The Effect Changing Bodies Can Have on Athletic Performance
No, this isn’t a “Freaky Friday” type of post, although I suppose that type of body changing could be an interesting topic. This is about physical changes with a player’s body.
Back around the fifth grade, most of us learned in health class that as we pass from childhood to adolescence, the hormones in our bodies start to go crazy and major changes begin to manifest themselves. One of the most visible and significant is rapid growth.
A girl who was once a cute little butterball suddenly shoots up 4, 5, 6 inches and becomes a lanky young woman. Another goes from a scrawny flyweight to a muscular middleweight.
Or maybe one day you look and realize the girl who used to have to look up at you now has a significant height advantage over you. (I was going to say looks down on you but, while that is also part of the deal, it’s a separate conversation for another day.)
Sometimes it happens gradually, but more often it seems like it happens overnight. And when those rapid changes do occur, they can have a significant impact on things like balance, proprioception, and coordination – all essential requirements for athletic performance, especially in a precision sport such as fastpitch softball.
Take hitting for example. We all know (or should know, at least) that a big contributor to good hitting is timing. You need to get your foot down on time and your body parts moving in a proper sequence in order to take a round bat to a round ball and hit it square while it’s traveling toward you at a rapid speed and moving (intentionally or unintentionally) in two planes simultaneously.
Sounds complicated doesn’t it? Well, it is.
Now imagine trying to do all that while standing on 4 inch high stilts while having the bat strapped to 3 inch long boards at the end of your wrists. It would be pretty awkward, don’t you think?
Yet that’s what kids who experience rapid growth spurts are going through every time they swing the bat. They used to know where their entire body was in space, including their limbs (which are the most difficult to manage), but surprise! those body parts suddenly aren’t where they used to be anymore.
The result is that hitter has to figure out how to manage this new, sometimes oddly proportioned body in order to achieve the level of performance she was achieving before. And worse yet, those body parts may still be growing, which means she’s trying to adjust to a moving target with runners on base and the game on the line.
And you wonder why she’s struggling some.
The same is true for pitchers and fielders. Things aren’t where they used to be anymore, and until they figure it out performing smoothly and confidently may be off the table for a while.
Another complicating factor is some of this growth may come with what we call “growing pains.” That’s not just a euphemism for the socially awkward teenage years.
It’s a real phenomenon causing physical pain every time they move. One place it shows up a lot is in the legs, or more specifically the knees, with a little gift from nature called Osgood-Schlatter Disease (OSD).
OSD causes pain just below the knee due to an irritation where the tendon from the kneecap attaches to the tibia, one of the bones in the shin. It can cause pain during activities such as running and jumping – or squatting.
Many a young catcher has had to find a new position thanks to a visit from the OSD fairly. And while it will eventually go away as the body settles in to its new configuration, it can take a while. In the meantime many movements that used to be pain-free now come with a cost.
Another thing that can happen during this time of development is what might be characterized as a “thickening” of the body. While your adolescent girl may not gain a great deal more height, especially if she’s not genetically disposed to being tall (thanks mom and dad), her body change from being a little twig to being more, um, stout.
While that will help her in certain ways – thicker muscles will add strength that can make up for a lack of overall size – she’ll still have to learn how to manage that newfound strength so she doesn’t fall into a habit of “muscling up” where she should be remaining loose and flexible. If that thickening happens rapidly it could throw her off considerably until she gets used to her new body.
Then, of course, there’s the elephant in the room for many young women – the development of breasts. That alone can have a serious effect on her movement patterns overall, how her back feels, her posture, her core strength, her flexibility in certain positions and more. And, of course, the larger they are the greater impact they will have on her physically.
All of which explains why your daughter’s or your players’ performance may suddenly go in the toilet for a little while. It’s not that she’s forgotten how to run, or hit, or pitch, or throw overhand, or field a ball.
It’s that what used to work for her body no longer works with the proportions she now has. And until she figures it out her performance may suffer for a little while.
So what can you do as a parent or coach? First of all, understand that his is going on and be a little more forgiving of any performance downgrades.
It’s not that she’s not trying, or is screwing up on purpose. It’s that she honestly doesn’t know how to overcome the situation right now.
Second, you can help her understand what’s happening to her as well. Explain that this is a normal, natural part of growing up, and encourage her to keep working hard. The coordination or balance that has temporarily abandoned her will come back once she gets used to playing as who she is now.
Once you have those parts understood, find devices or exercises or routines that can address the issues she’s having and help her get back on track faster. For example, if she is having trouble with balance get a balance cushion or pad and have her stand on one foot, first with her eyes open and then with her eyes closed, so she can feel her body in space. (The link will take you to a Google search results page.)
Seek out other exercises from professionals as well that can help her. Or you can hire a professional trainer to work with her while she’s having these issues.
If she’s having problems with feeling her body in space, especially her limbs, look into proprioception exercises. A new device from PantherTec called the Kinesthetic Awareness Training (KAT) module can also provide helpful feedback to bring the brain and body back into alignment. (Watch this space for a future product review.)
If she’s complaining about pain, especially in or around her knees, don’t just dismiss it as being soft. Get to your pediatrician have her checked out for OSD or other physical issues. Playing sports can take a toll on the body, and not all problems are the result of a specific injury.
Sometimes it’s cumulative wear and tear, and sometimes it’s something more serious. No matter what, get it checked out and addressed before the body’s instinct to avoid pain starts creating patterns in her movements that are less than ideal.
Finally, don’t assume this is just a preteen/early teen problem. The effects of puberty can last into young adulthood, and many of them can go up and down at different times.
Before you hit the panic button, try to recognize what’s happening physically with your daughter’s or your players’ body and help her address those changes. Because the sooner she is able to deal with how her body feels now, the sooner she’ll get back to performing the way you and she want.
It’s a Short Walk from the Bench to the Stands
Today’s post is primarily aimed at softball players and their parents, although coaches could also learn a thing or two. Especially those who wonder why they keep having trouble filling their rosters.
The basic premise is that whether you’re talking travel ball or even college ball, when you pick a team to play on it’s important to choose one where you might actually play. (High school ball is a separate animal because in most cases where you play is determined by where you live.)
Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? Yet when you look around even casually you’ll see it’s not as obvious as it might seem.
All too often parents will choose teams for their players, or players will make their college decisions, based on the perceived prestige of being there rather than considerations such as “Can I/my daughter actually get on the field?”
Yes, you can enjoy bragging rights for a while. You can get heads to turn when you wear the jersey or other spirit wear and walk into a room of softball people.
But ultimately the shine will wear off (see what I did there?) if you’re not actually on the field playing the game.
Ok, you say, but my goal is to get recruited to a P4 school, and to do that you have to be seen by those coaches. So I need to be on a team that’s playing at (and preferably winning) the tournaments those coaches are watching.
Sure, that’s true. But if you’re not on the field, all the coaches are learning about you is that you’re apparently not good enough to play, particularly when it matters. Do you think that helps or hurts your recruiting chances?
Not playing on Sundays not only means the P4 coaches don’t get a chance to see what you can do. It also means a whole lot of other coaches on other college teams that might have a wonderful opportunity available for you to play and to shine aren’t getting that look either.
No matter what level you’re talking, no college coach wants to take a player sight unseen because their jobs are on the line with every selection they make. They’re not going to make an offer simply because you were on a “name” team, no matter how big the name. If you’re not playing they’re going to figure there must be a reason for it and move on.
At which point you take that short walk from the bench to the next logical step – sitting in the stands while others play the game.
The same is true for playing in college – maybe even moreso. College athletics is about winning, because winning attracts money.
You may dream of playing at the University of Wherever, but if you don’t have a realistic chance of getting on the field, or at least playing an important role, you’re probably not going to be happy with that decision for very long. You need to at least be able to compete for a position.
If you’re simply outclassed by the other players at your position it’s likely your passion for the sport will fade and you’ll be taking that short walk before long.
So what can you do to avoid ending up in the stands before you’re ready for that to happen? There are a couple of things.
To begin with, choose your team wisely and realistically. Take off the rose-colored glasses and do you best to objectively determine whether you can compete for a spot on the field. That includes not only skill level but how set the coach seems to be on his/her lineup. If the same nine are always playing when it counts, regardless of whether they’re performing well or not, you might be better off somewhere else.
If you’re already on a team and you’re not playing, you have two options: get better or get moving.
The first thing you need to do is to look inward and ask if you’re giving everything you have every minute you’re there.
That starts with practice. Are you hustling and working your butt off at practice all the time, or do you take reps off or sleepwalk through certain drills/activities? Are you vocal and enthusiastic, even when you don’t feel like it, or do you it and sulk if you’re not playing regularly?
Coaches notice who wants to be there and who doesn’t, who works hard and who doesn’t. Your effort and enthusiasm are totally within your control, so make sure yours is saying you really want to be there contributing.
You can also keep working to improve your skills. Ask what you need to do to earn more playing time, then work on whatever you’re told until it meets the standard that’s required.
And if you do get that opportunity, be sure you make the most of it to show why you should get more. Otherwise you’re simply reinforcing the coach’s previous decision to keep you on the bench.
The other situation you might face is the realization that for whatever reason this is not the right team for you. At that point, it’s time to start looking at where you might be a better fit.
It could be that your skill level doesn’t match the other players – and never will. It could be that the coach simply doesn’t like you for whatever reason (it happens). It could be any number of things.
If it’s something you can’t change no matter how hard you work, though, there’s no sense staying where you are. Find a place where the team actually needs what you have to offer and then take advantage of that opportunity.
You’ll be happier, and your old team will have the opportunity to replace your roster spot with someone they feel is a better fit for them as well. Everybody wins.
Even great players can find themselves on a team where the path to the stands is shorter than the path to the field. If you’re in that position, don’t sit around waiting for things to get better.
There’s a place in this sport for everyone. Find yours and you’ll be a lot more satisfied with the outcomes.
Bleachers photo by Julion Santos on Pexels.com
Lessons from the Great Wall of China
Pretty much everyone knows or at least has heard about the Great Wall of China. It’s quite the construction feat, running 13,170 miles using materials such as earth, stone, and brick.
While we think of it as one cohesive structure, it’s actually a series of fortifications built by multiple dynasties. While there are no receipts from Lowe’s to tell us exactly how many bricks were used to build it, researchers have estimated it took anywhere from 3.8 to 42 billion bricks/stones to create the incredible wall we marvel at today.
Now think about this: The Great Wall of China wasn’t just plopped in place whole. Each of those 3.8 to 42 billion bricks was laid in place, one at a time, over a period of 2,000 years. All without the help of any modern powered equipment – just hard, backbreaking manual labor from slaves, convicts, soldiers, and random peasants who couldn’t run away fast enough.
And before they could lay the top parts that people walk along and ooh and aah over, they first had to put the ones along the ground in place. And then the layer above that, and the layer above that, and so on.
The same is true for building skills in fastpitch softball (or anything else for that matter, but hey, we’re talkin’ softball here). All too often I see posts on social media from parents or coaches looking to help a player “add 4-5 mph to their pitching speed” or “give a hitter an extra 50 feet of distance on their hits” in the next couple of months.
Sorry folks, it doesn’t work that way, unless their overall mechanics are so bad that any type of guidance will help them overcome some seriously limiting flaws.
The reality is improvement often comes in unnoticeable-to-the-naked-eye increments on a player who is already pretty good. Maybe it’s a slight relaxation of critical muscles that enable a little extra acceleration or a little better positioning of body parts than was achievable before.
Maybe it’s a little extra strength from workouts that doesn’t show up on a force plate or a radar. But it enables a quicker deceleration or a little more efficient transfer of energy from one segment to another or a little faster spin than was happening before that sets a player up for future success.
Stack enough of those little improvements together, one-by-one, and suddenly, before you know it, you have built them into something that will make people say “wow.”
Where it’s different, of course, is that fastpitch softball players can’t bring in a phalanx of slaves, convicts, soldiers, and peasants to do the work for them while they collect all the glory. They have to do the work themselves, repetition after repetition, whether it’s skill work, lifting, speed and agility, or whatever else they need.
The tough part is being patient throughout this process. We all want to see instant results – coaches as much as players and parents.
Again, though, it doesn’t work that way (at least 99.999% of the time). It would be like carrying a bunch of bricks over to where you’re building your wall and trying to stack them all at once.
The result is probably not going to last for nearly 3,000 years and draw visitors from all over the world. In fact, it probably won’t last a day and the only visitor it will draw is the local building inspector telling you to tear it down and try again.
There are no miracle cures or programs that will instantly take a player from zero to hero. What it does take is time and focused work, doing what you’re supposed to do to the best of your abilities each so that over time those individual efforts pay off into a larger, more effective, and more satisfying whole.
So keep stacking those bricks. And be sure to appreciate and celebrate even the smallest victories – even if they’re just a movement feeling better than it did before.
The journey will be worth it when you see the incredible structure you’ve built.
Great wall photo by Ella Wei on Pexels.com
Product Review: pitchLogic Softball
For those who have been hiding under a softball-shaped rock over the last few years, data has become an increasingly important part of our sport. Whether it’s statistics about on-base percentages, whiff percentages by pitch location, how much external rotation is being achieved, or other detailed metrics, coaches at all levels are looking to quantify what their athletes are doing to help improve performance.
This obsession also applies to what happens when a pitcher throws a specific type of pitch. Speed is obviously one important metric that has been easily measurable for a number of years, whether it was with a Stalker or Jugs radar gun or more recently with the advent of the PocketRadar.
The other two parameters that are normally listed along with speed are spin and spot, i.e., how the ball is spinning and whether it goes to the location it was supposed to. Spot is fairly easy to determine with your eyes alone; if you know where the ball was supposed to go you should be able to see whether it went there.
That leaves spin. One simple way to determine whether a ball had the correct spin is to mark a stripe or color the seams to make it easier to see the spin direction, then compare that to what is expected for that pitch.
For example, if you’re throwing a curve ball was the spin direction going around the ball at the “equator” (middle of the ball), going from pole to pole (top to bottom or bottom to top), or some variation in between? You also want to see where the spin axis (the point the ball spins around) was, because an improperly oriented spin axis will generally have a negative effect on the quality of the movement.
You can see all of that with your eyes, but it’s still difficult to quantify. And you totally miss another important factor in ball movement: how fast the ball was spinning. You can see if it’s fast or slow, but not HOW fast or HOW slow, which also affects how sharply the ball will break, thus making it harder to hit.
A Rapodo system will give you those types of answers, but those cost thousands of dollars which puts them out of the reach of most individual coaches and bucket parents. You pretty much have to go to a camp, clinic, or measurement event to capture that data, and even then it’s only a single snapshot in time.
In the past, you had the RevFire ball or the Diamond Kinetics ball, which were far more affordable to the average user. But both of those have been long been relegated to the ash heap of history; you can probably still find one on eBay somewhere but all technology has a “best by” date and both of those are long past it.
Fortunately, a new entry into this category was introduced in 2025: the pitchLogic softball. F5 Sports, the manufacturer of pitchLogic balls, has had a baseball version for several years that has become quite popular.
They have now taken that same technology and applied it to fastpitch softball. But is it worth the investment, i.e., does it do the job? The short answer is yes.
If you’re serious about measuring spin direction, spin rate, spin efficiency, and a whole bunch of other parameters and don’t want to break the bank (or your marriage) to do it, you’re going to want to look into this innovative product. Let’s break it down in more detail.
What’s In the Box
This part is pretty simple. It comes with one pitchLogic softball, a Qi-type platform charger, and a short USB A to USB micro cable to connect the charger to a power source. The charger has a small indent in it to keep the ball in place while charging – no O ring necessary (DK ball users know what I’m talking about).
How It Works: The Basics
The pitchLogic softball system consists of two components: a ball with a microchip or some other technological magic inside of it and a free companion app, which you can download from the Apple App Store or Google Play once the ball arrives. The two are connected via Bluetooth, which means you don’t have to have a WiFi signal available to use it.
There are two versions to the app: a player version and a coach version. If you’re a bucket parent who wants to measure your own daughter’s performance and progress, the player version will do you just fine.
It will capture the data from each throw and store it in the cloud for you so you can review it later or even share it with college (or other) coaches. Since you’re only using it with one pitcher it’s really all you need.
The coach version allows you to create a roster so you can track the performance of multiple players, separating them into individual sessions so you can access them as-needed. You just have to remember to select the correct player before you start the session – nota difficult skill but one I’ve already failed on once.
Setting up a player on a roster is easy to do, too. You click on the roster button at the top of the app, click Manage, then click on the plus sign (+) and fill in the requested data. If you want to remove someone from the roster later you click on the minus (-) sign and they are deleted.
The player management section also gives you the ability to share all the data with the pitcher automatically by inputting her (or her parent’s) email address. They will then receive a link that enables them to check it all out themselves whenever they want.
When I purchased the ball it came with five roster spots. If you’re a team coach that’s probably plenty; if you’re an instructor like me it’s not nearly enough, but fortunately you can purchase additional roster spots for an added cost.
Capturing Pitches
Whichever version you have, once the proper player is selected and the ball has been paired to your device, you click on the start session button and then select which type of pitch the pitcher is throwing so it can be tagged in the records. You don’t have to tag the pitches, but it’s definitely helpful, especially when you go back a few days later to review the data or if you want to send it to someone else. Helps to know what type of pitch was being thrown.
The pitcher then throws the pitch and the data immediately shows up on your device’s screen. I generally just use my iPhone because it’s handy, and the key information is pretty readable even to my old eyes.
Hopefully in the future they will add the ability to zoom in by pinching the screen, which would make it even easier while helping the pitcher focus on the right information.
The only caution is that the pitcher has to keep the ball still before she throws the pitch or the app won’t read it. If you have someone who likes to twizzle the ball or spin it in her glove before she throws she’s going to have to remember not to do that for the duration of the session.
So far, I have found that the pitchLogic softball records most, but not all, of the pitches thrown. I’d say it’s around 95% success. Every now and then it will miss one, but it usually captures the next one.
If you have a few missed pitches in a row, stopping the session and then restarting it usually solves the problem. Worst case you can close the app and restart it to reset everything. So far I have not had it totally shut down.
The Data
Ok, here’s where it gets fun. It starts with the clock face, which appears on the top or top left depending on whether you orient your device in portrait or landscape mode. For simplicity I am going to refer to everything’s position in landscape mode.
The clock face gives you three important pieces of data at a glance: the spin direction in blue (including the orientation of the ball), the arm slot in oranage (where the arm was at release), and the last touch on the bal in a darker orange or rust colorl. If your pitcher is having trouble with her spin orientation, that last touch info can be helpful in diagnosing it.
The blue arrow shows the direction in which the ball was spinning. For example, a “perfect” riseball will point to 12:00, a “perfect” drop ball will point to 6:00, and so on. The blue ring shows the orientation of the ball as it is spinning.
So let’s say a right-hander throws a curveball and the arrow points to 9:00, which is the perfect spin for left-to-right. But instead of the ring part being pretty much flat it is a near-perfect circle. That tells you that even though the spin direction was good, the spin axis is tipped either too far forward (most likely) or backward toward the pitcher (unlikely but you never know).
You now know that even though the spin direction was good, you still need to make adjustments to get better, tighter break on the ball. This relationship is also shown under “spin efficiency” at the bottom.
The closer the arrow and ring are being aligned, the higher the efficiency and again the better the pitch will break. Honestly, even though I’d heard that explanation it took me a little time to truly understand. Good news is once you get it it’s pretty easy to understand from then on.
Other metrics that appear along the bottom include pitch speed, total spin or spin rate in revolutions per minute, vertical movement, horizontal movement, spin efficiency (see above), and spin/velocity ratio. Here’s a quick explanation/evaluation of those metrics:
- Speed – How fast the ball is moving. Most people I know who use the pitchLogic softball tend to disregard this reading as it can vary from what a dedicated radar will read. The explanation I’ve heard is that it measures the speed immediately out of the hand whereas a radar gun takes multiple measurements along the ball’s flight path and averages them. The speed readings are sometimes fun to look at but I wouldn’t personally use those as the official measurement because it’s not repeatable when a radar gun is being used.
- Total spin – Super important reading. The faster the ball is spinning the better the pitch will perform, providing it’s thrown well to begin with. You want to push those spin speeds up high, so definitely want to pay attention here. For those who still think in terms of RevFire’s revolutions per second, you can use a little math to draw up a correlation chart.
- Vertical movement – A prediction of how far up or down the ball will deviate from a straight line out if thrown on a straight line out. Upward movement is shown as a positive number, downward as a negative number. Be aware, though, that it doesn’t record the actual movement, just the expectation. I’ve seen riseballs that went straight down with great spin get shown to have pretty significant upward movement so use with caution.
- Horizontal movement – Same as vertical movement, but left to right, with left movement shown as a negative umber right movement as a positive number.
- Spin efficiency – As noted above, this is how much the spin direction and orientation of the ball align with each other. For a curveball, a 9:00 reading with a flat ring would be 100%. You want to shoot for 90% and above. Realistically, you may be surprised how low the efficiency is in the beginning, even on pitches that appear to move well.
- Spin/velo ratio – I haven’t used this one much. I think you have to establish a baseline of speed with a fastball first. Then you’ll see with this reading how close other pitches are to the fastball’s maximum velocity. If that’s not correct hopefully someone will clarify but at this point that’s my understanding.
Those are the home screen parameters. But as they say on the TV commercials, wait! There’s more!
Tucked behind the home screen tabs are additional tabs. For example, in addition to the clock reading you can also see a scatter chart of all pitches for that session (based on the predictions, not actual performance), video if you shot some video (more on that later), and a 3D representation of actual ball trajectory that you can view from different angles by dragging the picture with your finger.
The section on the right, besides showing the basic input screen, also has tabs that let you review specific sessions for that pitcher, each pitch that was recorded, and a more detailed metrics page that shows more in-depth data than the home screen. In portrait view, the “All Metrics” tab appears next to the focus metrics listed in the bullets above.
Reporting
As cool as the in-app data is, the pitchLogic softball can also generate a web-based report that shows you graphs and scatter charts for the entire session that make it easy to see how well the pitcher performed that day. You can also share this information with the pitcher, her parents, or other coaches by copying and pasting the web link into a standard email, text, or other type of message.
Video capabilities included
Another nice feature is the ability to shoot video of the pitch and have it embedded with the rest of the information. I find this very helpful for when a pitcher is struggling to get the correct spin.
For example, one girl was getting good apparent movement on her curve but the metrics said she had more of a dropball release. After shooting video we saw that her wrist was extended back instead of flexed upward going into release.
That visual helped her correct the issue and improve her metrics almost instantly. Seeing, in this case, was definitely believing.
Durability
We all know a tool like this can take a beating, especially if you use it a lot. So far, mine has held up well despite hitting concrete floors barely covered by turf, catcher’s equipment, metal backstops, and whatever else is around for an errant ball to hit.
A nice additional perk is that the manufacturer offers you the option of replacing the cover of the ball every six months on-demand and at no charge. No need to worry if it gets nicked, or if the cover starts to show wear or get slick. They literally have you covered.
Customer Service
This is another area where the pitchLogic softball manufacturer F5 Sports excels. I bought one of the “first run” balls, which had some issues. When I contacted them the people at F5 immediately acknowledged they were having some issues and said they would replace the ball as soon as they had worked out the kinks.
They were as good as their word. The new ball has sat in the trunk of my car through blistering heat and below-freezing temperatures and continues to work great.
That said, their website could use some improvement. For example, there is no place to purchase extra player accounts on the website – you have to contact them to do it. Being able to place an order like that online, with no human interaction, would be much more efficient.
Cost
By now you’re probably wondering what does all this wonderfulness cost? It’s not cheap, but i’s not crazy either.
An individual one-year membership, which includes the ball, the app, and the re-covering option, costs $300. You can save a little money with the two-year membership, which costs $495. Both options require you to pay the full amount up-front.
The website doesn’t list a price for the Coach option that allows for multiple players (and coaches), but I believe the annual subscription is $500. At least that’s what I recall them saying, although the final price depends on how many roster spots you need to include.
Again, not cheap, but when compared to the other options for capturing this type of information it’s a bargain. Especially when you realize it’s much simpler to operate and not fussy at all about how you set it up.
Recommended
The bottom line is that the pitchLogic softball is a tremendous tool for training pitchers to learn how to spin the ball properly in order to maximize their effectiveness in this important parameter.
Whether you want to help just your own daughters/players or you’re helping multiple students, the pitchLogic softball is a smart, high-value investment. If you have the means, I highly recommend purchasing one sooner rather than later. You’ll be glad you did.
Person First. Student Second. Player Third.
Today’s post was actually written by my partner in podcasting Coach Jay Bolden of Be Bold Fastpitch LLC. As many of you know Jay and i do the From the Coach’s Mouth podcast, where we interview coaches and talk amongst ourselves about all sorts of fastpitch softball and general coaching topics.
You can find it on all your favorite podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Ok, commercial over.
A couple of days ago, though, I saw Jay put up a great post on his Be Bold Fastpitch LLC Facebook page, talking about how he approaches working with his students. It was very heartfelt and great advice for all of us to remember so I asked him if I could reprint it here. He, of course, is a great guy so he said yes.
So here’s what he had to say on the topic. He has a lot of great content like this so I highly recommend that if you are on Facebook you give him a follow. And if you’re not, get on Facebook and then follow him. It will be well worth it.
Without further ado, here’s the post:
Let me say this loud and clear…
Person first. Student second. Player third.
Somewhere along the way, youth sports flipped that order — and we’re seeing the damage every single day. Kids tied up in performance anxiety. Kids terrified to make a mistake. Kids who think their value comes from stat sheets, exit velos, strike percentages, and trophy photos.
That’s on us as adults.
If a kid thinks her worth depends on how she plays on Saturday, then we failed long before the first pitch.
Because softball is a chapter in her life — not her entire identity.
Before I care about her curveball, her batting average, or where she hits in the lineup… I care about what kind of person she’s becoming.
Is she kind? Coachable? Honest? Does she show up for others?
That matters more than any tournament ring.
Then comes the student.
Grades, habits, responsibility, learning how to manage real life — those are the things that carry her long after her last at-bat.
Player is last on purpose.
Not because the game doesn’t matter — it does.
But because the game is the platform, not the identity.
We’re not just coaching softball.
We’re developing strong, confident young women who can handle life.
Person first.
Student second.
Player third.
And when we get that right?
The softball takes care of itself.
Train Hard. Play Bold. Chase Greatness.
Changing Bodies: a Big X Factor to Performance
I have written many times about how as much as we would like it to be, performance improvement does not always follow the neat, linear “hockey stick” pattern. In fact, it is often messy, filled with gains and losses, ups and downs, little wins and little defeats.
Or as Dire Straits so wisely put it, sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug.
There can be a lot of reasons for this phenomenon. A player may be physically tired from a lack of sleep or a poor diet, may have a nagging injury you don’t know about, may be under mental stress that isn’t being shared, may feel overwhelmed by the moment, may be trying too hard to compete and tying herself up in knots, may feel un- or under-appreciated, may just be having an overall bad day, etc.
One I think a lot of people fail to take into account, however, is something that youth athletes and even young adults into their early 20s all are facing: their bodies are changing. Sometimes in obvious ways, sometimes subtly.
And every time their bodies change in some way they have to re-learn how to move them in a way that is conducive to good performance.
Think about the last time you were surprised when you saw that a young person who had been a cute little butterball a couple of months ago has suddenly sprouted up to become lanky and lean. Or how the scrawny little kid you remember has filled out and now looks like she could kick your butt in a wrestling match.
The passage of time, even as little as a month, allows you to see these differences because you remember who they were and now see who they are. You are far less likely to notice these same types of changes in someone you see every day because your frame of reference for the differences is hours instead of weeks or months. But they’re still there.
When those types of major body changes occur, they can throw off the entire the movement mechanism. Especially if the entire body hasn’t grown at the same rate.
Picture a young lady whose arms and legs have grown at a faster rate than her torso. Eventually her torso will catch up, but right now there’s an imbalance she isn’t used to.
Her body is still trying to move relative to her old proportions but that method doesn’t work anymore. Longer levers they’re not used to may make it more difficult to throw or pitch a ball or swing a bat because the way they used to feel those movements is not the way they feel it NOW.
We’ve all heard the expression “growing pains.” For those who experience a rapid, sudden growth spurt, those pains are very real.
Osgood-Schlatter disease is a great example. Rapid growth of the bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments around the knee can create tremendous stress, causing anywhere from some to extensive knee pain, especially during athletic movements. It is difficult for young athletes to deal with it, and the old adage of “Rub a little dirt on it” doesn’t help much when your body is in revolt.
Changing bodies can also affect athletes’ balance and coordination. Their center of gravity can change, or the way they perceive their bodies in space can change, affecting athletic performance until they internalize those changes.
And this doesn’t happen just once. It can happen over and over until they make it out of that phase of their lives.
That means there will be a lot of ups and downs in performance and progress until they reach the point of who they’re meant to be.
So when you’re wondering why your favorite player is putting in the work and paying attention to the details but not seeing the results she desires, keep the X factor of body changes in mind. It might help you weather the ups and downs more easily.
Main photo by Willians_photography on Pexels.com
New Speed High Posts Are About More than Just Speed
Anyone who follows Life in the Fastpitch Lane on Facebook (which I highly recommend you do) knows that I do a post on every pitching student who achieves a new personal best. They can be new students, longtime students, students who have impressive achievements, students about whom you might wonder, “Why is he bragging about that?”
Doesn’t matter, if they do it I’m sharing it. I’m proud of every single one of them because of what it means to them.
But of course there’s always someone who likes to rain on the ol’ parade, and this is no different. I recently saw a Facebook post putting down the idea of celebrating speed achievements, arguing that other factors such as spin and spot are more important, and basically saying we shouldn’t celebrate speed so much.
So I thought it might be worthwhile to address why I do these posts, the thinking behind them as well as the practical realities. There are actually a few factors. Let’s start with…
It’s measurable and empirical (mostly)
Measuring speed is relatively easy. You set up a radar, point it toward the pitcher, and have her throw. You then get a number which you can compare to the numbers that came before it.
Thanks to products such as the Pocket Radar it’s also relatively inexpensive. For example, you can pick up a Smart Coach for $399 or a Ball Coach for $299, (even less during Black Friday or another sale) which is a whole lot less costly than a Jugs or a Stalker, and it works just as well.
That means these days just about anyone can acquire a radar and start taking readings. While there are ways to game a radar to get a higher number (such as moving it toward the pitch while it’s in flight), if you just set it up so it’s stationary the numbers you get will be pretty consistent from pitch to pitch.
Until recently, to gather data for spin and spot you would need a $5,000 Rapsodo setup or a Trackman system that costs so much they don’t even list a price on their website. Not exactly in the budget of the average pitcher parent.
The new PitchLogic ball from F5 Sports is showing a lot of promise in this area, making it far more affordable for families to keep on hand and use whenever they want. But right now speed is still the easiest thing to measure.
It shows (and rewards) progress
While there are no doubt people who love the radar numbers for the bragging rights, that’s not how I see them. For me, it’s more about showing progress and rewarding the work it took to get there.
Seeing a photo posted and reading a story about them can give pitchers incentive to keep working hard and striving for more. It can help them feel good about the long, boring grind that’s involved in getting better.
Now, I will admit if they’re not showing progress it can be a little discouraging. But what’s important to remember in those cases is that it’s not linear.
A pitcher can get some gains, but then hit a plateau or even backtrack a little depending on a number of factors, such as a sudden growth spurt, their emotional state, health and nutrition and other factors. They may also have a case where they made certain mechanical improvements but then have to make others before the next personal best can be reached.
Even then, though, having a tangible data point such as a readout on a radar can help them keep working until it all comes together again. And the feedback they’re getting from the radar can be invaluable in telling them whether further adjustments are required.
It’s a controllable
While it’s true that stats such as overall strike percentage, first strike percentage, earned run average, and other pitching stats that appear in GameChanger are good indicators of effectiveness, they are not within the pitcher’s control.
An umpire with a tight strike zone (as so many seem to have these days) may be calling pitches a tracking system would classify strikes as balls. The official team scorer may mark reached on error plays as hits, tanking the pitcher’s ERA.
The ball may have done exactly what it was supposed to do when thrown and the hitter just did a good job of getting her bat on it. Doesn’t mean it was a bad pitch, but it sure looks like one in the box score.
The speed is the speed whether the pitch is hit, missed, or watched, and regardless of what the umpire thinks it is. Throwing hard is something the pitcher can control, so measuring in-game speed in particular will show if she’s giving it her all or pitching scared.
That can be invaluable feedback for future physical and mental training.
It’s easy to understand
Many of the people who read these types of posts aren’t necessarily softball people. They’re family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and others who like to read success stories about kids.
Posting a story that pitcher A hit 25 revolutions per second or 2500 revolutions per minute on her riseball with 83% efficiency and six inches of vertical movement is probably going to be tough for the non-softball fanatic to understand.
Heck, there are a lot of coaches who don’t actually know how to read those numbers.
But saying pitcher A was throwing 52 mph and is now throwing 53 mph is something pretty much anyone can understand. Friends and family can say wow, great job and be confident that it really was something to celebrate.
That makes everyone feel good. Grandma might even bake some cookies to celebrate.
Final word
The truth is some of the most effective pitchers in terms of getting hitters out quickly weren’t the fastest pitchers in the tournament, but they had great command of their pitches.
At the same time, though, their effectiveness went up as their speed increased. Speed may not be everything, but a lack of speed isn’t anything.
It’s going to get you beat up more times than not, especially as you get older and hitters get better.
So the next time you see a post talking about a new speed high, don’t try to run it down, and don’t feel bad if your pitcher isn’t rising to the same standard yet. Everyone is on their own journey, and everyone has their own ceiling.
Instead, celebrate that a young lady has seen improvement in one aspect of her game, and trust that she’s also working on the rest. Everything else will sort itself out over time.
Beware the Slow, Hidden Erosion of Skills
Most people in the fastpitch softball world are believers that practicing is essential to building, maintaining, and improving skills. Whether you’re a pitcher, catcher, fielder, or hitter, it’s important to get those practice reps in.
What they don’t often realize, however, is how even with the best dedication to practice there is another factor that can erode those skills – a lack of gametime experience.
Let’s take pitchers for example. You can get individual instruction, do bullpens two, three, four times per week, and even do the lonely practices on your own. But if you’re not getting in-game opportunities, your ability to hit speed, spin, and spot is going to deteriorate.
It doesn’t happen quickly, as it would if you’re not practicing at all. But the fewer innings you get in the circle, the less likely you are to perform well when you do get an opportunity.
Instead of earning 7-10 Ks, throwing 1-2 Ws, and giving up a couple of hits, suddenly you’re only striking out 4, walking 4, and letting up 4 hits. As a result, teams are scoring more runs against you (earned or unearned).
At that point you coach begins to lose a little confidence in you and gives even fewer innings, maybe waiting for “safe” situations (translation: being well in front or well behind). Your skills deteriorate a little more, and the downward spiral continues.
Yet that reduction in quality probably has less to do with physical skills than it does with mental factors.
If you’re getting a decent number of innings, you’re far more likely to feel confident in what you’re doing, which means you’ll be more aggressive and more mentally positive in your approach. You’ll perform better, and look like a good choice when it’s time to make playing time decisions
If your innings are being reduced, however, you’ll probably feel more pressure to perform. You’ll become more conscious of what you’re doing, and will focus more on outcomes than on the process.
That misplaced focus will make you tighter and will likely cause you to try to force the outcomes (for example, trying to force strikes instead of letting them happen). The net result is you won’t perform as well, leading your coach to feel like using you is taking too much of a risk, which means your innings will be reduced, which means you’ll feel even more pressure to produce and probably do even worse.
It’s a vicious cycle.
The same is true for anything on the field. Hitters who are confident are far more likely to make good contact than hitters who are worried that if they don’t get a hit on the next at-bat they will be benched.
Fielders who are worried about making a throwing error are likely to tighten up their throw, ruining their mechanics and throwing the ball away anyway. Baserunners who are unsure of whether to take the extra base may stop rather than take a chance, or hesitate and then get thrown out because they made their decision too late.
So what can you do about all this? It depends on the situation.
You can start by controlling the controllables. Do as much physical and mental preparation as you can, and then make sure when you get an opportunity you keep your emotions and mental approach in check.
Confidence is king, so pump up yours any way you can before you take the field and then keep those little demons of self-doubt off your shoulder. Believe in yourself and you’re likely to relieve a lot of the internal pressure.
From there you have to evaluate your situation. If your coach is supportive of you and encouraging you even when you’re not at your best, and continues to give you opportunities even when your current performance level may not always recommend it, count yourself fortunate and give it your all.
If you feel like you’ve lost your coach and that your opportunities are continuing to shrink even when your performance is improving, it might be time to look for another situation where you can start fresh. Professional athletes do that all the time across all sports.
How many times has a bust on one team gone on to become a star (or at least a solid contributor) on another? More than you can count for sure.
It’s fairly easy to do in travel ball (in most areas anyway), and now college athletics has made it easier as well. In high school it’s tougher – you may have to move or attend a school that will be more of a financial burden – so salvaging the current situation is probably the better choice. But if it’s not salvageable, there are options as difficult or as unpleasant as they might be.
The reality is, to achieve their potential players need in-game playing time. Otherwise, their skills will erode the way the water erodes the rock until there is very little left.
If you’re in that situation, be sure you’re honest with yourself and then choose wisely. It will save you a lot of heartache in the long term.
Lead photo by Nadtochiy Photography on Pexels.com
Be Brave Enough to Try New Things…And Abandon Them
One of my favorite coaching-related sayings, which I first saw in the signature of a member of the Discuss Fastpitch Forum and which is often attributed to Henry Ford, is, “If you do what you always did, you get what you always got.” In other words, you’ll never get beyond where you are now if you’re not willing to make changes.
Really, making changes is the essence of what we do in coaching. We see something that doesn’t quite look right, or we want to help a player perform beyond the level they’re currently at (such as a pitcher gaining speed) and we have them do something different.
Some coaches, though, might be afraid to suggest those kind of changes – and some players might be afraid to try them – because they’re worried they might have a negative effect. And they’re right – they might.
Here’s the thing, though. Look at the words I just used: “suggest;” “try.”
You’re not committing to permanent changes, just doing something temporary to see what effect it has. As you would in any good science experiment.
If you’re a coach and you see an idea from a credible source and think it might help your player or student, you can make the suggestion that she tries it. Just be sure you know why you’re doing it.
There is a lot of garbage out on Instagram and other social media masquerading as good ideas. Usually it’s from people who are less coaches and more content creators.
They depend on crazy stuff that looks good in a video but doesn’t necessarily have any value in developing fastpitch softball players to help them gain more clicks and likes and shares. I get it, that’s how they make money, but the drills themselves are often just giant wastes of time that could be better-spent developing real fundamentals.
But let’s say you’ve seen or heard a new idea that makes sense to you, and you think you know who in your orbit might benefit from it. Still, you’re also afraid it might not work, or even screw them up.
Go ahead and suggest it anyway. Have your student(s) or player(s) try it and see what happens. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t.
Maybe it’s a godsend, or maybe it’s a disaster. Or maybe it’s both, depending on the student or player.
The thing is, if it helps you can keep it. If it doesn’t, it’s ok to say, “Never mind, go back to what you were doing before.”
Again, remember in this case you’re not trying to solve a known problem, such as a hitter swinging all arms. Whether she likes it or not that’s something that needs to be corrected in order to perform well.
Instead, you’re trying to help a player build on a strong foundation to enhance her level of success – such as helping a hitter who has decent fundamentals but is making weak contact hit the ball harder.
Again, like any good science experiment you want to introduce a single change and see what happens. If it works, great; if it doesn’t, you can get rid of it.
Either way, you have now learned something valuable that will help that player in the future.
I think coaches, especially newer coaches, are often afraid to admit they were wrong about something because they think it makes them look weak or stupid. Actually, the reverse is true.
The best coaches I know are constantly trying things to see if they help. They understand that what works for one person may not work for another, so they test different ideas to find which ones do work.
They’re also not afraid to change their long-held beliefs if they find an idea or a technique that works better. They know that closed minds are like closed bowels – not good for anyone.
As David Genest at Motor Preference Experts often says, there are 8 billion people in the world, which means there are 8 billion movement profiles. The key to success if figuring out which major changes or even minor tweaks fit the profile in front of you rather than a pre-conceived notion of what a pitcher or hitter or catcher or fielder should look like.
When I make a suggestion like this, I will usually say, “Let’s try this and see what happens.” After a few repetitions if performance goes up I’ll say, “Good, let’s keep working on that.”
If it goes down, I will say, “Well, that didn’t help” or words to that effect and we’ll usually go back to what we were doing before. No sense beating a dead horse.
When you’re doing these little science experiments, always be sure to include the student or player in the process. Ask her how that felt and encourage her to be honest.
You’re not looking for ego reinforcement; you’re looking for feedback to help determine if that change is worth keeping. Do keep in mind that sometimes a change will cause a performance loss just because it’s different and the student or player isn’t able to do it with full effort.
But if you’re observing carefully, you should be able to tell the difference between something that’s a little odd and something that just flat-out doesn’t work for that student or player.
Trying something new can be a little uncomfortable or even a little intimidating. As a coach you want to subscribe to the concept of “First do no harm.”
A little trial and error, however, is healthy as long as you remember you can always walk it back if the experiment shows that’s NOT the way to do it. And you’ll be that much smarter for the effort.
Before You Go Ballistic Over Errors or Other Mistakes…
When I sat down to start this week’s blog post I found myself staring at a blank screen, wondering what I should write about. Then serendipity struck in the form of my good friend Tim Boivin.
Tim just happened to send me a link to this Facebook post from United Baseball Parents of America showing Phillies teammates consoling Orion Kerkering after his misplay of a comebacker in the 11th inning put the final nail in the Phillies’ exit from Major League Baseball’s postseason. You can read more about that play here.
First of all, as I’ve said many times, one bad play or one bad call is never THE reason for a loss. If the Phillies had scored a few more runs earlier in the game, or prevented the Dodgers from scoring its only other run, that 11th inning misplay never would have happened and the Phillies would have one.
That point aside, though, making an error that ends a game can be devastating for any ballplayer in any game, but even moreso when it’s not just game-ending but season-ending. If you see any of the post-game photos or interviews the heartbreak is obvious.
Not to mention all the fan chatter that’s no doubt going to haunt him for a while – all the keyboard warriors and barstool experts who never made it past 12U rec ball who are going to talk about how “bad” he is and how he should be drawn and quartered for costing “them” the series. But at least he has the consolation of an MLB paycheck, which will help him get through it pretty handily.
Now think about that in terms of your youth, high school, or even college player. If one of the most talented athletes in the world – and if you’re playing MLB you are no matter where you fall on that scale – can have a momentary glitch in a big game, why would you think your young player would be immune from it?
And think about the fact that there was a lot more at stake for the Phillies coaches and other players than there is in your typical weekend tournament. Yet the coaches didn’t scream at Kerkering and the other players came over to console him when he was down.
That’s an object lesson we should all keep in mind. No one sets out to misplay a ground or fly ball, or give up a fat pitch down the middle, or strike out, or throw to the wrong base. That stuff just happens – unfortunately it’s part of the game.
We do have a choice, however, on how we react to it. Any player with any sense of game awareness realizes when she (or he) has made a critical, game-changing mistake and most likely feels bad about it.
Rather than going ballistic, the better reaction is help that player understand that this momentary lapse will not define him/her for life. Despite what it may feel like right now, it’s just one more bump on a road that will be filled with them.
Emotional scars can run deep, and the body keeps the score for a lot longer than most of us realize. By helping players keep these glitches in perspective you can save them a lot of heartache now and in the future – and reduce the chances of a repeat performance should those players find themselves in another high-pressure situation again.
Also remember that at the end of the day it’s just a game. No one was seriously damaged when Kerkering muffed the play, and no one will be seriously hurt when a 12 year old softball player makes a mistake either.
Keep it in perspective and the fastpitch softball experience will be a lot better for everyone.
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 