Beginning Softball Drills – Lite Flight Helmet Drill

Randy in Worcester emailed me looking for advice on [tag]beginning softball drills[/tag].   Here are two drills that Shawn sent in.

Lite Flight Helmet Drill
To help my outfielders learn to move under fly balls, I expanded the drop step drill as follows to make it the Lite Flight Helmet [tag]Drill[/tag]:
Players wear their helmets and don’t use gloves.   Using the Lite Flight machine and foam balls, the [tag]softball[/tag] coach sends fly balls to the players, who then have then drop step, find the ball and then position themselves so that the ball lands on their helmet. It doesn’t hurt and it helps them learn to move their feet, get under the ball and not be afraid of it.
Cardboard Slide
To help my players build confidence in their sliding abilities, I have them run in their socks and slide on a large piece of cardboard covered with baby powder. The girls have fun, get used to sliding and really get to work on their techniques given the extra slick surface due to the baby powder.