Fastpitch Softball Grounder Drills – Time Bandit Drills

Name of Drill: Time Bandit Drill

Equipment Needed: Bat, ball, regulation infield at regulation distances, stopwatch, clipboard, sheet with each girl’s name and a column for recording players’ times.

Purpose of Drill: Adds “game pressure” to your infield drills without having to use runners. Also provides a measuring tool to your players to help them understand the importance of beating “time” in the game of softball. This also can improve their recognition of the types of ground balls they will encounter in the infield, and give them many reps at “game” speed. This drill is great for giving the  infielders a sense of  "game-like " atmosphere and how to deal with pressure in softball while allowing the infielders to practice fielding ground balls.

1) Time each of your players once per week:

• Time them by either having them toss a ball to themselves (best way) or having someone “soft toss” to them.
• When they hit the ball, “start the clock”.
• When they touch first base, stop the clock and record their time.
• Whoever has the fastest average time for three times becomes the “Time Bandit” for the week.
  
  

2) Get your team ready for taking infield ground balls.

• Hit ground balls to your infielders and have them throw to first base.
• Have a coach record the amount of time it takes from the moment the ball is hit to the moment the ball hits the first baseman’s glove.
• Continue to take infield until each infield position can beat the time bandit’s time or until you beat the time bandit’s time 10 times.

3) When your team can beat the time bandit, add difficulty to the drill.

• Now make the infielders yell out which kind of ground ball they’re chasing – fast, medium, or slow. (If they don’t yell, they didn’t beat the time bandit.)
• Fast: One hop (or gets there quickly) – no steps forward to get to the ball.
• Medium/Routine: Two or three hops or gets there with one or two steps forward.
• Slow: Three or more hops or three or more steps forward to get to the ball.

 4) When they can beat the time bandit two days in a row using the method in No. 3, add more difficulty with a “Double Play – Time Bandit.”

• Time the players from first to second.
• Start the clock when the pitcher’s front foot hits the ground and stop the clock when the runner touches second (slide is best).
• Take the average of each runner’s three tries – fastest average becomes the “time bandit.”
• Now ask the infield to “turn two.”
• Using a stop watch with two stops, time/record the time it takes from the time the ball is “hit,” to the time the second baseman catches the ball. This is the first time and needs to be faster than the time bandit’s average time from first to second.
• The second time is from the time the ball is hit until the time the ball is caught by the first baseman. This time needs to be faster than the team’s average time from home to first (timing from contact with the bat to contact with the base as in No. 1).
• This part of the drill gives your infield an understanding of the time they have to record a double play and helps them realize just how hard it is to turn a double play in softball.