So many young hitters who are seeing live pitching for the first time don’t understand the concept up seeing the softball. They initially think the you “pick the ball up” after it’s released from the pitcher’s hand.  Obviously if the pitcher is showing you the ball way back behind her ear that’s when you want to focus on seeing the ball.

I get on the mound and walk through where my hitters need to be focusing on picking the ball up.  I use terms like “see the ball early”, “read the writing on the ball”, “focus on the ball” and it helps remind them of the instruction I’ve given them concerning seeing the softball as early as the pitcher will show it.

We noticed our kids have great eye-hand coordination.  We think it is contributed to having our players bat the opposite way for a session of softball practice. This makes the player really see the ball because its not a natural swing. This should be done with slow pitching at first gradually increasing speed.  This also helps with softball players who have a tendency to step out with their front foot.

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The batter holds the ball with two hands and makes a good swing throwing the medicine ball to his partner. The kids added a penalty for dropping the heavy ball or for a bad toss, ten push-ups.  The key is to make sure they are swinging their arms and ball in a good swing plane and using their hips and legs to put the extra push into the swing.

The kids really enjoy it.  Another variation is to see how far they can throw the medicine ball.  Again, the focus is on the power from the legs.  All of these abilities will improve their softball skills.

I coach a 12u girls fastpitch. To warm the girls up before a softball game I use a Mound Monster pitching machine. It shoots baseball size whiffle balls and foam balls at about 40 mph. This gets the girls accustomed to the speed of the pitch and it’s great hitting practice.

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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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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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What I do is take a look at her swing and if the mechanics look good I don’t change her a bit.  Most high school girls use a 22-24oz bat and the girls who are hitting it foul may just have good bat speed.

I have them hit with a 2-4oz heavier bat than norm.  If they hit to short-stop area and you want to go a little deeper to center, add another ounce or two. This softball tip has worked well for me instead of changing the batter stance /changing mechanics and getting into the athletes head too much.

This softball drill helps players learn to tighten their swing. Player stands in front of fence, wall, etc. with bat in hand in hitting stance.  Make practice cuts without hitting the wall behind them.

This helps the player to have a more compact swing, swing level to level down at the softball and stops them from reaching back with their swing throwing them off plane.

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Defense is comprised of entire infield (1st, 2nd, SS, 3rd, Pitcher, Catcher).  Offense has a base runner on first and a batter at home plate.  Third base softball coach gives signal to batter to bunt down third base line.  Third base coach also gives signal to first base coach for full speed run from 1st base to 2nd base to 3rd base without hesitation.  First base coach instructs base runner at 1st base to make full speed run round 2nd base to 3rd base but still be looking for third base coach’s signal to slide and hold up at 2nd base.  If third base coach does not give hold up signal, base runner runs at full speed rounding 2nd base and slides into 3rd base.

This softball drill is designed first of all to keep the infield on their toes at all times while runners are on base even after a throw-out is made at first base.  Also, good offensive strategy to develop for aggressive base running should another team be scouted that relaxes too quickly after a throw-out at first base.

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To improve getting hands through the zone and not dragging the bat, have your softball player stand next to a fence facing it. Placing the end of the bat against the fence and the other end against their stomach so the bat remains elevated.  The player keeps his feet in place and then positions the bat as if she were in the batter’s box ready to hit.

The goal is for the player to swing the bat without the bat hitting the fence.  This will force the player to get their hands through the zone without dragging them.  Concentration is placed on the bottom hand chopping through the zone and the top hand punching through the zone.  Player should take at least 15-20 swings without touching the fence with the bat.

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I tried to “pretend” to hammer a nail into the foot or tell the player that there foot was “glued down” but they could still move the foot since it was “pretend”.

In order to actually create something that would be real, I made a rectangle shaped wooden box out of 2 x 4’s that the player steps into.  When the player moves their foot during the swing, the box trips them up to remind them to keep the back foot from moving.

This inexpensive box was a very successful coaching prop.  The box makes it so hard to make a bad swing or move the back foot, it really helped my players both physically and mentally remember to keep the back foot from moving front to back or side to side. Once that “habit” was broken the box was removed and teaching them to “squish the bug” was easy.

This second softball drill is simple–take two whiffle balls 1 softball or baseball size, the 2nd is yellow and the size of a golf ball.  I have the girls stand at home plate and I soft toss both balls at the same time to the girls yelling out as I toss them , “hit the white ball ” ” hit the yellow ball”.

This works on hand eye coordination while also a very fun softball drill for the players.

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In order to help your kids “drive through the ball” have them do soft toss (not into a net) with soccer balls or basketballs depending on age.  Soccer balls for 10-12 yr,  Basketballs for 13 up.

Use 8 balls and start at one end of field area with a batter.  The others are at the other end to gather the balls after being hit.  Once she hits the 8 balls, she stays there to help collect the next balls hit and you move to other end and the batter there hits from there.  Teach them to swing through the ball with proper form to get power.

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This is a very simple softball drill I use to teach my players (12 to 14 years old) a slash hit.

I put a softball on a batting tee. Let your batter stand in a sacrifice bunt position. Have them pull the bat back and to make a short quick slapping movement.  In this way they learn the technique without the extra difficulty of the speed of a pitched ball.

Another softball drill I do helps my hitters adjust to off-speed pitches.

Using tennis balls: As the hitter takes stride, bounce a tennis ball on the ground where home plate would be (stand in opposite batter’s box). Call out “fastball” and hitter has to hit the tennis ball on the way up after bounce. Call out “change-up” and hitter waits until tennis ball comes back down. Bounce should be no higher than the top of the strike zone.

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