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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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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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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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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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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Divide your group into 3 even teams.
One group at home plate, one group between 1st base and the right field pole and the third group between 3rd base and the left field pole.

The softball coach picks up a ball and hits it to the outfield. That signals the girl at home plate to start running the bases while the first two girls in the outfield take off to pick up the softball that has been hit by the coach.

The first girl who reaches the ball picks it up so the other girls can touch the ball. (You can not move if you get the ball first.)  As soon as both girls have touched the ball, the girl on the bases gets a point for every base that she touches.

Competitive and if you have more softball coaches, they can pick a team to hit to as well.

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I noted something specific and well-executed that each girl on my team did at our first game. At the next softball practice while we were in stretching circle, (which by the way each girl leads us in a stretch as a way to start practice) I mentioned each girl by name, and she came forward and I specifically named what it was that they did, from striking out a batter, to getting hit by a ball, and getting right back out there. I proceeded to give that player a roll of lifesavers.

It was such a hit that I now do this at every practice after our games (a different treat each week). We always work on the softball skills that needs work, but how great to acknowledge what went right; it was a great morale booster.

We won that game, but won’t always; yet there will always be something positive to point out to the players.

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I like to have my kids do what I call “Around the Diamond“.  Space the whole team out evenly around the perimeter of the field.  The first player has a whole bucket of balls and will start to toss them to the next person.  Each player needs to catch the ball, turn around, throw it to the next kid, then turn back around to catch the next ball.

The trick is to see how fast they can get the entire bucket of balls all the way around the field without anyone dropping a softball.  If a ball hits the ground, all the balls come back to the bucket and they start over.  Sometimes I’ll break them into two teams and have them compete against each other.

This softball drill forces them to work quickly and accurately while under pressure.  The kids seem to love it also.

In the 8-9 year old modified kid pitch group:  We usually end our softball practice with a batting drill where each girl gets to bat and runs the bases, then she goes and stands were her ball landed. After all the girls have batted, the player standing the furthest wins the contest!!!

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To keep the players interested in taking their game to the next level is to demonstrate a new softball drill for them.  Run them through it a few times and then the next time they do it, have players run the drill.  The players are then trying to help each other get the most out of the softball drill and they all learn. This has added benefits for all involved as it is also a great way to form team cohesion.

Here is another idea that we like to do–a team drill that we call six or nine, depending on how many outs we decide we want to make.

Put a kid at every position and the softball coach starts hitting the ball, and the kids have to make the plays.  They need to make six or nine consecutive outs without an  error (physical or mental), or they start over at the beginning.

My team loves this drill and they ask for it all the time.

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When I have girls that are afraid of the ball, or girls that don’t move their feet to the ball, I use this softball drill.  I put them, one at a time, up by home plate, facing the pitcher, and I  throw grounders to them.  I first throw them softer so they can get a feel of the ball, then I get harder and harder as the throws keep coming.  This teaches moving the feet to the softball, and the backstop catches the ones that get by, and it teaches soft hands for the balls that are hit, or thrown pretty hard.

When coaching j.v. high school softball, some of the girls have never played before, so their throwing and catching skills can use some help. I get a line of girls at second, and a line of girls at short. I get a catcher for both lines. I hit each line a grounder, and they have to field the ball perfectly and throw the ball back to the catcher perfectly for them to receive a point I go through each line about three times, and the line with the least points has to run or put away the equipment.

This really makes the girls focus on making good throws and good fielding.

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