Opinions

I want to talk about how softball is a very conservative sport. We are very old school for many of the things that we do. Unlike many other sports that adapt and pick up on new research findings to improve their game, we tend to stick to the old-fashion way of doing things far too often.

Why is that? I don’t really know. Perhaps it’s because most of our coaches are volunteers and are not well educated in sports sciences – all they know really well are techniques and strategies. Also, coaches often tend to use the same methods that they have experienced in their playing days and some of these methods might be out of date.
There are many things that we “still” do that are totally out of date. Here are a few.

1. Keeping the elbow up at the plate. Probably the biggest flawed coaching tip given to young players in the history of softball and baseball. Even in my playing days, when I was not successful at the plate, the first thing that my coaches or my parents would tell me was to keep my elbow up like it was the magic trick to cure all hitting problems. I have no idea where it is coming from but any decent coach or hitting instructor will tell you that it is the most ridiculous thing ever!

In a quest to increase their chances of be reinstated in the Olympics, baseball has approached softball to submit a common bid. They probably felt it would help them since softball is a scandal-free sport and is kind of  seen as the women equivalent of men's baseball.

Thank God - Softball said "thanks, but no thanks!". As much as it might have helped increase baseball's chances, it would have hurt ours.

Many people including me  think that baseball is partly what cost softball its participation in the Olympics in the first place.

Softball, in the mind of people who don't really know the sport well, is just baseball for women and they lumped us in the same boat. So we were indirectly victims of all the drug scandals that plagued baseball over the last few years and also the fact that baseball doesn't send its best players to the Olympics.

Read more in this article:

Olympics - Softball rejects baseball's plan for joint Games pitch

For the last few years, the use of facial protection by both batters and defensive players have become more and more prevalent, especially at youth level.

Some organizations, and it is a good thing in my opinion, now make face protection on batting helmets mandatory.  You also see more and more pitchers and corners using face mask  like Game Face shown on  the picture.

The evolution of technology (better bats, balls with more pop) along with players constantly getting better have made this game even more dangerous. So, in my opinion, facial protection should be mandatory at the youth level (14U-16U and lower).

Here is an article about an accident that happened in the last few days where facial protection would have been useful:

Need for Fastpitch Softball Face Masks

I was at the gym today doing interval training on the treadmill (very effective method) and I saw two guys doing the famous "Bench Press".

The bench press is considered by many as one of the two king  exercises in weight training with the squat.

While the bench press is an excellent upper body strength  builder that uses many muscles, it is often abused and overused.

Men especially tend to fall in love with this exercise.

A few reasons to explain this:

1.Most men working out want to develop a stronger and bigger chest and this exercise is often seen as the best one to achieve  that goal.

2.The bench press is considered the king of upper body exercises and excelling at it is perceived to be an evidence of your strength  and power (i.e. being a man).

3. Bench pressing is the only upper body lifts in power  lifting competition.

4. A typical question in gym environments is: "how much can you bench?" which pushes men to work extremely hard to  improve their bench press.

All of these factors have contributed in making the bench press abused and overused.

The other day, I was reading a article in a coaching magazine that was sort of a debriefing about the summer Olympics.

I found one of the elements discussed by the author very interesting and definitely something I can relate to - how the presence of cell  phones might negatively affect an athlete's performance and the team environment.

We now live in a society that is addicted to instant communication devices like cell phones, iPhones, Blackberries, etc.

We are addicted to being connected and talk, chat, email, and text anywhere anytime.

I've had a cell phone for over 10 years. And just a few months ago, I  got myself an iPhone so I am definitely guilty of that too.

I am not a text addict but I like to be able to check my email anywhere  anytime now!

Ok, so what kind of effect can this have on an athlete's performance and the team?

The author was saying that at the Olympics, many athletes were so focus on "capturing" and "sharing" their Olympic experience using their cell  phones by taking and sharing photos, filming bits of it with it, emailing, talking, and texting with friends that it could have affected some of  them by taking some of their focus away.

A few weeks ago, I took over a 16U team.  That's the first time in 10 years that I will be back working at that level.

That should be an interesting and fun challenge.

Since I knew very little about the team and its athletes, I registered the team into a fall tournament to get to know the atheltes better, evaluate them.

It also gave me a chance to teach about my philosophy, my offensive and defensive mindset, my expectations, etc.

We ended up winning the tournament.

That led me to think further about what it takes to build a successful team.

Here's my recipe for success

• Committed and "coachable" athletes
• High-quality instruction and development program
• Athletes who have a character and a love for the game
• Picking athletes with good athleticism
• Developing a strong work ethic and discipline
• Teaching decision-making skills
• Integrating mental training for increased confidence, focus, and mental toughness
• Strong, consistent and powerful softball hitting
• Dominant and consistent pitching
• Solid and consistent defense
• Finely-tuned short game skills
• Aggressive baserunning
• Strong leadership from the coaching staff

Do you know what the definitation of insanity is?

It's to keep doing the same things the same way and expect different results.

That's dumb! Yet, I guess it's human nature.

Think of people trying to lose weight, they probably tried the combo intense exercises and drastic calorie cutting several times before giving up only a few days or a few weeks later.

Yet, they keep trying to lose weight the same way again and again and again.

And they fail everytime. If something is not working for you, you've got to change how you do things.

Softball is no different. If a certain way of training, a certain way of coaching, a certain strategy or a  certain technique doesn't work after you sincerely tried it - Change.

Try something else.

I see so many coaches and athletes that keep doing  things a certain way and still don't get results.

Now you can either continue to do what you’ve always  done – and keep getting the same results.

Last year, I went to see the Phillys play in Philadelphia.

Since the Expos left Montreal for Washington, I haven't had the chance to watch a lot of  pro baseball games live.

I got there early. I wanted to obverse.

Have you ever watched major league players prepare for a game?

It's a beauty to watch the best players in the world prepare for battle.

They are focus. They are relax. Each individual athlete do various things to get themselves ready for the game.

They are pros. They act like it.

I could certainly discuss the choice of a few  exercises in their preparation like the excessive use of static stretching and use more dynamic stretching like the rest of the athletic planet like I'm showing in my upcoming Dynamic Warm-Up for Softball System.

You know, MLB is very conservative and takes a long time to change. But it's slowly getting there with the influx of younger, better trained strength coaches.

But the lesson here is how much time to put into their preparation before a game. And how they do it.

I have worked with and observed a lot of softball players over the years.

I have come two main conclusions about most players:

1) They love the game and want to get better

2) They have serious deficiencies in their conditioning which hurts their game big time.

A lot players will try to workout and coaches will try to implement some form of conditioning in their practices.

However, to be honest, most of what's done is useless or ineffective.

Why?

It's random. A couple of speed drills here. A couple of power exercises there. Add to this a set or two of push-ups and  sit-ups and you might have one of these "ramdom" workouts.

Don't get me wrong. Doing something is better than doing nothing.

But..if your workouts are random, your results will be random  and that's if you get any results at all.

You see, there HAS to be a progression in what you do.

First - you gotta build a foundation of muscular endurance, learn the basic mechanics of speed and agility and develop a base of aerobic fitness.

WOW! I just watched the Olympics Final and have witnessed  a major upset as Team USA was defeated by Japan in one  of the most surprising upsets in these Olympics.

That will be a huge disappointment for the young ladies  of the US Team considering the expectations and the fact that they have who worked incredibly hard probably just like all other softball olympians in the world as well.

We have to congrats Japan and their pitcher Yukiko Ueno  who threw 28 innings in 24 hours all by herself!

What does this mean for the sport of softball?

Softball is very healthy sport in the world, especially in the USA where it has never been better. This might  actually help teh case of softball get back into the  Olympics by showing the world that softball isn't  just dominated by one country but is an international  sport unlike the perception that softball isn't a global sport.

All I can conclude with: "Games are played on the  field, not on paper." Let's remember that as a highly  valuable lesson for our young ladies.

I would love to hear you thoughts and you feelings about this major upset in the history of our sport.

Last year, I was talking to a softball player who I know very well. She absolutely loves softball and has also a great personality. Always smiling, polite, upbeat, and pleasant to be around.

She told me she was trying out for an elite 16U travel team in her area and that she was really nervous.

After talking to her for a while, I realized that she spend too much time focusing on others and not enough on her.

Comparing herself to the other players trying out made her even more nervous.

And you know what happens when you are too nervous?

Yes, you make more mistakes and don't perform as well.

Why add pressure and stress when you already have a lot of it?

You see, if you start comparing yourself to the other athletes that you are trying out with, it takes you away from your own game.

While it's not always easy to do, the only thing you want to focus on  yourself and what you control.

You don't control what others do. Don't pay much attention to what the others do and just do your own thing.

When you are interested in a topic, you buy just about everything you can find on the topic. Since I am quite interested in softball conditioning, I have bought just about every book, manuals, DVD, and resources I could on strength and conditioning for softball and baseball.

Since softball conditioning is one of my areas of expertise, I often get asked my opinion on various resources on the topic.

As a result, I have decided to do a review of one of the most popular books on the market  for softball training - The Ultimate Guide to Weight Training for Softball.

In this podcast, Marc Dagenais discusses why people get involved in coaching youth softball and the fact that coaching youth softball can be highly rewarding but it can also bring a load of headaches such as dealing with parents.

 

 Coaching Youth Softball - Should You Get Involved? [9:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (380)

First of all, just a quick reminder of some of the great  resources we have for you.

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I have now been in Southern Ontario for a few days working with the Canadian Olympic Team.

Yesterday and Today are days off for the athletes so there wasn't much going on in the last 48 hours.

However, I want to talk about the differences between this level of play and elite travel ball.

I am probably one of the very few that has had the chance to coach at every level of the game (little league, travel ball, college softball, international level, etc.).

See my bio for more details.

Marc Dagenais' Bio

Note: This is an article published a few years ago into the NFCA Fastpitch Delivery sent to me by good friend Doug Parry and written by Jeff Aumend - Former Head Coach at Montana State University.

There is also another interesting about article on the same topic on my site - Calling the Game: Whose Responsability? Click on the link to read it.

The age-old question of whether the coach or player should call the pitches in a game is not an easy one to answer. We all hope that the coach, catcher and pitcher can be on the same page, and that page is different than the one the opposing hitter is on. Both methods work: I, personally prefer to call most pitches. However, I know coaches who are successful allowing the players to make those decisions. Let’s examine both sides.

The argument for the players calling pitches begins with the fact that they are “in the action.” They see actual break on each ball pitched and actual location. The pitcher knows her own confidence level in locating a pitch. A catcher, for example, knows her confidence level and work within it. While this may provide players with optimum performance of their existing ability, sometimes performance within a framework of comfort impedes progress.

Last week, I shared with you Cindy Bristow's top 10 observations of the Women's College World Series. She made a key point about the  fact that "Bunting Matters" and I also commented about it also.

Following this message, I got an interesting reply from one of our our loyal readers. I thought I would share it with you:

"I am 65 years old and have been pitching fast pitch for 46 years and still do today. There are no grips on the ball or any pitch that anyone can come up with that I haven't tried or cannot throw.

About bunting, I was at one time an excellent bunter with an average of over 500 against some of the best pitchers around because of it.

I was very successful because I never and I repeat have never bunted to sacrifice anyone. I have always bunted for  a hit and then there were two on base instead of one unless he scored for several different reasons. I was able to put it down no matter where the ball was pitched as long as my bat could reach it.

Anybody that has ever walked or driven by a local softball field during a girls' fastpitch softball game has noticed all these funny softball cheers. These softball cheers are a big part of the game for these girls. It brings them together and they use it cheers themselves up or to tease the opposite team sometimes.

It's not something you see much in baseball. Actually, in baseball, there is a negative image associated with cheering, especially as the boys get a little older and out of childhood.

But why are girls cheering so much? Well I have my little theory on that. Check my youtube video below to see what I think.

 What do you think? You can post your comments below or contribute to the discussion on funny softball cheers on my softball forum.

I also added a collection of various funny softball cheers on my main site.

This morning I received this great list from Cindy Bristow of Softball Excellence through her great newsletter Softball Excellence Insiders. I thought I would share it with you.  Cindy is an internationally recognized softball clinician.  You should definitely check her great resources.

Here's Cindy's top 10 things she learned watching the Women's College World Series:

1.     Outfielders Matter - There were quite a lot of key plays in the outfield that weren't necessarily hard, but that were vital to the outcome of many of the games.

2.     When Your Turn Comes, Be Ready - Megan Gibson, the pitcher from Texas A & M was living proof that when your turn comes you better be ready as she went from sharing pitching duties early in the year to pitching with a record of 41-4, and getting her team all the way to the National Championship game.

3.     Find Your Role and Fill It - Amanda Scarborough from Texas A & M went from being their marquee pitcher in January to being injured and out for the year. And instead of pouting about being injured and isolating herself from the team Amanda found a new role and a new way to help her team win by doing everything possible to help the remaining pitcher, Megan Gibson, be as successful as possible! That takes a very team-oriented and unselfish player!

Two days ago, I ranted about how bad some practices can be in youth softball. You know, the typical 9-players-standing-on-the-field-not-learning-much-and-not-having-fun-while-1-hitter-tries-to-hit-the-ball type of practice. It certainly didn't leave people indifferent.

See my first post about that topic: Coaching Softball - How to Run a Bad Softball Practice

Following that post, I got that email from a young lady:

"First of all, I hope you know that a lot of the people receiving your e-mails ARE those coaches you think should be "fired," including my dad (this is his daughter, a competitive softball player, writing this). People subscribe to your e-mails because they want to become better coaches. I would suggest not putting down your subscribers if you want to keep them.

And just so you know, most of the coaches you're speaking of are VOLUNTEERS. They don't get paid, so they can't get fired. They are taking time out of their busy schedules to try and help girls (who may not otherwise have a
coach or a team) play the sport they love. I don't think it's these people who scare girls away from the sport. At least from my experience with coaches (and I've had a lot), I would rather have a nice coach who may not know a lot, but is trying to get better than a high and mighty coach like you who is looking to shove his "expertise" down the throats of anyone who will listen. I'm not sure who you think you are, but I certainly have never heard of you and I have been playing softball my entire life.