Center field is the best position on the baseball field. They cover the most ground. To do that, the center fielder needs a lot of speed. This speed translates very well to offense. The center fielder is also the captain of the outfielders.

Center fielders cover a lot of ground. They must patrol center field and both the left-center field and right-center field gaps. They need to get a good jump on the ball off the bat in order to cover that much ground. Good ones will turn singles into outs and extra-base hits into singles.

A center fielder’s speed is crucial. It can mean the difference between a great play and a ball in the gap. They don’t just use their speed on defense either. On offense, speed can help beat out a ground ball, take an extra base, or steal a base. All of these things lead to more runs scoring.

On top of their speed and quickness, a center fielder needs a good throwing arm. They will often be making throws from the gaps to home plate. These are some of the longer throws on the field. Because of the combination of speed and strong arm, young center fielders tend to be among the best athletes on their team.

Center fielders also need to be smart. They are the captains of the outfield. They help position the other outfielders and communicate with them to avoid collisions. On a fly ball, if they call for it, it is their ball. Everybody else yields to the center fielder.

So there you have it. Center field is the best position to play. Center fielders get to cover the most ground, using their speed and strong arms to shut down opposing offenses. They also have speed on the base paths that can create rallies by taking extra bases or stealing a base. And they are the captains of the outfield.

If you are a center fielder, you are in company with baseball greats such as: » Read more: Baseball Positions: Center Fielder Is The Best

I do not pretend to be nor do I call myself a pitching coach, but I do have a mental understanding of the game of baseball from a pitching perspective. Pitching is a central and important part of this game of baseball and softball. Without good pitching just consider your team pitcher throwing batting practice for the opposing or visiting team. But if you understand the mental aspect of the game and a batter’s mental psychic, and that of an opposing hitter, most pitchers can get outs against even some of the best batters if they have control or a good command of their pitches.

One of the great pitchers I’ve admired today is Jamie Moyer. At the age of 49 Jamie is still pitching with success. Jamie has become the oldest pitcher to win a baseball game. Jamie studies, understands each opposing hitters he has faced, it is said he kept a log book on batters he has face throughout the years. He is not an overpowering pitcher, his fastball top out around 87-89 mph but he has what they call in baseball an out pitch, the circle change-up.

Here is the mental aspect a pitcher should know; every batter wants to hit the ball. So they sometime becomes impatience causes them not to wait on their pitches or a good pitch to hit. Thus they swing at a bad pitch results in an out either by striking out, flying out, or grounding out into a double play.

Many of youth today have not study do not study, or received this information that I’m giving you. To understand this valuable information, such as changing speed, location of pitches or the eye level of the batter inside and outside the strike zone all contribute to a pitcher’s success along with a good defense behind him.

The game of baseball is mental, similar to a game of chess. The pitcher is trying to figure what a batter or hitting is looking for and the hitting is doing the same trying to guess what the next will be and it location. Hence the mental match up in the game of baseball. If you are to become a good pitcher, one must have command of his pitches be able to locate the ball, and willing to be a student of this game. This is how success can and is often accomplish in the mental aspect. » Read more: Understanding The Mental Aspect of Pitching