Fun Drills for 8U Team

Hello,

I'm a new coach of a 8U team. I'm looking for some fun drills that focus on catching and throwing. We are about a month into our season and I try to switch practices up as much as possible so the girls do not get bored but I need some new ideas.

We routinly break the girls into small groups to do fielding and hitting drills and we take infield as a group as well as hitting with fielders making the plays. We also play a pop fly game occasionally where if you drop a ball your out and the last one standing wins.

My girls practice hard and do a fantastic job and I want to reward them with some games that are fun while still improving their skills.

Your feedback is appreciated.

Brent

Try the "Star Drill"...its a throwing & catching drill.

Position your players at the 5 infield positions (c 1 2 ss 3).

Start with ball at C. C throws to SS. SS throws to 1. 1 throws to 3. 3 throws to 2. 2 throws back to C.

If you have 10 girls you can have two sets of 5-players, and you can time each set to complete the star...or you can count the number of catches b/f a dropped ball.

If you have more than 10 you can simply have multiple girls at each position and you then rotate the girls in & out while keeping the "star" going...never stop the throwing and see how high a number you can reach b/f a drop or bad throw. Try to beat that number next practice.

Focus on good throws...throws the receiver can catch....catching the ball...focus on good quick glove to hand transition..footwork...etc. The goal is quick crisp accurate throws...proer receiving and throwing technique.

Some fun drills-

Use tennis balls (or total control whiffle balls) and have them put their batting helmets. Throw ball up in the air and they get a point if they catch the ball with their helmet.

I bought 18 Total Control whiffles and the girls love the 'squishy balls' Total Control TCB Hole Balls - 6 pack or Dozen | HittingWorld.com I use them for front toss, practicing one handed catching without the glove, pop-ups to they get confidence.

Drill called 'Arizona'. Take four girls, divide them into two teams of two. Place defender at first and third. Two other girls hit off Tee and run until both defenders touch the ball, they get a point for each base they reach before both girls touch the ball.

Put hula hoops up on fence with tie wraps. Have teams of ~3 girls compete throwing the ball from 30 to 40 ft until one team has hit the target 6 times (or 3 times).

I did one drill where I put ball on ground behind girls, have them turn around, find ball, get it, and throw to partner.

Variation of above where they start on lying down and have to get up, turn around, find ball, and throw to partner.

The old knock stuff animal off bucket throwing contest.

Put a bucket with candy (or a cheap toy-- my team last year was 'Purple Dolphins' so I spent less than $5 for some cheap dolphin key chains from a party store) on a bucket 10 ft beyond first base to get them to run thru/past first.

I've purchased the Canadian 'Learn to Play' program books for 6u and 8u coaches that Marc Dagenais recommended for ideas for fun drills the past two seasons:
http://www.softball.ca/main.asp?page_url=/page.asp?id=72
http://www.softball.ca/files/PLTPLEVEL1.pdf
http://www.softball.ca/files/PLTPLEVEL2.pdf
http://www.softball.ca/files/PLTPLEVEL3.pdf

I also have handed out the activity book at the team meeting/organizational night as 'homework'.

I used the the Arizona drill and a variation of 'Reach the coach' from the LTP program last night during practice.

Love the ones above. My DD is 10 but when she was in 8U one of her favorites was one her coach called battle square. He would line up a team of 4 spread out along the first base line and a line of 4 opposite them between 2nd/3rd. The first team had to throw a grounder at the other team (bouncing at least 5 feet in front of them) trying to get it past them. If they got it past it was a point (first team to 5 points won). If the team fielded it they had to toss it to a team member and that team member would then throw it back at the other team trying to get it past them. (And eventually have them increase the speed of the game) He monitored teams to make sure they were split with even talent. Winning team might get a prize or just pride sometimes.

We were fortunate that DD had a great coach through all of 8U and he liked to say "Boys have fun with they are winning, girls win when they are having fun". Very true!

Not exactly drill related but other things this coach did that we liked:
* Focused a lot on fundamentals..but tried to make that fun...we are in GA so when he told them to use two hands we would call it the "bulldog chomp"...and he would teach them throwing motion in stages (scarecrow, thumb to thigh reach of the sky, on surf board, etc....things they could relate to)
* Ordered cool helmet stickers and gave them our (generously) after games for any good plays
* At practice might bring something like 12 silly key chains and clip them to fence and when player did something "110%" they got to go pick a key chain from the fence...of course everybody got one eventually but the most eager beavers got them first and got first pick
* Set a goal for them and when they reached it slushies for all after that game
* There is an ice cream shop near us named "scoops" so he would buy $3 "scoops" gift cards and give them out to players who made a great catch (which in 8U was almost any catch of a pop fly or fly ball but by 10U this became outfield eligible only to incentivize girls to want to play outfield)

My DD started playing at age 6 and now plays 10U TB and I think a lot of the reason she became so serious about softball is because she had a coach in 8U who taught her a lot of the fundamentals but also made it fun!

Thanks for the great feedback!!!

These are great ideas. I have practice later tonight and will definetely be using some of these.

-Protect My House
One player in front of a fence screen, or multiple kids in front of multiple screens with one kid per screen (3-4 against the backstop behind home plate makes this easier.) Coach starts with grounders and the kid gets a point for every ball that doesn't touch the screen. The keep track of consecutive stops. If using one screen, the player rotates to the back of the line if she misses. Highest consecutive stops wins the round. If using multiple kids on multiple screens, they stay, but keep track of the highest string of consecutive stops. Progress to short hops, low line drives, chest high and just within reach above the head.

-Small groups working on grounders, hops, flies, etc.
Once the groups go through enough reps to satisfy coach's form expectations, compete with other groups for most catches/return throws in 2 minutes. With 8U, I'd give credit for balls kept in front of them and throws to coach that can be caught with no more than a step. 12U+ get no mercy.

-Throwing Relay Races
3-5 per group lined up and spread out. Ball starts on one end and is thrown down the line to the last girl. Last girl throws all the way to the first (might need to wait til 10U for anything more than 3 per group.) Once they get the routine down and satisfy coach's form expectations, they compete against other groups for most completions in 2 minutes or most consecutive completions. Rotate every round.

-Glove Tag
Use cones or other markers to make a grid/circle. All the girls in the grid with gloves on. On "go," girls try to tag the backs of anyone with their glove. Add a tennis ball to each kid's glove if you want. If tagged, they have to run around the grid 2 times to re-enter. After about 5 minutes, switch to Queen of the Circle and if tagged out, they're out. As soon as the first kid is out, start walking around the grid and move the markers in to progressively make the circle smaller. Makes a fun warm up.

Especially with the 10U and below, I like to turn almost anything into a competition. I try to keep groups and lines to no more than 3 when possible. I avoid elimination games except for the last round of a competition Elimination games give the talented more practice than others.)

A twist to T.J.'s Star Game:
Same as above, but the other 5 have helmets on. Coach starts by hitting a grounder to SS who starts the star. At the crack of the bat, the first in line on the other team tries to run the bases and beat the throw to home. Initially, the girls on the field need to be reminded to ignore the runner and the bases. As they get better, I move the starting point up the baseline, or add a pitcher to take the throw from 2B to C.

After 3 outs, teams switch. Play 2-3 innings and rotate kids each time out.

the learn to play program looks good. How expensive is it?

Dabears17 said:

Some fun drills-

Use tennis balls (or total control whiffle balls) and have them put their batting helmets. Throw ball up in the air and they get a point if they catch the ball with their helmet.

I bought 18 Total Control whiffles and the girls love the 'squishy balls' Total Control TCB Hole Balls - 6 pack or Dozen | HittingWorld.com I use them for front toss, practicing one handed catching without the glove, pop-ups to they get confidence.

Drill called 'Arizona'. Take four girls, divide them into two teams of two. Place defender at first and third. Two other girls hit off Tee and run until both defenders touch the ball, they get a point for each base they reach before both girls touch the ball.

Put hula hoops up on fence with tie wraps. Have teams of ~3 girls compete throwing the ball from 30 to 40 ft until one team has hit the target 6 times (or 3 times).

I did one drill where I put ball on ground behind girls, have them turn around, find ball, get it, and throw to partner.

Variation of above where they start on lying down and have to get up, turn around, find ball, and throw to partner.

The old knock stuff animal off bucket throwing contest.

Put a bucket with candy (or a cheap toy-- my team last year was 'Purple Dolphins' so I spent less than $5 for some cheap dolphin key chains from a party store) on a bucket 10 ft beyond first base to get them to run thru/past first.

I've purchased the Canadian 'Learn to Play' program books for 6u and 8u coaches that Marc Dagenais recommended for ideas for fun drills the past two seasons:
Softball Canada - The National Sport Governing Body for Softball in Canada
http://www.softball.ca/files/PLTPLEVEL1.pdf
http://www.softball.ca/files/PLTPLEVEL2.pdf
http://www.softball.ca/files/PLTPLEVEL3.pdf

I also have handed out the activity book at the team meeting/organizational night as 'homework'.

I used the the Arizona drill and a variation of 'Reach the coach' from the LTP program last night during practice.

Click to expand...

I use the throwing relay Ken talks about but the girls must turn to glove side or they have to start over.

I remember when I did eight. I read or had someone tell me about this egg drill. The girl will hold an egg in each hand. They have to keep their hands up and hold the egg while they slide. Of course after it was all over they wanted to throw the eggs at each other.

Today some of those girls are in my 12U division. They still remember that drill and want to do it again.......

The aiming at a stuff animal is a fun one too.....