"Guts"

By: From Michelle Then, The Shipley School

Equipment: 4 cones or bases and Lite-Flite softballs

This drill is a team favorite and is not for the faint at heart. It works really well indoors, especially at the end of practice.

Divide the team in half and place players shoulder to shoulder, facing each other, about 25 to 30 feet apart, with their gloves. Using cones or bases, each team spreads out between the two cones or bases (start with 20 feet) and takes a step in front of the imaginary line. Each team has to protect the line and keep the ball from going across the plane of the line.

How to play:

First, I would suggest using Lite-Flite softballs, even if you are doing the drill outside, to give the players success and to make them block down with their bodies.

One team starts with the ball and must throw a ground ball across to the other team. Their objective is to score a point by getting the ball across the line and through the other teams' players. If a player goes for the ball and misses it or touches it before it crosses over their line, they are eliminated. If they field it cleanly or block the ball from going across their line, they get to throw the ball back across to the other team. If a ball goes between two players and neither player goes for it, the opposing team gets to choose which player is eliminated. If the ball is not thrown on the ground and is caught in the air by the other team, the player who threw the ball is out and is eliminated from the game.

The game continues until one team is completely eliminated. After a few players are eliminated from each team, I will move the cones in, a few feet. As players are eliminated, the remaining players must pick up the slack and cover more ground.

This is a great game to get your players to stay down for ground balls, and many of them will block the ball with their body. Each game usually takes about five minutes, and we usually have several rematches.