Softball Drills & Exercises

Stretching Exercises

• All softball players should be properly warming up with a few exercises before practice or games. Stretching is one of the most underused techniques for boosting athletic performance in softball and other sports, according to The Stretching Handbook website.

  Make sure your players take part in three specific stretches that are best suited for softball players. These include the lying knee rollover, elbow out rotator stretch and the rotating wrist stretch.

  To perform the lying knee rollover, lie on your back with knees bent and your arms out to your sides. Keep your knees together as you roll your lower back and hips from side to side. Make sure your knees are moving together as far as possible toward the floor.

  The elbow out rotator is accomplished by placing one hand in the middle of your back with the palm facing outward and elbow bent at the side. Reach across with your hand and pull your elbow forward to stretch.

  The rotating wrist stretch is performed by sticking one arm straight out in front of you and rotating your hand and wrist down and outward. Use your other hand to pull and gently turn the wrist a little further.

Ball Control

• Learning how to stop an oncoming ground ball or hopper is key in developing a solid defense. This drill will help players concentrate on stopping the hit ball.

  Set a bucket of softballs next to you and send a few players out to the field. This drill can involve as many or as few players as desired. Have them spread out a little into infield positions. Hit or throw balls on the ground toward a player.

  Before the drill starts, instruct the players to focus on stopping the ball and getting it into their glove. Once the stop or catch has been accomplished, the player will run the ball to home plate to drop the ball in the bucket before returning to her position. This drill eliminates the distraction of throwing and focuses on keeping the ball in the player's control while adding cardio for endurance. After each ball is fielded, hit one to another fielder.

Quick Toss

• In fastpitch softball, hitters must swing the bat fast and accurately enough to make contact with a high velocity pitch. They must have the strength to complete a powerful swing that will send the ball into play with the best chance of getting on base or advancing other runners. The Quick Toss Drill will help players develop these necessary skills.

  Place a bucket of softballs about 5 feet to the side of the batter. The batter should be at the plate in her batting stance. One by one, toss the balls out over the plate. The batter swings at each ball trying to make contact and hit it as well as possible. As the batter is making contact, prepare to toss another ball.

  The idea is to get the batter to swing, reload and be ready to swing again immediately. This is a tiring exercise for the players, but it will improve the natural feel for hitting the ball in the right spot and develop the arm muscles that power the swing.

Base Speed Drill

• Fielding bunts and throwing out base runners are important skills to master for a successful softball team. To avoid put outs on the base paths, it is essential for the team's offense to develop base running speed to beat out such throws. This drill will help improve all of these portions of the game and will be a fun, competitive drill.

  Divide the team into two sides. Choose two players from one team, sending one of them to second base and the other to third. The second team should have one "runner" standing at home plate. Place three softballs about a foot apart on the baseline about two-thirds of the way from third base to home plate. This is an area where many bunts end up.

  When you say "go" the runner takes off running bases. The object for the runner is to round first and get safely into second before the third base fielder can throw all three balls to the fielder on second base. Score a point for whichever team wins the round and choose three new players.