Here’s an idea from Frank that has livened things up quite a bit in my practices. Don’t let the phrase [tag]coaching softball for dummies[/tag] mislead you. You’ll see immediate results!
Drill:
I have a favorite [tag]softball[/tag] [tag]drill[/tag] that has proven very effective for preparing pre-game [tag]practice[/tag] or if one of your players is having a hard time seeing the ball at bat.
You will need a few softball size wiffles. The [tag]batter[/tag] stands approx. 20 – 25′ feet from the coach. The idea is to pitch the wiffles to them and have the batter take a nice slow swing. Just making contact with the ball. Reach out and touch the ball with the bat, this will force them to keep their eyes glued to the ball. The idea is not to kill the ball but just take an easy swing and make contact.
I used this on my daughter at home for practice just to give it a trial run to see the improvement. It worked so well I started using it during pre-game warm-ups. Have the rest of the team behind you about 5 feet or so to catch the wiffles and cheer on the batter. Rotate each player for about 10 to 15 balls