One of my readers, Judd, sent this idea for a [tag]softball coaching dril[/tag]. I’ve tried this [tag]softball[/tag] [tag]drill[/tag] and included it for you below. Quick results from this one!
From Judd…
We usually finish off [tag]practice[/tag] with this one. It is designed to teach the girls how to judge [tag]pop-ups[/tag] and the proper way of letting every one know that you are going to “call” it. It’s called simply the pop-up drill (although my youngest daughter sometimes refers to it as the “pop-up of death” drill).
I have the whole team gather around me in a loose group-stretching their arms out so that they are at least arms length away from all the other players.
I then randomly throw the ball up in the air. The girls then have to decide if it is one that they can catch and then “call for it”. They are awarded points for “calling” for the ball loudly, making the [tag]catch[/tag] or stepping back to allow someone else who has called the ball to make the catch.
The first girl to 10 points gets to sit down. This continues with me alternating where I throw the ball until the all the girls have reached 10 points.
The girl who finishes last then has to run the bases while the rest of the team cheers loudly for her, and some times even chase her around the bases. This teaches the girls to judge pop-ups, take control of a fly ball, as well as avoid collisions with other fielders.
My girls love this-especially the ritual of chasing the last girl around the bases. Hope this will be helpful. So far I am really loving some of the drills that I am seeing-especially the ones that become games and contests. I find that my girls much prefer these kinds of [tag]drills[/tag].