Youth Softball Drills – Line Drives and Pop Ups

This idea on [tag]youth softball drills[/tag] comes courtesy of Darin in MD.

This is a drill/game I use at my Pony League [tag]softball[/tag] practices that the kids love. I use this as a reward for the team after a good practice. They love it so much that they always ask to play it. The big thing is it’s a great learning and practice drill but they really don’t look at it that way.  

I always explain to the kids how important line drives are versus pop ups that typically are fielded for an out. This is about hitting line drives and hard ground ball into the gaps in the infield.

This is how the practice drill goes:

1.   Divide the team up evenly into two teams.
2.   Only field the infield positions including the pitcher and catcher. If you don’t have enough for the catcher, a coach can field this position.
3.   Each batter starts with a 0-1 count. A batter can strike out even if his 3rd strike is a foul ball.
4.   The batter must either hit a line drive or a ground ball. If he hits a fly ball he is automatically out. The coaches make a determination if it is a line drive or fly ball. Batters can only advance 1 base on line drives to the outfield or 1 base if an infield error occurs. I want runners on base so we can practice defense as well.
5.   No walks or bunts are permitted- we want them swinging.
6.   Batters run the bases just like a regular game. Three outs and you switch out as a regular game.
7.   I insist that this game moves along quickly as we usually play this at the end of practice and time is limited. Everyone must run on and off the field.
8.   No stealing and leadoffs are only allowed to be a few feet.