Outfielders........ dive or don't dive?

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I took the question as Dive or not dive at all.... Not as 100% of the time. If the opportunity fits, go for it....

 

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It depends on the situation and where the ball is hit. If it is in an area where the other OF should be backing her up anyway then DIVE. It is the responsibility of the OF's to back each other up on every play. Every player should be moving on every play.

 

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I agree with all the responses that say outfielders should lay out in the right situation. I tell my dd to let her instinct take over. Most of the time it will be the correct decision.

The reason for the post/question is, I heard a coach telling his players that the #1 rule for outfielders is to not go to the ground and NEVER dive for a ball.

 

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The rule we've used is Everybody Dives unless you're Leftfielder/Rightfielder and you're running towards your foul line. As someone previously mentioned - in this case you've got no back-up, so that single just became a triple.

 

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Generally, yes, dive. But on balls down the line that are more of a line drive type of ball, if you dive, you better get a glove on it or else we are looking at a triple or inside the park HR.

This, basically. You have to be smart about when you dive. Situation, location, etc.

 

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Get Dirty or Play chess. it depends on situation to me if two outs no one on that would be when you pull up if not sure. because in that situation a single is definately better than double or triple. but it a runner in scoring position (depending) on game score etc you gotta lay it all out. I cant tell you how frustrating it is to see a pop up that some one pulls up on 2 steps short and then runners score.

 

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The one situation I always tell my outfielders that we need a catch no matter what is
2nd and 3rd with two outs. In that situation, I want my OF going all out to make the catch on any type of ball. The reward is saving two runs and the risk is the batter getting a couple of extra bases.

But as Sammy and others have pointed out, outfielders need to learn game situations. It's really a matter of yes, dive, except in those few situations where you shouldn't.

 

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The one situation I always tell my outfielders that we need a catch no matter what is
2nd and 3rd with two outs. In that situation, I want my OF going all out to make the catch on any type of ball. The reward is saving two runs and the risk is the batter getting a couple of extra bases.

But as Sammy and others have pointed out, outfielders need to learn game situations. It's really a matter of yes, dive, except in those few situations where you shouldn't.

Exactly right

 

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The one situation I always tell my outfielders that we need a catch no matter what is
2nd and 3rd with two outs. In that situation, I want my OF going all out to make the catch on any type of ball. The reward is saving two runs and the risk is the batter getting a couple of extra bases.

But as Sammy and others have pointed out, outfielders need to learn game situations. It's really a matter of yes, dive, except in those few situations where you shouldn't.

So again it comes down to players running the situations in their head before each pitched ball. How do you teach it? Is it teachable? Is it taught on the field or in a class room setting? How much time do you spend on it / or should you spend on it?

Bink44 you are not allowed to comment on this question. lol

 

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Good questions. It's hard because none of us have the time we need to teach everything we want to teach and to make sure the girls get the reps they need. If you talk to most college coaches, they will say the games are for the kids and practices are for coaches. No argument there, but how does a high school or travel coach ever have the time to coach some of these game situations if you don't do some in-game coaching?

If you can't coach during the game and you can't correct after mistakes (because that's NEGATIVE! and we certainly can't have that), and you can't have 15-minute chalk talks during practice because it's boring and girls aren't getting their reps, what is a coach supposed to do? You also can't correct in the postgame because it's seen as pointing out individuals and is negative.

That is a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. Our culture is so soft right now that it makes the job of a coach - especially volunteer coaches - extremely difficult. Teach my kid everything, but don't ever tell her she did something wrong.

 

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Good questions. It's hard because none of us have the time we need to teach everything we want to teach and to make sure the girls get the reps they need. If you talk to most college coaches, they will say the games are for the kids and practices are for coaches. No argument there, but how does a high school or travel coach ever have the time to coach some of these game situations if you don't do some in-game coaching?

If you can't coach during the game and you can't correct after mistakes (because that's NEGATIVE! and we certainly can't have that), and you can't have 15-minute chalk talks during practice because it's boring and girls aren't getting their reps, what is a coach supposed to do? You also can't correct in the postgame because it's seen as pointing out individuals and is negative.

That is a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. Our culture is so soft right now that it makes the job of a coach - especially volunteer coaches - extremely difficult. Teach my kid everything, but don't ever tell her she did something wrong.

Spot on Joe, but a coach that does not tell a player they did something wrong is insane.

Definition of Insanity: Doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.

You must teach during a game, as far as situations are concerned. Trying to teach a player to hit or field in a game is wrong, but correcting a players decision making process between innings or calling out situations before the ball is pitched is needed.

 

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Coop/Joe,

That's one thing where our HS coaches never held back on the girls and the girls expected it. Our youngest one got more fired up when they did. It's a matter of listening to the message and not the tone of the message. Everyone has a chance to learn from their mistakes, but do they take advantage of it?

I tell parents of incoming players that if they thought they were hard on them before, wait. Excellence is demanded at the HS level. You think football dads are whining because the kids are getting yelled at?

We actually had a shirt made of all the "Ism's" the softball coach says and the girls asked another coach if it was too bad to print. They even said no, football is much worse...

 

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Lay out for it. Nothing more exciting than a great diving catch. I also see the rule of not diving for one towards the line, especially right field, since it is almost always extra bases.