First Practice Softball Practice Plan (75 Minutes)

Bring them in on a foul line with gloves on and balls in the bucket by you. Point out three zones with cones: a throwing lane, a ground-ball lane, and a hitting lane where bats live.

Give day-one rules in 60 seconds: no throwing until paired and I say “go,” helmets on any runner, and bats only in the hitting lane. Tell them your freeze word (“Freeze!”) means: ball in glove, eyes on coach, no moving.

• Cues: “Find a cone and stand on it.” “When I say freeze, you freeze.” “Gloves stay on.”
• Common issue: Kids start tossing immediately. Fix: collect the balls back to the bucket, reset the rule, then re-start with partners on your command.

Use a short cone lane (15–20 yards). Jog down and back, then high knees, butt kicks, side shuffle, and karaoke. Finish with 10 forward arm circles, 10 backward, then “hug yourself” shoulder stretch.

End warm-up with 30 seconds of athletic stance holds: feet wider than shoulders, knees bent, glove out front. This sets up your ground-ball stance later.

• Watch for: knees bent and chest slightly forward—no standing tall.
• Cues: “Nose over toes.” “Quiet feet.” “Glove out front like a table.”

If attention drifts, call “Freeze,” have them take a knee, and restart the next movement on your clap.

Pair up 10–15 feet apart in two straight lines (use cones to keep spacing). One ball per pair. Everyone starts with the ball in their throwing hand and glove up in ready position.

1. Teach grip quickly: two or four fingers across the seams, thumb underneath. Then: “point your front shoulder, step, throw, freeze.”
2. Receiver’s job: “two hands, catch out front, freeze it.” After the freeze, toss it back.
3. After 3 minutes, back them up 5 feet only if throws are staying on line.

• Watch for: stride foot goes toward partner and throwing hand finishes across the body, not straight up.
• Cues: “Grip—point—step—throw—freeze.” “Two hands—show me the ball.” “Thumbs together for low catches.”
• Common issue: Rainbow throws that float. Fix: bring them closer and do 5 quick wrist snaps each, then return to full throws.

Water at the fence; everyone back in 2 minutes. While they drink, you move cones for the ground-ball lane and pick one coaching point you’ll repeat: “funnel to the belly button.”

When they return, have them take a knee and show you the ready position for 5 seconds before anyone stands up.

Set two lines at shortstop area (or between 2B and 3B) with a cone for each line. You (and a helper if available) roll balls from 15–20 feet. Target is a coach or a bucket 10–15 feet away—keep throws short.

Rep flow: athlete stance → roll ball → player fields with glove out front → funnel to belly button and freeze → step and throw to the close target → jog back to the end.

• Watch for: glove stays on the ground through the ball, then comes up to the middle (no “scooping” sideways).
• Cues: “Butt down.” “Glove out front.” “Funnel—freeze—throw.”
• Common issue: They swipe at the ball and it kicks away. Fix: slow the roll and require the freeze at the belly button before any throw happens.

If they’re handling it, add a tiny footwork piece: after the funnel, take one shuffle toward the target before the throw (still close distance).

Two stations on a foul line or in shallow outfield, facing away from the throwing groups. Station A: tee into a net/fence direction. Station B: soft front toss from behind an L-screen or from the side at a safe angle. Helmets on at both stations.

Split into two groups. Each hitter gets 5 swings, then rotates. While waiting, players hold a bat at their cone and do “dry swings” on your cue—no wandering.

• Cues: “Feet set.” “See it—hit it out front.” “Finish tall.”
• Watch for: contact out in front of the front foot, not back by the belly.
• Common issue: Kids step away from the ball. Fix: draw a small line in the dirt for their front foot and tell them, “Step on the line toward the pitcher.”

If front toss is too hard, convert Station B to “coach holds ball out front” contact hits (no toss) so they learn where contact should happen.

Set a straight cone lane from home to 1B. Put one coach at 1B to direct traffic. One runner at a time with a helmet; everyone else waits behind a cone at home.

First 5 minutes: runners sprint through 1B, hit the bag with the inside of the foot, and keep running 3–4 steps into foul territory. Second 5 minutes: add the “peel right” turn—run through, then turn right and look to the coach at 1B for “back!” or “go!”

• Cues: “Run through the bag.” “Eyes up after the bag.” “Peel right—don’t drift into the field.”
• Common issue: They slow down at the base. Fix: put a cone 10 feet past 1B and tell them the rep isn’t over until they touch the cone.

This is here because baserunning rules are where young teams give away outs early; a 5-minute intro saves you headaches in games.

Put runners at 2B (or a cone). You stand in the outfield grass with a ball. Show: “If the ball is caught, you go back and touch the base. If it drops, you run.” Walk it first, then do 3–4 jog-speed reps.

• Cues: “Wait—watch—then go.” “Tag the base with your foot.”
• Watch for: runner’s foot on the base until you say “caught!”
• Common issue: They leave early every time. Fix: make it a game: if they leave early, they owe one perfect ready-position hold for 10 seconds before the next rep.

Finish with a quick huddle: ask them to show you the throwing grip and the ground-ball funnel. Tell them what to bring next time (water, glove, helmet if they have one) and dismiss by lines to keep it orderly.