3 Softball Fielding Drills to Master Lateral Movement!

When working on softball fielding techniques, it’s important to include drills that work on lateral movement and pushing your fielders to the left or right.   This is a great skill buillder because you have to focus on pivoting while fielding, with both the left foot and the right foot forward. This is important because you never know what foot you are going to need to field off of. You don’t want to be stutter-stepping to get on your strong leg when it comes time to make that grab! You need to train to be strong on both legs, on both the backhand and the forehand catch.

Start: Stand to one side of the ladder, with the hips and shoulders perpendicular to the ladder. Get in an athletic position. The lead foot will be the one closest to the ladder.

Action: Place the lead foot inside the first square. Next bring the trail foot into the first square, while at the same time laterally moving the lead foot to the outside of the first square. Take the trail foot that is in the first square and move it forward to the second square. Bring the outside (lead) foot into the second square, while moving the inside (trail) foot to the starting side of the ladder. Continue to shuffle laterally through each square of the ladder.

Focus points: Stay low by bending your knees and keeping your hips low. Move quickly, staying on the balls of the feet.