softball

Weight Back and Balanced Pitching Drill
by Hal Skinner

As a pitcher, it's important to understand how important it is to start your pitch off in a balanced pitching stance. For the smoothest motions, you must also maintain that same balance through the entire course of your motions when you pitch.

Here is a pitching drill that gives you a feeling of balance during your pitching motions, the feeling of a slight lean forward at the start and of having the weight back at the end of the motions.

How to do the drill

Part One

Stand on the rubber and bend your stride knee to 90 degrees, like a flamingo.

Throw three pitches like that balancing on your pivot foot only while keeping your balance.

Don't let your foot come down until the catcher catches the ball.

Part Two

Now, take an empty coffee can and set it upside down about 1 foot directly in front of your stride foot.  Place your foot against the top edge of the can, lean SLIGHTLY forward, and throw three pitches from that position while keeping your balance.

Part Three

Here's a philosophy on being a successful pitcher as shared by legendary pitcher and instructor Coach Hal Skinner in his book Sneaky Softball Pitching.

The best and most widely respected pitchers are those who pitch the smartest games.

They don’t have to throw the quickest fastball, or have a large number of different pitches to choose from, or even have great ball movement on those pitches. The best pitchers are the unpredictable pitchers. The unpredictable pitchers are the smart pitchers!

Years ago, my goal was to become a smart pitcher; to outsmart the batters, the teams I faced. Every good pitcher needs a bit of an ego when it comes to their pitching. I am no exception to this rule.

My pitching philosophy is different from any other I’ve encountered in the sport. Most do not even agree with me. But my philosophy is simple: a pitcher must be smarter at pitching than the batter is at hitting…

Do you agree or disagree?

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 Mike Tully

My 4-year-old grand-daughter put her arms around me, kissed me goodnight and then said, “Your hair smells like beach house.”

One sniff of my newly washed hair took her mind to memories of our family vacation.

Her train of thought is one that can take you to greatness in sports, with a technique called anchoring.

It’s based on a principle so simple that even a 4-year-old noticed it. As mammals, we are wired to associate physical sensations with emotions. For instance, you probably have a song that reminds you of some person, place or thing. Tasting a certain food may bring to mind some memory, like grandma’s kitchen. To this day, the smell of the sun hitting a telephone pole on a warm day takes me back to my childhood, when we spent our summers sitting around a big wooden picnic table.

You can use this principle to lock in all the good things you do in sports. All you must do is perform some action every time you do something you would like to repeat.

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.

Who doesn't love Jennie Finch? In this episode of Fastpitch TV, Jennie Finch talks about:

• her first experience with softball
• her dad and the Finch Windmill
• what it was like being a 3-sports athlete in high school
• what position she played in high school (not pitcher!)
• her travel ball experience
• playing softball in college at the University of Arizona
• winning the national championship her junior year in college
• playing for Team USA
• winning a Gold Medal
• watching Laura Berg and Lisa Fernandez as a young softball player then playing with them for Team USA
• playing for the Chicago Bandits
• and a whole bunch more!

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.

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

Tonight I was working with one of my top hitting students, a girl named Amy who always draws oohs and ahhs when people watch her swing the bat. She's a very good hitter, better than she herself realizes, I think, and really turned some heads as a varsity starter last year when she was a freshman.

Her normal swing is a good one, but tonight while we were doing some front toss I noticed something. At one point you could just see that something had changed with her — and changed for the better.

I had to stop and ask — did your concentration level just go up? Yes, she answered. She told me that the last swing, where the ball just jumped off her bat in what looked like it would've been a 300 foot home run if we were at a field instead of in a cage, she just totally blocked out all other thoughts and just focused on the ball.

In this episode of Fastpitch.TV, Gary Leland shares an interview with former Olympian Tairia Flowers.  In this video Tairia talks about:

• when she first started playing softball
• being a catcher
• the importance of her teammates
• her high school softball career
• life lessons her high school coach taught her
• playing softball in college
• why UCLA is special
• what it's like to be an Olympian
• and more!

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.

In this episode of Fastpitch TV, Gary Leland features Leah O'Brien Amico inspiring talk from a Fellowship of Christian Athletes breakfast.

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

The day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day in many countries outside the U.S. Traditionally, it's a day where the wealthy either give gifts to their servants or trade places with them for a day.

That latter concept isn't a bad one for fastpitch softball coaches to adopt now and then. We get so used to barking orders and instructions that we forget that what we're saying may not be what our players are hearing. And we may not be coming off quite the way we'd like.

That's a lesson that often gets learned when the team puts on skits as part of a team building exercise. Sooner or later, someone does an imitation of the coaches, and while it's meant to be funny there can be some interesting truths that come out.

A good question to ask yourself is "Could I play for me?" While the temptation is to give an immediate "yes," stop and really think about it for a minute. The answer might surprise you.