- Jun 1, 2015
- 501
- 43
One of the major practice issues with my 16U team last year was our infield hitting/defense (the traditional, put everyone at their position, hit through the positions, varying up the scenarios, etc.). It was a common remark that we wasted too much time through this and got not as many reps. as we would have liked to as a team.
Then I came across this link from USA Softball back in January/February: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDwFdR4gluQ
I fell in love with this because I felt it could easily get my girls more repetition in practice compared to our basic infield hitting I deemed it the "Rapid Fire" drill for my team because we're focusing on technique and getting repetition in a short amount of time. In 2 practices, the girls really, really enjoy it - they like the fast-paced speed (I'm still working on my timing between rolls) and we're getting better at talking to one another and paying attention to "when do I need to be up to catch a throw", etc. One or two shots to a leg got people's attention pretty quickly, especially for a team of young players.
My question - should I still be incorporating some form of infield hitting practice with them? We have yet to establish who's playing where, which I why I like the "Rapid Fire" drill because it works EVERYONE on the same basics (whether an infielder or outfielder). We wasted a LOT of time last year on hitting for defense, whereas I could've used this time for other drills.
Then I came across this link from USA Softball back in January/February: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDwFdR4gluQ
I fell in love with this because I felt it could easily get my girls more repetition in practice compared to our basic infield hitting I deemed it the "Rapid Fire" drill for my team because we're focusing on technique and getting repetition in a short amount of time. In 2 practices, the girls really, really enjoy it - they like the fast-paced speed (I'm still working on my timing between rolls) and we're getting better at talking to one another and paying attention to "when do I need to be up to catch a throw", etc. One or two shots to a leg got people's attention pretty quickly, especially for a team of young players.
My question - should I still be incorporating some form of infield hitting practice with them? We have yet to establish who's playing where, which I why I like the "Rapid Fire" drill because it works EVERYONE on the same basics (whether an infielder or outfielder). We wasted a LOT of time last year on hitting for defense, whereas I could've used this time for other drills.
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