Purpose: To get athletes comfortable diving for balls.
How it works: Players line up about 10 feet from a coach. The coach tosses a tennis ball directly in front of the first player, who waits in catching position on her knees. The player leans forward and attempts to catch the ball with her bare glove hand. The drill repeats for each player in line.
Once players are comfortable catching the ball from their knees, run the drill with players in squatting and standing positions, so they can work on transferring their weight and diving forward. The final progression is to have players put on their gloves and run the drill using softballs.
Variations: Add in tosses to the left and right.
Requirements: Three or more players, gloves, tennis balls, softballs, a coach and a field