Lucky You Don't Have to Give Softball Success Back!

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.

Yet in the end, what counts is whether we've helped players get better. Even if we sort of backed into it.

I am a huge believer in confidence when executing athletic skills. Goodness knows I've given plenty of instruction, especially early in my career, that makes me cringe now. Fortunately, though, the players I worked with, male and female, were able to overcome any deficiencies at least in part because they were so filled with confidence that their bodies naturally figured out what to do.

This is not to say everything I told them was wrong. Far from it, which also helps. But having the touchstone of knowing they'd had instruction and had put in the work was more important than the specific techniques.

I will also say I had it mostly right even early-on, so it wasn't like the whole mechanism was off-base. But there were a few things I taught then that I wouldn't teach now on a bet. Still, the belief in themselves was enough to overcome those details, and that's what made it worthwhile.

In the end, whatever successes my students and players from back then achieved they get to keep. The big hits, the strikeouts while pitching, the runners who were thrown out trying to steal, all of that and more stays right where it is.

And that's the great thing about our game. You can have the worst swing in the world, but if you execute it with enthusiasm (and have a modicum of hand-eye coordination) you can get some pretty darned nice hits. I know, because I've seen it happen.

So do try to learn all you can, and teach with the best information you can find. But don't get so hung up on it that you're afraid to do anything. Because regardless of whether you're right or wrong in what you teach, the successes your players or students achieve are theirs for life.

Anyway, that's the way I see it.

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