Purpose

To practice outfield communication in fly ball situations

Drill Setup

  • Coach stands 5 feet behind second base with a bucket of balls.
  • Place your outfielders in two lines, one line in right center and the other in left center.
  • The lines should be about 25 feet from each other. All player should have a glove.
The closer fielder calls out “Mine” then catches the fly ball. The second fielder backs up the play.

How it Works

  1. Coach begins the drill by throwing a high arching “pop fly” designed to land between the two outfielders.
  2. The player who is closest to the ball needs to loudly should MINE three times so the other fielder is called off and acts as a backup.
  3. After catching the ball, the player throws the ball back to the coach.
  4. Both players go to the back of the line and drill begins again with new players at front of line.

Coaching Tips

  • Make it harder: If you have two coaches, you can perform the same exact drill using the infield area simultaneously. This will make the environment louder and more distracting as to simulate a real game environment where players have to focus on their teammates voices and not outside sounds.
  • Make it easier: If you have a player who is shy and doesn’t like to speak up on the field, call out who should catch the ball as you throw it. For example, say “Taylor” as you throw the ball. Taylor should then say “Mine, Mine, Mine” and catch. This will sometimes give that shy player a nudge to use their voice because you first gave them “permission”.