Outfield notes

Placement: There aren’t any hard and fast rules about outfield placement but there are some general principles. Outfielders should aim to know these so that they can move forward and back or left to right as the situation requires without guidance:

When a woman is batting all the outfielders should be on the 150’ line unless the batter is known to have power.

Female batter

When a bloke is batting the female outfielders should be about 10 paces back from the line and the blokes about another 5 paces deeper than that. The left fielder should be another 5 paces back for a right hander, the right fielder deeper for a left hander. For a ‘big hitter’ go back another 5 to 10 paces.

When a right hander is batting the fielders should push slightly towards the left field line..

Right hander

With a left hander the fielders should move slightly to the right....

Leftie

The more base runners are on the further out the out fielders should play.

Out fielders should always back up the play, not just each other but also when the play is in the in field in case a wild throw needs to be recovered. This means each time the ball is in play within the infield all the outfielders should start to move towards the infield so that they are in a position to react if the ball comes to them.

Always call for the ball when catching it, it helps to avoid accidents.

Being in the outfield can be hard work, if you don’t notice the exercise you aren’t working hard enough. Every time the ball is hit you should be moving, either chasing it or backing up. It’s vital to field the ball as quickly as possible and, having retrieved it, return it to the infield IMMEDIATELY. Even a bad throw will make the base runners hesitate whereas an outfielder who stands admiring the ball is just inviting the runners to take extra bases.

Lions logo

Return to the Lions Softball Coaching Page