Charge-and-Throw Drill
Ages 8 and up · A partner rolling balls with a bucket, a target (or partner) at a base distance, 20-30 feet of run-up space
The charge play (sprinting a slow roller, fielding on the run, throwing side-arm mid-stride) is softball's signature infield skill, because the sixty-foot diamond and the slap-and-bunt game serve it up constantly: wait back on a slow roller in this sport and the runner is simply safe, every time. Charging is not a highlight here; it is the default.
The drill builds it as a rhythm with a counted clock standing in for the runner: charge, glove-side-foot pickup (or the bare hand on dead balls), and the throw flowing out of the run in one motion. Graded first on courage-through-the-ball, then cleanliness, then the beaten count; that order matters.
How to run it
- The fielder starts in a ready stance; the partner rolls a slow or dying ball out front and starts counting aloud ("one-one-thousand, two...").
- CHARGE at full commitment, breaking down only slightly in the last steps, staying low.
- Field ON THE RUN: rolling balls off the glove-side foot with the glove; dead-stopped balls with the bare hand (fingers scooping through the grass into the ball, thumb on top), taught gently at walking speed first.
- Throw out of the run: side-arm or three-quarter, mid-stride, to the target, momentum carrying through.
- Eight reps mixing rolling and dead balls. Tune the count so it is beatable-but-honest, and log beaten counts. Then four reps with the runner-freeze: eyes up FIRST on an announced lead runner, then the throw.
What to say
Common faults and fixes
The slow-down-and-gather habit (fielding from a stop, then throwing).
The counted clock exposes it honestly: gathered plays lose the count. Rep the through-the-ball rhythm at three-quarter speed until the one-motion version feels normal, then let the count return.
Bare-handing balls that are still rolling with pace (drops and kicks).
The tool rule: glove on anything still moving well, bare hand only on dead and dying balls. Drill the decision by announcing ball types until the read is automatic.
Wild throws from panic arm angles.
Groove the side-arm-on-the-run release at half speed to a big target first; accuracy at three-quarter speed beats chaos at full. The count returns only when the throw has a home.
Make it easier, make it harder
Slower counts, rolling balls only, half-speed charges grading shape, big targets.
Faster honest counts; mixed dead and rolling balls unannounced; the look-first version with lead runners announced; charge plays starting from double-play depth; or a full slap-defense scenario with the coverage answer called aloud.
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