Softball Fielding Practice Plan for 11 and 12 Year Olds
At 11 and 12, fielding grows edges: the FOREHAND taken on the run outside the body, the BACKHAND with its crossover and thumb-down glove turn, and the charged slow roller, softball's most failable routine play and, thanks to bunting and slapping being live parts of the game, one it serves constantly. The exchange gets a clock, because sixty-foot bases decide outs in the glove-to-hand half-second.
This session runs about an hour with firmly rolled or hand-hit balls at thirty to forty feet. The through-line said and repeated: field THROUGH the ball, not at it. The feet keep moving through the catch toward the throw. Softball infields sit closer and the ball arrives quicker off the bat than most parents expect; moving through the play is where the missing half-second gets found.
This plan was written for every 11 and 12 year old. ParentEdge writes one for yours.
Built around their game, their goals, and what they’re working on.
Why does softball drill the slow roller so much harder than baseball?
Because the sport serves it constantly: bunting stays a live weapon at every level and slap hitters exist specifically to create dying contact against the clock. On sixty-foot bases a gliding, upright approach loses the play before the throw exists. Charge hard, chop late, throw in rhythm.
When should the backhand be taught?
Around 11, once the centered triangle is automatic, so it becomes the brilliant exception rather than a substitute for footwork. Game priority never changes: beat the ball with the feet when possible; the backhand saves the plays the feet honestly cannot.
What exchange speed does softball actually require?
Faster than feels fair: with sixty-foot bases and quick batters, the fielded-to-released window on routine plays is about a second and a half. That is why quick-catch counts get logged monthly here: the mechanics (catch at the chest mid-shuffle, grip by feel) buy speed that panic never will.