what's up softball players i'm coach Dan Blewett in today's video we're going to talk about
outfield throwing and the mechanics of making a spin move in a game
where you can then spin with the ball over your shoulder and make a strong throw using that
footwork this is not really that advanced of a concept but i don't see a lot of players practice
it it's something you see kind of rarely in games especially in amateur uh softball and baseball
so stick around there's gonna be a great easy tutorial for some outfield throwing mechanics work
okay so here i've got a uh a pre-recording of me doing an outfield spin so this is going to
be a ball that's over my shoulder of my glove side shoulder i'm going to go back on it i'm
gonna get camped underneath it which obviously this is tougher at younger levels when players
don't hit the ball as high and they don't hit it you know they're not skying it into the outfield
um but this is something that you can practice and we'll show you how so when this is over my
glove side basically i'm just to track it here and i'm going to get myself in a position where
once i beat it i'm starting to slow down i'm starting to turn myself getting in
getting getting prepped to make that throw before it hits my glove so now i make it i play on my
right and i shuffle my feet and i throw so as you can see here i'm not taking actual fly balls
i'm getting my throw back i'm then just gonna put it in my glove act like i'm doing it so again when
you watch me pretend that i'm doing this i'm going back and i'm starting to turn my feet
i'm starting to get corralled underneath it before the ball hit so instead of catching it right here
i'm going to start to turn and try to catch it off to my like glove side eye my glove side ear
so that i'm already halfway there into my spin by time i do catch it and now it's a quick turn and
i can either shuffle or not shuffle and fire off a good throw now why do we want to do a spin because
when we're going to our glove side our chest is open to our target no matter what base it would be
so then it's a really tough all the way turn back to make our throw but if i'm already going the
direction a lot of times it's easier just to keep going with it make a glove side turn and
when you make a glove side turn now you're in a really good throwing position where you're closed
off really easily so you'll see outfielders do this selectively in both softball and baseball
at higher levels where they're just gonna they practice this stuff enough and they're athletic
enough where they're just going to say sometimes when i reach out i'm going over my shoulder i'm
going sideways and i catch it to my glove side i am going to turn my chest back and make my throw
but other times just depending on the fly ball and where it's hit and how fast they're running
and all those different circumstances sometimes they'll catch it and they'll spin to their glove
side you see this on the infield as well second baseman ranging towards first for a ground ball
and they have to make a throat a second sometimes they can plant their feet and they'll go this way
other times they'll scoop it and they'll spin and they'll throw on the outfield side of the infield
it just depends but again my big thing here and the reason we're going over this is
this is how you do this playing catch so as a coach your player should have a very productive
game of catch every single day working on game skills like these that they're going to use
in the game later on so most players don't do this i've watched a bunch of division 1 teams that have
lazy trash throwing routines it's just the best way to put it where they're just like playing
catch great well most of you don't even throw that well even though you're divisional players
so you're not getting any better whereas when you watch really good teams who are structured
who have a thoughtful coach who's really thinking how can i help my players get better every time
they interact with a softball they're doing stuff like this where it's like hey let's work on the
higher level stuff even though you might only make this throw once in a while or you've never
made it before let's make it easier so now when you do do it in a game it's not that scary like
you're healing a run you're like hey this one seems like maybe i should do a glove side turn
so you do you make your spin and you make it throw you're like hey that was cool that was easy that
was pedestrian it wasn't a big deal that only happens if you're doing this stuff in pregame
and when you're playing catch before practice or just with your mom and dad your friends whatever
so this is how you do this you know put a ball in your glove act these things out whether you're a
catcher infielder outfielder make your throwing routine at least a chunk of it structured so
that's unstructured all there's tons of different ways an outfitter can throw right so if you're
looking for more help i'm doing this so if you're a coach you want to say okay well what should
i give my team my online course is revamped with all of these different types of throws
so check out the links in the description below for my new online course upgrades to she's got a
canon both versions of it and if you're a player there's lots of other stuff on my youtube channel
my online course is available for teams and individuals but again just be thoughtful you don't
need to pay me or anyone else just say what do my kids do in a game what do our catchers do okay
they make this type of throw they make that type of throw okay well in that case we should probably
practice those as part of our throwing routine all right so hopefully this video on outfield
throwing with the spin was helpful hopefully it says hey you know russell something loose and you
just say let's go practice that right there's higher level skills that you probably haven't
practiced but now's the time to go do them i'm giving you permission so go practice this stuff
it's not as hard as you think it doesn't need to be left to 17 and 18 year olds if you're 10
11 12 13 you want to go do it go do it do it in a game make a good throw you've got my permission
all right thanks for watching i'm coach dan blewett and i'll see you here in the next video