This modified scrimmage creates competition while challenging your players to rise to the occasion and get it done, now! Check out how.
Create a game-like situation that forces your players to rise to the occasion by taking away all their “do-overs” and simply gives them one swing to make it happen. This 1-2-3-4 Scrimmage will do just that.
It’s great that your players can do it in practice, until it’s game-time and suddenly their skills are nowhere to be found. Sound familiar? Players get used to being able to “end on a good one” – which really means they get to keep trying until it’s good. Well that’s not how games work. In a game, if you want to end on a good one then you have to make the last one good. Period. The umpire doesn’t let you keep trying until you get it right.
I got this scrimmage idea from Brian Bosch the softball coach at Fort Atkinson High School in Fort Atkinson, WI, home of the Blackhawks, and it’s a great way to help your players learn to step-up under pressure – and can be done indoors or outdoors. It gets its name from the 1-2-3-4 scoring and is a great way to add competition to the end of your practice!
Here’s how it works:
- Can be done indoors or outdoors and from a Batting T or from side-toss
- If Indoors – place the T or side-tosser at the end of the gym. If Outdoors – place the T or side-tosser at homeplate.
- Split your team up into 2 even teams. One team on defense the other on offense.
- Defense can play anywhere they want.
- Offense sends up 1 hitter at a time, and they only get 1 swing!
- Scoring is as follows:
- +1 = groundball to opposite free throw line (indoors), or to the outfield grass (outdoors)
- +2 = flyball past the opposite free throw line (indoors), or to the outfield grass (outdoors)
- +3 = rolls and hits the gym wall (indoors), or outfield fence (outdoors).
- +4 = hits the end wall in the air (indoors), or hits the outfield fence on 1-bounce or less (outdoors)
- You play with a tennis ball and the defense does not use their gloves!
For more great drills to help challenge your team, check out our eDrills:
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