For youth softball coaching I like to reinforce basic skills as well as use a visualization drill for the mental aspect of the game. The practice drill allows all the players to get in some great training and skill building. The visualization technique teaches them to think about strategy.
Basic Skills Drill
My favorite practice is to take a team of 12 and split them in half (half batting half fielding)
Batting has 6 stations—
1. Tee work
2. A flat soccer ball soft toss
3. Soft toss
4. Bunting
5. Underhand pitching from 20 feet behind L screen
6. Live coach pitch .
Each station lasts 5 minutes.
While the batters are batting the other 6 take positions around the infield (one outfield shagging) for 5 minutes these kids work at each position learning how to play each. After 1 hour each has swung the bat for 30 minutes and fielded for 25. Works great
Visualization Drill
We do a lot of indoor practice during the times we cannot get outside. We have found a very effective means of working situations with these limitations.
We use a lot of visualization. The girls lay down on their backs and we get them almost in a meditation mode. We then setup a situation (either defense or offense). We talk through it twice and then get them up, set it up with the space we have, positioning the players in the correct positions to that situation and then walk through the proper actions/re-actions.
Then, when we do get outside, the mindset is already there and it is live. This has worked very well for us the past couple of seasons.