Teaching situational defense to young players

Just wondering if there is any information out there to use as a goes-by to teach situational defense to youth that has had very little experience or youth being introduced to the game? Mainly at the 8U level but even 10U. I'm looking for information on where each player should shift when a ball is hit to X when there are Y outs and Z base runners. Videos, books, free info online? Looking to start mapping out practice plans for the season and I want to put a lot more emphasis on this for this upcoming season because there was too much standing around last year and it killed us at times.

Things get a lot easier if you're not allowed to bunt. Are you allowed to bunt?

For 8u beginners, just keep it really simple. Work on basic throwing and fielding skills - a lot. Defensively, start with really easy stuff: throw to the base where the lead forced runner is going, or throw it to first; if you have the ball, look for a runner; OF get the ball to second; know when 2B covers the bag and when SS covers... for 8u, I'm probably just going to let pitcher and catcher go after bunts. But mostly work with basic skills and build solid mechanics. Doesn't matter a ton if they know where to be but can't throw or catch.

10u isn't much different for beginners. If they have a little experience, build on what they know. Bunt coverage gets a little more complicated. More attention to OF backing up the infield in different ways. More attention to baserunning.

Mostly, Have a lot of Fun!

I like the players going to the way the ball is taking them.

So if there are runners on 1st and 2nd, if the SS move right I want her going to 3rd. If she is coming in for the ball I want her going to 1st. I hope that makes sense.

A good way to practice is have players play a ball until its fielded and then have everyone freeze, make sure everyone is headed the right direction, then finish the play. Then have them play the same ball all the way through. Do this a couple times each practice for different situations (get more complicated as they get better) and get everyone used to having to move for every ball.

I second the Freeze drill.

[MENTION=2664]quincy[/MENTION].... It will just be 8U rec ball this spring so no bunting will be allowed for us. Once travel ball begins early summer, then bunting will be allowed.

I'm loving this "freeze drill" idea. I can see how it could really help the kids have a brief moment to process the play and as it becomes more repetitive, it will become more natural over time. This idea will DEFINITELY be implemented. Thanks!

Adding to an earlier post...

It also occurs to me that when DD was 8 (played baseball at first) and even in 10u softball, the kids didn't often care about the score during or after the game. I hope 8-10 year old players will get three things from a good coach: they improve, they have fun, and they want to play again. The next step for the coach is that he or she continuously works to improve. And the next step is to teach the parents how properly to help their kids away from practice (for those who will do that).

I believe we force the goal of success - winning, or starting, or being better than all the others - on kids too early. Last year, a couple of little boys in my church announced one Sunday morning that they had won the state t-ball championship. Of course, I was happy for them, but .... a STATE t-ball championship? Good grief.

Situational defense drills are boring and a waste of time at 8U/10U - and even 12U and older. Sure you may work on bunt coverage and 1&3 drills, but these to me are common parts of the games - not the one offs which to me should be handled by trying to build more and more situational awareness over time.

On the list of things to work on, it should be so low that you never get around to it. There is no point knowing to go to second on a hard hit, if you have horrible fundamentals or if you haven't got your players to a point where someone is even there. I have fundamentals and skills to teach as #1 priority - you can win a lot of games with decent pitching and catching, fielders taking the easy outs and hitting the ball well.

That is not to say it shouldn't be addressed, but it should be addressed within the framework of other things you are doing, not specifically as a major portion of a practice. We do a lot of intra-squad scrimmaging, actual scrimmages and other simulated game drills, so there is ample opportunity to stop and discuss situations when they go well and not so well (so not much different to the freeze drill, but often after the play is over).

Here is how we do it:

First we have a framework they work within to help them handle the familiar and the unfamiliar:
- Before pitch: Plan: What is the score, who is on base, how many outs, who is batting (big hitter, bunt threat, fast, slow, etc), am I positioned properly, what I am going to do if the ball is hit to me, what I am going to do if the ball isn't hit to me
- During play: Ball, base, backup - if I do this, 95% of the time I will be in a reasonable position even in unfamiliar situations.
- Assess: Did I execute my role in that play no matter how big or small.

Then we try to apply that to the situations as they occur by asking them questions and hopefully getting them to think more (and rely less on us telling them what they SHOULD have done):
Did you know before the pitch. What else could you have done? If the ball was hit softer/harder what could you have done and so on.

Do they do this every pitch, Probably not - in fact definitely not - but they get to the point of doing it often enough they are pretty well equipped to handle most of what comes their way,

Some situations you wont handle until you see them in a game. So be it. As our team and players has got older and older, I am surprised often by how well they handle unusual or rare situations (and also amazed by the occasional mess up of executing something easy they could have done in 8U)

I see tht you are looking for situational plays but unless they have mastered the most basic defensive situational play - the throw to and catch at first base, it's going to be a long game.