By Becky Wittenburg
Practice can become dull and boring if the same softball drills are used every time. In order to keep athletes fresh in their skills, incorporate new drills as often as possible. These fun and challenging hitting drills will provide players a new perspective on hitting and force them out of a practice rut!
Pepper Game
This softball hitting drill emphasizes control over the bat and makes the hitter work on a short, quick swing.
Position three to five fielders about 25 feet from the batter, making sure they are spread safely apart.
Have the batter hit the ball with a short, downward stroke toward one of the fielders.
The fielder fields the ground ball and quickly pitches the ball back to the batter, who uses the same quick downward stroke to hit back to one of the fielders.
Right handed batters should hit inside pitches to the fielder on her left, middle pitches to the players in the center, and outside pitches to the fielder on her right.
To make the drill more challenging, have two balls going at once to really keep the batter focused.
Colored Softball Toss
This softball drill requires the hitter to really concentrate on the pitch and focus on keeping her weight back.
For this drill, the coach, or whoever is acting as pitcher, needs several balls of different colors.
The pitcher will toss two pitches simultaneously, making sure the balls are at different heights.
While releasing the toss, the pitcher will call out which ball the player should hit, forcing her concentration on just one ball.
For variations on this drill, the coach can sometimes incorporate fake tosses or vary the speeds of the balls. If colored balls are not available, the pitcher could call out "high" or "low" instead.
This hitting drill will help players adjust their swing for high or low pitches, particularly when they may have been expecting the opposite.
Hit the Bounce
This drill forces the hitter to focus on the timing of her swing, both the trigger - when she should initiate the swing - and the point at which she should make contact with the ball.
Have the pitcher stand to the front and side of the hitter, about ten feet away.
The pitcher tosses a tennis ball to the hitter, making sure the ball bounces once before reaching the strike zone.
The hitter should watch the pitch and use the bounce as a trigger for the swing.
Once she has started her swing, the hitter needs to time it so that she hits the ball at the top of the bounce.
This drill might take a lot of practice to master, both from the person tossing the tennis ball and the hitter, but once they understand the basics it can really help with timing the swing.
And if you'd like to see more free softball drills and coaching tips, go here to watch a free video:
http://www.softball-spot.com/vid/
Becky Wittenburg is a kids softball coach, and the owner and publisher of Softball-Spot.com, the web's #1 resource for softball drills, tips, and practice ideas for youth and high school coaches.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Becky_Wittenburg
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