Drills - Where to start?

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Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
Did you know there are 3,459,131 softball drills on the internet? It's true; I counted.

OK, so I made the number up, but I bet I'm pretty close! There are tons and tons of drills for all aspects of the sport, covering different skill/experience/age levels. And, because you can't trust everything you see on the internet (except my absolutely true number in the first sentence), not all these drills are effective (or worse: safe).

I do feel like I can identify a drill that's just terrible because I know the sport well enough to see the value or lack thereof in a particular drill. Still, most drills I've found (both free and paid) seem pretty good, and at some point I'd like to use them or some variation of them in my practices.

So what does everybody consider the most important basic drills? Which drills should every team do, regardless of level? What common drills should coaches absolutely avoid (I've already bought in to the high level throwing program and have ditched wrist flicks and other poor throwing drills)?

I'm already thinking about the practices I'm going to plan for the spring. HS teams have limited practice time before games begin, so I want to make the most of it. I wouldn't mind a few thoughts on the best drills/tests to do at a tryout, too. It's been a long time since my high school baseball tryouts, and I don't remember too much about them.
 
Oct 3, 2011
3,478
113
Right Here For Now
Okay, you asked for it. Any drill from Howard Kobata, the rake drill from Mike Candrea, any drill from Austin Wasserman, any drill from Bobby Tewksberry, Matt Lisle, several other hitting coaches, any drill from Jay Weaver/ Home, any drill from Bill Hillhuose or any of the other exceptional Pitching coaches on her such as Boardmember. Javasource, Rick Pauly, etc.etc. I'm sorry if I didn't mention the many exceptional members on here that add extraordinary input on a daily basis. There's only so much I can remember when I'm put on the spot.:rolleyes:
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
Okay, you asked for it. Any drill from Howard Kobata, the rake drill from Mike Candrea, any drill from Austin Wasserman, any drill from Bobby Tewksberry, Matt Lisle, several other hitting coaches, any drill from Jay Weaver/ Home, any drill from Bill Hillhuose or any of the other exceptional Pitching coaches on her such as Boardmember. Javasource, Rick Pauly, etc.etc. I'm sorry if I didn't mention the many exceptional members on here that add extraordinary input on a daily basis. There's only so much I can remember when I'm put on the spot.:rolleyes:

What I'm really trying to ask is "Do you or anybody else want to write my practice plans for me?" :)

I've already bought a bunch of Austin's eBooks. Good stuff, and I plan to incorporate a lot of it in the spring.
 
Oct 3, 2011
3,478
113
Right Here For Now
What I'm really trying to ask is "Do you or anybody else want to write my practice plans for me?" :)

I've already bought a bunch of Austin's eBooks. Good stuff, and I plan to incorporate a lot of it in the spring.

Sorry...I have enough of my own to write;)

Seriously though, look at the youtube video of Candrea's rake drill and this groundwork drills video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDwFdR4gluQ . It allows a big number of reps in a very short amount of time. As for the rest, Kobata for fielding drills, Tewksberry/Lisle for hitting, Wasserman for throwing and anything by Rick Pauly on pitching and hitting, Hillhouse for Pitching and Jay Weaver at catchingcamp.com for catcher drill work. All of them have great drills which are easy to incorporate into a practice plan. You can find good drills from most of these guys on youtube or at their home sites.
 
Last edited:
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
one area I think is under addressed is drills not requiring one player to serve or set up play for other player. When coaching younger ages, this is simply not a possibility much of the time. I coach 8-9 yr olds rec, and I am not certain I want them even setting a ball on a tee for another player. and AC are hit or miss year to year, and how often they are there. had may a practice I ran solo with about 8-10 girls, where ideally I have a few groups of 2-4 at different drills.
 
Oct 30, 2014
292
18
Seattle
When planning a practice sometimes its easiest for me to make practice outlines and fill in/adjust as necessary for specific practices. For example if you coach an young team that practice 2 days a week I may have a defense day and a hitting/pitching/catching day. An outline may look like this:

Day 1
5:00 Plyometric Warm up
5:15 Throwing drills
5:30 Station 1 (IF) *different groups start at different stations
5:45 Station 2 (OF)
6:00 Station 3 (Base running)
6:15 Team drills/competitions
6:45 Conditioning game
7:00 End

Day 2
5:00 Plyometric Warm up
5:15 Throwing drills
5:30 Hitting stations (~3-5 minutes per station)
6:00 Simultaneously:
-Pitching practice
-Catching practice (separate from pitchers, when done go catch pitchers)
-Another drill or game for the other players
6:45 Team drill/competition
7:00 End

I just threw this together but that is the idea. You then can then go in each week and fill in a throwing drill you want the girls to work on or which IF drill you'll be using that day without being overwhelmed with lists of drills.

There are tons of variables when making practice plans, for example older players can do drills for longer than young players, they can also have longer practices with more time for small stations and situational plays. Travel teams practice more and usually year round, they will cover more than a rec team.

You also can pencil out the season - not filling in every minute of practice. What skills do you think your players are ready for now? What do you want to remember to get to by the end of the season? Remember to take a step back from your day to day practice plan to see if you are on track to teaching the skills you need.

Don't lose the forest for the trees.
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
7,132
113
Dallas, Texas
IMHO, it doesn't matter a whole heck of a lot what drills you do. Maybe you need a couple of outfield drills and a couple of infield drills.

What is important? How the coach interacts with the players and teaches the players.

A good coach teaching and having fun with the kids using only one drill will achieve 1000% more than a mediocre coach doing 100 drills.
 
Dec 18, 2016
11
1
SE IA
IMHO, it doesn't matter a whole heck of a lot what drills you do. Maybe you need a couple of outfield drills and a couple of infield drills.

What is important? How the coach interacts with the players and teaches the players.

A good coach teaching and having fun with the kids using only one drill will achieve 1000% more than a mediocre coach doing 100 drills.

Hello, first post here, agreeing with you but wanted elaborate,...
I believe that content matters, though it must be relevant.
Thanks
 

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