This Softball Fielding Throwing Hitting Practice is designed to give your team many opportunities to throw and field the ball while at the same time working on hitting.
Softball Fielding Throwing Hitting Practice
6:00 – 6:20 Warm Up
Although we know that kids joints are already limber, we need to teach them that warming up before an activity is important (later it will be more important)
- jog around the bases 2 or three times
- put a cone or something approximately 3 feet away from the baseline and approximately 10 feet before the bases.
- this will promote the question mark turn when running the bases which makes for an efficient and quick way to round and potentially keep going around the bases if the opportunity arises
- have them start with a jog around the bases, then change it to a run
- include dynamic movements to prepare for activity
6:20 – 6:40 Throwing
Because throwing is the most used skill in softball, it is very important that we are thorough in teaching this skill – line them up in partners
Practice the wrist snap to start each time
- have them approximately 10 feet away from eachother
- put the throwing elbow in or on the glove so that the arm is stable
- “flick” or snap the wrist to get the ball to the partner while they are doing this, stress the importance of this part of the throw and how it will help them to throw far and fast when they need to
- have them throw approximately 20 throws each.
- Have them go down on one knee to now incorporate the upper body
- their throwing side knee is down on the ground and their glove side foot is up
- have them point to the target with their glove
- have them bring their throwing arm down and around as if they were going to do arm circles
- bring the ball back behind their body as if they are going to scratch their ear, cocking their wrist so that the ball is outside the wrist
- now bring the ball through leading with the shoulder then the elbow points in the direction of the target
- as this is happening, the glove side is going down toward the ground beside the body
- now throw remembering to snap the wrist
- throw 20 times each
Have them Stand up now to incorporate the lower body
- take a step toward the target, pointing the glove or glove side elbow at the target
- bring the throwing arm back as they are taking a step with their glove side foot
- transfer the weight onto the front side foot as the ball is being brought into the throwing motion
- throw, remembering to snap the wrist at the target
6:40 – 7:00 Fielding Ground balls
One of the best ways to ensure effective fielding is to be ready for effective fielding
Have them practice the ready position
- the body is low to the ground with the back straight and shoulders facing where the ball will be coming from
- the glove side foot is slightly ahead of the other foot to promote mobility
- the glove is down almost on the ground and slightly in front of the body where we want to field the ball
- the eyes are looking straight ahead
- imagine a string that is attached to the logo on your uniform and where the ball is coming from
Things to look for:
- bending over with the legs rather than the back (look up with shoulders square)
- feet should be approximately shoulder width apart with the glove hand slightly forward
- knees pointing forward
On your command, say ready and they should get into their ready position looking at you
Have them roll ground balls to each other so that they can practice the fielding mechanics
- then you hit soft ground balls to them so they can field it from the bat
- use soft balls or tennis balls if they are afraid of the ball
7:00 – 7:30 Batting Stations
Batting starts from the ground up
Station 1 – lower body
- have them put a bat or broomstick behind their back holding it between the front of their elbows and the lower back
- the point of this drill is to have them use their hips to bring their bat around to hit the ball
- have them practice using their hips
- stand with their feet approximately shoulder width apart
- soft knees, athletic stance kind of like defending in basketball
- back straight
- take a small step with the front foot
- pivot the back foot to turn the hips
Station 2 – upper body
- the batter is on on knee with the glove side foot forward
- the point of this drill is to practice bringing the bat through the strike zone in a straight line
- line up the middle knuckles
- hang the elbows off the bat as if they are on a cloths line
- look ahead at the pitcher
- when swinging, “elbow the pitcher” and bring the knob of the bat through the strike zone
- fully extend the arms and snap the wrists on contact with the ball
- follow through and allow the bat head to go around to the back shoulder
Station 3 – whole body
- the batter uses the whole body to bat
- have them set up like in the hip turn drill with their lower body
- their upper body is set up like the upper body drill
- now start with the lower body, then upper body to swing
- three things to focus on
- step
- turn the hips
- swing
Try to focus only on 3 main points when batting so that it does not get too confusing.
- step – turn your hips – swing
