Introducing the game to 8U-10U players.

[HurricaneTiger]

What would be you advice for introducing softball to a group of girls from 7-10 years of age. Our community has a good program for 12u and up but does nothing for our younger girls to learn the fundamentals. We are starting a night at the park for skill development once a week to introduce the game to more kids.

 

[radness]

Good for you all !!!
Is it same group on-going?

Start simple
On the field have a basic conversation explaining offensive and defensive goal.
We need to do
A & B to achieve runs & outs.
* Good time to ask if everyone understands or has a question.
* Some may have advice already lol

ENJOY

 

[Eric F]

Keep it fun, and keep in mind their short attention span. Don't stay on one skill or drill for very long. If you have others to help you, split them up into smaller groups so there's less waiting time between reps. If these are players who are mostly new to the game, I would focus more on fundamental skills (throw/catch, fielding, running, and hitting) than game strategy concepts.

 

[Dabears17]

I agree with Eric F about keeping their short attention span in mind and divide them up into small groups. My first 6u practice I came with a 90 minute practice plan for a 60 minute practice .

Take a look at Big Al's Baseball stuff for some fun drills:

Home

Big Al Baseball Training and Development Center online

bigalbaseball.com

When I ran a rec league, I bought our 6u and 8u coaches material from Canada Softball's Learn To Play program to give coaches ideas for fun drills. Don't necessarily agree with everything in their material, but its a good start:

Learn to Play - Softball Canada

b.softball.ca

For throwing mechanics, do a google search on Austin Wasserman.

Home - High Level Throwing -

Consulting Services BASEBALL & SOFTBALL SERVICES HIGH LEVEL THROWING® CLINICS REMOTE TRAINING BOOKS + RESOURCES What We Offer… We offer a variety of training programs + consulting services for serious Baseball and Softball Coaches, Players and Teams. Team & Organization Clinics College...

www.highlevelthrowing.com

For pitching, do google searches on Bill Hillhouse, Javasource, Rick Pauly, and Rich Balswick.

If you really want to go crazy, look at some of videos on https://fastpitch.tv/

And for catchers, the best $40 I spent was on this video:

A Coach's Guide to Training Catchers: E-BOOK — The Catching Camp

www.catchingcamp.com

I haven't looked at it in a couple years, but Little League has some free material:

Little League University

Little League University is the training and education website for Little League Baseball and Softball. Use LLU as a free resource to learn best practices.

www.littleleague.org

A good start on hitting are the RVP hitting videos from Sue Enquist and Mike Candrea. Little League used to sell a version of it for $15 or $20. I don't see it in a quick search of the Little League online store:

Right View Pro

www.rightviewpro.com

I haven't looked at the rightviewpro website in a couple years, but I do have their app and some instructional videos on my phone.

 

[BigSkyHi]

Teach the parents and the kids how to catch and throw so they can play together at home.

 

[chinamigarden]

My first baseball practice I had lofty plans.

And then I spent the first 10 minutes teaching kids which hand the glove went on. Still had fun, but we didn’t follow the plans much that first day.

 

[Eric F]

Teach the parents and the kids how to catch and throw so they can play together at home.

Absolutely! NOTHING helps a new player's skill development and confidence like reps.


A story...

When my DD was in her last season of rec ball (10U), I had a parent come up to me and ask for advice on how their DD could get better. I told the parent that the top players are doing more work on their skills than just team practices and games, and I described the kind of stuff that DD and I did at home - hitting, throw/catch, fielding. The look I got from the parent clearly said "Yeah...I'm not doing that". They were looking for some kind of secret magic trick, or something.

Another parent took my advice, worked with her DD consistently over the course of the season, and helped her DD go from a first-time player to a nominee for all-stars. I could see the improvement week-to-week at practices and in games.

 

[BigSkyHi]

These may keep them entertained for a little while at practice and the parents can take them home with them

- Get Defensive: 4 Balls

- Get Defensive: Triangle Drill

 

[BigSkyHi]