How to Play Softball: Warm-up Drill

Learn how to get ready for a tee ball game and avoid field injuries with proper practice before the game.

This is a warm-up drill. This is what you want to do to get your arm warm, prior to doing any of the drills, so that injury does not occur. It should take you between 10, 15, or as many 20 minutes to warm up your arm. You start at approximately 25 to 30 feet, extend out to 60 feet as you feel warm and continue to progress your way out to a few throws from the long pass distance at about 125 to 150 feet. So not only are you warming up, you are strengthening your arm each day. Now with the warm up, it doesn't mean to just go and toss the ball lightly. You warm up every single day. This game is about fundamentals, and basic mechanics; and what better time to perfect your throwing mechanics than is when you are warming up every day for 15 minutes. Make yourself do the mechanics properly throughout your warm up every time you do and if you do that there is no way that you can’t end up with a stronger, more accurate arm. Now today we are working on -- and this program is for our catcher and like every position a strong arm is a necessity, but especially with the catcher and especially in fast pitch softball where runs are so hard to come by. You need a catcher that can prevent people from stealing bases. It's not just a matter of being able to throw them out. It's a matter of they know that you have the accurate strong arm to where they won't even try to steal. So as she feels like she is getting warmer they expand the distance and after you have reach the 125, 150-foot range come back in to 60 feet and finish off, again, with good mechanics. The one thing that you need to remember that each position demands a different arm circle in their throw. The catcher has one of the tightest arm circles. As you watch her throw, it's almost a direct draw back with the hand that has the ball and a forward throw; unlike an outfielder, who will drop the ball down and take a big long full circle in their throw to generate the distances that they need to throw.