12u game situation practice ideas

We only have 11 players and have yet to have a practice with all 11 there. In fact, my own dd won't make it tonight because her flight from spring break was delayed due to snow!

Thanks for all the ideas! Practice is in an hour and I need to get ready!

I like to play 6-on-6. The girls all play in the infield (with a catcher and a pitcher) and we count total bases for scoring. All balls hit to the infield are played normally. Girls have to chase balls hit to the outfield and the base count stops once the cutoff (the next nearest to the ball when it is hit) touches the ball from the girl who chased it down. Once they get the cutoff thingy down, then we have them make plays on the girls as they try and get around the bases.

they get good at realizing who can get to the ball quickest and they all learn how to get lined up for a cutoff and how to find a cutoff when they are chasing. Teaches them aggressive base running, too, as each base counts as a "run" and each team really wants to win.

A good drill that I liked was to do batting practice off the Tee (or side toss) to a fully fielded diamond. Each batter gets 5 swings (she runs on the 5th)…the ball is always put in play to different parts (you can move Tee if you want to promote opposite field hits, etc.). The ball is hit to the outfield a lot which gets everyone moving and involved, relays get worked on, backing up is stressed, etc..

You can do a couple things with this too….

When a particular batter gets up you can put 1 or 2 adults on certain bases to create a particular situation….you keep them there for the 5 swings of that batter to practice & reinforce what to do in that situation. When the next batter comes up, you put the runners on different bases to create a new situation you’d like to work on.

While all this is going on, 3 things are actually happening one coach is giving hitting tips to the batter…one coach is working/teaching infield play, and another coach is in the outfield teaching/working them.

With all that said, I offer the following (from my experience)….

I wouldn’t overwhelm the kids with too many “situational plays” this early in the season. I would focus more on solid-efficient skills and fundamental play. The basics, the standard plays you will predominately see every inning of every game. Statistically speaking, if you’re defense is sharp and “lights out” with the basic plays you will be seeing, you will do fine; and they will all look like a confident well oiled machine.

I guess the only standard high percentage plays I find necessary this early in the season would be:

Runner on 1st with less than 2 out
Runner stealing 2nd base
Bunt defense
And I would spend some time on pass balls too.

I will wave the “white flag” now….

I am offering this feedback without knowing where you live (climate), how much work has been done over the winter, how experienced your kids are, if they are “game ready” while we speak, etc. You know better than I do exactly where your kids are fundamentally this early in the season, and if you feel they are ready to move beyond perfecting the basic plays, then that’s great. From my experience, you can’t spend enough time on basic plays…and some of those complex situations (e.g. 2nd & 3rd less than 2 outs), happen a low percentage of the time that spending a lot of time on them seems counter productive at times.

It might behoove you to play a game or two first. Take a bunch of game notes to find out what was done improperly and go from there. Keep in mind, you as the manager will be directing them too on every batter…reminding them about back-ups, whose taking the throw on the steal, etc.

Sorry so long…

Good Luck with everything,

T

Kobata!

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kobata%20softball&sm=3

Excellent points TJ! I understand exactly what you're saying and will keep that in mind. Thank you!


Thanks for kabota YouTube link. I like those too!

best thing to do is lots of games, and competition, a consequence and a prize... simulate game stress, and it gets the kids to TRY. situational defense will happen in the midst, you can pause, and coach it up a bit, then back in... stations, then a game, or simulation... lots of running and fun. resist the urge to stand and tell them stuff...they arent listening.

Just wanted to update the thread. We ended up tied for first at 11-4 but lost on a tie breaker. It was a good season! Every girl improved their game and learned something new.

I am getting to manage the all star team. Our district will be tough but I'm up for it. I'm sure there will be more questions to come.

Thanks for all of the comments posted.