A bit of shameless self-promotion
Alright, this is my fourth attempt to get this posted. There seems to be some sort of problem with the link mechanism today. And being able to link is important since I’m referencing something on the outside.
In any case, something cool happened for me over the weekend. I was asked to be featured as a Softball Authority/Guest Coachon the National Forum on Girls’ Fastpitch Softball blog. It’s a pretty cool sight with a number of interesting articles — an offshoot of the Softball Institute. The post before mine was a Q and A with Jennie Finch, so I’m in good company.
As part of the post I contributed an article you may find intesting. Check it out when you get a chance, and be sure to poke around the rest of the site. It’s full of great information. For those with Digg and similar accounts, I sure wouldn’t object to getting a few Diggs too!
Posted on March 3, 2008, in General Thoughts. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 
I am a high school softball coach.Thanks
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As are many people out there. I wasn’t trying to single out any particular group. I also mentioned private instructors, of which I am one. The point of the article is each player needs to take responsibility for her own career, not just listen blindly to anyone who comes along, regardless of their position. I know plenty of knowledgeable high school coaches in a variety of sports. I know plenty who haven’t kept up with the game either. I know plenty of team coaches and instructors who fall into the same categories. Bad advice is bad advice, no matter who it comes from. But the choice of whether to follow it is still the player’s. That’s what many don’t realize. Sometimes those choices have unpleasant consequences, and they have to know that too. The one difference is if you disagree with what your travel coach wants, or your college coach for that matter, you have the option to go elsewhere. That option does not exist in high school sports for most. That’s not a value judgment, that’s a fact. Hopefully you are one of the many high school coaches who works hard to do right by her players and teach the things they need to be successful as individuals and team players so it’s a non-issue. As coaches we expect our players to make changes and learn things all the time. We should expect no less of ourselves.
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Excellant article; My 12 year old daughter is going through the “just throw your hands at the ball” theory with her coach. We have purchased the ASA Candrea tapes and watched them together. She has developed a strong swing using his techniques, hitting several deep balls last year including triples and home runs. He thinks she will be to slow with fast pitchers because of her trigger. When she hits without the trigger the ball simply doesn’t go far. She is also hitting well off the grand slam pitching machine at 50 mph.
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Thanks, Rick. It’s always a tough situation when the players have taken the time to learn the best techniques available but their coaches haven’t kept up. With high speed video and computer analysis, plus the Internet, there’s more information available than ever. But that can work against you in situations like you describe. Especially if the coach insists you do it his/her way. But if you’ve done your homework and believe in what you’re doing you have to stick with it, no matter the consequences. Ultimately, all coaches want to win. If she can make that happen by driving the ball, differences in how she’s doing it will go away. Perhaps a Candrea USA Softball DVD would make a nice end-of-season gift for the coach!
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