Softball drill

Barehand soft hands catching drill

Name: Coaching Beginner Baseball | How to Catch (Pro Speed Baseball)
Channel: Pro Speed Baseball
Description: Partners toss to each other from close range with no gloves, catching with two hands and then with the glove hand alone, and pulling the hand back toward the body as the ball arrives. It teaches beginners to give with the ball instead of stabbing at it.

Partners toss to each other from close range with no gloves, catching with two hands and then with the glove hand alone, and pulling the hand back toward the body as the ball arrives. It teaches beginners to give with the ball instead of stabbing at it.

Video by Pro Speed Baseball on YouTube. The write-up below is ours.

At a glance

Sport: Baseball and Softball
Skill: Catching the ball
Ages: 6U to 10U
Players: 2 (partners, or a coach and a player)
Time: About 10 minutes
Level: Beginner
Equipment: Soft training balls or tennis balls, Baseballs or softballs for older players
Indoors: Yes

A beginner's instinct is to push the hand out at the ball. A ball that meets a hand coming the other way bounces off, in a bare hand or in a glove. Soft hands means the opposite: the hand meets the ball and then travels back with it, the way you would catch an egg.

Taking the gloves off makes this easy to feel. The drill starts with two-hand catches, moves to the glove hand alone, and uses one simple fix for a player who keeps stabbing: start with the arm reaching out, so the only way to catch the ball is to bring the hand back with it.

Setup

Pair a coach with a player, or two players, 6 to 8 feet apart.
Both partners put their gloves on the ground out of the way.
Use a soft training ball or tennis ball for young players, a regular ball for older ones.

How to run it

The tosser makes gentle underhand tosses at chest height, and the player catches with both bare hands together.
Once that is easy, switch to one-hand catches with the glove hand only.
Keep going for plenty of reps, until the player tracks the ball cleanly into the palm.
If the player keeps reaching out at the ball, have them start with the catching arm straight out in front.
As the toss comes, the player catches and lets the hand travel back toward the body with the ball.

Coaching points

Soft, accurate, chest-high tosses, so the player can think only about the hands.
The palm faces the tosser before the ball is released.
Meet the ball, then bring it in. The hand moves toward the body at the catch, not toward the tosser.
Be patient and give lots of reps at each stage before moving on.

Common mistakes

Pushing or punching the hand toward the ball.
Moving to one hand before two-hand catches are clean.
Tossing harder to make it interesting. Keep the speed the same and add reps instead.

Printable drill card

Take this drill to the field: the setup, steps, coaching points and equipment on one card, with the video's address to find it again. Free, no account needed.

Print the drill card

Smaller: half page or quarter page (PDF).

By age

Tee ball and coach pitch

Use tennis balls or soft training balls and stay on two-hand catches longer. A parent can run this at home in a few minutes a day.

10U

Use a regular ball, go quickly to one-hand catches, and finish with the glove on, giving with the glove the same way.

Next: Free defensive lineup generator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does soft hands mean in baseball?

It means catching the ball with relaxed hands that give, moving back with the ball as it arrives, instead of stiff hands that push at it. Soft hands keep the ball from bouncing out of the hand or the glove.

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