Practice Drills for Girls Softball – Catchers Choice

Molly, one of my subscribers, came up with some great suggestions covering [tag]practice drills for girls softball[/tag].   Keep ‘em coming!

From Molly…
Here is my [tag]softball drill[/tag] to contribute.   I designed this drill because our runners needed to work on their leads and becoming more alert on the bases.   You really only need a pitcher (or even a coach), catcher, and runners ready to go.

Load the bases to begin, and have a line of runners at home.   On the pitcher’s release, every runner takes a lead (except for the one at home of course).   The catcher has a [tag]softball[/tag] in hand before she even receives the ball from the pitcher.   As the ball enters her glove, the catcher throws the ball back to the pitcher one of four ways–as a pop fly, a ground ball or a bunt, or a direct throw.

The runners react differently depending on the catcher’s choice.   A grounder or a bunt, runners advance one base after their lead, a straight throw (simulating a line drive through to the outfield) runners advance two bases.   A pop and the runners return to the base to tag up, and then advance one base.   The runners at home just take off when the catcher releases the “hit” and advance the appropriate number of bases.   As lines form at the different bases, runners just take turns advancing.

It is fun to watch the mental focus of the runners in action.   There are variations you can do with these [tag]softball drills[/tag] such as adding in defenders, and/or having the coach hit the balls.   It was fun because it kept everyone moving and thinking.