25 softball goals for hitters, pitchers, fielders and the whole team

Personal goals for softball players

Personal goals belong to one player and do not change with the lineup card. Players in a fall sport write theirs the same way, as these goals for football players show.

• Be at the field 10 minutes early for every practice this season.
• Play catch with a partner 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 6 weeks.
• Learn a second position and play it for 3 full games.
• Do your arm care band routine before every practice for a whole season.
• Write 3 lines after every game: one thing done well, one to fix, one drill for practice.

Softball hitting goals

Fastpitch is not baseball with a bigger ball: the pitch comes underhand and from close up, and a hitter has bunts and slaps to learn too. For the overhand game, see these baseball goals.

• Take 75 swings off a tee 5 days a week for 6 weeks.
• Hit 200 front toss balls a week through the preseason.
• Put down 8 sacrifice bunts out of 10 in fair territory.
• Learn the slap from the left side and put 6 balls out of 10 on the ground.
• See at least 4 pitches in half of your at bats this season.

Softball pitching goals

Windmill pitching goals count strikes and clean reps from your league's distance. In WBSC World Cups, adult women pitch from 43 feet and the under-15 women's category from 40 feet.

• Do 50 wrist snaps from 10 feet every day for 30 days.
• Throw 25 strikes in a 40 pitch session.
• Learn a change-up and throw it for a strike 5 times out of 10.
• Throw a drop ball that finishes below the knees 6 times out of 10.
• Pitch 3 sessions a week, with a day off between them, for 8 weeks.

Softball fielding and catching goals

With the bases 60 feet apart, the ball gets to the infield fast, so fielding goals train quick feet and hands, the same reflexes that badminton goals build at the net.

• Field 30 ground balls a day at your own position for 3 weeks.
• Catch 20 pop-ups in a row at practice.
• Use a crow hop on every throw from the outfield for a full practice.
• Block 15 balls in the dirt in a row from behind the plate.
• Time 10 throws from home plate to second base every week and log the best one.

Softball team goals examples

Team goals are habits the whole roster can do in every game, and they go on the team's goal sheet next to each player's own goals.

• Back up every throw to a base for a full game.
• Get the leadoff batter on base in half the innings of a game.
• Make 2 errors or fewer as a team in 8 games out of 10.
• Cheer from the dugout for every batter, every game of the season.
• Hold a 10 minute team talk after every game, with each player naming one thing that went well.

What is a good softball goal?

A good softball goal is a count of something you do. A review of 27 studies of goal setting in sport found that process goals, the ones about how you carry out a skill, had the largest effect on performance (1.36). Goals about a number you reach, like a batting average, came next (0.44). Goals about winning had almost none (0.09).

So keep "make varsity" or "win the league" as the direction and put counts under it. Write each one as a SMART goal, with a number, a date and the practice that gets you there: "25 strikes in a 40 pitch session by the first game, pitching 3 times a week."

Fastpitch has its own numbers, so use them. The WBSC puts the bases 60 feet apart and sets the pitching distance by age: 40 feet for under-15 women, 43 feet for adult women. And make the reps good ones. A review of sports studies found that deliberate practice explained 18 percent of the differences in performance.

How to track softball goals

Write your counts down before you leave the field. A review of 138 studies found that people who monitored their progress reached their goals more often, and that the effect was larger when progress was written down or shared.

Swings, bunts and pitches are amounts that add up. Practice days and pitching days are a day count, the same shape as most 30 day challenge ideas: 50 wrist snaps a day for 30 days is one of them.

Six weeks of tee work at 75 swings, 5 days a week, is 2,250 swings. A picture that fills with every 75 you log shows that number climbing long before the first game does.

Frequently asked questions

What are good personal goals for softball players?

Counts you control: 75 tee swings 5 days a week, 25 strikes in a 40 pitch session, 30 ground balls a day at your position. Pick one goal for hitting, one for throwing or pitching, one for fielding and one for showing up.

What are examples of softball team goals?

Back up every throw, cheer for every batter, make 2 errors or fewer in 8 games out of 10, and talk for 10 minutes after each game. Good team goals are habits every player on the roster can do.

What is the pitching distance in softball?

In WBSC World Cups, adult women pitch from 43 feet (13.11 m), under-15 women from 40 feet (12.19 m) and men from 46 feet (14.02 m). The bases are 60 feet apart. Distances change with the age group, so check your own league's rules.