Let's Take Softball in the 21st Century!
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often tend to use the same methods that they have experienced in their playing days and some of these methods might be out of date.
There are many things that we “still” do that are totally out of date.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!
2. Using static stretching to warm-up. Scientific research has taught us in recent years that using static stretching as mean to warm-up is counter productive. Not only it doesn’t prevent injuries but it actually decreases performance by turning off the nervous system (decreasing speed and power). Static stretching has been replaced by dynamic stretching which “turns on” the nervous system and promotes speed and power generation and helps prevent injuries. Static stretching should be use in the cool-down after games and practices.
3. Using heavy bats while on-deck to build bat speed. Have you ever heard the principle that to be fast, you have to train fast? Then, knowing that swinging a heavy bat will slow down your swing, why so many softball players swing a heavy bat on deck thinking it will help them swing faster? Bottom line is that swinging a heavy bat on deck slows your swing down. Instead, use a slightly lighter bat (minus 1 or 2 oz) and that will make you swing faster before you step in the batter’s box.
4. Running a 1-batter and 9-fielders hitting practices. Have you ever seen practices where you have one player hitting and 9 players on the field waiting for the ball? This is the most ridiculous way of doing training hitting and a huge waste of time. Totally counter productive. You want to use stations and have most of your players doing something active at all time. You only have so much time to practice – make the best use of it by being highly efficient and effective.
5. Pitchers should not lift weights. Why would pitchers be different than other athletes? Pitchers can greatly benefit from lifting weights. It’s true that you have to be careful with overhead lifts with pitchers but outside of that, having your pitchers workout will only help them prevent injuries, develop greater stamina and become stronger, more powerful, faster, more dominant, and more consistent.
6. Doing endless aerobic training. How often in softball do you go non-stop for minutes at a time? Never. Spending hours and hours doing cardio is pointless and useless. Yes, you want to build a base of cardiovascular fitness but nothing more. If your athletes are able to job for 20 minutes at a moderate pace, that’s enough. They don’t need to do more. You want to spend more time building speed, strength and power which are essential qualities in softball. Doing too much running can actually hinder the development of these three qualities. Early in the off-season, you can spend a bit of time doing cardio but as you get closer to the season, focus on doing sprints and high-intensity work.
7. Yelling and screaming at players. It might have worked in the 70’s, in the 80’s and even a bit in the 90’s but today’s softball players don’t respond well to yelling and screaming. Yes, that might work in the short term but it doesn’t work over a long period of time. Yes, you can ask for discipline, hard work, and effort but no need to yell or scream. Instead, you want a positive, supportive and empowering environment so that your athletes respond well and want to go to war for you.
8. Eating Junk. Gone are the days were softball was seen as a sport where burgers and beers were the food of choice. Serious softball players watch what they eat and understand that what they eat and what they drink do influence their game. Softball is a sport that requires mental sharpness, great anticipation, quick reaction time, quick judgment, and alertness. Your brain cells use blood glucose (energy in your blood) to function. If you eat and drink junk, you will not be fuelling your brain cells with adequate stuff and you will not be mentally sharp. Your game will suffer.
9. Using the pitching machine too much. We love pitching machines. Pitching machines are a great invention but doing too much of it, especially doing the season is counter productive. The machines do not vary pitch locations and teach your players to swing at every pitch without making a decision. It’s great to train hitting mechanics in the off-season but nothing beats live pitching, front toss or other variations of live pitching to learn how to judge a ball and adjust to different pitches.
There are many more old school practices that are still around but I would have to write a book to talk about all of them.
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Comments on Let's Take Softball in the 21st Century! »
Well said, Marc. One other thing I'd add is bunting every stinking time you get a runner on first base. There are still coaches who do that, no matter who's at the plate, how far behind they are, or how much success they've had against that pitcher in the past.
Let your kids swing the bat!
Well, Ken…
Don't know what area you are from, but I'm sure that different parts of the country also carry different "trends" in incorrect teaching, or lack of teaching at all in some cases.
In our neck of the woods, we have the opposite problem. There are 16 year olds around here who have been playing ball since they were 5 and have NO CLUE how to bunt. And most of the ones who attempt to bunt have been taught incorrectly how to do it. Same thing with sliding…. :/
The problem, as I see it, is that there are too many dads who are coaching girls according to the way they played baseball MANY years ago. They are focusing on teaching them the out of date (and incorrect) ways of SLUGGING at every pitch, hoping to knock it over the fence, and forgetting about the short game.
These are also the same "coaches" that you will see making a spectacle of themselves on the field by picking an arguement with the umpire about every other call. You know, the ones who would rather create visualizations for the onlookers about why they are doing poorly against a well coached team rather than just swallowing their pride and admitting they could do a better job, themselves?
Another thing that would move fastpitch to the 21st century? - How about getting rid of these sexist guys who are coaching our daughters (who are young women) while believing that women aren't capable of effective coaching. Trust me, these guys are out there - they've learned to be silent about it for the most part, but sexist views are very present where I'm from, even though this sport is dominated by female atheletes. How could that type of attitude, even though it is not completely outspoken for the most part, be a positive influence on our daughters?
How can we figure out a way for more women (capable and respectable ones of course) to step up and coach youth teams? Why is a sport that is dominated by female atheletes also overwhelmingly overpopulated by male coaches?
Don't take my "rant" as having issues with men coaching girls fastpitch… this is not to take a stab at the "good guys." Rather, I'm pointing fingers at the "good ole boys" clubs across the US who think it's their "right" to influence our daughters with their sexist attitudes that any woman who coaches a youth team is really nothing more than a glorified dugout mom.
—You men who are doing an AWESOME job with these girls because you actually believe in them and love the sport of fastpitch, while respecting your female counterparts—- All I can say is "keep up the good work" — and I wish there were more were like you.
Thanks for this post, Marc. My husband and I were just discussing this the other night. Our football coach was saying "softball is so different, the girls don't have to do a thing all year, and the girls can step onto the field during tryouts, make the team, and compete well in the season." WHICH IS NOT WHAT I THINK IS REALLY HAPPENING WITH THE "SUCCESSFUL" PLAYERS AND TEAMS OUT THERE. I actually just stepped down as an assistant high school coach and this is one very strong reason why… This is the mentality of our head coach. I was a college athlete, I feel passionate about the training aspect of the game, the nutrition, the video break-downs, the isolation drills, etc. But it seems like so many softball coaches (who yes, I do have to agree, are mostly old-fashioned-men-coaching-our-daughters) just go out and run practices like pregame. The problem also lies in this "man" factor that many (and I will NOT say all, but MANY) teach softball like they taught baseball.. The swing has GOT to be different due to the direction the ball is released, the size of the field is different so softball and baseball strategies, while similar, are not identical. It's a shame that so many girls get bored with rec teams because they are being taught poor skills from the start, and are essential being taught how to play baseball, in a softball environment.
I especially like your point (#4), the batting practices, Marc…. again, why I stepped down as a h.s. assistant - HOW BORING! This is one major reason girls decide not to play anymore.. who wants to shag balls for an hour, just to get 10 minutes to hit herself? I sure don't! This is where effective coaching comes into play and isolation drills are essential. Tee work is not just for tee ball, people, it's for breaking down the mechanics of the swing, and yes, you can utilize these drills for timing as well, which is a big misconception. Batting cage work is important, but there is SO much more to it all.
And #9 (pitching machine). My question is always this, if you have girls training to be pitchers, and batters training to hit, why not put them together for a little cage work? We host winter open gyms at our school and never has our coach allowed a pitcher to actually pitch to a batter before our first game.. how silly. This is not a whole-practice concept, but a small part of practice - having the pitcher throw to girls bunting to get both players acquainted with the indoor facility. Then progressing to a couple of hitting situations such as (batter steps in with a pre-determined 2-2 count), and going from there… we don't want to get into this long, drawn-out portion of practice - but gee, doesn't it make sense to put two striving athletes together in a game situation as much as possible? Hmmm… works for me! I actually have local girls come into my private pitching lessons - they get batting time, and my pitchers get live pitching time!
To close I have two points I'd like to finish with, primarily, we are in the 21st century, video analysis, rev-fire, and other technologies are here to help us make the most out of our time, and get the most out of our girls.
I think you are on to something Marc, and I'd like to say using these ideas has been a purpose driven part of the last 5 years of my professional softball coaching programs in Pennsylvania titled "My Softball Training" which develops pitching programs for each individual girl encompassing training schedules (as they relate to seasonal play), strength and endurance training, nutrition, game analysis, isolation drills, rev-fire technologies, and blogging about all of the above.
Good luck getting everyone else on board…
…what do we have to do to start the avalanche?