"The Bucket" Drill

This drill comes from Robert Renn our March 2002 Drill of the Month Winner.

I use these drills for 8U/12U-Fastpitch Girls Softball Teams...

1. Divide the team in half.
   • Have half of the team on the grass behind shortstop.
   • The other half behind the second base defensive-position on the grass.
   • Do not worry if the number of players are uneven...the number of balls will even that out.
2. One player on third and one player on first.
3. You will need two buckets.
   • One bucket two steps away from first on the foul side of the bag.
   • One bucket two steps away from third on the foul side of the bag.
   • One coach halfway up the line towards first (hits to line at shortstop.)
   • One coach halfway up the line towards third (hits to line at second base.)
   • Each coach has six balls to hit or throw.
4. The coach on the first base side hits a ground ball to the first player in line at the shortstop position; that player fields the ball and throws to the player at third who must catch the ball and tag the bag then place the ball in the bucket.
   • The player that made the throw runs over to receive the next throw at third.
   • The player from third goes to the back of the line to take a turn fielding the ball.
   • If the ball is over thrown the player on third must run the ball down as the player that over through the ball covers the base as the other player throws the ball back.
   • The base must be tagged before the ball goes in the bucket and the coach cannot hit the next ball until the previous ball is in the bucket.
   • When all six balls are in the bucket. The player on third must run the bucket of balls back to the coach and pour them out in a neat pile. (I make a square in the dirt that the players must place all the balls into... neatness counts.)
   • The player must then run the bucket back to its spot (put a mark in the dirt.)
   • The first team done... wins!
5. The rules are the same for the other team, except; they do everything on the first base side of the field and the coach up the third base line hits to the players at the second base position.

Other Hits -

• Give coaching tips as you go.
• Occasionally, have the teams trade fielding positions. Each time through may only take one minute, so do five from shortstop and five from second base. Do not have the same players on the same team every time.
• We also do this drill by putting the buckets at the shortstop and second base positions. Hitting the balls to the players, they field them, put them in the bucket, and the last player runs the bucket back to the coach.
• Move the buckets out to left and right field and hit fly balls.