Carol came up with a great suggestion for [tag]softball and drills[/tag]. This is a way to prevent the boredom complaint from your [tag]practices[/tag]. Keep ‘em coming!
From Carol…
Here is my [tag]softball[/tag] [tag]drill[/tag]. I think I made it up. Well, I took an [tag]outfield[/tag] drill and turned it into a combo of outfield/[tag]infield[/tag]/[tag]conditioning[/tag]. Get everyone to partner up. This will work with however many kids you have. They need a ball and their gloves.
Line them up at home-plate. The person without the ball starts on a fast jog to first. The person with the ball throws the ball over her shoulder so that she’ll catch it about the time she’s even with first base, and then follow.
The leader catches the over the shoulder throw and rolls a grounder behind her. The follower fields the grounder as an infielder if that is her position or an outfielder if that is her position. Stress pause field the ball and do the appropriate footwork and throw another over the shoulder ball to the leader who is still on the run. She catches it and starts the drill over. It is continuous motion except when the follower pauses to field the grounder.
I have my girls go all the way around our portable fence until they reach home-plate again. You could do this on the inside of the fence if your field is enclosed. A variation I tried today is to use a tennis ball and the follower doesn’t have a glove. It makes it a little more challenging and encourages softhands on both parts. When they get back to home-plate they switch places and do the drill again.