just starting out? Then be sure to check out How to Work with Your Outfielders to Get Them Ready for the Game! And don’t forget to Like Us on Facebook!