Looking for fun ideas for practice. 10u rec

Looking for some good ideas for practice tonight. We practiced in the hot weather for the first time on Saturday and the girls looked like they hated being there. I want hem to have fun and enjoy the game but it's hard when it seems like they don't want much to do with it. Any help would be great!

My 10u rec players LOVE contests like the bucket drill and hitting knockout. Whoever hits to the outfield grass stays in the game. Good luck.

A good game of kick ball is always fun.

My younger girls have always been a fan of "Hit the bear" which was a giant stuffed teddy bear that I found at Goodwill that I'd seat in a cheap lawn chair over first base. They'd always ask for a Dora or Barney, but I could never find one.

Also, you can't go wrong with a cooler full of cold water balloons to be used for batting practice on hot days.

You need to come up with games and keep the practice moving. No girl should be idle for more than two minutes.

Station work with lots of rotations and frequent games. So, the sequence is work - play - work - play. The harder *you* work, the harder *they* work.

Here are some games.

1) Target practice is probably the best game I've ever seen for getting the girls focused. You set up a target, like a softball or volleyball on the tee. Have the kids try to knock the ball off the tee. Use two tees, divide the girls, and play "knock out".

2) Who can throw the ball the farthest? Line the girls up and have them throw the ball as far as they can throw.

3) Divide the girls into teams of four. Start off with the four girls standing in a circle at home plate. They pass the ball to each other. When they have completed one "around the horn", they then move back to 1/2 way between the bases and go around the horn. When they do that, they move back the bases and go around the horn. Time them. Best time to complete all three wins.

4) Pop up game. You hit an easy popup and gradually increase the difficulty of the popups. One who catches the most popups in a row wins. Honestly, if you have good bat control, they'll play this game for an entire practice.

5) The place hitting game. Set up cones on the left side of the infield, spaced perhaps 20 feet apart. Have the girls try to hit the ball through the cones.

6) The bunt hitting game. Put a cone on the ground. Have the girls attempt to hit the cone with the ball after a bunt. Move the cone around.

I like a bunting only scrimmage.

Have a coach pitch and scrimmage. Quick inning changes,etc. You can get good game situations and they love it.

We always finished the last 40-45 minutes of practice with a scrimmage involving 3 or 4 dads. The dads would pitch and we all played at full game speed. Of course the dads wouldn't try to knock the infielders off of their feet but we got to play pretty hard. This was my DD's 12U A-team last year. It was a really good team. Not to sound selfish but it was one of MY favorite things I got to do twice a week, I loved it ! All the moms and people we didn't even know would sit on the bleachers and scream and laugh at us as we were diving for balls and talking serious junk to each other. I miss it.

To the OP, get them to compete against and with each other and teach them to enjoy this game and have fun. At 10U, put them in game situations and teach/coach/explain when they make a mistake. This type of scrimmage you can start and stop and replay a situation whenever you want. My girls loved it. Also, really brag on them when they do something good, its really makes your girls want to play hard for you.

These are all good ideas. I like to work fundamentals for at least 30 min (basic fielding and throwing reps) then work in some competitive games using the drills previously worked on to put it into a game type feeling. You can't totally recreate game time pressure but it's better than blank reps without purpose.

Sluggers has some really good suggestions for competition. I like to mix up, team vs team and player vs player competitions.

Another one that my young players enjoy: two buckets on either side of home plate. Water bottle or jug on top of bucket.
Two lines, one at 1st and one at 3rd
1st player in line, lies down on back with feet towards outfield. On the count of 3, pop up, find the ball and make the throw to the water jug.
Keep score by speed of throw, accuracy of throw, and speed and accuracy combined. Lots of options depending on focus of drill.

I usually use trash cans with 5gal buckets on top and seldom did anyone hit it (8u) but they love it and always ask to play longer. I've only done it once this season (10u rec) but they still enjoy it.


You can add glove side relay race to that list. Even number of players on each team. Players lined up, throwing to glove side and then relaying to next player. Down and back the fastest wins. This can be done quickly and really helps reinforce game pressure. I usually do best 3 out 5 or 5 of 7.

My 10U always love the base running relay. Put half on first and half on third and have them run the bases. I usually end practices with it. They get excited and it helps with teaching them how to round the bases.