Softball Fielding Practice Plan for 13 to 15 Year Olds

First steps off the read, short hops owned, the pivot on its stopwatch, and slap defense drilled like the sport actually demands. Defense is collected half-seconds.

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Creep-hop reads, eight triangle chains at pace, then soft-hands food: ten short-hop feeds thrown firm into the ground a stride in front, taken with a GIVING glove out front, ball met on the rise. Short hops are warmup food forever; fear of them is a rep deficit, nothing more.

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Grounders with honestly mixed direction and pace from the ready hop: the graded skill is the FIRST STEP, the read-and-crossover toward the ball's line, not the catch. Ten reps, first steps graded early/on-time/late. Forehand and backhand both live here; the read decides which appears.

Cones at current comfortable range each side; feeds land a step BEYOND, alternating forehand and backhand, full chains with throws. Six per side, cones nudged wider after three clean in a row. Range is reads plus edges plus belief, and the moving cones make the belief visible.

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Feeds arriving at the chest from short range, caught-and-released with the grip found in the glove, feet shuffling through a phantom pivot, throw inside a two-second count. Twelve reps, then six deliberately bad feeds (high, low, wide) adjusted around while the clock runs. Softball turns two on a shorter diamond than baseball; the hands have to be faster, not braver.

The softball-specific block: balls chopped and dribbled toward the left side while the fielder starts a step IN from normal depth, charging on contact, fielding on the move (glove or bare hand by the ball's life), and throwing MID-STRIDE inside a counted 2.5 seconds. Ten reps. Waiting back even once against a slapper is the out donated; this play only exists moving forward.

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Outfield reads compressed: throws or fungoes mixed shallow and DEEP; the graded skill is the first step, a drop step back on anything deep, decided before the ball peaks. Over-the-shoulder catches on the run when truly deep. Eight reps alternating sides. Solo: high self-throws off a wall angle, drop-stepping the rebound read.

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The seventh-inning simulator: shuttle sprint, then four full chains (centered, edge, slap-charge, exchange), clean-and-on-time counted, three rounds. Log it all: first-step grades, range cones, pivot clock, slap-rep times, tired chains, dated. Two easy short hops to close soft.

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What to watch today: the ready hop before every rep, especially the tired ones. When the hop disappears, everything downstream arrives late and gets blamed. The hop is defense's free money, and the gassed block reveals whether it is a habit or a mood.