This skill is not always practiced as much as it should be. We focus on the corners and who should field a bunt on the ground. This softball bunt pop up defense drill is to work on proper footwork for fielding a bunt and proper technique for a pop foul.
Softball Bunt Pop Up Defense Drill
The catcher starts in full gear behind the plate in normal starting position. a coach needs a bucket of balls (or someone to feed him or her the balls) to keep the drill moving. Two sets of four reps is a challenging starting point for this drill.
A coach stands behind the catcher with 2 balls. The catcher starts in ready position. Begin the drill by rolling the ball in front of the catcher to simulate a bunt. she fields the ball and throws to 1B using proper technique. After the throw she immediately gets back to ready position. The coach then stands in front of the catcher, just a few paces away, ad tosses a ball into foul territory, simulating a pop foul. This toss should be thrown at various heights and distances. You can increase your catchers’ range by making her go after pop-ups thrown far from her. The bunt and pop-up are considered one rep.
It’s important to work the bunting game to all bases. You might want to vary the situation for each rep (e.g. no one on base, runner at 1st, runners at 1st and 2nd etc.) another variation is how you toss the pop-up. You can stand in front of the player with 2 balls in your hand right in front of the catcher’s mask. Move one of the balls away, and the catcher will immediately move in that direction for a foul pop-up. You then immediately toss the ball in the air into foul territory on that side, and the catcher can pick up the ball.
Shared from “The Softball Drill Book …. Kirk Walker”
