Caught in the Pickle
I have a runner at first and a runner at third.
Have the runner attempt to steal second trying to get the pitcher or catcher to throw the ball down to get them caught in a pickle. This allows the third base runner to advance to home.  This really works well if the other team is not disciplined enough to not throw the ball.

I challenge the girls to score before the girl gets out between second.  If she can get home before she gets out they do not have to run fences.  If she does not score before she gets out they both run.

I have the girl start in between first and second with the softball on first base or second base.  Or I have a girl start running from home on a hit or walk and instruct them to keep running to second trying to bait them into making a play at second to create the pickle.

This drill teaches the runner on third to stay in the game and not to daydream and to run hard for home.  It helps teach her to be more focused on what her responsibility is to score.  There are times that the girls watch the pickle instead of running home.  It also teaches them that anytime a pickle is on if they can, to advance bases, good drill.

It teaches the runner in the pickle how to slide if she gets the chance and to be quick on her feet.  It also teaches the other girls how to perform the squeeze to get some one out.   The pressure for them to score gives them real game time pressure so they do not have to run.  It also helps explain the look back rule if the runner is coming from home plate to first and the pitcher has the ball.

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When I’m working mostly w/ 6U & 8U girls, it seems like their attention gets very lax when they are batting, and their bat speed suffers a little bit.  Or they go through the motion, with no real-follow through.

M tip to increase attention, bat-speed, and follow-through is to put my hand over the plate, right where the ball would be, and ask them to hit it.  Make sure you move your hand.  But if you try this a number of times, it’s amazing how fast that bat moves off their shoulder, into position, and across that plate when they try to hit the moving hand.

Occasionally the girls are really flat or distracted after a busy school day.  Recently, they were warming up throwing & missed balls were rolling everywhere.  Spur of the moment we created a competition using Starburst & Lifesaver candies to make most repetitive catches a competition.

The girls perked up, and started focusing on what they were doing just to get the small reward.  Save the reward system for when they really need it, but on a day with distractions or a lack of self-motivation, we were happy to get in a good workout.  Besides, if the softball coaches work hard, they get candy, too.

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One drill has been helpful for my 1st-4th grade girls.  Four girls are about 10 paces apart in a square.  Girl #1 rolls ball to #2, #2 fields, pivots, and rolls to #3;  #3 pivots, rolls to #4, #4 to #1; continue.

Then add another softball into the rotation, adding balls until there are 4 going clockwise (or counterclockwise).  Girls have to call out to the girl they are about to roll to.  This then turns into an easy throw instead of a roll.  Works with fielding, pivoting, throwing, and communicating.  It is important to switch girls around so they work with other girls.

Another softball drill to work on their throwing is one I call “hit the coach”.

Line them up on a baseline facing towards the field.  Demonstrate how to throw properly.  Set a plastic bucket next to them with 10 tennis balls in it.  Have the coaches go out it front of them and be targets.  Have the kids throw the tennis balls at the coaches.  They love it.  After each kid has thrown their 10 balls, instruct them to go pick up 10 balls, put them in their bucket and return to their station.  Repeat 2 or 3 times.

They get lots of throws and lots of laughs.

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Divide the players into three 4 man squads.
They rotate coming to bat, hitting to three outs, scoring runs.
When three outs, kids go to field, fielders shift, one group comes to bat.

Basically it is a three part inning softball game. They can be competitive, work on infield situations, get lots of batting and running practice.  You can also do two 6 man teams with no outfield.  Hit to out field  is a double unless they are thrown out.

To me the girls need the infield and hitting work most, outfield third which I try to work into a different softball drill.

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Z Ball Drill
Z Ball, Reaction Ball (the ball that bounces every which way), 2 blue and 2 orange (2 different colors)

Split team into two teams for relay race. Throw all 4 balls to the end of the gym and have two players on each team return their color of balls. Once the softball coach has both team balls, the coach throws and the next 2 players chase down the balls.  Fun and great conditioning!

Another drill I use on my girls uses the pitching machine.
I take our pitching machine and line up the girls single file approximately 30 ft from the machine.  I set the machine for 35 to 40 MPH and make the girls face away from the machine.  As I shout “ball” they have to turn around and catch the ball as it comes out of the machine. If they sidestep the ball there is a good chance it will hit the next fielder in the back(ouch).

This teaches our girls to stay with softball and catch it.

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Line up half of the team 30 to 40 ft apart from the other half of the team.
Give them one softball and tell them to throw to the other side for three throws.
As soon as the last throw is thrown, the player yells out and the other player jumps in and vice versa for the other side.
All throws must be quick, hard and accurate.
Then call two and they go with two throws and sometimes one.

This drill has helped them with their throwing and catching and getting the ball out of the glove quickly. We usually do this for 5 minutes and the kids like the drill.

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Motivational softball throwing drill–
Give kids creative targets for throwing at, and treat it like a carnival game.

We have used targets like stuffed animals sitting in lawn chairs, hula hoops, five gallon buckets ect. I find that it helps keep the kids motivated if they are picking off Winnie the Pooh. Also, they will really rear back a throw the softball instead of aiming it like a dart. We are able to keep kids chucking for 20 minutes and they want to keep going. Obviously, these are younger throwers.

The next softball drill is: Throw the ball into the container
Put a large bin, around four feet wide, on first base. Have the players line up behind second base. Each player then throws the ball towards the bin and tries to bounce it in. If they can throw that far without a bounce, back them up until they can’t. Goal is to teach accuracy even on bounce throws.

Make a little contest out of it to add entertainment value.

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On the spur of the moment we created a competition using Starburst & Lifesaver candies to make most repetitive catches a competition.  The girls perked up, and started focusing on the softball drill they were doing just to get the small reward.  Save the reward system for when they really need it, but on a day with distractions or a lack of self-motivation, we were happy to get in a good workout.  Besides, if the softball coaches work hard, they get candy, too!

This next idea is in a similar vein that we use at our indoor practice facility. We have a hitting cage (net) where we hang a “blizzard bucket”–an empty 5-gallon plastic bucket with a bungie cord on the netting on the back of the net.

We use it as target practice to hit the “hole”, hitting to a spot, hitting line drives and such.  Then the first girl to hit the bucket on the fly, we buy them a Dairy Queen Blizzard treat.  Conveniently there is a Dairy Queen ice cream shop right next to our facility.  You can’t believe how motivated the girls are to hit that line drive and to hit the “blizzard bucket”.  (You can substitute any treat that will be easy for you and that the players really like.)

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To help develop those skills, we play a game called “Bombs Away”.  The kids love it and “compete” when doing this softball drill.  It has really helped the kids and the parents can easily do this one at home.

Bombs Away!
Using foam balls (soft) or a tennis ball, stand behind the player and drop the ball directly over their heads.
Kids should have hands up in position to catch the ball.
Start doing this softball drill without gloves to get used to the catching with two hands.
Break up in 3 or 4 groups with an assistant coach running the drill for each group.
Graduate to using gloves after the kids get a feel for catching the ball.

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The first softball drill I call the one-two-step.  It is used to get the fielders in “ready position”.  When the pitcher starts her wind up all the players shuffle their feet once, twice and then step while getting their glove centered out in front of them with the glove touching the ground.

This establishes a very strong defensive stance and allows the girls to cleanly field the ball making the play.  Our fielding errors have been greatly reduced!

To teach my younger players the art of bunting, I first start them off with a rag ball. That is a rag wound tight with duct tape into the shape of a ball. I stand in front of the batter and toss this ball to her and the idea is for her to position her hands on the bat in the proper manner, so as not to expose her fingers to the pitch.  The rag ball will not hurt her fingers if she makes an error in placing her hands on the bat.

We found that this is a great exercise in teaching the bunt to young hitters.

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