Softball Drills & Coaching Tips

I have done this type of softball hitting drills with young kids and even older ones and they all seem to enjoy it. You can add your variations to it to match the skills of your softball players.

Basically the hitter stands in the batter’s box or backed up to a fence and the pitcher, usually one of the softball coaches, stands about 20 feet away.  The batter stands like he would be hitting, however the catch is he must turn his head away from the pitcher, like back towards the catcher.

The ball is thrown, pitched underhand for the small kids, and then the coach yells “ball” and the batter must turn her head back toward the pitcher, pick up the softball and then try to hit it.  This tends to make the batter focus more on picking up the ball, and improves bat speed as well.

I usually start with whiffle balls or rubber or softer balls.  Also the distance can get shorter between the pitcher and batter as the hitter gets better.

MOTIVATION TIP
Sometimes it is hard to get the girls interested in softball practice, especially the younger ones. I find that if I make it fun they will pay attention more. When practicing pop ups I tell the girls that if they catch 3 in a row, I will run a lap around them. If they miss 3 in a row they run a lap around the field.

It is so fun to watch them try so hard to make the coach to have to run.

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This is one of our favorite high school softball drills.  The varsity girls and the coaches like it because it allows the softball coaches to get involved at the end.

We play a game called “Thunder”.  Split your squad up into two equal teams (randomly). One team hits first from a tee at home plate, the other team splits up with half to 1B and half to 3B.

The team at bat hits in order from the tee.  They may hit anywhere on the field.  Once they hit the softball, the hitter runs the bases.  Once the ball is hit off of the tee, the team in the field sends 1 “runner” from both 1B and 3B to touch the ball as fast as they can.  Once both players have touched the ball, the hitter stops and you count the total number of bases that she got to before both players touched the ball.

Keep track of the total number of bases once everyone has hit and then bring in the fielding team to hit and send the hitters out to 1B and 3B to field.

The team with the most total bases after a set number of innings is the winner.  To get the coaches involved, assign a coach to each team and let them hit last for each team and run the bases.  This is a fun and competitive  softball drill game that your players love!

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These softball fielding drills are to correct poor tracking and slow starts to a softball in flight.

Line your outfielders in any outfield position.  We use a pitching machine to sail balls deep into the pocket or burn a line drive into the gaps.

The girls must learn to take off just before the ball goes into play from a ready position. They stand at ready, both feet moving in anticipation. They must react to the ball as soon as it comes off the bat so they are locked on the strike zone with such concentration that when they explode toward the ball is a reaction not a thought.

Part 2 is an eye patch over their glove hand-eye. This makes them track the ball in the air all the way to the glove. They must move their head and glove to track the ball and make the catch.

Since these 2 softball drills were put into the practice regiment we have had only 2 fly balls make it to the ground out of just over 30 fly balls in fair territory.  The girls now call it the “easy out drill”.

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These are great softball practice drills for keeping the competitive juices going and working on fielding and throwing accuracy. Obviously we call this the “Bucket Drill”.  Our girls love this softball drill and don’t want to stop!

Split the team into to equal groups with one group lined up at short stop and the other group at 2nd.  Stack two buckets one on top of the other on home plate.

Coach will start the competition on the left side hitting ground balls to each of the players one at a time.  The player then makes a throw home trying to hit the bucket.  The player gets 3 points for knocking the top bucket off, 2 points for hitting either bucket in the air, and one point for hitting either bucket on a bounce.

Go through all of the players at short stop and total points.  Follow the same for the players at second base.  Now players switch positions and continue the softball drill.

We usually say the first team to 15 points wins depending upon the time you want to spend on this drill.  As players develop throwing accuracy it actually goes pretty quick.

This softball throwing drill encourages the girls to charge the ball (shorter throw to home) and they figure that out pretty quick!  As they develop in their skills, we incorporate good fielding by subtracting 1 point for not fielding the ball properly.

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If you need fresh ideas for fastpitch softball drills, try this hitting drill. This softball drill emphasizes using the body during your swing.  Worthy of note is that this is a fastpitch softball swing and not a baseball swing!

The softball coach stands in the batters box with a tee and a ball ready to be hit.  The batter holds a boat paddle (or row paddle) with her left hand on the end and the right hand far up the handle.  Both hands should be on top of the paddle, just like you are rowing in a boat.  Hold the paddle at your waist with the wide part of the paddle facing towards the catcher’s position and parallel to the ground.  To swing– rotate the hips, bringing the paddle around and make contact with the ball.

Variation #1:  hold a bat using the same grip as above, closely resembling a bunt grip but with the right hand over the bat instead of under.  Rotate the hips and body to hit the ball off of the tee.

Variation #2a:  hold a bat using a regular hitters grip.  Place bat against the hip bone facing towards the catcher.  Rotate the body around, leaving the bat at the hip position.

Variation #2b:  same as 2a, but place a soccer ball or basketball on the tee to really emphasize rotating the hips and using the legs on the swing.

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