judging pop ups?

[Judd]

Are there any tips or drills to teach DD how to judge pop ups? Whether she is going to have to back or go forward? I know first step is always back but can someone explain why?

DD has a tendancy to go back, stop, and try to jump for ball. She knows to get under it but for some reason she doesnt go far enough back

Looks like DD is going to play OF so I want to work on it.

[fastpitchmom17]

The first step is always back because it is easier to run in on a ball than it is to run backwards. I'm not sure there really is any way to teach her how to judge a pop up, that just kinda comes w/experience and alot of practice. I coach 12u rec myself and I have girls from last season who are just starting to really judge pops and catch about 50% of them.

[wadeintothem]

Are there any tips or drills to teach DD how to judge pop ups? Whether she is going to have to back or go forward? I know first step is always back but can someone explain why?

DD has a tendancy to go back, stop, and try to jump for ball. She knows to get under it but for some reason she doesnt go far enough back

Looks like DD is going to play OF so I want to work on it.

Way back when, I used to set up my pitching machine to launch popups and deep flys and set two lines, one left one right.. and then send em.

[DonnieS]

>> Way back when, I used to set up my pitching machine to launch popups and deep flys and set two lines, one left one right.. and then send em. <<

Wade, we still do that one - as you cycle through the drills,i.e. the 2nd rep, move the starting position, and when you see the girls start to cheat on where they think its going, raise or lower the speed of the pitching machine.

Another one, we can this one the Meagan drill after its inventor. We get about 6 balls ready, then we pop them in to the machine one after the other, 4 or 5 will be in the air at the same time. Dont really know that this accomplishes but the girls love it.

Also, play flag football, seems the skills us boys learned as wide receivers are similar to the skills the kids use for catching popups.

[Tucson]

The girls need to spend a lot of time throwing fly balls to each other. The girls can also throw fly balls to themselves. I often use tennis balls for that.

I always thought that the first step was back, because it gives you a better look at the ball. Of course, there is always the exception - where the ball is dropping rapidly.

The arc of the fly ball is all physics. If you throw a ball straight up in the air, it has to come straight down. A ball that arcs up to its highest point, will have an identical arc on its way down. Once I see a ball going up, I know that it will come down in a similar manner.

You can fold a piece of paper in half and draw the flight of the ball on one side, looking through the paper, trace the same line going down. That is what the ball does.

An OF has to see the angle of the ball as it comes off of the bat. You can see that easily while the ball is over the infield.

Wind will come into play, but generally when playing RF, the ball will go toward the first base line. When playing LF, the ball will go towards the 3rd base line.

[bradrhod]

DonnieS is on to one of the better drills. Run wide reciever like drills, only use softballs. Hold hte ball straight up in the air. Move your arm right to get the outfield to break to her left, move your arm to the left to get them to break left. Then throw the ball over thier shoulder like a football pass.

Also, hit them millions of pop flys. Nothing beats hitting the pop flys off the bat.

[Judd]

We have a pitching machine at home. Its for baseballs but does the job. I figured the judgement think was just a learned skill and there really was no way to teach it.


Thanks

[slider201]

Amy

"The arc of the fly ball is all physics. If you throw a ball straight up in the air, it has to come straight down. A ball that arcs up to its highest point, will have an identical arc on its way down. Once I see a ball going up, I know that it will come down in a similar manner.

You can fold a piece of paper in half and draw the flight of the ball on one side, looking through the paper, trace the same line going down. That is what the ball does."


The ball's flight path is not symmetrical ascending and descending, but it is entirely about physics. Wind resistance plays a big part in flight path shape. A ball hit at 98 mph and 45 degrees will come down at about 64 degrees. That’s almost a 20 degree difference entirely due to wind resistance slowing the ball’s forward velocity. Wind resistance is why it takes less effort to hit a home run at 35 degrees than any other angle.

It is much easier for the human brain to process a trajectory at an angle than it is straight on. Fielding is easier when the ball's path is offset and not head on.