It’s never too late for the fundamentals
First of all, let me assure you that I haven’t abandoned the Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog. I’ve just been taking care of some other stuff.
Anyway, today I heard about a 16U team and its first few practices. Apparently the coach has been running through some scenarios, but has spent no time working on the fundamentals. The speculation is that she assumes by now they should already have them.
If that’s the case it’s a mistake. No player ever has it down so much that she doesn’t need to work on technique and the fundamentals.
Want proof? The top D1 college programs in the country work on the fundamentals constantly. So does the USA National team. Check out this video of former coach Mike Candrea running one of my favorite drills. It’s a few years old, obviously, but it shows the importance he and the other coaches place on fundamentals.
No matter how good you think your team is, remember it always starts with the fundamentals.
Posted on September 15, 2011, in Coaching, College softball. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 
Well said. I worked for a manager jsut last year that felt the same way. At 18, the girls should know what they are doing. Sure, anything routine was usually taken care of, but once the point was reached, things started to break down quickly. I have a video clip of a D1 player working on her throw at the beginning of a practice. Really working on it. And she had great form and a blistering throw. I show that to my team, if she feels she needs to work on her fundamentals, why shouldn’t they. How about coaching fundamentals?
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Absolutely, Rick. The better the player, the harder they work. There’s a reason MLB teams have base coaches at first and third, plus pitching, hitting and all sorts of other coaches. If anyone should have it down it’s them. But they don’t either. Keep working those fundamentals!
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