It is important to practice different movements and skills as you are learning new pitches. Simply standing there doing the same pitch over and over does not target any of the fundamentals of pitching. Rather, specific and targeted softball pitching drills and movements can help improve accuracy, speed, and endurance. Endurance drills are important too! No one wants to be the fabulous pitcher that can only last 2 innings of the big game! Choosing the best drill for the skill you are focusing on can be as important as doing the drills themselves. The following drills are for pitchers that already have the basic movements down and are either looking to develop new pitches or are looking for ways to improve the pitches they already throw.

Accuracy:

When learning new pitches or working on accuracy, having a visual of the perfect strike zone is crucial for development. However, having a batter stand in position for that length of time is often a wasted training session for the batter and can result in injury as the chances of getting hit with a wayward pitch increase exponentially. For this, a dummy batter training tool is a wonderful investment. If creating one on your own, make sure to include a line with a good visual target for the pitcher. Essentially this is their bull’s eye.

The goal here is to work on accuracy and aim. A great way to do this is to combine the dummy batter with a 20-4 drill (this can be modified to a 10-3 drill for younger pitchers). The goal here is to pitch 20 strikes before you pitch 4 balls. If a pitcher reaches 4 balls before 20 strikes, they must start the drill over again. This drill can be especially helpful when learning new pitches. Remember, however, this is not an endurance drill! Keep the total pitch count in mind as you work through these, it is important to allow enough rest so as not to create injury. To combat the sheer number of pitches that are to be thrown, encourage pitchers to bring down their force and speed to about 60% and focus their attention on accuracy, aim, and technique.

Speed: Softball Pitching Drills

The best drill for speed surprisingly asks pitchers to not think about speed as they throw at all! It is often helpful to use a soft training ball in this drill as it will bounce off the wall and the pitcher stands at a very close distance. Standing as close to a wall as possible the player will pitch into the wall with as much force as they can. Again I stress, do not think about speed!

The speed will come as a result of the force, but focusing on speed will actually slow down your movements! The focus of this drill is 100% power. After 10 or 15 pitches (depending on the age of the pitcher) at full power, back up 5 feet. Repeat these steps until pitching at full power from a normal pitching distance. If at any point the pitcher is losing power at a distance bring her back to the wall and have her pitch at 100% again. Remember, this is a speed drill, the focus is not on accuracy or control but rather on completing each pitch with the proper form and at full power. This is also not an endurance drill, be careful not to overwork a pitcher during this drill without giving proper rest.

Endurance: Softball Pitching Drills

A great endurance drill is a variation on the speed wall drill. Pitchers will stand in the same spot next to the wall, as close as possible without restricting movement to pitch. They will complete as many pitches as they can, using full movement and focusing on putting 100% power behind each pitch. They will throw for one minute with no breaks in between pitches. After one minute of rest, the drill is repeated. This drill focuses on endurance, players should not back up to normal pitching distance, they should instead focus on throwing each pitch with full force and completing the pitching motion properly.

There are many more pitching drills focusing on these three areas. If you need clarification or have questions, reach out to us! Be sure to check out our other articles on catching and fielding drills!

Get out there and Play Ball!

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