Softball Drills - Easy Steps to Create Top Softball Pitchers

By Geoff James

Movement, Tempo and Control are all important parts of throwing a great pitch. Here are a few drills to help you perfect all aspects of your throw:

Drills to be done inside:

Practice control by using a rubber ball and your mitt. Stand facing a wall in your stride position. Using only your wrist, flick the ball at the wall. The ball should come straight back to you if you are using proper form and control. Once you have mastered control at that level, repeat but from 8 ft away. When throwing from such a distance use your windmill.

Field Drills:

Ball Juggling can be done with two pitchers or a pitcher and a catcher. Give the girl on the mound two balls and the player at home one. The pitcher throws the ball to home, and after the release but before catching it the catcher returns a pitch with her ball. The goal is to keep balls constantly rotating so the players can throw as many pitches in one minute as possible.

Making sure that pitchers have proper form is important especially in their early stages of learning. Have pitchers stand just a few feet from the pitching coach and slowly go through the windmill motions, trying to pull their arm far behind them and touch the sky before releasing. Focus on weight distribution and proper rotation through the windmill but especially at the point of release. Once the pitchers have proper form in close range, move them back 25 feet. Go through the cycle again, then have them pitch full speed from the mound.

Get the girls who try their hardest in practice and during games softball medals as a thank you for all their work each season.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Geoff_James

Coaching Fast Pitch Softball

Throwing and Pitching Trainers at SoftballrUs.com

Fast Pitch Softball Coaching Tips
By Judy Halaby

Coaching fast pitch softball is an art form. Let's face it, a large part of coaching is drills. And drills are BORING! But the key to being a successful coach is to make drills more engaging.

First, drills alone are not a practice. You must intersperse drills with fast pitch softball games so that your players stay engaged.

Second, drills are not boring. You can try to make them more fun. For example, make them competitive. A successful drill is one in which there is a healthy competitive component added.

Third, explain the purpose of the drills to the players. If they understand what skills they are building with each drill they will be more engaged and may even participate more enthusiastically.

Fourth, and most important, an effective fast pitch softball drill builds confidence. While doing the drill the player should be complimented on what they are doing right. Keep the feedback simple, just a "awesome" will suffice and keep a player engaged.

Your practice

The first job of coaching is getting the players to practice on time. The best incentive to get players to practice on time is to give them a sequential number when they get there and that is their number in the batting line up...which is every player's favorite part of practice.

Second, warm ups. Keep warm ups fun and engaging... stretching is a necessary evil, but a game of tag or relay race is a good way to get players warmed up and keep them engaged as well.

Third come drills, as mentioned above, keep drills as fun as possible. They are a necessary evil to every player's game. Make each drill a game and keep the drills to two or three per practice. Any more than that and your players will get bored and tired.

Finally, end the practice with a scrimmage. This is the player's favorite part of practice and keeps them most engaged in fast pitch softball.

Judy Halaby is a softball fanatic and wants to see it in the 2012 Olympics!

http://www.fastpitchsoftballbats.org

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Judy_Halaby

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Coach, Be Consistent

Coach, Be Consistent
By Stacie Mahoe

When you learn about raising children, you hear about consistency. When you learn about working with animals and training animals, you hear about consistency. This key of consistency also applies to coaching softball as well.

It's only fair to your players, not to mention vital for you, that you be consistent in your actions, words, rules, and discipline as a coach. Ground rules should always be laid out at the beginning of the season. These ground rules should also include potential disciplinary actions for when those rules are broken. Be sure that you do NOT set a consequence that you will not enforce. This carries the same effect as "empty threats" in parenting. When you fall into the trap of using "empty threats" the following things happen:

1. Your players know that you won't follow through and will push the envelope as far as possible
2. You are undermining your own credibility and believability because you haven't kept your word
3. Chances are, you'll respect or make it harder to gain the respect of your players.

Whenever you give your word as a coach, be it in speech or in writing, ALWAYS do your best to stick with it. If for whatever reason, you can't follow through, let your players know before hand and figure out what you need to do to make things right. If you don't make it a point to keep your word, players will begin taking what you say "with a grain of salt" because they won't know when you actually mean what you say and when you're just talking the talk without walking the walk. This is not a good situation for you to be in as a coach. If you're players don't believe you, how can you lead them?

Avoid making up rules and consequences as you go along. Clear guidelines and boundaries from the start make life much simpler for players, parents, and coaches. Be up front about what your expectations, your rules, your guidelines, and your consequences and follow through. Choosing to follow through only *sometimes* is only asking for trouble as a coach. Make sure your rules, guidelines, and consequences are reasonable enough for everyone, including you and your staff, to follow and abide by throughout the season. Be consistent. Consistency will save you and your team a lot of heartache and frustration.

by Stacie Mahoe
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stacie_Mahoe

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Free Youth Softball Coaching Articles - Free Softball Drills

FastpitchSoftballSupply.com - We only do softball & we do it right!

Youth Softball Drills
[Recreation-and-Sports:Baseball] It's important that children find softball drills that they can use during practice sessions. In order to become better at their sport, youths need to learn through softball drills. This article has free softball drills that youths can use which will expand their skills and make them better athletes.


Girls Softball Drills
[Recreation-and-Sports:Baseball] These girls softball drills will give you a chance of becoming a dominant softball player and increase your performance on the field. Take the time to practice these fast pitch softball drills so you can become as good as you want to be.


Free Softball Practice Drills
[Recreation-and-Sports:Baseball] Fastpitch softball drills are a great way to bettering yourself as a player. These drills are a great resource for you to perfect old skills and acquire others that are necessary in order to become a dominant softball player. The free softball practice drills here, are great to use during practice because they are ideal for those sessions and they get most of the team involved in the exercise. Perhaps, best of all, they're free of charge!


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Four Recommended Softball Articles for Girls Fastpitch Softball Coaches:

Four Recommended Softball Articles for Girls Fastpitch Softball Coaches:



SoftballrUs.com - FastpitchSoftballSupply.com

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