If you’re coaching softball you are always looking for tips to make your practices fun and fresh. These are some easy and fun drills to try using balls other than a softball!
Ping Pong Paddles
My favorite fielding and throwing drill is to use ping pong paddles (they are cheap) instead of gloves to field ground balls.
Ensure the kids start in a good ready position.
Charge the ball; breakdown with glove out front and on the ground, free hand on top. Field the ball into the body and follow through with 2 steps and an accurate throw to 1st. My girls think it is fun too!
Deflated Basketball
My favorite batting drill for getting the kids to push through a hit is to use a partially deflated basketball on a tee. If they are not pushing through the hit they won’t be able to finish their swing.
Eye on the Ball Drill
I have a 14 u team that was struggling to see the ball. We began working with whiffed, then went to ping pong balls, then pinto beans, then navy bean and now lentils. If you can see and hit a lentil you can hit an optic yellow softball. Out batting average at the plate has doubled.