Kevin, one of my subscribers, sent this one to me last week. A great example of [tag]free fastpitch softball drills[/tag] that don’t require a coaching PhD to figure out.
From Kevin…
“Pop-Up Line”
I do a [tag]softball drill[/tag] near the end of practice to get my kids to work on tracking down fly balls and also get their running in. I make the team form a line, and each player has a [tag]softball[/tag]. I take a knee at the head of the line, and the first player in line hands me their ball. I throw a high pop that she needs to run and catch. The next player in line hands me a ball and I then throw this one and the player tracks it down and catches it.
I stress to them trying to catch the ball with their gloves in the air, and avoid the pretty looking basket catch.
The “catch” is that with my team if there is ever a moment where there is no player in line ready to hand me a ball, then the whole team does push-ups. As the softball drill goes on I throw the ball further and further each time, so the player not only has to run a far distance to gather the ball, but then has to turn around and sprint back to get in line quickly.
It works. They love the competition, and do not even see it as a running exercise.