Week 4 - Softball
Skill focus: Base Running and fielding
Session equipment:
Markers or cones
Softball Bats
Soft core balls (or similar)
Batting tees
Softball gloves
Wall
Bases
Helmets
Download Softball - Week 4 activity card to support teaching before and during the sport session.
Fast start - Alphabets
Equipment: 8 markers (to set out playing area).
How to play:
Students move around the playing area using a nominated locomotor movement. The teacher calls out a letter of the alphabet and students form groups of three to make the shape of that letter.
CHANGE IT!
Vary the number of students required in each group.
Students must form multiple letters to make up a word.
Skill development games
Activity 1 - Get the Beanbag
Equipment: Sufficient softcore balls or bean bags for each team, markers to designate lanes and boundaries
How to play: Players on opposite sides of a playing area each have 3 bean bags. Players run to the other side and steal one bean bag at a time. The winner is the first player to increase their total to 5. (Play with 6 or more, or as individuals.)
Players can steal bean bags one at a time from any player opposite.
Bean bags cannot be stolen if the owner is standing there. An alternative is to have a ‘no guarding’ rule.
Activity 2 - Base run
Equipment: Markers or cones, softcore ball, softball gloves
How to play: Two players with one ball try to stop a third player from reaching a base at either end of a playing area. Warm-up by playing without the bases.
Start with one ball between the two defenders on opposite bases. The base runner (without the ball), starts on the base next to the defender without the ball.
Defenders can change position but cannot run without the ball. Defenders pass the ball to one another, aiming to tag the attacker with the ball and glove (they cannot throw the ball at the attacker).
The base runner attempts to run between the bases without being tagged.
If the base runner reaches one of the bases without getting tagged, one of the defenders becomes the new base runner.
Rotate so each player has a chance to be the base runner.
Activity 3 - Wall tennis
Equipment: Softcore ball, softball gloves,
How to play: Two players face a wall. Each player is restricted to half the playing area. The server throws the ball at the wall above a line to start play, and the receiver tries to catch the ball after one bounce or on the full. (Play in pairs.)
Players stay in their own half of the court.
A rally of alternating throw/catch continues until one player cannot return the ball onto the wall above the line before the ball bounces a second time.
Players field the ball using their glove.
Activity 4 - Long ball
Equipment: Marker cones to establish batting line and designated hitting area, hitting tee’s, bats and balls.
How to play: Hit a ball as far as possible, off a hitting tee, to a designated area.
Mark out a batting line with a batting tee.
Mark out designated areas for the ball to be hit to: marked lines, cones, fence, etc.
Commence hitting.
Fielders retrieve the balls.
Modified small-sided games
It's time for competition!
Teams compete against each other in the game outlined below. You can use the Softball draw as a guide to organise the competition across the 4 sessions try to ensure each team has a fair number of games.
Allocate 3 points for a win, 2 points for a drawer and 1 point for a loss for each game played. Record results and points in the School sport program results spreadsheet.
Remember, to give students an update of the leader board each week.
Mini Tee-ball
Equipment: Boundary markers, one bat and ball, (choose to suit ability level of the group) and a batting tee.
How to play: Form a batting team and a fielding team, with 4 bases. Each batter hits the underarm pitched ball into the field, then tries to run around the bases while the fielders field the ball. (Play in teams of 4.)
Batters
The goal is to run around all 3 bases to the home-plate to score a run.
Hit the pitched ball into the playing area.
Batters have 3 attempts at hitting the ball. If on the 3rd attempt they have not hit the ball, they may hit off the tee.
The ball must be hit into the fair area (i.e. inside the extended boundaries of first and third base).
Fielders
The teacher fields at the home plate and batters cannot get ‘out’ at home.
Players in the field rotate positions after each batter.
Play stops after the ball is fielded and thrown to a base (the player does not have to catch the ball properly).
The ‘3 out, all out’ rule does not apply.
Each team will bat for 5 minutes, then swap over.
Scoring
Batting teams score 1 point for each base touched.
Reflection
TAG
Ask students to form pairs with a student from their team.
Inform students they are going to give feedback to their partner using 'TAG'.
Tell your partner something they did well in today's session.
Ask your partner a question.
Give your partner some feedback on a skill or tactic they could focus on during next weeks session.
