have been working in side since november girls are getting bored looking for some new drills to spice up practice!! can only do so many grounders and pop fly drills. this is a 12u team any suggestions??
girls getting bored
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You may already be doing these -
2 lines of girls. 1st girl throws the ball high up on the wall, she runs to the back of the line. 2nd girl catches it and throws it back up and goes to the end of the line.
Both lines can be doing this or the other line can bounce the ball to the wall, so that it comes back bouncing or as a grounder.
Then, instead of going to the back of the line - have the girl run to the back of the other line.
Also, do the basketball 4 corners drill, with a softball. First, you are just throwing 1 softball and the girls throw and then, the next girl steps up. (You have like 3 girls at each corner.) Then, use 2 balls. Then, you throw and follow the ball and get in that line.
There is also the relay drill. If you have 12 girls, you have 3 lines of 4 girls. They throw to the girl behind them. Up and back, turning to their glove side to throw. 1st team done, wins.
2 lines of girls. 1st girl throws the ball high up on the wall, she runs to the back of the line. 2nd girl catches it and throws it back up and goes to the end of the line.
Both lines can be doing this or the other line can bounce the ball to the wall, so that it comes back bouncing or as a grounder.
Then, instead of going to the back of the line - have the girl run to the back of the other line.
Also, do the basketball 4 corners drill, with a softball. First, you are just throwing 1 softball and the girls throw and then, the next girl steps up. (You have like 3 girls at each corner.) Then, use 2 balls. Then, you throw and follow the ball and get in that line.
There is also the relay drill. If you have 12 girls, you have 3 lines of 4 girls. They throw to the girl behind them. Up and back, turning to their glove side to throw. 1st team done, wins.
If you have enough space, 60+ feet in any one direction. Indoors is a great place to work on how to run bases. How to take a turn, how to pick up the coaches base-running instructions. Taking a peek at the ball without staring at it the whole way, sliding, running through first...
Bunting, slapping, wiffle ball games,
- Jul 26, 2010
- 3,553
- 0
Set aside one practice to just have a "games day". We do this 2 or three times a year and the girls love it. Here's what you do:
- Buy a few bags of candy or jamba juice gift cards or whatever to give out as prizes. Girls love candy. (so long as they're eating it at home and not at your practices
- Pre-plan 5-8 "events" in advance. These are all softball related but geared towards inspiring competition and having fun.
- Break your team up into two teams. If you have a big organization you can have your teams compete against one another. How you do this is up to you, pick captains that pick teams, split them up yourself, outfield vs infield, whatever. I like them to be as even as possible.
- Award prizes after each event. Events may have either individual winners, team winners, or both, it doesn't matter, it's up to you
- Keep the pace fast and exciting (but safe) As with all practices, the better you plan the better it will be. If you're not already planning your practices. . it's no surprise your girls are bored.
- At the end, acknowledge the winning team, throw the remaining candy in the air, and let them have some fun.
Here's some events we typically do. Many of these you may already do, others you can find on the internet, I'm not going to go into detail but if you have questions ask and I'll explain them.
- Guts
- Over the Line
- "pickle" game (one team runners, other team fielders, 1 point for getting back safe to first, 2 points for getting to 2nd, 2 points for an out) This is a big favorite and teaches rotation
- Do or Die fly balls (machine launch fly balls, girl has her back to the machine, after ball is launched coach yells "turn", girl turns, spots the ball and catches it. A coach is next to the player watching the ball for safety. Teammates may help the player to locate the ball)
- Hitting TCB balls for distance
- Hitting wiffle balls with a golf club for distance
- Hitting wiffle balls with a tennis racket for distance
- Bat relays
- Bases relays (use a softball for a "baton")
- Throwing from SS and 2B for accuracy, target is a softball on a T at home. 1 point for the T, 5 points for the ball.
Use your imagination, set them up like a mini "softball-Olympics". You'll be amazed at the results you get from your girls when competition and candy is involved.
-W
- Buy a few bags of candy or jamba juice gift cards or whatever to give out as prizes. Girls love candy. (so long as they're eating it at home and not at your practices
- Pre-plan 5-8 "events" in advance. These are all softball related but geared towards inspiring competition and having fun.
- Break your team up into two teams. If you have a big organization you can have your teams compete against one another. How you do this is up to you, pick captains that pick teams, split them up yourself, outfield vs infield, whatever. I like them to be as even as possible.
- Award prizes after each event. Events may have either individual winners, team winners, or both, it doesn't matter, it's up to you
- Keep the pace fast and exciting (but safe) As with all practices, the better you plan the better it will be. If you're not already planning your practices. . it's no surprise your girls are bored.
- At the end, acknowledge the winning team, throw the remaining candy in the air, and let them have some fun.
Here's some events we typically do. Many of these you may already do, others you can find on the internet, I'm not going to go into detail but if you have questions ask and I'll explain them.
- Guts
- Over the Line
- "pickle" game (one team runners, other team fielders, 1 point for getting back safe to first, 2 points for getting to 2nd, 2 points for an out) This is a big favorite and teaches rotation
- Do or Die fly balls (machine launch fly balls, girl has her back to the machine, after ball is launched coach yells "turn", girl turns, spots the ball and catches it. A coach is next to the player watching the ball for safety. Teammates may help the player to locate the ball)
- Hitting TCB balls for distance
- Hitting wiffle balls with a golf club for distance
- Hitting wiffle balls with a tennis racket for distance
- Bat relays
- Bases relays (use a softball for a "baton")
- Throwing from SS and 2B for accuracy, target is a softball on a T at home. 1 point for the T, 5 points for the ball.
Use your imagination, set them up like a mini "softball-Olympics". You'll be amazed at the results you get from your girls when competition and candy is involved.
-W
- Oct 19, 2009
- 1,821
- 0
Set aside one practice to just have a "games day". We do this 2 or three times a year and the girls love it. Here's what you do:
- Buy a few bags of candy or jamba juice gift cards or whatever to give out as prizes. Girls love candy. (so long as they're eating it at home and not at your practices
- Pre-plan 5-8 "events" in advance. These are all softball related but geared towards inspiring competition and having fun.
- Break your team up into two teams. If you have a big organization you can have your teams compete against one another. How you do this is up to you, pick captains that pick teams, split them up yourself, outfield vs infield, whatever. I like them to be as even as possible.
- Award prizes after each event. Events may have either individual winners, team winners, or both, it doesn't matter, it's up to you
- Keep the pace fast and exciting (but safe) As with all practices, the better you plan the better it will be. If you're not already planning your practices. . it's no surprise your girls are bored.
- At the end, acknowledge the winning team, throw the remaining candy in the air, and let them have some fun.
Here's some events we typically do. Many of these you may already do, others you can find on the internet, I'm not going to go into detail but if you have questions ask and I'll explain them.
- Guts
- Over the Line
- "pickle" game (one team runners, other team fielders, 1 point for getting back safe to first, 2 points for getting to 2nd, 2 points for an out) This is a big favorite and teaches rotation
- Do or Die fly balls (machine launch fly balls, girl has her back to the machine, after ball is launched coach yells "turn", girl turns, spots the ball and catches it. A coach is next to the player watching the ball for safety. Teammates may help the player to locate the ball)
- Hitting TCB balls for distance
- Hitting wiffle balls with a golf club for distance
- Hitting wiffle balls with a tennis racket for distance
- Bat relays
- Bases relays (use a softball for a "baton")
- Throwing from SS and 2B for accuracy, target is a softball on a T at home. 1 point for the T, 5 points for the ball.
Use your imagination, set them up like a mini "softball-Olympics". You'll be amazed at the results you get from your girls when competition and candy is involved.
-W
I do this all the time and as they get older I had a sack and they would reach in and get something I would have gum, candy and also Barnie, Poo-Bear and cheap Barbie stuff that embarsed them to get have a lot of fun with it.
obbay
Banned
Some great ideas here!
I do some of these but also throwing and catching a football. Throwing is good for mechanics (except for finish) and girls can have fun learning to catch a pass on the run. then when they get used to that, have them catch with their glove on (still two hands). Then, if you want to, send them out to catch passes with their glove on only throw them the softball.
The football throwing and catching can easily be turned into a race with 2 or 3 lines (depending on how many kids you have, I like 4 or 5 to a line).
I do some of these but also throwing and catching a football. Throwing is good for mechanics (except for finish) and girls can have fun learning to catch a pass on the run. then when they get used to that, have them catch with their glove on (still two hands). Then, if you want to, send them out to catch passes with their glove on only throw them the softball.
The football throwing and catching can easily be turned into a race with 2 or 3 lines (depending on how many kids you have, I like 4 or 5 to a line).
Dave, thanks for starting this thread! (Dave and I coach together)
Amy, have done the ones in red but really like the fly ball twist on the first drill - especially having the girls switch lines. Will have to incorporate that into one of our next practices.
thanks obbay never thought about the football, catching the pass is alot like running down a pop fly over your shoulder. might try that tomorrow at practice see how they do
Last edited:
no problem Immortal1 thanks for letting me know about the site
Fun drill for softball hitting vision training
This entry was posted on Sunday, December 12, 2010 1:59 PM and is filed under Vision Training, Hitting on Ken Krause's web site. Sounds like a fun drill for the girls.
Ken got this softball hitting vision training drill when he was the NFCA Coaches College in Minneapolis back in November. We tried it today and it was a lot of fun, both for the girls and the parents who participated.
The only equipment you need is a bucket of wiffle balls. You need at least two colors, although the balls should be predominently one color. It's really easy to do this in batting cage because you can go from side to side. Here's how it works.
Have a player stand with her back to one side of the cage. Set the wiffle balls on the ground on the other side of the cage, with one or two people kneeling. I used two parents today, which allowed them to be involved while freeing me to work with other players.
The tossers begin tossing a barrage of balls at the player. She knocks away all but one color of ball. Those she catches, and tosses back into the mix. The faster the barrage of balls goes, the more difficult (and fun it is). Having two tossers makes the barrage come faster, and from more directions, adding to the challenge.
For ours today, I had white, blue, purple and yellow balls. The girls had to catch the four yellow balls out of the two dozen coming at them.
It really forces hitters to ignore distractions and focus on the ball — exactly what you want to have happen at the plate. It also helps them work on their hand-eye coordination, as catching the ball under those conditions isn't easy.
It's definitely a way to energize your practices too. Give it a try!
This entry was posted on Sunday, December 12, 2010 1:59 PM and is filed under Vision Training, Hitting on Ken Krause's web site. Sounds like a fun drill for the girls.
Ken got this softball hitting vision training drill when he was the NFCA Coaches College in Minneapolis back in November. We tried it today and it was a lot of fun, both for the girls and the parents who participated.
The only equipment you need is a bucket of wiffle balls. You need at least two colors, although the balls should be predominently one color. It's really easy to do this in batting cage because you can go from side to side. Here's how it works.
Have a player stand with her back to one side of the cage. Set the wiffle balls on the ground on the other side of the cage, with one or two people kneeling. I used two parents today, which allowed them to be involved while freeing me to work with other players.
The tossers begin tossing a barrage of balls at the player. She knocks away all but one color of ball. Those she catches, and tosses back into the mix. The faster the barrage of balls goes, the more difficult (and fun it is). Having two tossers makes the barrage come faster, and from more directions, adding to the challenge.
For ours today, I had white, blue, purple and yellow balls. The girls had to catch the four yellow balls out of the two dozen coming at them.
It really forces hitters to ignore distractions and focus on the ball — exactly what you want to have happen at the plate. It also helps them work on their hand-eye coordination, as catching the ball under those conditions isn't easy.
It's definitely a way to energize your practices too. Give it a try!
