Softball Coaching Drills – Throwing, Running and Team Comradery

So here is my latest addition to my [tag]softball coaching drills[/tag]. This [tag]softball drill[/tag] works on accuracy of the throw, making sure to turn and rotate the body form correctly when the player is in the middle and throwing left to right, and speed.

Skills achieved:
Throwing, Running, Positioning of the throw and Team Comradery.
Divide the team up into 3’s. If there are twelve players then we have four teams. If I’m short one player or so I will join in or have parents or my assistant [tag]softball coach[/tag] join in. I think is is vital for parents to be involved as much as possible. I will usually have the players about 15 to 20 feet apart, and increase the distance as the drill progresses.

We then begin the drill by teaching throwing skills from player one to 12,,,, and up
1                                                   2                                                   3
4                                                   5                                                   6
7                                                   8                                                   9
10                                               11                                               12
Player one will throw to player two then to three. If the [tag]softball[/tag] is ever dropped they must throw the ball back to player one and start over. If the ball has not been dropped we continue this pattern until the ball has thrown to all three players FIVE times and ends back to   player (1), (4), (7), etc.

Who ever wins stays put, and I have the other teams give me a full lap around the bases at full speed. I then have the players rotate as follows and keep doing this until every player has been in each position or they are ready for WATER : e.g.
3                                                 1                                                         2
6                                                 4                                                         5
9                                                 7                                                         8
12                                             10                                                       11

To spice it up a bit and keep a healthy competitive team spirit I rotate players on different teams to make it even more competitive. If I have a few players weaker than the others I will rotate them on another 3 player team.

Another thing that I’ve then implemented is using this drill with one of the four teams as runners and practicing the pickle drill. Everyone has a chance to throw, run and learn each individual skill. I then have the “runners” keep track of how many steals they get from a team and they are given a prize at the end of practice.

The runner must begin on my command and the throw needs to made from player 1 to 2, then 2 to 3, and so on within each team. The runner advances to each position until she is either out or returns back to player (1), (4), (7), & 10 in the first rotation and so on throughout the rotations.

Note: I have noticed more team spirit with one another, assisting one another on their skills or throwing, and of course players picking each other so they can be competitive. Although this will always happen in team sports as a coach take advantage of this time to teach all the players that they are equal and to work with one another. Having the advantage as a coach to move the players anywhere we want makes it even that much more productive.