Softball Drills & Coaching Tips

I’m often asked for new ideas for coaching softball drills.  Here are two simple softball hitting drills that were sent to me recently.  Keep ‘em coming!

From Bill…
Here’s a simple softball drill to help batters keep their eyes on the ball:

Take a bucket of softballs (15-24) and divide them into three equal groups.  Draw and color in two medium sized triangles on opposite sides of the the ball in one third, cirlces on another third and leave the last third alone.  Or take it to the next level and use different colors for the same shapes.  Throw these during batting practice.  It’s amazing how quickly the batter learns to watch the ball.

I’ve also had some success using whiffle-like golf balls for soft toss.  Smaller target…more concentration.

From Michael…
We try improve our girls hitting by employing a hitting drill using little ping-pong ball sized whiffle balls. A softball coach stands 15 feet from a batter and lobs the whiffle balls. The drill teaches hand to eye coordination and helps improve batting skills.

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Coming up with new ideas for quick and easy softball drills can sometimes be a challenge.  Here are a couple of tips that my readers sent in.  Give them a try!

From Tim…
Here is pre-game softball warm up ritual that our Predator girls fast pitch softball team does. A great softball drill to get ready for the game at hand is grounders to all softball players in single file line, no gloves allowed.

Obviously this will help at least 2 things: eyes on ball all the way to hands, and a ton of confidence when they put the gloves on for the game! Simple yet affective softball tip.

From Frank…
I’ve only been coaching 2 years (girls U12), I haven’t come up with any real secrets but one thing I have been doing is holding a skills day 3X per season.
The girls don’t compete against each other; they are competing against themselves.  Small prizes are given for the first 2 rounds and awards with certificates are given as a final.

1. just after team selections - to determine each girls level
2. midway - to asses progress
3. end - to show each girl the progress they have made

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This idea is one of the fast pitch softball fielding drills that was sent in to me recently by one of my readers. Try this out with your team tonight!

From Joe…
This is a softball drill I use to get all my players to try out the infield positions:

Have a player at each infield position. The rest of the players line up down the third base line (hopefully not too many). Put an empty bucket in foul territory by third base.

I hit a ground ball to the shortstop and she turns two. The first baseman then makes the throw across the diamond to the third baseman. The third baseman must straddle the bag and make the “V” tag. She tosses the softball into the bucket at third and hustles to short. The shortstop moves to second and the second baseman goes to first. The first baseman jogs behind the backstop and goes to the end of the line at third.

We make a game of it to see how many times we can be perfect. It gets everyone a taste of each position. We also can switch up how starts the double play (second to short, or first to second to first then the throw to third). Start slow and emphasize proper technique for each position.

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Mike and Suzy came up with some great suggestions covering softball practice infield outfield. Keep ‘em coming!

From Mike…
Here’s a softball drill I use quite successfully.

Slow Roller: Line up players three deep at the second base position and hit slow rollers to their left.

The players try to field the softball (one handed pick with glove ) and under hand toss to 1b. After those 1st three have fielded three slow rollers then I have a runner (usually my fastest girl).

It’s funny how introducing a runner changes everything but after the first time with a runner the girls start to settle down and make better plays. We will do this until the fielders have thrown the runner out at least twice.

I repeat this drill with each position once I discover the girl’s arm strength. If a girl is quick and strong from second then I’ll see if she can handle the same drill from SS then third.

From Suzy…
A drill that my younger girls enjoy is called “Freeze”. With girls in their positions the softball coach hits the ball to a player, and anytime in the process of fielding, throwing or catching will yell “FREEZE”. The players all freeze like statues and you can see if everyone is moving with the play of the ball. The girls love getting caught in the right position and are able to see when they are not.

Great for teaching that everyone moves on every play of the ball.

Technorati Tags: softball practice infield outfield, softball drill, softball, softball coach

Take a look at this submission from Bob.  A great idea for indoor softball drills that can work with all age groups.

From Bob…
Here is a softball drill that is a lot of fun when conducting an indoor practice.  I have one day a week scheduled in a local elementary gym in case it is raining here in the Great Northwest….which never happens by the way.  I call this the “Fuggling Drill” because it is a cross between fielding and juggling.

I split my 12 players up into 3 or 4 groups with a softball coach assigned to each group.  The coach is out in front of his respective group approximately 20-25 feet with 2-3 balls available in his glove.  Fielding fundamentals are stressed as well as quickness and accuracy.  The coach begins throwing ground balls to the first player in line.  Once the player fields the first ball cleanly, the second ball is thrown.  The player must field each ball cleanly and make an accurate throw back to the coach out in front.  A booted ball or bad throw results in that player moving to the back of the line.  Each player/group attempts to set the record for the most balls fielded cleanly with accurate throws back to coach.

The coach can make this softball drill more difficult by throwing grounders to each side of the player to get him or her moving to the ball and/or increasing the velocity of the grounders.

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