Pop-up communication

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Baseball drill · Age 7 and up

The ball that drops between three fielders who all could have caught it is the most avoidable hit in youth baseball. It is not a catching problem, it is a talking problem. Somebody has to call the ball, loudly, and everybody else has to get out of the way. This drill gives every player the same order of priority, so the call is never a debate, and makes them shout it every time.

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Time
10 minutes
Players
6 or more: two or three outfielders, two infielders and a hitter
Equipment
  • 1 bucket of balls, or tennis balls for the youngest
  • A fungo bat, or a coach who throws high
  • Bases at your league's distance
  • Cones to mark the drop zone between fielders

Setup

  1. Put a shortstop, a second baseman, a left fielder and a centre fielder in their positions. Mark the shallow left-centre zone between them with cones.
  2. A coach hits or throws a high fly ball into the zone, between the shortstop and the centre fielder.
  3. Every fielder who can reach it goes for it. The first player to call loudly, three times, takes it. The other says 'Take it' and peels off to the side.
  4. The fielder who catches it throws straight in to the second baseman covering the bag, and the batter-runner runs it out to first.
  5. Rotate positions so every player has to call and give way from every spot.

Coaching points

  • The priority order: the centre fielder over everyone, outfielders over infielders, the shortstop over the second and third basemen.
  • Call it once the ball has started coming down, not the moment it is hit. Three loud calls, with the glove up.
  • If you hear a call from someone higher up the order, peel off to the side and keep watching the ball, so you can back up a drop.
  • Outfielders run in towards a pop-up; infielders run out. Coming in is the easier catch, which is why the outfielder has priority.

On the run sheet: Call it three times, 'I got it, I got it, I got it'; the other fielder says 'Take it' and peels off; outfielder coming in beats infielder going out

Progressions

  1. Hit it right between the cones, so two fielders arrive at once and have to talk.
  2. Add the left fielder and third baseman for a three-way ball near the line.
  3. Add a runner on second who tags up on the catch, so the throw in has to be quick and to the right base.

How it runs

The batter (B) pops the ball up into shallow left-centre. The shortstop (SS) goes out after it and the centre fielder (CF) comes in, and the centre fielder calls it: "I got it, I got it, I got it." The shortstop hears the call, says "Take it" and peels off to the side, and the left fielder (LF) runs in behind the centre fielder to back them up. The second baseman (2B) covers second. The centre fielder catches it and throws straight in to second, and the batter-runner runs it out to first base anyway. The pitcher (P), catcher (C), first baseman (1B) and third baseman (3B) hold their spots.

The animation draws the ball's flight as a quick line. In real life a pop-up hangs in the air for three or four seconds, and that hang time is all the time the fielders have to call it. The diagram is on a 90 ft diamond; on a 60 ft Little League or coach-pitch field the drop zone is just behind the infield dirt.

The rule it is practising

Tagging up. On a fly ball that is caught, a runner may not leave their base until the fielder first touches the ball, and a runner who had already gone has to go back and retouch it. A runner who leaves early can be put out by throwing the ball to the base they left. That is why the ball comes straight back in after the catch: a runner tagging up from second is the play the throw is for, and the third progression adds them.

At older ages, the infield fly rule also applies to a pop-up like this. With runners on first and second, or the bases loaded, and fewer than two out, a fair fly ball that an infielder could catch with ordinary effort is called an infield fly by the umpire, and the batter is out whether or not it is caught. Many coach-pitch and t-ball divisions do not use it, and leagues differ on the age it starts, so check your league's rules. The priority order itself is not a rule; it is how a team makes sure the ball gets called.

The mistakes to watch for

Calling it the instant it leaves the bat, then misjudging it. Two players both calling and neither giving way. The player who peels off and stops watching, so a drop rolls away. And the quiet player who knows it is theirs but does not say so, which is the one this drill is for.

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