Drills for Softball Tryouts

Softball tryouts are the time for athletes to show “what they really got” and prove their skills. Softball coaches at these levels will need to develop drills that will represent the athletes’ skill levels and potential for growth in the sport. Hitting drills, pitching drills, defensive drills, fielding drills and catchers’ drills are some of the areas coaches should work on.

  1. Hitting Drills

    • Run hitting drills for softball tryouts. Coaches will look for the batting stance, grip, bat selection and swing to name a few. The Drop Toss showcases your players' hitting abilities. Drop Toss can be set up along the outfield, facing out. There are two girls to a team. One girl bats and the other girl "drops" the ball to her—in the strike zone. To make this drill more challenging, the “dropper” can stand on a chair. With this added element, the drill will show your players' hand speed.

    The Tryout Scramble

    • Devise the “tryout scramble.” This drill reveals more than just one aspect of an athlete’s ability to play softball. Tryout scramble can reveal a player’s complete makeup including footwork and foot speed, hustle ability and motivation, catching and throwing accuracy, and strength on the field. This is a rapid and intense drill. A coach and catcher (most likely the team catcher) will stand at home plate. There is a player on first and a backup first baseman. All remaining players stand in a single file line behind home plate. The coach hits a grounder to third base and the first girl plays it and throws it back. The catcher takes that ball and bunts it toward third base, at which time the second girl comes forward, charges and fields the ball. She throws the bunt to first base. This second girl at third base now runs to first and becomes the backup girl, and the backup girl becomes the first baseman while the first baseman runs to the end of the third base line.

    Two Bucket Drill

    • Split the group of potential softball players into four groups. The groups should be of equal number. Skill levels do not need to match in this drill. One group is placed behind shortstop near the outfield, and the other group placed behind second base near the outfield. The coaches (or coach and one assistant) are lined up behind the foul line by home plate. The coaches each have a bucket of balls. The coach on the third base foul line hits to the second base group. The coach on the first base foul line hits to the shortstop group. Players rotate clockwise. The first girl in the shortstop group fields the ball (hit by the coach) and throws to the first girl in the catching group behind that coach. The shortstop girl now rotates to the catcher group.The catcher drops the ball in the coach's bucket and rotates to the next catcher's group, along the third base foul line. The other side works this exact way.