Opinions

One of the most powerful traits a softball player can have is the ability to bounce back from mistakes, overcome obstacles, and keep pushing through adversity. Of course, this is often easier said than done. How do you bounce back when you just cost your team a run on defense or stranded the tying run in scoring position after you struck out looking with two outs?

While there are various sports psychology tips and tricks for improving your mental game, here are 3 simple tips you can start using today to help you bounce back from your softball mistakes:

Accept: Accept that you made a mistake and that you're upset about it.   If you feel mad, frustrated, embarrassed, sad, upset or any other negative emotion because you messed up, that's OK!  It just means your human and means you care about what happens on the field.  Don't fight that or beat yourself up for feeling that way.  Allow it for a moment, accept and acknowledge that you felt it, then side it aside for the rest of the game.  There will be lots of time to evaluate it further later.  Right now, you need to reset your mind and body for the next play!

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

There is an old parenting saying that goes "The days are long but the years are short." With the high school and travel seasons coming up in many areas right now, fastpitch parents would do well to heed that advice.

It wasn't long ago that some of us were in your shoes. We were madly rushing from practice to game, or game to game, or lessons to practice or some other combination, wondering how we were ever going to do it all and keep up our houses and lawns and all that too.

Rest assured, however, that one day it will end. There won't be anymore lessons, or practices, or games to get to. There won't be any injuries to nurse or feelings to massage. And you may just find yourself wishing you had one more day of hot, sweaty tournament play to enjoy.

The time goes fast. It really does. And between running from here to there like a crazy person and being disappointed by an unexpected loss, sometimes it gets easy to lose your perspective. Don't let that happen.

Most softball players and coaches dedicate quite of bit of time to softball each week. In fact, you may even fall into the category of spending a "ton" of time on softball when you're in season. However, it's surprising how often players or coaches train, compete, and spend hours of their time on this game with only the vague purpose of having fun or wanting to "get better."  It almost boggles my mind how much time and energy some commit to softball without really giving much thought to exactly what they want to accomplish this season or even over the course of the next 2-3 seasons.

Are you one of those people? Think about it. If I asked you right now to tell me where you want to be softball-wise at the end of this season, what would you tell me? How specific would your answer be? Do you even know what your first and biggest goal would be? If you only accomplished ONE thing, what would you want it to be? Is it a hitting goal or a defensive goal? Is it a speed and agility goal or softball skills goal? Is it more of a personal goal or one for the team you're on?

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

Last year just for fun I downloaded a book onto my old smartphone that had nothing to do with fastpitch softball. While I quickly discovered that reading a book on a smartphone is not an easy task for someone of my age, the book itself was quite interesting.

It was called "What's the Worst That Could Happen?" and its purpose was to give people the tools they need to decide if global warming is real and what (if anything) should be done about it. What the author, a fifth grade science teacher, was trying to do was give readers the tools to make their own decisions.

In the very lengthy discussion leading into the tools, the author talked about something called "confirmation bias." The basic principle of confirmation bias is that when you are trying to prove a point, you will look for evidence that proves your point and ignore evidence that goes against it.

Sound familiar? It's something most of us do naturally and sub-consciously. We have certain beliefs about the game of fastpitch softball and the skills required to play it, and we don't want anyone telling us different. So if someone challenges us, we immediately look for "evidence" to support our position, usually in the form of video.

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

Anyone who has played Pictionary, Charades or other games where one person gives clues to others knows how frustrating it can be. (Particularly if your partner is your significant other, but that's a story for another day.)

You draw what you think is an accurate and brilliant representation of the concept you're trying to get across. And then all you get are blank stares and confused looks from your partners.

As time ticks away you frantically gesture and point at your drawing, which elicits no more recognition from your partners than it did originally. Finally the buzzer sounds and you're spent, with nothing to show for your efforts.

Sound familiar? That's the experience fastpitch softball coaches often have when working with their players. You explain a concept the way you always have, in a way that makes perfect sense to you and that has worked before. Yet it's met with blank stares, and more importantly it doesn't make the change you want to make in the player.

This is one of the great challenges in coaching. Because it doesn't matter how much you know, only how much you can convey to your players.

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

Hard to believe that it wasn’t so long ago that fastpitch softball was a game played by kids for the – wait for it – fun of it. Sure, there were a few adults around regularly in the form of coaches and umpires, and parents would regularly come out to see them play if they weren’t working. But it wasn’t life-and-death, with every player’s future prospects for a good education apparently hanging on the result of every pitch.

All that seems like some sort of pastoral dream, like a Norman Rockwell painting of America as we always imagined it should be. Today parents seem to be way too wrapped up in their children’s athletic endeavors.

Some are unabashed boosters/braggarts for their kids. You never want to be cornered by them lest they start to regale you with tales of Lindsay’s might line drive, or the diving catch Erin made in center field, or the 13 Ks Alice racked up in her last appearance in the circle. Still, they’re relatively harmless.

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

Tonight I had a very interesting discussion with one of my students. She was my last lesson of the night and we had a little time to chat before her mom came back to pick her up.

We spoke of many things, but then we got into the idea of players being willing to change what they're doing to get better. I then mentioned that my teaching had changed somewhat since the days when my sons had played baseball.

That's when Jenna asked an interesting question: If you found better mechanics than what you're currently doing, would you make your students change?

I paused for only a moment and then said yes. She seemed a little surprised at first, but then I asked her "If I discovered something that could add five mph to your pitches wouldn't you want me to share that with you, even if it's different?" It didn't take her long to nod her head yes.

This is something coaches need to be willing to do — give up what they believe when something better comes along. That might seem self-evident but it's really not.

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

With all the crazy parent stuff that goes on these days, many teams and programs have adopted the so-called "24 hour" rule. With it, parents are not allowed to talk to coaches about something that happens in a game, or playing time, or any other issue until 24 hours after a game.

Yet often the same coaches who want parents to take 24 hours to cool down forget they can use a little cooldown time too, especially after a poor performance by the team. That can be a huge mistake for a couple of reasons.

One is that it's tough to objectively assess the facts of a game in the heat of battle or directly thereafter. What seems like a horrible game at the time may not look as bad when it's a little further in the rear view mirror.

The other is that you may say something to blow off steam at the time that comes back to bite you in the behind later. Any experienced coach can tell stories about things that were said that could never be unsaid. It can lead to all kinds of trouble.

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

Fastpitch Drills Work Better When You Know Why You're Doing Them

Yet another story from the fastpitch front, i.e. lessons. Tonight I was doing a pitching lesson where the pitcher brought her own catcher. The catcher happens to be a girl named Lindsay, a former player of mine and a personal favorite.

As the pitcher was working, she occasionally threw a ball into the ground. My expectation was that Lindsay would drop and block the ball, or at least catch it competently. But instead, she was just sort of swatting at it, which looked very odd.

After the pitching lesson I asked her what gives, and that's when she told me she'd just come from a team workout (not sure if it was HS or travel ball) where the coach was bouncing balls into the catchers, who were only wearing masks. I asked her what the purpose/point of the drill was, and she said she didn't know. None of the catchers did, apparently.

Written by Jen Croneberger

1. “It doesn’t take talent to hustle and be on time.” For many coaches, this is the first thing noticed.
Who shows up early? Who runs on and off the field EVERY TIME regardless of what others are doing? You should always be 15 minutes early or you will be considered late. And if you are late, you better be running, with cleats on ready to go, not having to still get “dressed” as you approach the field. Prepare ahead of time for situations that may potentially deter you from being on time so as to give the best initial impression to the coaches.
WE NEVER WALK in this game. ANYTIME, ANYWHERE. Hustle on and off the field and in everything you do and you will be noticed. You should come off the field after try- outs, and after every practice once the season starts, knowing that you gave 100% the entire time.

Written by Stacie Mahoe

Most coaches have fears, worries, or anxiety about something. In fact, I'm not sure I know any coaches who don't.  It's pretty normal, when you really care about something greatly, to have concerns or worries about it.

However there is one softball coaching fear in particular that I see get in the way of good coaching time after time.

Can you guess what it is?

It's the fear of what others will think about you. I've heard advisers in other areas of life say that if you really want to be successful, you have to stop caring what other people think of you and your choices.

I believe that holds true for coaching softball too.

It's an easy trap to fall into. You and I both know how many critics there are of any softball coach. It comes with the territory. It's tough not to take things personally. Sure we all intellectually know that we shouldn't, but that's not always easy.  You're not the only coach who finds challenge in not allowing whispers (for shouts for that matter) from the outside impact what you do and the choices you make as a coach.

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

With fastpitch softball being as competitive as it is these days, most of us spend 100% of our time looking forward. We see the goals, they're out in the distance, and we're always looking to move ourselves closer to them.

But with the new year upon us, it might be a good time to take a look back, even just for a moment, to see how far you've come. I find that is often one of the most inspirational things you can do, and a good way to recharge the ol' enthusiasm for the journey ahead.

I've done this with a few of my students lately, especially the new ones. I ask them to think back to when we started back in August and September, and what things were like for them. I then go through a quick review of what we've worked on since then, capping it off with a count of the months we've been working on it.

For example, with a high school pitcher we might look back to find we've rebuilt her mechanics so they are more consistent and allow her to throw both harder and more accurately. We'll see she is throwing a change-up, and starting on a drop ball.

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

Traditionally, the holidays are a time for family. So what better time to take a step back and re-evaluate your priorities than during this time when things usually slow down a bit? Especially when it comes to being a parent/coach.

Most people who coach start out for the right reasons. Usually a team their daughter is on needs a coach, the coach has some knowledge and wants to give back to the game, and the parents wants to spend more quality time with his/her daughter.

Somewhere along the way, though, competitive natures come out and even for those with the best intentions it becomes a little less about spending time with your daughter and more about racking up the W's. That's when the trouble starts.

Suddenly your daughter isn't your daughter anymore. She's the kid who threw a pitch down the middle on an 0-2 count with the winning run on second. Or she's the kid who dropped the easy fly ball, booted the grounder, or popped up with runners in scoring position.

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

Many of you have probably heard the expression "Practice doesn't make perfect — it makes permanent." Yet how often have you really thought about that in the context of your own work?

I know I see that in action all the time. Walking through a facility or along a field I will see teams diligently running drills or working on techniques that essentially have them practicing to lose. Even though they may have best of intentions.

I see it with hitting a lot. I like hitting stations as much as the next coach, but they can do as much harm as good if they're not set up or supervised properly.

Now, if you have older players whom you've worked with for awhile you can probably have them work the stations without someone being with them every minute. But for younger players it often doesn't work as well.

I will see young players putting no effort into hitting off a tee because they think it's for babies. So they just sort of knock the ball off instead of working on elements of their swings.

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

Whether you're working with a team or an individual, many fastpitch softball coaches struggle with where to start. There's so much to learn in our game that it can be quite overwhelming.

This is where coaches can take a cue from the business world — in particular the "funnel" approach used in sales. Most sales organizations have it down to a science. They know that if they're going to close X number of sales, they need to X number of customers to come to the website, which means they need their promotional efforts to reach X number of people in total.

In the case of coaching, it works this way. Start with the big things, get those happening first, and then work your way down into the details.

Now, that may seem rather obvious but you'd be surprised how many coaches try to get to the detail parts too quickly — or try to teach everything about a skill at once. What usually happens is the player becomes so overwhelmed by information that she doesn't learn much of anything.

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

I'm sure you know people who still believe in "hands to the ball" hitting cue. I, for one, think that's a terrible cue that will cause more problems than it cures, especially because I don't think it will cure anything.

Regardless of the specifics, however, this issue does get me thinking because at one time I DID use that very same cue, and put my hitters through some of the drills that encouraged it (such as soft tossing balls and hitting them with the knob, which I picked up at a coaching clinic).

What I was thinking, though, was thank goodness none of the hitters I worked with, either on my team or on the side, have to give back any of their hits now that I have better information.

That's the funny thing about a forum like ours. We can expend lots of time, passion and electrons arguing various positions on how to execute differen skills. At times it can sound like one of the taboo topics (politics, religion), especially when True Believers clash or those with a particular agenda try to bring everyone else around to their point of view.

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

While the winter weather isn't too bad yet, we're reaching that point in the year where those of us in the North have to think about moving indoors. As you probably know, that creates an entirely new dilemma for practicing.

During the warmer months (and the months where it isn't dark by 5:00 PM), you can pretty much wander out to any available ballfield and get some practice time in. Heck, it doesn't even have to be a ballfield. Just about any old patch of grass or dirt will do in a pinch.

But once outdoors is taken out of the picture, things get a lot tougher. Sure, you can rent cage time, but that can get expensive if you're serious about it. You can try to find an open gym, but their managers often are unhappy about a hard ball being hit, thrown or pitched in the general vicinity of others playing basketball, volleyball or other sports.

Moving indoors also takes more schedule coordination. Not only do coach/parent and player/daughter have to be available at the same time, that time has to coincide with the times a cage or gym are available.

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

The other day I had a hitting lesson with a girl named Erin, a girl I converted to a slapper last year and who is now playing at the 16U level. As we were working on various techniques she can do to take advantage of what the defense gives her, she told me something that just warmed my old heart.

She told me after the last tournament she went to her coach and asked her if it would be ok for her to make some decisions on her own regarding what to do with the next pitch, based on what she saw with the defense. Apparently the coach had been calling a lot of bunts — Erin is the leadoff hitter — despite the fact that the defense was playing her in close.

To me, that's a great thing on two levels. First, she approached it the right way. Rather than just ignoring the coach or giving up, she went to her with an idea. Second, she knew enough and was confident enough in her own abilities to want the choice of what to do.

Slide with Care
Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

The other day I heard about another player who broke her leg sliding into a base. From the description she probably caught her cleats in the ground so her foot stopped while her body kept going.

While any sport contains some level of risk, I sometimes think the risks of sliding aren't being properly addressed — which means either players aren't being taught the proper techniques — or they're not able to apply those techniques in a game situation.

Some of the latter may be fear. They're afraid it's going to hurt when they slide, so they approach it cautiously. That's the wrong way to go.

Sliding works best when you go all-out. Throwing your body forward with enthusiasm builds up the momentum to let your body glide across the infield; slowing up or getting cautious will tend to make you flop down, increasing the possibility of a strawberry or bruise.

Keeping What You See in Perspective
Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

Softball fanatics love evaluating what those at high levels of play are doing. We may even watch the mechanics of some of the top players in Major League Baseball. As fanatics, we love to study those mechanics and try to learn from them in order to help our players, or our own children (male and female) become the best they can be.

There is a danger in all of this, however. Namely an inability to keep what you see in context.

While the mechanics of some of these great hitters make a good model and a good goal, it's important to be realistic in your expectations. Because like it or not, there is a huge difference between a 28 year old MLB player and a 12 year old girl.

Let's start with the obvious: a grown man is much stronger than a young girl. Not just in the upper body, but in every aspect. Take the strongest 12 year old girl you've ever seen and put her in a cage match with a 28 year old male professional athlete, and the girl is going to lose. Badly. So expecting a 12 year old girl to have the exact same swing mechanics, including the explosiveness, of a 28 year old MLB player is not very realistic.