Special thanks to Kris for sending this one in. If you’re looking for new ideas for your [tag]softball practice plan[/tag], you MUST try this out!
From Kris…
As a head [tag]softball coach[/tag] for a travel team I coach several levels of [tag]softball[/tag] players 8U through 16U.
This is not really a [tag]softball drill[/tag] in the strictest sense but I find it an extremely good morale builder. I call it Big Sis/Little Sis.
I bring in all of my players and divide them up like this:
8U with 14U
12U with 16U
We run through [tag]softball drills[/tag] like Around the Horn and Four Corners with the older players mentoring the younger ones. Then we go into situational play and the older players demonstrate and the younger girls actually see how a situation should go and then try to imitate it.
This works two ways-
1. The younger players “see” the play and it encourages them to keep working hard so they can be like the older more experienced players.
2. The older players get some “hero worship” from the younger ones and they are under pressure to use their best technique and form to earn the respect of the younger girls.
We do this twice a month adding new situational plays like pickles and relays.
It’s a win win situation for my teams.