My practices may be getting boring...

[obbay]

Pre-season, U12 LL. been having (1), 1 hour practice per week, indoors.
Not much you can do in an hour plus we only have 5 or 6 returning girls at each practice.

Working on fundamentals-
start off with catch - correcting their throwing as needed,
grounders back and forth to partners-stressing form glove down, back straight, bend at the knees, bare hand up (not getting into Howard K yet)
Candrea/Team USA - Coach rolling grounders to line of girls at SS who field quickly and throw to 1st. rapid fire, line moves quickly. sometimes followed by similar drill with bare hands.
one handed hitting into jugs screen then go to next station which is:
soft toss into juggs screen
wrap-up with more throwing- 'round the horn, working up to throwing quicker and quicker.

DD told me I need to mix it up more (tonight was almost the exact same as last week)
Last year we did sliding in the Gym and base running which they really enjoyed - I haven't done yet
also DD said incorporate more games/contests.

I have some ideas but I'd like to hear what has worked for you.

thanks!

 

[RubberBiscuit]

At that age a drill that was the "most fun" from feedback was the following:

Get all the girls in an equally spaced circle.
Start off where one girl throws a ground ball to a random gap inbetween two other random girls.
The girl that the ground ball is closest to needs to field it cleanly otherwise she sits down and is out of the game.
She stays seated in her spot though to control the next random ground ball to a gap.
Ya keep going til ya have a winner.
(coaches are "judge" for grounders too fast and other judgements on consistency)

I liked the way it forced a girl to encroach into the space of another girl and communicate it.

 

[Ken B]

Two variations on the above:
-Set up two cone 6-8 yd goals per pair of girls, maybe 15 yds apart. Have the pairs try to score underhand grounders on each other for two minutes. Winners move one direction, losers stay.
-Dodgeball, except each team tries to protect their wall from underhand grounders coming from the other team. Use tennis balls or softies if you see the need.

-Also, two teams, one each in a corner on the same side of the gym. One coach per team with a bucket of balls each, hitting grounders to their team (we do it criss-cross with coaches in corners, opposite their team. Between the coaches are two empty buckets (or two buckets with soccer balls or stuffed animals on top or a tee with a soccer ball on top...) Each coach hits the same number of balls. Girls field the grounders and have to throw from where they are, trying to hit the target. We score bounces as 1 and direct hits as 2.

also

-Glove tag--Play tag in a small grid. Everyone is it and tags have to be on the back. If tagged they must run 2-3 times around the grid to return. After a few minutes, play elimination and shrink the grid as girls are eliminated.

-Base races--Set up bases with 3-4 girls at a base. On go, the first girl runs around all the bases and returns to tag the next in line to go. Everyone gets two turns (1 lap each turn.) On the last turn they sit. First team sitting wins. Add slides to this for fun. Run this a couple times to give teams a chance to redeem. Losers pack gear.

 

[Ken B]

Chaos circle--All the girls lying on their bellies in a circle, heads in. Should be enough space in between each girl to step. On "go" a selected girl gets up and runs over every girl until she comes to the first open spot then lays down quickly. Meanwhile the first girl she stepped over has gotten up and is also running, and so on. No purpose other than crazy fun. No cleats please.

 

[KCM]

Base Race - line half up on home and other half on 2nd. Kind of like relay racing around the bases. Next runner cannot leave until their team runner reaches the starting point.

If you have you Y number of girls, line them up at back stop turned around not facing the field. Coach hitts balls half the number of Y into filed. Then "GO", ones that do not retrieve a ball goes again but this time hit the same amount of balls as girls left. Not always the fastest girls get the balls, the smart ones do.

Sliding practice is always fun for our girls. We usually have them wear clothing that can get wet but of course nothing revieling or bathing suits. Set up a slip n slide. Run up and slide. That way they can slide for longer distance and grasp just what they are suppose to do and how with out the risk of jamming an ankle in the bag.

 

[RichK]

Teach them to catch and throw, over and over and over and over. Get any hitting done you have time for, but you don't have a lot.

That will get them better, playing better in games, and that will be fun.

(which is what you are doing...so maybe add drills but your basic approach is spot on, I'd say)

 

[obbay]

Some excellent input here, thank you!

 

[quincy]

See if you can find a couple older players to come in and help for a practice or two. Seems to shake things up a little bit and the players enjoy it.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

Rolling balls is no preparation for real fielding outside, you need to hit balls to them!

Sometimes its nice to have an open mind. Check out this video from the USA national team practice. Ever since Amy in AZ posted it a few years ago, I have tried to incorporate some of these drills into my fielding practice.

Mike Candrea: USA Softball - Defensive Drills - YouTube

 

[obbay]

that's the drill I was refering to when I mentioned Candrea/Team USA!
I LOVE that drill! so many variations are possible and it keeps them busy with minimal down time!
And it's a great drill to do indoors!

You could see some of the girls were really eating this one up. showed me who came there to play.