I found that my girls were having trouble hitting the cut-off player correctly and then the cut-off man was making sloppy transfers to the given base. I came up with these softball throwing drills to address the problem.
SETUP: (for 15 players) divide the team evenly into three 5-man lines. The lines will extend from the right field line towards home plate, players being about 25 to 30 ft apart.
Starting with the first person in the line, the player will throw the softball to the next player’s chest and she will catch and throw to the next person in line and so on. Emphasis on a smooth catch and transfer. One complete revolution (1st to 5th then 5th to 1st) is counted as one time.
We shoot for three times without a mistake, then we stop briefly and have the first player in line sprint to the 5th position as everyone else in line moves up one space in position (2nd becomes 1st, 3rd becomes 2nd and so on).
The drill ends when everyone has been a number one and has sprinted down the line. We usually start slowly and then pick up speed as they become more comfortable and adept. Coaches can “walk” the lines helping and correcting.
If you are so inclined, you can create a competition between the lines with the winner getting the choice of the next drill.