Video: Organizing Practice with Defensive Progression

During the above video, we’re going to talk about how to plan a softball practice using defensive progression.

As a coach, when you’re working on the defensive game, the key is to go through a progression of drills during softball practice before you start actual game situation drills. Here’s the progression we recommend you use:

• Emphasize the fundamentals of fielding and throwing the ball.
• The progression to that is to then do the ground ball series.
• From there, you go to position play, which means focusing on all of the responsibilities that coincide with your position.
• Put your positions together, splitting the infield where you can do two things at once.
• Then finally move on to actual game situations.

Every time you organize your softball practice, make sure you really emphasize each phase of your defensive progression.

There will be days you’re struggling with the team–let whatever struggle you’re having be the fundamental that you work on.

In the off-season or pre-season, you should have a high number of individual drills. As you get closer to the season, decrease the number of individual drills you have your players do during softball practice and increase the number of team and game situation drills.

Do you think your next softball practice will go more smoothly if you follow these tips? Share your thoughts below!