I like to make practices fun and give the players a chance to improve or even compete against other players on the team or pair up with a partner and compete! These softball fielding drills fit this description perfectly; they are competitive and fun.
One of the biggest problems I see with “throwing” is players stand straight up when they throw and take several steps to make throw thus slowing everything down.
Hot Potato Quick Throw Drill
I teach “hot potato” this way: stay down in an athletic position when you catch the ball with both hands out in front of you. The free hand goes wherever the glove hand goes about a foot apart and ready to cover the ball when caught.
Once caught, stay in athletic position with knees bent, make a step/turn with the right foot and at the same time pull the ball out of the glove holding the “c grip” with glove hand out in front of you. Then step forward with the left foot and bring glove hand to the chest and throw and do the “wave” to the player when you throw to get the “6 to 12” rotation on the ball! It’s all about “hot potato” quick release get rid of the softball!
Pair in partners and do this quick throw drill with all these fundamentals. Clock 30 seconds and have each pair count the # of throws made. Try to get each team to improve doing it maybe 5 times and some kind of prize goes to the winning pair!