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Softball Practice Plans You Can Run Tonight

A softball practice plan is a timed sequence of blocks, each with one teaching point, that keeps every player throwing, fielding, hitting, or running for the whole field slot instead of waiting for a turn. The four plans below are complete and runnable as written: a 60-minute 8U practice, a 90-minute 12U practice, a 90-minute 14U practice built around the short game, and a two-hour plan for high school varsity and 16U or 18U travel teams. Each one is built from the same curated drill modules that power the free softball practice planner, so you can open any plan there, change the length, swap a block, and print a one-page coach sheet without retyping anything.
Softball coach holding a clipboard practice plan near the dugout while players work through hitting and fielding stations on the infield

What Every Good Softball Practice Plan Has in Common

Every effective softball practice is built around two facts about the game. The field is small and the ball gets on defenders fast, so clean, quick fielding and throwing matter more than arm strength. And the pitcher controls more of the outcome than in almost any other team sport, so the batteries need their own work every practice without the other ten players standing around to watch it.
The structure that holds up at every age is five phases. An arrival block puts a bat or a glove in each player's hands as she walks in, so the first ten minutes are not lost to late carpools. A warm-up gets the body moving on the basepaths and then builds the arm with a throwing progression. The core block, usually two or three segments, carries the night's focus: hitting, the short game, team defense, or baserunning. Conditioning, when you use it, is relay running on the bases. A cooldown protects arms, pitchers and catchers especially, and ends with a short circle talk.
Three rules govern the timing. First, one focus per night. A practice that tries to install first-and-third defense, fix bunt coverage, and rebuild swings sharpens none of them. Second, no line longer than four players. If eight girls are waiting on one fungo, split the group and start a second drill, which is why the hitting block in every plan below is a station circuit. Third, run the bullpen in parallel. Pitchers and catchers work with one coach while the rest of the team runs stations with another, then everyone comes back together for the team block.

8U Softball Practice Plan: 60 Minutes

The right 8U practice is 60 minutes, changes activity every 10 to 15 minutes, and turns at least two blocks into games, because seven and eight year olds will field a hundred ground balls if there is a bucket to fill and a team to beat. At coach-pitch age the goals are narrow: catch with two hands, step and throw to a target, field a ground ball out front, and swing hard at a ball she can hit.
Softball practice plan · 6-8 (T-ball, coach pitch, 8U)

8U Softball Practice Plan (60 Minutes)

60 min · 6 segments

  1. 0:00

    10 min

    Arrival Tee Groove

    Early arrivers groove swings off tees into a net or fence, checking contact point before practice starts.

    Arrival

  2. 0:10

    10 min

    Throwing Progression & Arm Care

    Structured partner throwing: wrist snaps to full throws to quick-catch, building arms for the 11"/12" ball.

    Warm-Up

  3. 0:20

    12 min

    Bucket Ball Fielding Race

    Fun team race for young bands: field clean grounders, run them to your bucket — first team to ten wins.

    Core

  4. 0:32

    15 min

    Hitting Stations: Tee / Soft Toss / Front Toss

    A ready-made 3-4 station rotation shell: structure, timing, and rotation rules — you plug in the skills.

    Core
    Universal

  5. 0:47

    8 min

    60-Foot Basepath Relays

    Team relay conditioning built on game running: through-the-bag sprints, aggressive turns, and home-to-home finishers.

    Conditioning

  6. 0:55

    5 min

    Circle Talk & Takeaways

    Coach-led reflection circle: one takeaway each, shout-outs for effort, and the plan for the next practice or game.

    Cooldown

Equipment: tees (2-3), nets or sock screens, buckets of softballs, bats, helmets, gloves, one softball per pair (11" for 8U/10U, 12" for 12U+), 2 buckets, 10-12 softballs (soft training balls for 6-8s), cones, cones to mark zones, whistle or timer, station gear as chosen, bases, stopwatch

Change the length, swap modules for your age group, print a one-page coach sheet, and share it by link. No login.

Customize this plan free →Save to my account
  • Arrival Tee Groove (10 min). One adult at the tees, one hitter per tee, and the first player through the gate is swinging within a minute.
  • Throwing progression (10 min). Stop at 35 to 40 feet. The lesson is the step and the two-hand catch.
  • Bucket Ball (12 min). Field a clean grounder, run it to your team's bucket, first team to ten wins. The coaching point gets repeated forty times and nobody notices it is a drill.
  • Hitting stations (15 min). A tee, soft toss, and front toss, five minutes each, with wiffle or soft-core balls at the toss stations.
  • Basepath relays (8 min) and circle (5 min). The relays are the conditioning.
The 8U practice plan page covers station setup, a first look at the windmill motion, and what to leave out at this age.

12U Softball Practice Plan: 90 Minutes

A 90-minute 12U practice adds what the 8U plan leaves out: bunting inside the hitting circuit, a real bullpen for the batteries, and a team defense block with live situations. Twelve and under is where the game speeds up. The ball is now the 12-inch ball, the pitching distance is 40 feet, and runners are stealing, so the defense has to know the play before the pitch.
Softball practice plan · 9-12 (10U-12U)

12U Softball Practice Plan (90 Minutes)

90 min · 7 segments

  1. 0:00

    10 min

    Arrival Tee Groove

    Early arrivers groove swings off tees into a net or fence, checking contact point before practice starts.

    Arrival

  2. 0:10

    8 min

    Dynamic Basepath Warmup

    Dynamic movement prep using the 60-foot basepaths: skips, shuffles, karaoke, and sprint build-ups.

    Warm-Up

  3. 0:18

    10 min

    Throwing Progression & Arm Care

    Structured partner throwing: wrist snaps to full throws to quick-catch, building arms for the 11"/12" ball.

    Warm-Up

  4. 0:28

    22 min

    Station Hitting Circuit

    Four-station circuit — front toss, tee work, bunting, and dry-swing drills — max swings, nobody standing in line.

    Core

  5. 0:50

    15 min

    Pitcher-Catcher Bullpen Block

    Structured windmill bullpens for 2-4 batteries running parallel to team stations — spins, locations, sequences.

    Core

  6. 1:05

    20 min

    Situations: 21 Outs

    Full defense takes fungoed balls with runners and live situations — outs, bunts, cuts, and communication.

    Core

  7. 1:25

    5 min

    Circle Talk & Takeaways

    Coach-led reflection circle: one takeaway each, shout-outs for effort, and the plan for the next practice or game.

    Cooldown

Equipment: tees (2-3), nets or sock screens, buckets of softballs, bats, helmets, bases or cones every 60 feet, gloves, one softball per pair (11" for 8U/10U, 12" for 12U+), L-screen, 2 tees, nets, 3 buckets of softballs, cones for bunt targets, weighted bat (optional), pitching rubbers or throw-down strips, home plates, catcher's gear (full set per catcher), softballs (bucket per lane), pitch chart or notebook, fungo bat, bucket of softballs, helmets for all runners, catcher's gear, bases

Change the length, swap modules for your age group, print a one-page coach sheet, and share it by link. No login.

Customize this plan free →Save to my account
  • Warm-up and throwing (18 min). The time pays for itself, because a 12U big inning usually has a throwing error or two in the middle of it.
  • Station hitting circuit (22 min). Front toss, tee work, bunting, and dry swings run at once. Every hitter gets about 30 swings and six to eight bunts, with no one waiting behind more than two teammates.
  • Bullpen block (15 min). The batteries work spins and locations with one coach while everyone else takes a second round of bunting and front toss.
  • Situations: 21 Outs (20 min). The full defense takes fungoed balls with runners on. The count of clean outs is the score to beat next week.
The 12U practice plan page has the tournament-week version, and the 10U plan covers the first years of player pitch.

14U Softball Practice Plan: 90 Minutes

The 14U plan is built around the two things that decide games once pitchers move back to 43 feet and defenses get clean: the short game and first-and-third. Hitters see more movement and fewer mistakes at this level, so teams that can slap, bunt, and run create offense that does not depend on squaring up a rise ball.
Softball practice plan · 13-15 (14U, junior high)

14U Softball Practice Plan (90 Minutes)

90 min · 7 segments

  1. 0:00

    8 min

    Short-Hop Hands on Arrival

    Rolled grounders and short hops in pairs on one knee — glove work with zero throwing before arms are warm.

    Arrival

  2. 0:08

    8 min

    Dynamic Basepath Warmup

    Dynamic movement prep using the 60-foot basepaths: skips, shuffles, karaoke, and sprint build-ups.

    Warm-Up

  3. 0:16

    10 min

    Throwing Progression & Arm Care

    Structured partner throwing: wrist snaps to full throws to quick-catch, building arms for the 11"/12" ball.

    Warm-Up

  4. 0:26

    15 min

    Slap & Short-Game Station

    Left-side speed weapons: running slap footwork, soft slap vs. hard slap, drag bunts against a set defense.

    Core

  5. 0:41

    22 min

    Station Hitting Circuit

    Four-station circuit — front toss, tee work, bunting, and dry-swing drills — max swings, nobody standing in line.

    Core

  6. 1:03

    20 min

    First-and-Third Battles

    Live first-and-third reps: defense runs its calls, runners hunt the steal and the break home.

    Core

  7. 1:23

    7 min

    Cooldown Stretch & Arm Care

    Guided team cooldown: easy jog, full-body static stretching, and extra shoulder care for pitchers and catchers.

    Cooldown

Equipment: gloves, one softball per pair, bucket of softballs for helper line, bases or cones every 60 feet, one softball per pair (11" for 8U/10U, 12" for 12U+), L-screen, bucket of softballs, bats, helmets, cones, chalk, stopwatch, 2 tees, nets, 3 buckets of softballs, cones for bunt targets, weighted bat (optional), bases, catcher's gear, softballs, pitching rubber, light resistance bands (optional), water bottles

Change the length, swap modules for your age group, print a one-page coach sheet, and share it by link. No login.

Customize this plan free →Save to my account
  • Short-hop hands (8 min). Glove work on one knee with no throwing, which suits arms that carry travel weekends.
  • Slap and Short-Game (15 min). Left-side slappers work footwork, the soft slap, the hard slap, and drag bunts against a set defense. Right-handed hitters work sacrifice and push bunts.
  • Hitting circuit (22 min). It follows the short game, which needs the freshest attention.
  • First-and-Third Battles (20 min). Live reps. The catcher and middle infielders work through each call while the runners hunt the steal and the break for home. Every opponent will test it.
The 14U practice plan page goes deeper on the move to 43 feet, JV teams, and planning around a travel schedule.

Ready to take your game to the next level?

High School and 16U/18U Softball Practice Plan: 120 Minutes

A two-hour varsity or 16U/18U practice needs what the shorter plans cannot fit: a longer bullpen block for a full pitching staff, a hitting circuit and a team defense block on the same day, and baserunning built on reading the pitcher's release.
Softball practice plan · 16-18 (high school, 16U-18U)

High School Softball Practice Plan (120 Minutes)

120 min · 8 segments

  1. 0:00

    10 min

    Arrival Tee Groove

    Early arrivers groove swings off tees into a net or fence, checking contact point before practice starts.

    Arrival

  2. 0:10

    8 min

    Dynamic Basepath Warmup

    Dynamic movement prep using the 60-foot basepaths: skips, shuffles, karaoke, and sprint build-ups.

    Warm-Up

  3. 0:18

    12 min

    Throwing Progression & Arm Care

    Structured partner throwing: wrist snaps to full throws to quick-catch, building arms for the 11"/12" ball.

    Warm-Up

  4. 0:30

    20 min

    Pitcher-Catcher Bullpen Block

    Structured windmill bullpens for 2-4 batteries running parallel to team stations — spins, locations, sequences.

    Core

  5. 0:50

    25 min

    Station Hitting Circuit

    Four-station circuit — front toss, tee work, bunting, and dry-swing drills — max swings, nobody standing in line.

    Core

  6. 1:15

    20 min

    Situations: 21 Outs

    Full defense takes fungoed balls with runners and live situations — outs, bunts, cuts, and communication.

    Core

  7. 1:35

    15 min

    Reads Off the Release

    Fastpitch baserunning: rocker starts timed to the pitcher's release, steal jumps, and pop-time challenges.

    Core

  8. 1:50

    10 min

    Cooldown Stretch & Arm Care

    Guided team cooldown: easy jog, full-body static stretching, and extra shoulder care for pitchers and catchers.

    Cooldown

Equipment: tees (2-3), nets or sock screens, buckets of softballs, bats, helmets, bases or cones every 60 feet, gloves, one softball per pair (11" for 8U/10U, 12" for 12U+), pitching rubbers or throw-down strips, home plates, catcher's gear (full set per catcher), softballs (bucket per lane), pitch chart or notebook, L-screen, 2 tees, nets, 3 buckets of softballs, cones for bunt targets, weighted bat (optional), fungo bat, bucket of softballs, helmets for all runners, catcher's gear, bases, softballs, stopwatch, sliding surface check, light resistance bands (optional), water bottles

Change the length, swap modules for your age group, print a one-page coach sheet, and share it by link. No login.

Customize this plan free →Save to my account
  • First 30 minutes. Tee work on arrival, a basepath warm-up, and a full throwing progression with quick-catch for infielders.
  • Bullpen block (20 min). Two to four batteries in parallel on spins, locations, and sequences. Everyone else does position work: bunt defense, steal coverage, drop steps.
  • Hitting circuit (25 min). Front toss with an inside round, an outside round, and a two-strike round, plus tee, bunting, and dry-swing stations.
  • 21 Outs (20 min). Bunt coverages, first-and-third calls, cuts and relays. The defense earns its way off the field.
  • Reads Off the Release (15 min). Rocker starts timed so the front foot leaves the base as the ball leaves the pitcher's hand, steal jumps, and delayed steals.
  • Cooldown (10 min). Extra shoulder care for pitchers and catchers.

High School, 14U to 18U, and Travel Teams: What Changes

The plan changes at 14U because the game changes. The pitching distance moves from 40 feet at 12U to 43 feet at 14U, and it stays there through 16U, 18U, high school, and college. Pitchers need movement and location to win at the longer distance, which is why the older plans carry a longer bullpen block and why that block runs with a purpose for each pitcher, not a pitch count alone.
Softball divisions above 12U move in two-year steps (14U, 16U, 18U), and many players are on a travel team and a school team in the same year. A high school team practices almost daily for a short season, so each day can carry one narrow focus. A travel team practices less and plays five or more games on a weekend, so its practices start with a check on pitchers' arms and legs and lean toward bullpens, the short game, and team defense. JV teams can run the 14U plan as written. The 14U, 16U, 18U, and high school page has a plan for each kind of week.
Age cutoffs and division rules differ between USA Softball, USSSA, PGF, and school associations, so check the body you play under before building a roster; the softball age chart covers the cutoffs. And older players can use information. A staff that tracks where balls are hit and which pitches get outs can aim practice at real weaknesses. Pitch charting and hit charting in Rizzler turn game data into next week's practice focus.

Beginner and Rec Softball: Adjusting the Plans

For a first-year or rec team at any age, use the plan one age band younger and lengthen the throwing and fielding blocks. A beginner 12U team gets more from the 8U fielding race and station hitting with real balls than from 21 Outs, which assumes players already know where the throw goes. Add one new team concept per week (force outs first, then cutoffs, then bunt coverage) and keep one scoring game per practice. Bucket Ball still works with 12-year-old beginners if the finish is a throw to a base.

Build Your Own Softball Practice Plan

Open the free softball practice planner, pick a length from 60 to 120 minutes and an age group, and drag curated fastpitch modules onto the timed timeline; the duration meter shows when the plan is over, and every module carries its own coaching points and equipment list. Print the one-page coach sheet or share the plan by link. No login is required. Any plan on this page opens in the planner with its blocks already loaded through the "Customize this plan" button beneath it.
When you want the plan attached to a real practice on your schedule, with RSVP counts on the summary bar, station assignments for your assistants, and the equipment list assembled from the drills, save it to a free Rizzler account and it lands in Practice Manager with every module unlocked. The practice planner overview covers what the full product does for a season.
Coaches who plan by pencil can start from the softball practice plan template. The softball tryout guide covers the weeks before the first practice.
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Frequently Asked Questions

How long should a softball practice be?

Sixty minutes for 8U, 75 to 90 minutes for 10U and 12U, 90 minutes to two hours for 14U, and about two hours for high school and 16U or 18U teams. Younger players lose focus after an hour no matter how good the plan is. Older teams need the extra time for bullpens, the short game, and team defense.

What should a youth softball practice plan include?

An arrival activity, a throwing progression, two or three skill blocks run in stations, one game that keeps score, and a short circle talk. It should not include one-hitter batting practice with the rest of the team standing in the field, laps, or any line longer than four players.

How do you structure a 90-minute softball practice?

Ten minutes of tee work on arrival, 18 minutes of basepath warm-up and throwing, a 22-minute hitting circuit with a bunting station, a 15-minute bullpen block for the batteries while everyone else keeps hitting, 20 minutes of team defense, and a five-minute circle talk. That is the 12U plan above, and it can be opened and edited in the free planner.

What does a high school softball practice plan look like?

About two hours, built around four core blocks: bullpens for the staff with position work beside them, a station hitting circuit, team defense such as 21 Outs, and baserunning off the pitcher's release. The plan above shows the minutes for each.

Is a fastpitch practice plan different from a slowpitch plan?

Yes. Fastpitch plans carry windmill pitching work, bunting and slapping, leaving on the pitcher's release, and first-and-third defense. Slowpitch bans the bunt and the slap, and most slowpitch rule sets do not allow stealing. Every plan and module on this page is fastpitch.

Can I print a softball practice plan?

Yes. Every plan built in the free softball practice planner prints as a one-page coach sheet with a time column, every segment, the coaching points, and the equipment list, without an account. The softball practice plan template is a blank printable version with filled examples for coaches who plan by hand.

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