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15 Baseball Drills That Work for 8 Year Olds (and 18 Year Olds)

Youth baseball team practicing in small station groups during a drills session

Quick Answer The best baseball drills for beginners build skills in the order they are used: throwing first, then fielding, then hitting, then baserunning. The 15 drills below all scale, which means the same drill works for an 8 year old and an 18 year old, just with more reps and higher standards as players … Read more

College Softball Innings, Mercy Rules, and Format: NCAA, NAIA, JUCO Side by Side

College softball scoreboard showing the innings of a game at dusk

Quick Answer A regulation college softball game is 7 innings, not 9 like baseball. That holds across every level of the NCAA, plus NAIA and JUCO. The two things that change the math are the run rule, which ends a game after 5 innings if a team leads by 8 or more, and extra innings … Read more

Playing Shortstop: The Position That Asks for Everything

Shortstop ranging up the middle with the glove extended to field a ground ball

Quick Answer The shortstop plays between second and third base, roughly 12 to 15 feet behind the baseline, and is position 6 in the scorebook. Because most hitters are right handed and pull the ball, the shortstop fields more ground balls than any other infielder. The job needs range to both sides, the strongest arm … Read more

The Dropped Third Strike Rule (and the Confusion It Creates)

Baseball skipping into the dirt past the catchers mitt on an uncaught third strike

Quick Answer The dropped third strike rule lets a batter run to first base when the catcher fails to catch strike three, but only if first base is unoccupied, or if there are two outs. In every other case the batter is simply out. The ball stays live, so the batter still has to be … Read more

The Catcher’s Job, From First Pitch to Last Out

Baseball catcher rising from the crouch to throw out a runner stealing second base

Quick Answer A catcher does far more than catch pitches. The job rests on four pillars: receiving and framing pitches, blocking balls in the dirt, throwing out base stealers, and leading the defense by calling the game. The catcher is the only player who touches the ball on every pitch, sees the whole field, and … Read more

Every Baseball Position, Ranked by How Hard It Is to Play

Baseball catcher in full gear crouched behind the plate giving a target

Quick Answer The hardest position in baseball is catcher, with no real debate: it is the most physically and mentally demanding job on the field. Shortstop and pitcher come next. First base is the easiest position to field, though it carries the most pressure to hit. Here are all nine baseball positions ranked by difficulty, … Read more

How Many Innings? College Baseball vs High School vs MLB

College baseball scoreboard showing the innings of a game at dusk

A regulation baseball game is 9 innings in MLB and college, 7 in high school, and 6 in Little League Majors and below. Quick Answer A regulation college baseball game is 9 innings, the same as MLB. The exceptions are doubleheaders, where each game is cut to 7 innings by conference rule, and blowouts, where … Read more

10 Hockey Drills for Skaters Just Learning to Stop

Young hockey player performing a hockey stop and spraying snow off the skate edges

Quick Answer The best hockey drills for beginners start with stopping, not shooting. Teach the snowplow stop, then the hockey stop, then crossovers, before you move to stick handling, passing, and shooting. Ten drills below run in that order, and they all work in a single 45 minute practice. The one rule that matters most: … Read more

How Long Is a Hockey Period? Time on Ice vs Time on the Clock

Ice hockey arena scoreboard and game clock above players on the rink

Quick Answer A hockey period is 20 minutes of clock time, and a game has three of them, so a full game is 60 minutes on the clock. Because the clock stops on every whistle, the real time you sit in the stands is closer to 2 hours and 30 minutes. Hockey uses three periods, … Read more

Girls Flag Football: A Fast-Growing High School Sport

High school girls flag football quarterback throwing a pass during a varsity game

Quick Answer Girls flag football is growing fast in U.S. high schools. Roughly 69,000 girls played in 2024 to 25, up from about 15,000 three years earlier. At least 18 state associations now sanction it as a varsity sport, the NCAA made it an Emerging Sport for Women in January 2026, and it debuts at … Read more