Wide Receiver Drills for Outfielders

One of the toughest skills for young players to learn is catching fly balls while running.  The best way I found to teach to skill is taking a page from the game of football.

Position the players in two groups facing each other about 60 yards apart.  You will require two coaches.  One coach can throw to half the group (Group 1-on right field line facing centerfield).  The other coach takes the second group (Group 2- in centerfield facing right field).  Each player should have a ball.  The first player in Group 1 hands the ball to the coach and then begins to sprint.  The coach will throw the ball up and over the head of the ballplayer (like a wide receiver) and ask the player to catch it.  After catching the ball, they go to the end of the line for Group 2.  Group 2 should repeat the same drill and go to the end of the line for Group 1.  I like to perform this drill for 10-15 minutes.  You can pick up the pace in order to work in conditioning.

Coach's Point:
The drill yields several benefits.  First, the players learn how to catch the ball on the run.  Secondly, the players can condition their bodies without the monotony of routine running drills.  Third, it provides the players with exposure to different flight paths than it is using a fungo bat.  Make it competitive.

A trait shared by the good ballplayers is their ability to get a jump on the ball and running hard to the spot where the ball is likely to land.  Some think it is instinctive and inherent in the good players.  Others do not.  I think it is the result of repetition, hard work and desire.