This softball fielding lateral movement drill is great for getting players to stay low and not lift their body when fielding a ground ball. The tendency is to lift the body which adjusts the vision on the ball which allows it to get through the five hole. This most times happens because the fielder is watching the runner while she is fielding the ball.
This drill will allow the players to practice focusing on the ball first before making the throw. By moving laterally, they are practicing moving to the ball and then picking it up to throw it. This includes the transition to throwing because they then need to get into throwing position to get the ball to its destination.
Softball Fielding Lateral Movement Drill
Players line up between 1st and 2nd and 2nd and 3rd. The object of the relay is to pick up the ball and throw it to the person at home plate who drops the ball into the bucket. The stress of the relay is going to make the throws harder so you must emphasize control with accuracy with power. Not as easy as one might think. Allow the team to go through it before adding stress. Great drill to teach the team about how anxiety will decrease your skill level if you do not know how to control it.
You can make this drill a relay which will add stress to the drill. You can also modify the drill and change the distance between the balls or move them further away from the target they are throwing to. You could even move the balls around so that they need to switch between the lateral shuffle step to a cross step and even a cross step. If you are using the cross step make sure that they practice it once before making it a relay so there is less chance of the players tripping over their feet.
