Middle School Softball Drills

Differing in regulations, such as pitching distance and skill level, middle school softball follows the same general game play rules as high school and college softball. With the activity and energetic chants, the sport can be a great way for players to bond while learning the basic skills required for the sport. Drills simultaneously improve player performance through rote memory and repeated practice and keep players active and engaged.

  1. Base Running

    • Running bases is a great conditioning drill that teaches players how to run and touch the bases in the least amount of time. Other smaller drills may be incorporated into this drill by having a different skill set that must be completed before moving on to the next base. Running the bases drills can be done in a very standard fashion, from first to second to third to home, or any other creative way. For example, divide the team into two groups competing against each other. Both groups start from home plate. One group runs toward third while the other runs towards first. One group runs the inner circle, touching the inner corners of the bases, while the other runs the outer circle, touching the outer corners of the bases. Only one person runs at a time. All bases must be touched with the foot and the next runner can’t start until the previous one rounds second base. Once runners finish rounding the bases, they join the end of the opposite line and run the bases again. The first team to finish both rounds of bases wins. This drill teaches players how to touch the bases from multiple angles and builds team spirit while the players cheer each other on. Base running drills may be run only once or repeated a few times throughout practice to reinforce skills.

    Ground and Fly Balls

    • Drills for fielding ground and fly balls allow players to improve their hand-eye coordination and improve skills essential to the sport. One way to structure ground and fly ball drills is to create stations where one works on fly balls, one works on ground balls and one works with random hits. First, divide players into three groups and position the first group at station one, the second at station two and the third at station three. Players at station one work on ground balls thrown or hit by a designated player or coach that must be caught by players who should prepare themselves with their mitts placed on the ground. Station two follows the same procedure with fly balls and mitts positioned toward the sky. At station three, the coach or designated player will randomly hit a fly ball or ground ball so girls must be prepared to field either. This drill practices field communication, proper form for fielding balls and improves defensive skills that prepare middle school players for higher levels where bunting and line drives are more common.

    Hitting

    • Hitting is the primary form of offense in middle school softball. Hitting drills help improve accuracy and power. Two important parts of a hitting drill include stance and judgment. Before each drill, players should stand in the proper batting stance-- standing perpendicular to the pitcher with feet at shoulder's-width apart and the front shoulder tilted down. After the proper stance has been achieved, have each player take turns hitting small wiffle balls. Since wiffle balls are much smaller and lighter than softballs, each swing improves a player's power and accuracy, as they must hit a smaller target with much more force. This also helps players practice judging which pitches are balls and which are strikes, which becomes more important and difficult the higher high school and college levels.