I am involved with two [tag]softball[/tag] teams at the 8U and 10U levels. I have found that the confidence in the glove work at this age is hard to get the girls to achieve so I came up with these [tag]softball fielding drills[/tag] by accident.
We practice with a tennis ball so the comfort level is higher. They know that if they get hit with the ball it is not going to hurt too badly.
I have the players begin with their mitts under their noses out in front of them. I get them to do this because most of the time they are putting their gloves up above the shoulder that is the glove hand. Be sure that they are able to look over the top of their gloves to see the ball.
I do all of the throwing so I can control the location and speed of the balls. You must emphasize that you need to see the ball and reach out a little bit to receive it.
Be sure the players aren’t snapping at the ball as this will create other problems, the biggest one being they will move their glove and often times will not catch the ball. This [tag]softball drill[/tag] has helped both of my teams.