Special thanks to Delilah for sending this one in. If you’ve ever struggled with [tag]softball confidence building drills[/tag], you should try this out!
From Delilah…
I [tag]coach[/tag] 7 & 8 Yr old little girls so I have to be creative to get them to stay focused. I saw a different version of this somewhere else but it really worked great for my girls.
I called this [tag]softball[/tag] [tag]drill[/tag], “Ducky Down. I have 14 players so we divided up into two groups of 7 (or you could divide them up around your [tag]infield[/tag]) and lined them up at second and third bases. I put a 14” stuffed yellow duck on top of a ball bucket with a lid. From off to the side of home plate I hit hard and soft grounders for the girls to run up on and field. They then had to make an accurate throw hard enough to knock the duck off the bucket. They don’t want to quit when we do this.
Another thing I do is divide my team into 3 small teams. The [tag]outfield[/tag] is team one, infield (do not include [tag]pitcher[/tag] and [tag]catcher[/tag]) is team two. The other players are team three (these I switch out with pitcher and catcher after they have hit) Team 3 are my first batters and we play 6 runs or 3 outs- Each girl gets 5 pitches (no More) and there are no walks. (This is also coached pitched ball). This makes them really watch the balls and try to hit anything that is remotely close. It also helps them to realize that even though the other “team” is batting that these kids are still their teammates and also their friends. The [tag]competition[/tag] is just for that one hour. I have seen some girls who carry on the conflict even months afterwards.
When we do this drill- I also encourage the parents to be yelling and screaming -trying to distract the girls- because that is what a real game is like. We try to make the [tag]practices[/tag] as much like a real game situation as possible with the exception that we are able to stop play and make corrections or give instruction as needed.