8 Valuable Lessons from the 2026 WCWS
The Division 1 Women’s College World Series (WCWS) has come and gone – a little sooner than some would have liked, and not the outcome everyone was looking for depending on which team (or player) was their favorite. But it was definitely entertaining throughout and a great showcase for our sport.
According to Yahoo! Sports, the first five days saw an average of 1.5 million TV viewers per game, an increase of 33 percent year-over-year before the final series. Some games got more than 2 million viewers, with the peak being 2.6 million. No word yet on the final series, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they topped 3 million.
For me, though, one of the best things to come out of it for rec league, travel ball, and high school players, parents, and coaches is to see the approach to the game used at such a high level. There are, as always, several lessons that can be learned and applied if people are willing to do so.
Here are a few of the big ones from my perspective
Lesson #1 – Even the Best Players Make Mistakes
And sometimes at critical moments. Coaches and parents of youth players tend to get very upset or even angry when their fielders make errors in the field, catchers don’t block properly and a ball gets away from them, pitchers throw a pitch straight down the pipe that gets blasted for a game-changing home run, etc. Yet if you watched the WCWS for any length of time you saw at least some if not all of those things happen – and often to some pretty big-name players.
I didn’t get to see all the games (although I have the ones I missed on the DVR for later viewing), but I did see two fielding errors made on ground balls in the 7th inning of an elimination game. You wouldn’t expect that since they were fairly simple plays but there you go.
What I didn’t see is the coach of that team charge angrily out of the dugout and scream at those players, or even worse yank them out of the game in the middle of the inning yelling about how they have “expectations” and all that. Instead, the team just moved on, played the game, and ended up winning anyway.
The same with critical home runs. There were some big-name pitchers who have won many accolades and accomplished much during their collegiate careers who unfortunately didn’t quite throw the pitch they were going for and watched as their WCWS run – and in some cases their careers – essentially ended.
I saw fielders attempting to place a tag before fully catching the ball and instead knocking it away from them, allowing another run to score instead of killing the play. I saw fielders throw balls away on relatively routine plays, and catchers let pitches in the dirt get by them because they tried to pick the ball instead of blocking with their bodies.
None of them set out to make those mistakes. They just happened. unfortunately with 1-2 million people watching. Keep that in mind the next time you’re mad that your daughter or your player(s) made a mistake.
It happens.
Lesson #2 – The Changeup Is An Important Pitch
Not really a lesson for me – I’m quite aware of it, honestly – but it was probably a good lesson for many.
It’s easy to get caught up in speed, speed, speed. We all love it when we have pitchers who can throw harder than the competition can handle.
But speed alone is not enough. If you watched for any length of time you saw the top pitchers using their changeups liberally.
It may be a cliche to say that hitting is about timing and pitching is about upsetting that timing, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Keeping hitters off-balance by changing speeds is critical when the hitting is that good.
Two things to note about changeups too:
- The speed differential between their fastest pitches and the changeup was generally in the 10-15 mph range. No one was taking 4 or 5 mph off and calling it a changeup. You need to commit to a big enough difference to make a difference.
- No one was slowing their arms or their bodies down to get that speed differential. To be effective you need to be able to go as hard, move your arm as fast, and generally look like you’re going to throw the fastest pitch you’re going to throw all day while having it be slower due to the design of the pitch. If you have to slow down any part of your body to throw a changeup I’m sorry, you’re not throwing a changeup. Just a more hittable version of your fastball.
Lesson #3 – Pitchers Need Time to Warm Up
I’ve seen multiple people point this out, and I have talked about it before as well, so I won’t belabor it too much here. But at no time did you see a coach make a pitching substitution by pulling a player out of a field position and just have her go in and throw cold.
The best example here was Texas Tech. When Coach Glasco decided to pull NiJaree Canady in favor of Kaitlyn Terry, who was already in the game in a field position, he didn’t just call time and bring her in from the field. He took her off the field, sent her to the bullpen, and had her do a proper warm-up.
The lesson here is if one of the best and most experienced pitchers in the world can’t just walk in and be effective, there is no reason for you to expect your 12, 14, 16, even 18 year old pitcher to be able to do it. Give them time to warm up and you’ll like the results much better.
Lesson #4 – Coach Your Players the Way That Works for Them
Coaches often like to talk about their coaching style. Some are proud of being tough. Others hang their livelihoods on being empathetic.
But the reality is, if you’re going to be effective you can’t have just one coaching style. You have to be able to adjust what you’re doing to what is most effective for each player, i.e., you need about as many coaching styles as you have players.
Some players need to be coached hard. If you’re not doing that for them they feel like you don’t care about them.
Others would crumble under that style. They need to feel like you understand them and have their backs; they need support not screaming.
As a coach, it’s your job to figure out what your players need and deliver it to them in a way that helps them play their best.
What makes it even more complicated is that some players may require different coaching styles depending on the situation. If you come down hard when they need empathy, or tell them “that’s ok” when they need you to be firm so they get out of their own heads, you won’t get what you want.
If you take the time to get to know the person first and then the player, you’ll stand a much better chance of giving them what they need when they need it. And getting their very best performance out of them.
Lesson #5 – The Short Game Is Still Important
Sure, no doubt about it, ESPN loves the long ball. You get a couple of hitters going yard and it’s going to show up in the between-innings highlights, and maybe even later on SportsCenter.
Bunting and slapping may be less glamorous, but if you work at them they can be more reliable.
No matter what it seems like on TV, it’s still difficult to hit the ball out of the park. A lot of things have to go right in order for that to happen, and you generally need a certain set of skills and mindset to do it regularly.
Bunting in particular, however, is a skill that every player can and should have. Now, I’m definitely not a fan of the automatic sacrifice bunt of a runner on first to second, especially early in the game.
But there are times when a well-placed, well-timed bunt can be a game changer.
Slapping seems to be making more of a comeback as well. As former Arizona coach Mike Candrea always said, speed never has a slump.
Put it in play, make the defense rush, and you can make something good happen. Especially in the postseason.
Lesson #6 – Be Ready When Your Opportunity Comes
Everybody wants to be a starter. If you don’t at some level you’re not much of a competitor.
But there are only 9 positions on the field, and teams usually have more than 9 players. That means some of them will be sitting out.
I can remember two instances offhand, however, where a pinch hitter came in off the bench and turned a game around with one swing. That doesn’t happen if she hasn’t mentally prepared herself to be ready if and when her number is called.
If you’re a bench player you have a tough job. But remember you’re there to do more than just cheer for the others.
Prepare yourself mentally and physically to go into the game at a moment’s notice to ensure that when your number is called you get the job done. And perhaps set yourself up for a more regular role in the future.
Lesson #7 – There’s No One Right Way to Do Everything
As we watched the 8 teams in the WCWS, not to mention all the others in the lead-up to it, if there’s one thing all the players had in common it’s that they were all at least a little different from each other.
Yes, there certainly are some core principles for various skills such as throwing, pitching, fielding, hitting, etc. But you could hardly say everyone doing each skill looked exactly the same.
Jordy Frahm, Karlyn Pickens, NiJaree Canady, Kaitlyn Terry, Tegan Kavan, and Citlaly Guitierrez were all great pitchers, but you could definitely pick out one from another. They shared some similarities, sure, but not enough to say if you clone this you will be successful.
So as you’re working with players, keep that in mind. Realize your 5’10” 155 lb. hitter is not going to have the same swing as your 5’0″ 95 lb. hitter.
Even the things they do have in common will probably look a little different from one another due to different muscular structures, levels of balance, injury history, conditioning and a whole bunch of other factors. So don’t try to get them all to look like each other – or like someone you saw on TV.
Instead, work within their own frameworks in a way that gets the best out of each individual and you will be a lot more satisfied with the results.
Lesson #8 – Sportsmanship Still Matters
The WCWS has become more of a high-stakes event than ever, which means any problems that were present in past years, or are present now at the lower levels, are far more magnified. No one wants to lose with all the NIL money at stake and/or in front of millions of fans.
Still, we saw plenty of examples of good sportsmanship, whether it was a baserunner and a fielder having a quick laugh between pitches, losing teams setting aside their sadness long enough to shake hands, or opposing coaches crediting the other team for its good play.
We also saw some questionable examples but there’s no need to go into those here. Just remember that while things can get tough in the heat of the moment, the moment will pass but how you conduct yourself will be remembered forever. Be a good person and a good example and you will never go wrong.
Plenty More
These were not the only lessons, but I think they were some key ones from the biggest stage in the fastpitch softball world. At least in terms of audience reach.
Keep them in mind and you’re likely to be a whole lot happier when you watch your own kids/players play.
Now it’s your turn. What lessons did you take away from the 2026 WCWS? Leave your thoughts in the comments please so we can all learn from them.
Things Pitchers Can’t Help
Let’s start today’s post with this simple fact: pitching is hard. In fact, it’s not just hard, it’s incredibly hard.
And I’m not talking about the physical toll only, either, that results from having to bring great energy to every single play of every game they’re pitching. There’s also the mental toll of what happens when things don’t go right, as often happens – even at the highest levels of the game as we’re seeing on TV as they say.
All of that is compounded by the type of personality that says yes, give me the ball, give me the responsibility for initiating every play, and have every single person on the field, in the dugout, in the stands, and in the bad parent section of the outfield watch me intensely every time I step onto the pitcher’s plate o throw a pitch. What kind of normal human being volunteers for that type of pressure?
So with all that said, it’s no surprise that pitchers often accept not only their rightful share of the blame when things go wrong; they often take on all of it, whether that’s warranted or not. And most of the time it’s not.
So for all you pitchers, coaches, and pitcher parents who are living and dying on every pitch and every play, I’ve put together this little guide for which responsibilities actually lie with the pitcher and which do not. If you have a pitcher who is suffering through a crisis of confidence because she isn’t perfect all the time, show this list to her and let her know hey – it’s not all on you.
#1 – The Plague of Dropped Third Strikes (D3Ks)
We see this one a lot. The pitcher is pitching effectively, getting hitters to swing and miss on borderline strikes or even balls that look like strikes, but then – the catcher drops the pitch or even misses it completely. Once or twice in a game you can understand that – things happen, even to good catchers.
But when it becomes a pattern, like, say, happening two or three times in an inning, that becomes a problem. If the affected hitters reach base you not only lose an out you should have had; you have a potential run on base that should never have had the chance to score.
When pitchers – especially younger ones – see this, their tendency is to think they have to do something to fix it and cut down on the D3Ks. The usual solution is to try to throw pitches that are easier for the catcher to catch.
The problem with that is those pitches are also easier to hit. Unless hitters are swinging at pitches way over their heads, or way off the plate to the point the catcher can’t reach them without ordinary or even good effort, those D3Ks are not the pitcher’s problem to solve.
She’s doing her job. The problem needs to be solved by the catcher, her coaches (train her up, even if you have to stay after practice to do it), her parents (work with her on non-practice/game days and/or get her catching lessons), or even the catcher herself asking her teammates or friends to give her extra practice.
If I’m advising the pitcher, I’m telling her to keep doing what she’s doing, and maybe even try to get the pitch out a little more so she’s developing herself to compete against better hitters. Maybe if enough runners reach base someone will take one of the actions above and try to fix it – at which point everyone (including the catcher herself) benefits.
#2 – Errors in the Field
Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not the pitcher’s job to strike out every hitter. Sure, strike outs are nice, and they’re definitely helpful because they take some variables out of the play. They also show well for bragging rights.
But they are not a pitcher’s main job. Instead, the pitcher’s main job is to get outs any way she can. If that means inducing hitters to continually hit weak ground balls and easy pop-ups instead of striking them out, so be it.
I’ve known and coached a lot of successful pitchers who didn’t rack up a huge number of Ks, yet somehow they won a lot of ballgames because they made it easy for the 7 fielders behind them to do their jobs. There’s nothing like a 5-pitching inning on a hot and humid day to keep your team fresh and ready to keep playing. (I’m looking at you, Katie Wirtz.)
But for that strategy to be successful, the fielders do have to do their jobs – catch the ball, throw the ball, get the easy out.
If they’re not doing that pitchers can be tempted to try to take on too much and force strikeouts. That’s usually when they start over-throwing the ball instead of pitching with solid mechanics, causing them to get wild and start tossing the ball all over the place.
Errors in the field aren’t the pitcher’s responsibility unless she’s making them herself. Instead it’s again up to the field players, their parents, and the coaches to help them get better so they cut down on the errors to give their team a better chance of winning.
#3 – A High ERA
Ok, this one is conditional, as I will get to in a minute. But these days stats are pretty easy to obtain thanks to apps such as GameChanger, so it’s tempting for a pitcher to go in, look at her stats, and compare herself to other pitchers on the team, or on other teams. Not to mention for other pitchers to repeat what they heard their parents say about them.
Yet the viability of most stats is directly dependent on the quality of the person scoring the game. God bless anyone willing to keep the book, but there’s a huge difference between someone who knows the ins and outs (no pun intended) of scoring a game and someone who is just doing their best to mark something down out of the goodness of their hearts.
ERA is a stat that is dependent on whether a runner reached base as the result of a clean hit or an error. A scorekeeper who marks every ball that’s put in play as a hit, even if there was an obvious error, is going to cause ERAs to go sky high.
Now, I will say a lot of scorekeepers will mark the most obvious errors, such as Little Suzy (poor Suzy, always getting picked on) dropping a pop-up that’s hit right to her or fumbling a weak ground ball or fielding it cleanly and then throwing it into the parking lot. But there are a lot more possibilities for errors.
The definition of an error is basically the failure to successfully get the out on a play that required ordinary effort. So if an outfielder runs up to a fly ball, stops, and lets the ball hit the ground, that’s an error even though she didn’t touch it. If a shortstop stands like a statue as a medium ground ball goes by her two feet to her left, that’s an error.
Then there are the cases where scorekeepers cook the books a little. They mark an error a hit in one case and not in another not because they don’t know better but because they’re actively trying to help one pitcher look better than another.
I don’t think that happens often, but it definitely does happen.
No matter the reason, if a pitcher has a high ERA because she’s throwing meatballs all day to hitters that’s on her. If it’s because errors are being marked as hits for whatever reason, it’s not.
#4 – A Low Strike/High Walk Percentage
Again, this one is conditional. If a pitcher is throwing the ball into the dirt, wide of the batter’s box, over the backstop, etc., that’s on her and she needs to own it.
But there are other cases where that’s not true. An umpire with an inconsistent strike zone can make it difficult for a pitcher to know where to throw the ball to get a strike.
Same with an umpire with an inappropriately small strike zone for the age group. As we mentioned earlier, pitching is already difficult enough without making the strike zone the size of a shoebox.
Now, that said, if that’s the case the pitcher does have a responsibility to adjust to wherever the umpire is calling strikes. But that can be difficult for pitchers with only a year or two’s worth of experience.
And if they are successful in finding that zone, don’t be surprised if they start getting pummeled. Hitters aren’t stupid, and their job gets a whole lot easier if they only really have to worry about swinging at one location – even if it’s their weakest location.
#5 – Being Overmatched
This can happen too, especially at the younger ages.
Sometimes the coach figures the best chance of winning is to put his/her Ace up against a really strong team, only to realize about 10 minutes in that the Ace isn’t up to the task yet. Sometimes the coach chooses to enter a tournament based on dates and location rather than level of competition and ends up learning the hard way that a little more research can sometimes save a lot of heartache.
Sometimes the coach sees improvement in his/her team and consciously decides to test them against a higher level of competition, only to discover they’re not ready yet. And sometimes the coach takes the old axiom about iron forging iron a little too seriously and I guess figures a weekend of good old fashioned buttkicking is just what the team needs to get better.
Whatever the reason, when a pitcher finds herself in that situation all she can do is do the best she can, learn what she can from it, and keep working with a goal of making a better showing the next time she sees a team or group of teams like that.
The Realities
There are times when pitchers need to step up and take responsibility for their shortcomings in a game. They have to control their controllables and do everything they can to get themselves ready each and every time they step into the circle.
But there are also a whole lot of other factors they can’t control, and if they try to take responsibility for those too they’re going to end up hating the position – and we don’t want to see that.
Helping your favorite pitcher(s) understand the differences between the two is a great way to help avoid unwarranted unhappiness and keep them on a path of learning, and growth. Hopefully this little guide will help.
Lead photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Improvement Often Comes In Small Increments
If ’80s training montages have taught us anything, it’s that going from bum or has-been to champion isn’t complicated. You work really hard for a few weeks and before you know it you go from barely functional in whatever sport you’re trying to do to ready to take on the world.
Unfortunately, reality looks a little different – a fact many coaches, parents, and players seem not to understand.
The truth is if you’re expecting miracle improvements after a handful of lessons or practices you’re setting yourself up for a huge disappointment. Because most of the time improvement doesn’t occur in chunks; it happens in small increments.
Take overhand throwing for example. You look at a player and she is standing face-forward the entire time, holding the ball about ear-high and pushing it toward her target. Or maybe she turns her body some and then kind of randomly slings the ball in a motion that vaguely resembles the Kraken attacking the Black Pearl.
You work with her on getting her body into the right position, taking the ball back properly, getting her elbow set at the right height, finding a good arm slot, and releasing with a whipping motion. Then she starts to get the hang of it and looks pretty good.
Problem solved, right?
Probably not. Even if she works at it on her own, the odds of her retaining all those movement changes from this practice or lesson to the next one are pretty small.
The reason is the old pattern is already pretty ingrained, because that’s the movement pattern her body figured out for itself to solve the issue or throwing the ball from here to there. It’s going to take time for the new pattern to settle in – even if she practices.
And if she doesn’t, or doesn’t practice enough, or doesn’t practice with her brain actively engaged? It’s going to take even longer, because every rep she does do will likely be reinforcing the old movement pattern rather than replacing it.
The same is true for any skill – pitching, hitting, fielding, sliding, etc. As humans we tend to be most comfortable with what we know.
This is true even if we are willing to change – which most people aren’t, at least at the subconscious level.
The problem comes when expectations don’t match realities. If you’re expecting a coach or instructor to help your hitter go from striking out to hitting bombs in a couple of weeks, or your pitcher to gain 8-10 mph or go from walking 8 hitters a game to not giving up any walks after a handful of lessons you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.
Instead, the changes will most likely come slowly. You may not even notice them at first, but they will be there.
As you continue they will become more obvious. That doesn’t necessarily mean a great outcome, but it will be trending that way.
So for a hitter, it might be she goes from no or weak contact to hitting the ball hard – right at someone. She still doesn’t get on base, but the contact is better.
In time, the law of averages will kick in and those hard hit balls will start finding gaps between fielders, the strikeouts will go down, and she will be a lot more confident every time she strides to the plate.
Pitchers will start throwing a little harder and a little more accurately. Fewer opposing hitters will get on base, the strikeouts will go up, and she will carry herself with a self-assuredness you haven’t seen before.
So as you start getting more serious and putting in the work keep that in mind. You may not see the improvement at first, but if the player is working at it, and receiving good, quality coaching, the improvement will come.
Hang in there and trust the process. Because from small improvements, larger ones will come.
Take One Last, Sweet Look Around
The weather has gone from wet and chilly to pleasant and sunny (or brutally hot, depending on where you live). Senior night festivities have come and gone.
Conference tournaments have started and in many cases finished. State tournaments are looming.
Yes, it’s that bittersweet time of the year, because it doesn’t just mean the end of the high school softball season. It means the end of high school softball for some players period, and for all too many the end of their softball careers.
You remember how it all started, maybe with a flyer from the school announcing rec league tee ball or coach pitch softball. Your daughter brought it home and said, “Can I?” and you said, “Sure, why not?” After all, it’s just a few weeks April through June, and not much of a time commitment even then.
Hah! Little did you know.
Then came the first travel team, with tournaments on a few weekends turning into tournaments practically every weekend. Trips within a 25-mile radius that were drive in and drive out turned into trips out of state, maybe even across the country, with hotel stays and the other accompanying expenses.
Soon it was consuming much of your time and disposable resources, but you didn’t mind. It was fun to watch your daughter do what she loves.
Yes, there were some bumps along the way. Maybe it was a batting slump. Or a stretch where it seemed like she made more errors than plays, or couldn’t find a radioactive plate with a Geiger counter if she was pitching.
It may have even been a coach who thought yelling and screaming = motivation. Or a group of girls with which your daughter just wasn’t a good fit.
But all of that was minor compared to all the great times you spent watching your daughter play the sport she loves – and all the car rides to and from the field where you not only talked about softball (hopefully in a positive, “wasn’t that fun?” way) but also got to know her better as a person because the two of you were trapped together for hours on end. She shared her hopes, dreams, frustrations, feelings and more in a way she probably wouldn’t have at home.
Now, however, those days are pretty much behind you. You will watch your daughter put on her uniform, lace up her cleats, grab her bat bag, and head out to the field like she has so many times before.
But instead of thinking ahead to where you have to be next weekend, this will be it – your last chance to watch her play in a competitive situation, where every pitch feels like life and death and every triumph is magnified 10-fold.
Sure, as you tried to balance the responsibilities of life with the pleasure of watching your daughter play it all seemed like it was just one mad rush from one event to the next. But soon there will be no need to rush, because you have nowhere special to be today. Next Saturday morning you can sleep in.
Then all that gear will be gathering dust in a closet the way your vehicle used to gather diamond dirt in every crevice. Maybe she’ll grab her glove and bat and play now and then with her friends in a slow pitch league.
But it won’t be the same.
So before it’s all over, remember to take in the aroma of that fresh-cut grass and the sensation of the warm sun on your skin as you wait for the game to begin. Appreciate the feeling of dust blowing onto arms and a face lightly coated with sweat, coating you with grime that never quite seems to wash off, and the sound of cleats crunching on the infield dirt or clattering on the concrete dugout floor.
Not to mention the challenge of washing deep ground dirt out of bright white pants because some idiot coach thought white pants look good. (Guilty!)
Savor every last bit of it. Because when it’s over it’s over.
And when the last out as been recorded, take a moment before you pack up the camp chairs and the snacks and the blankets and everything else you’ve carried from field to field these many years. Burn it into your mind.
Years from now you’ll remember these as some of the best years of your life. Because they were.
Good luck to all the graduates – and their families!
Top photo credit; Michelle Josko
IN Softball or INTO Softball: There’s a Difference
I’ve been listening to a lot of Dr. Rob Gilbert’s Success Hotline calls and the accompanying podcast lately. If you’re not familiar with Dr. Gilbert he’s a sports psychology professor at Montclair State University in New Jersey.
If you’re not listening to him you should be, because he has a lot of great insights on how athletes, or anyone for that matter, can train themselves to be more successful. Thank you to my friend Linda Lensch, the pitching coach at Montclair State, for turning me on to him.
One thing I heard Dr. Gilbert ask recently is a question that is really critical to an athlete’s or a coach’s or anyone’s approach to whatever they do. In our case, though, we will limit it to softball.
The question is, are you IN softball, or are you INTO softball?
What’s the difference you ask? It’s huge. .
Let’s take practice and ask the same question: are you IN practice or INTO practice? In other words, did you show up and are being compliant with whatever the coach says? Or are you really digging in and giving your best effort on every repetition, trying to maximize the value of the drill or the exercise or whatever it is you’re doing?
If you’re at a private lesson, are you going through the motions and/or putting in a little effort, or are you really engaged in whatever the activity is? Are you trying to get through the lesson or really trying to get better?
If you’re playing a game, are you just sort of there, doing what you’re comfortable with and playing it safe or are you pushing yourself to play as well as you can.
You get the idea. But there’s more to it than that, because there are two ways to approach being INTO practice, lessons, games, etc.
If you are INTO the event, are you INTO it some of the time or are you INTO it ALL of the time?
It’s easy to put it into cruise control while you’re doing warm-ups or repeating a drill you’ve done a thousand times before or especially until the game gets critical. The sameness breeds a certain level of mindlessness as you cover the same things over and over or have gaps between plays.
But if you really want to be great at something you can’t approach it like it’s a light switch, turning it on and off depending on whether you feel like giving an effort. You need to be present and mindful (to use what I think is still the current term) on every repetition or every play to take yourself to the next level.
I admit that it’s difficult to be INTO it all the time. While the action of plays may be fast, the game of fastpitch softball moves at a slow pace relative to sports such as basketball or soccer or hockey.
There’s a lot of downtime between plays, and it’s easy to fall into the distractions trap. It’s also easy to decide that what you’re being asked to do is too hard or too unfamiliar and you’d rather do it your way.
But remember if you do what you always do you get what you always get. What you don’t get is better.
For that you have to be willing, even eager, to do more. And a big part of that is being INTO whatever it is you’re doing, not just some of the time but all of the time.
The good news is you don’t need anyone else’s help to get yourself to be INTO what you’re doing all the time. It’s a choice you alone can make.
While I’ve been taking this idea from the athlete’s point of view, it applies to coaches too. (Let’s see how many continue to cheer “right on!” when I apply it to them.)
If you’re going to be IN practice you can keep doing the same general practice plan over and over. You can even buy generic practice plans on the Internet and follow them to the letter.
If you’re IN a game, you can keep the same lineup from the beginning of the season to the end and follow the same strategies over and over regardless of how they work. That’s the easy way to go.
But if you’re INTO practice you’ll take an objective look at what your team does well in games, as well as what it struggles with, and tailor the practice to what they need to do to get better. If you’re INTO games you’ll use data and look at how other coaches are structuring their lineups or the in-game strategies (including pitch-calling sequences) they’re using to decide if perhaps you need to change it up.
Here’s the thing: most people aren’t really INTO games or practices because it’s difficult. It’s much easier to just be IN the game or practice and give a little effort now and then – or maybe none at all – and check it off the list.
But if you really want to become the best version of yourself as a player or coach, don’t just be IN softball. Be INTO it.
And not just sometimes but all the time. You’ll like the results much better.
True Confession: I Can’t Make You Better
This is a tough admission but I think after all these years of coaching it’s time for me to drop a major truth bomb. And that truth bomb is: I can’t make you/your daughter better.
Shocking, I know, but hear me out I’ve spent a lot of time instructing fastpitch softball players, and even more time studying the latest research and thinking on the subject as well as what the best players in the world actually do (versus what they say they do sometimes).
Yet for all that work and effort, I am admitting that I can’t make the students who come to me better.
I can show them how to perform various skills. I can explain and demonstrate the movements required to perform at a higher level. I can offer corrections to help shortcut the learning process.
I can help them understand the “why” behind the “what” to make it easier to internalize and execute the necessary techniques. I can even help them overcome a crisis of confidence when adversity strikes.
But for all that knowledge and experience, I still can’t make them better. Because in order for students to get better, they have to take an action.
The first action is to listen to and try to understand what I’m telling them. That might seem obvious, but it’s actually not.
Any honest instructor will tell you they’ve had students who showed up to lessons but didn’t want to listen to what that instructor said. They wanted to do it their way.
In my case, I’ve had “students” who, when I said “here, try this” would give me a side eye as if to say, “You can’t make me do that.”
And they were correct. I can’t.
Of course, if you want to keep doing it your way that’s fine, but you’re going to stay where you are instead of getting better. And pretty soon you won’t see progress and decide to move on to the next coach whose instruction you don’t want to follow either.
The second action is to get off your butt and actually work on what the instructor told you during the lesson and whatever homework you’ve been given.
Taking lessons is a good thing, and it’s even better when you’re interested in learning. But the time in-between lessons is where the real magic happens.
Not working between lessons is like buying a really nice car but never actually getting in and driving it. It may look beautiful in the driveway or the garage, but you’re not going anywhere.
The specific actions you take once you decide to take action are also important. For example, a pitcher who is having trouble with accuracy probably doesn’t need to be throwing from the full distance.
She needs to move in closer and work on her release – including the way the arm and hand approach release, the exact point where she releases the ball, and what her hand and forearm do at that precise moment. All of those factors can and will affect where the ball goes.
If the pitcher moves in close she can rid herself of all the distractions of the rest of the pitching movement and just focus on the part that’s doing her in – the release. And the great thing about that is she doesn’t even need a field or facility, a catcher, or much of anything else.
A bucket of balls and a net to throw to, or even a rolled up pair of socks and a handy wall, will give her everything she needs to work on those movements and lock them in.
The same goes for a hitter. Let’s say that hitter is having trouble keeping her hands from leading the swing (instead of letting her body turn first).
She can work slowly on that part of the swing while shooting a video of what she’s doing so she can check. If she doesn’t have access to a phone or other camera, she can look in a mirror.
She doesn’t need a bat or the space to swing it either. She can take a sawed off dowel rod or the core from a roll of paper towels with some rags stuffed in it to work on getting her sequence so ingrained that when she gets back on the tee or even faces a live pitcher again it happens automatically.
That’s the type of work it takes to get better. But I can’t make you do any of that, which is why I say I can’t make you better.
Going back to our car analogy, the instructor or coach is like the GPS system for getting better. He or she can tell a student turn-by-turn how to get started and how to get to her destination.
But it’s up to that student to get in the car, start driving, and then follow those directions. Otherwise she’s either not going anywhere or putting herself at risk of following a path that will take her even further away from her destination.
So again, I fully admit can’t make you better. You have to do that. I can only show you the way.
More Drills Does Not Automatically Equate to Better Performance
I recently saw a question in a Facebook group from a parent trying to decide if he/she should change private instructors. While the question was about pitching in particular, I think it can also be applied to hitting, fielding, throwing, and other individual aspects as well as activities team coaches do.
The parent in question said that their daughter’s instructor always uses the same drills. Yet the parent sees all these other drills being promote on the Internet and seemed to be under the impression that performing a wider variety of drills would be better for their daughter.
(TECHNICAL WRITING NOTE: I know right now there are English language purists saying I am using a plural pronoun to reference an individual parent. That usage has actually been acceptable in many areas of grammar for centuries, and was changed in the AP Stylebook {which I generally follow} in March of 2017. So there – defensive rant over.)
There is certainly a case to be made that using a wider variety of drills helps break up the boredom or the so-called “grind” of instruction or practicing. There is also a case to be made that if one particular drill, no matter how well it is designed, isn’t working that you should try something else.
Let’s address those two points. The first is that coaches and instructors are not in the entertainment business – they are in the performance business.
Coaches’ main responsibility is to make sure that players’ skills are at a level where, when gametime comes, the players are able to perform those skills as effortlessly and flawlessly as possible. And that takes repetition.
There’s a reason certain close-in fielding drills are called “dailies” or “every days.” They are meant to be performed not just until players get them right but until they can’t do them wrong.
So yes, they may be mindless and routine, but that’s the goal. The objective is to make the most common plays mindless and routine so when they come up in a game players can perform them with the highest level of confidence.
The second point – that if one drill isn’t working try another (in case you already forgot what the second point was) – has more validity in my mind. You know the old saying about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
A good coach will have a toolbox full of approaches to solving particular problems. Not everything works with everyone so even though the coach may have particular favorites, it’s good to have alternatives for when those favorites just aren’t working.
But no matter which drill you’re doing, it should be designed in a way to either solve a problem or enhance what a player is already doing to make it better. And that’s where getting caught up in the idea that the coach needs to keep coming in with new drills all the time is flawed thinking.
I mean, which would you rather have – a set of drills that the coach knows works, or a bunch of random drills that may or may not have any value?
And here’s a little secret for you: a lot of the drills you see posted on Instagram or TikTok or Facebook groups or other online sources are just garbage. There I said it, and I don’t regret it.
The Internet is a hungry beast, and someone who wants to become Internet famous as a coach needs to keep posting new material all the time in order to get those precious likes, clicks, shares, follows, and comments. Once they run out of good, proven drills they still have to come up with new ones or the algorithm will forget about them.
So then it’s a race to the bottom, posting ideas and drills that may seem ok in the moment but really make no sense when you look at them a little deeper.
Finally, I believe there are certain core principles to every skill that cannot be ignored. Players need to have those in place before they can get to the fancier stuff.
And certain core principles need to be pretty well in order before moving on to others. Work on them out of sequence, or decide to just let players slide by without really internalizing them before moving on, and you’re setting them up for a spectacular failure.
Here’s the challenge I will throw out to those who think quantity is more important than, or even equal to, quality when looking at drills. Is it possible that your favorite player is doing the same drills all the time because they haven’t’ put in the time and effort to get those drills right?
Perhaps the coach sees a particular drill is working but the player hasn’t done it enough to move from something they can do when they think about it to something they can do without having to think about it.
It could also be that there are some drills that are just so important that you want to continue using them regardless of how accomplished the player becomes. I know I have a few of those go-tos that help set players up for success faster.
I may try other things from time to time. But when crunch time comes, I’m going to use what I know is most likely to work, even if we’ve done it a thousand times before. Or even because we’ve done it a thousand times before.
The bottom line is you don’t want to do drills just for the sake of doing drills. They should be purposeful and specific, with an ultimate goal in mind.
Take that approach and you’re far more likely to be satisfied with the gametime performance that comes out of them.
What Seems Bad Today May Look Like a Blessing Tomorrow
We often talk about how softball is a game of failure and disappointment. Sometimes things happen that are beyond our control – not making a preferred team, giving up a home run or striking out in a key situation, losing a game that knocks you out of the playoff, having a bad game when a college coach comes out to see you, and so forth.
At the time it seems devastating – like your (or your daughter’s) whole future just came crashing down around you. That’s when it’s good to remember the story of the Zen master and the little boy, which I fully admit I am stealing from the movie Charlie Wilson’s War because that’s how big of a nerd I am.
Anyway, the story goes like this:
There’s a little boy and on his 14th birthday he gets a horse… and everybody in the village says, “how wonderful. The boy got a horse” And the Zen master says, “we’ll see.” Two years later, the boy falls off the horse, breaks his leg, and everyone in the village says, “How terrible.” And the Zen master says, “We’ll see.” Then, a war breaks out and all the young men have to go off and fight… except the boy can’t cause his legs all messed up. and everybody in the village says, “How wonderful.” To which the Zen master says, “we’ll see.” And so it goes.
The point is, sometimes in softball, as in life, things seem really important in the moment, and if the moment goes wrong it’s easy to think it’s the end of the world. Yet anyone who has been around for a while like I have (quite a while in my case) can tell you, the universe tends to unfold as it should. (I got that one from Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle since I’m on a movie kick, but it’s been around since well before that.)
Us old folks can also tell you that sometimes not having things work out the way you were hoping in the moment turns out to be the best thing that could have happened to you. Let’s take making that team that was so important to you for example.
We can actually look at it two ways. Did you ever hope to make a team, actually have it happen, then find out once you’re there the coaching or the players were actually pretty toxic?
If not, consider yourself lucky. For those who experienced it, it can be pretty devastating – much worse than the temporary pain of not making the team. If it’s really intolerable you may find you need to move to another team which doesn’t have the prestige or the connections of the current team.
Yet as the Zen master said, we’ll see. Having to move to a lesser team may put you in position to gain more opportunities than you would have otherwise, helping you improve your game, and ultimately being ready when a college coach happens to catch your game. None of that would have happened had everything worked out on the first team.
On the other hand, by not making that first team you will be forced to find another, where you may meet a coach who changes your life. That wouldn’t have happened if you had gotten what you wanted in the moment.
Not making the team? How terrible. We’ll see.
What about striking out or giving up a home run in a big game? Certainly that can’t be good, can it?
Not in the moment. But what if there was a college coach there trying to decide between you and another player who has slightly better stats before offering a scholarship?
The coach saw the other player throw a helmet and sulk after striking out, or lose her cool and sulk after getting pulled from a game following having a home run hit off of her.
But when you did one of those things, you picked yourself up and were on the fence cheering for your teammates (or in the case of the pitcher your replacement). The college coach learned something about you that tipped the scales in your favor after a seemingly bad thing happened.
If you had instead gotten the hit or the out your offer might have gone to the other player based on the numbers. But because you had the opportunity to display character and took advantage of it the offer came your way instead.
(Incidentally, don’t think that wouldn’t happen in real life. On the From the Coach’s Mouth podcast Jay Bolden and I have talked to college coaches who made offers in exactly those circumstances.)
It’s kind of like the timeline in time travel movies (there I go again). One little event happens, whether positive and negative, and it sends the timeline in a slightly different direction.
And that slight difference sets you on a path that ultimately ends up being better for you in the long run.
One more non-softball example. Most people experience a bad breakup with someone they love at one time or another. At the time, it can feel like the end of the world; how will you ever live without that person in your life?
Eventually, though, you meet someone who is just flat-out better for you. They want the same things, they share the same values, they just feel “right.”
You may never have met the love of your life had you still been with the person who broke your heart. Again, while sad and painful in the moment, losing that other person set you on a path toward greater happiness than you ever thought you’d have.
So whatever disappointments or heartaches or frustrations you may be facing right now, remember the words of my great friend Tim Boivin. Whenever we faced a tough situation at work, he would always remind us that this too shall pass.
And so it is with softball. It’s very possible that the event or circumstance that is causing you so much heartache today could be the catalyst toward a future that is everything you hoped it would be.
Just be sure to remember the wise words of the Zen master as you’re celebrating your good fortune: We’ll see.
BONUS: For two lesser-known but really good movies which explore these themes, check out Mr. Destiny starring Jim Belushi (believe it or not) and Linda Hamilton, which explores how his life would have changed had he not struck out in the game for the state title, and The Adjustment Bureau starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, which takes a much more serious look at “angels” trying to keep a predetermined timeline on track against the free wills of the protagonists.
Main photo by Bryce Carithers on Pexels.com
Keep Your Pitcher’s Strengths In Mind When Calling Pitches
Todays’ headline may seem like a blinding glimpse of the obvious in theory, but from the stories I’m hearing from my students and from other pitching coaches it doesn’t seem to be so obvious in practice.
I know there are all kinds of charts you can keep and stats/heatmaps you can purchase on the Interweb and printed guides (including this one) to help you as a coach determine which pitches to call to attack a hitter’s weaknesses. But before you go diving down that particular rabbit hole it’s important to ask yourself one simple question: what pitches do my pitchers throw well?
For example, in theory a riseball seems like a great choice against a hitter who drops her hands. But if your pitcher has a 50-50 chance of throwing her riseball flat you may want to re-think that strategy so you don’t end up watching Ms. Dream Seam leave the yard.
It gets even more complex when you realize you need to consider the strengths and weaknesses of several pitchers on a staff. Your Ace may have a killer dropball that she can throw on command. But if she has to come out of the game for some reason and your next pitcher up tends to throw all her drops in the dirt, you’d better be ready to change your strategy accordingly. Especially if your catcher isn’t too adept at blocking.
Which pitches your pitchers throw well (or at least Have the most confidence in) is important information you should be gathering well ahead of that pitcher going into the game. Ideally that would be in the pre-season, but if not today is the second best choice.
If you have a great memory (bordering on eidetic) and know your pitchers well you can keep that information in your head and adjust on the fly. If your brain organizes information the way a typical teenager organizes her bedroom floor, you’ll want to write it down and probably laminate the card(s).
Either way, you want to have that information handy before you send any pitcher out to the circle. It’s important for any situation, but critical if you’re using one of those arm band systems with the numbers to call pitches.
You should have a card that is customized for every pitcher you would ever consider sending into a game, whether you plan to today or not. Things happen, and those who don’t plan for the unexpected end up getting beaten by it.
Sending one pitcher out to the circle with the card of another in the hopes you can “work around it” is probably not going to turn out well for anyone. Except the opposing team.
So how do you determine which pitches are your pitchers’ strengths? There are a few things you can do:
- Ask them That’s a great place to start. Your pitchers know which pitches they’ve been working on, and while it’s possible they may have an overblown sense of what they do well, they will certainly know which pitches scare them Find that out and you can avoid calling a good “theory” pitch that causes the pitcher’s body to shudder at the thought of throwing it in that situation. It will also give you an idea of what you can expect from those pitches. If a 10U or 12U pitcher tells you she has 6 pitches, you can pretty much assume all 6 are basically bullet spin fastballs.
- Observe them – and take notes. Whether you’re coaching a 10U team or a Division 1 college team, your pitchers should be working on their games during organized practice activities – whether that’s during practice, before or after practice, or on a different day. While that’s happening, whoever will be doing the pitch calling should be watching closely to see what actually works and what doesn’t. The pitcher may think she has a great changeup, but if all you see is a pitch that comes in looking like a bad fastball or that she has to slow her arm down to take speed off the ball, you’ll know not to throw it in a situation that matters.
- Test them. Ok, so they have their riseball working now. Once you learn a pitch it isn’t that hard to execute it when you’re throwing a bunch in a row and you have the ability to determine when you want to throw it. So test them during bullpen sessions by calling the pitch and watching what happens. Then call a different pitch, then another different pitch. See if they can throw what you’re calling on command versus needing five shots to get it right. This isn’t just for different pitches either. You can do the same with locations to see which they can hit on command and which need more work. Knowing that will help you avoid situations where you call an outside pitch to attack a hitter’s weakness only to watch that pitch go to the inside, which is the hitter’s strength, and then out of the yard..
- Consult with them. Once you’ve gathered your information, tell your pitchers what you’ve learned. Show them the chart you’ve made detailing their strengths and what they need to work on. We all like to work on strengths so we can feel good about ourselves, but that’s not how you get better. The Japanese principle of Kaizen (continuous improvement) applies here. It will be a lot easier for them to become the pitchers you want them to be if you’re telling them where they need to improve. But don’t just tell them what to do – tell them why it will help them become better at their craft. People in general, and young people in particular, generally will work harder on an issue when they understand how it will help them.
- Rinse and repeat. This is not a one-time process you do in the preseason or at the beginning of the season. You should be updating this information constantly to ensure you’re using all your pitchers to the best of their abilities. If you told a pitcher she needs to hit the low outside spot with her fastball or needs to increase the RPMs and spin direction on her riseball, check back frequently to see if they’re making those improvements. Then update your information about them accordingly so when gametime comes you’re taking advantage of everything your pitchers are able to do – and avoiding those things that don’t work so well.
Again, in theory it’s important to attack hitters’ weaknesses whenever you can. But you don’t want to attack weakness with weakness; in most cases you’ll probably be better off attacking a hitter’s strength with your own pitcher’s strength (unless it’s a total mismatch, in which case good luck!) because the odds in softball always favor the defense.
By taking the time to really learn the strengths of every pitcher on your staff, you’ll be in a position to make better decisions come gametime and help not only the pitchers themselves but the entire team succeed more often.
To Get Power, Blow Out the Candle
Fastpitch softball players sometimes struggle with how to get that extra burst of power at the moment it matters the most. Whether it’s whipping the arm into release for pitchers, or accelerating the bat before contact for hitters, or some other skill requiring a ballistic final movement, instead of looking powerful they look anemic.
One of the biggest reasons for this, of course, is the fear of failure. Pitchers focused only on throwing strikes or not walking anyone will slow down when they should be speeding up.
Hitters focused on not striking out or just making contact will do the same. Catchers focused on throwing to the base rather than doing all they can to get the runner out will do it, and so on.
You can try telling them they need to be more energetic in their movements, but while they will nod their heads they will often not really understand what you mean. So here’s a quick way to explain what you’re going for.
Ask them “how do you blow out a candle?” If they give you a blank stare offer them two options: do you do it with a gentle letting out of air, like you’re trying to cool a spoonful of hot soup, or in one quick burst.
Since they’ve probably been blowing out birthday candles since the age of two or three they will tell you in one quick burst. Then ask them why they do it that way. (You can even have them demonstrate both to you, which will force them to demonstrate the principle to themselves.)
They will tell you because without the burst nothing much happens. The flame may dance a little with a reverse sip of air, but it won’t go out.
You can then explain that’s what power does. That one quick burst concentrates the air so it has an effect on the candle.
It’s the same with that final, critical movement in softball. Without that one quick, focused final burst of energy you can’t throw hard or hit hard.
While it may seem obvious to you, you’d be surprised at what isn’t so obvious to your players. Even experienced ones sometimes.
The focus on not failing, usually based on someone else’s description of what failure is, rather than succeeding or excelling, As long as they’re in that mindset it will cause them to hold back from becoming the best versions of themselves on the field.
Use the candle analogy to help them understand the importance of getting that final, powerful concentration of energy and you just may help them unleash the larger beast within them.
Birthday party photo by Alexander Mass on Pexels.com
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 