outfield for 8/9 year olds

Question
I am coaching an 8/9 little league all star team.  Most of the kids played infield all year, and some will now be in teh outfield.  I am looking for some creative outfield skill/technique drills to help them along.

Thanks for any thougts.

Rick

Answer
For the outfield, there's not a heck of a lot of creativity for that sort of practice. Obviously, lots of fly balls, and throws to all bases/cut-off players. But also remember to hit line drives and ground balls to them as well (which is often mistakenly omitted) since they'll see lots of those types of hits in a game. For the mental aspects, also be sure to instruct on backing up plays to the infield, which is critical to stopping extras bases by the opponent. You might also do situational drills with the whole team, whereby you call out a scenario, and hit a ball somewhere unannounced so that they can make the proper plays. This gets them thinking, and learning to play together as a team (which can be difficult in all-star situations).