Monthly Archives: February 2024
Surviving “One More” Syndrome
Friends, today we are gathered to address one of the most dreaded issues in all of fastpitch softball practice. Of course, I am talking about “One More” Syndrome.
It’s an issue that affects nearly every player at all levels at one time or another. You may not know it by name, but you know its effect.
There you are, working on hitting, pitching, fielding, or some other skill. You’ve had a very successful session when the coach (or a parent) announces “one more,” as in one more pitch to a hitter, one more ground ball to a fielder, one more rep of a particular pitch.
Suddenly it is as if you’ve never seen a softball before in your life, much less have hit, caught, or thrown one. Whatever skill you were executing with tremendous ability has completely abandoned you, leaving you flapping around the field like a drunken penguin.
This is a topic that came up during a lesson last night with a pitcher named Brooklyn. She was cruising along pretty well working on her changeup when I said, “Ok let’s throw one more” – at which point she totally tanked the pitch.
Brooklyn looked at me, smiled, shrugged, and asked, “What is it about saying one more that makes things go bad?” I had to admit I didn’t know, but it does seem to happen a lot. That’s when we came up with the idea of One More Syndrome.
So what can you do about it? One thing is not to put too much worry into it.
For whatever reason, this seems to be a very common affliction. If it was odd that would be one thing. But it pretty much happens to everyone sooner or later.
If you really want to put a stop to it, though, your best bet is probably just not to think about the fact that it’s the last whatever. Just treat it like one more rep and you’ll most likely be fine.
Worst case, just ask the coach or parent not to announce it’s the last one – at least all the time. That way you can work up to the mental toughness not to be affected so you can keep things moving along quickly.
“One More” syndrome is real. But it doesn’t have to be a terrible issue.
Just laugh about it and get on with your practice. Eventually you’ll get to the point where hearing “let’s do one more” will be just another ordinary phrase.
It Pays to Know the Rules
When I was coaching teams, one of my yearly rituals was to read the ASA (now USA Softball) rulebook from beginning to end before the season started. Including the applications scenarios in the back.
I would also scan the rules for other sanctions my team was playing in just to make sure I knew about any variations so I didn’t embarrass myself or my team on the field.
Why would I do that? It wasn’t for fun, I can assure you. The rulebook is pretty dry.
No, I read it to make sure I was ready for those little odd things that can happen that, if you don’t know what you’re doing, could cost you a game. Or even a championship.
With the college softball season getting under way, the high school season about to start in many parts of the U.S., and travel and rec ball not far off, it seems like reading the rulebook and understanding it thoroughly would be a good use of coaches’ time.
What made me think of this is what happened in Super Bowl LVIII (58 for those of you who don’t read Roman numerals).
ICYMI, the game was tied at the end of the fourth quarter so it went into overtime. Which means the Chiefs and 49ers had to do a new coin toss, with the winner deciding whether to take the ball first or let the other team have it.
The 49ers won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball. Under ordinary circumstances that might seem like a good decision because usually overtime is “sudden victory,” the politically correct term for what we used to call “sudden death.” In other words, first team that scores wins.
But what the 49ers allegedly didn’t realize is that the overtime rules changed this year, which meant both teams would get a guaranteed possession, i.e., a chance to score. That rule change gives the advantage to the second team to get the ball because by then they will know what they have to do when it’s their turn.
So after the 49ers notched a field goal (worth 3 points for those who don’t follow football), the Chiefs knew they could tie the game with a field goal if they had to or go for the win with a touchdown, which is ultimately what they did. They succeeded, which meant a lot of third world children are looking forward to receiving free San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl LVIII Champions t-shirts.
After the game, it was brought up that where the 49ers weren’t aware of the new rules, the Chiefs had been going over them twice a week or something like that since the preseason. While it might have seemed boring at the time, it paid off.
There are always new additions (and subtractions) to the rulebook, so taking the time to understand them is critical if you want to serve your team best. Of course, one of the biggest examples here in 2024 is the change to the pitching rules which now allows leaping – although not crow hopping supposedly.
We’ll see about that, but that’s a topic for another post.
It would be pretty embarrassing for a coach to complain that a pitcher’s foot is coming off the ground on her drive forward when that’s now allowed. It would also be pretty risky for a coach to allow or encourage a pitcher to crow hop (replant the drive foot before the stride foot lands) thinking that that is the same as leaping, only to have it get called correctly in a critical game.
Knowing the rules can also help you prevent an umpire who doesn’t know the rules from costing you a game. I can speak to that from personal experience.
A team I was coaching was on defense in a “national” tournament. The other team had runners on second and third with one out so we elected to intentionally walk the current hitter to create a force at home.
My catcher moved behind the left hand batter’s box to receive the ball as I had taught her, and our pitcher threw a pitch. The umpire immediately called an illegal pitch saying the catcher was out of the catcher’s box, which meant the runner on third would score and the runner on second would advance to third. Not exactly the outcome we were looking for.
I went out to argue the call. I explained that unlike baseball, where the catcher’s box is narrow, in fastpitch softball it extends from the far edge of one batter’s box to the far edge of the other.
The umpire disagreed so I asked him to ask his partner. His partner also disagreed so I asked them to get the umpire in chief, which to their credit they did.
After about 10 minutes of consultation between them (and a rule book), they conceded the point, sent the runners back to their original bases and wiped the run off the board.
I’d love to say we got the out at home and went on to win the game. That would be a nice topper, wouldn’t it?
Unfortunately, the next hitter got a ground ball through the pulled-in infield and we went on to lose. But hey, at least it wasn’t because of a rule problem.
The fastpitch softball rulebook is filled with plenty of rules, some common, some obscure, but all worth knowing. Because you never know when a situation will come up where knowing the rules can change the situation immensely.
I know it’s boring, coaches, but do yourselves a favor. Either read the rulebook cover-to-cover yourself or assign someone on your staff to do it.
You never know when a season might turn on it.
Trust the Process and the Outcome Takes Care of Itself
Every now and then when I’m working with a pitching student I will have one who is having trouble hitting some of her spots on command. For example, she will tell me that she can hit inside ok but can’t throw outside.
I will talk to her about how to do it. I used to talk about making adjustments such as striding an inch or two toward where you want to throw, or turning your hand a certain way, etc.
But now I simply tell her to look at where you want to throw and then throw it there. Your body will find a way.
That works much of the time, but not always. In those cases where it doesn’t, I will drag a protective screen about halfway between the pitcher and catcher and say “Try it now.” That trick usually works within a couple of pitches.
“Why do you think you can magically hit that spot all of a sudden?” I will ask (triumphantly, I might add).
“Because the screen is there and I can’t throw it the other way,” they’ll reply in some form or another.
That’s true, but there’s a deeper explanation: by blocking off half the plate, her body was forced to make adjustments to not clang into the screen. We fixed the process, and the outcome was what we wanted.
That’s an important lesson for every fastpitch player to learn. All too often players get so caught up in trying to achieve the outcome they lose the thing that will most help them achieve it.
Pitchers will get so caught up in going for speed they’ll over-throw and try to muscle the ball, slowing it down. Or they’ll get so obsessed with hitting a spot or getting a spin that they’ll contort themselves in all sorts of crazy ways to make it happen.
Hitters will be so hellbent on getting a hit that they’ll just flail the bat at the ball instead of taking an approach that lets them see the ball longer and coordinate all their body parts to deliver the bat more efficiently. Fielders will be so focused on throwing hard to set a speed record that they’ll set aside good mechanics to just chuck the ball any old way, taking the throw off-line and getting a worse score than before.
You get the picture. These players become so intent on whatever outcome they’re trying to achieve that they don’t pay attention to how they’re trying to achieve it. That’s just wrong.
The reality is the process is greater than the outcome just like the graphic at the top of this post shows. (I stole that from a t-shirt I saw on the TV show Seal Team, to give credit where it’s due. Then I had my wife make me one with her Cricut so I can wear it to lessons.)
In other words, if you place your focus on the end you can control and work forward, you’re far more likely to achieve the outcomes you desire than if you try to work back from the outcome.
Yes, the outcomes are important. I’m certainly the first to celebrate a student hitting a home run, or achieving a new speed record, or succeeding in some other way.
But placing all your emphasis on them is not the way to achieve them.
Instead, focus on what you’re doing and what you’re feeling. Listen to your body and check on whether it’s doing what it’s supposed to do.
If you keep your focus there, I can guarantee the outcome will take care of itself. Because you can influence the process while you’re doing it.
But once you’ve done it, you can no longer influence the outcome. It’s simply the result of what you did.
The Downside of Being Coachable
One of the highest compliments a coach, journalist, parent, or other observer can pay to a player is to say he or she is “coachable.” I’ve said it myself many times, both about individuals and as a general character trait, and I still believe in the concept.
When you say an athlete is coachable, what you’re really saying is that he or she isn’t stuck in his or her ways, or doesn’t tune out coaches when they offer instruction, but instead embraces the opportunity to learn and grow their skills. Seems like a pretty important attribute in my book.
As with anything, however, there is also a downside to being coachable. One that doesn’t often get talked about, which is why I’m bringing it up today.
Basically, the downside is this: What if what the athlete is being told just isn’t good advice? Or worse, what if the coaching will actually make the player worse in the short- and long-term?
Lord knows there is plenty of bad coaching out there. Some of it comes from well-meaning volunteers who don’t have much experience so they rely on what they remember from their own youth playing days or something they may have heard at a coaching clinic they once attended.
The problem is they may not remember the information correctly, or completely, or they may remember it correctly but the fastpitch softball world moved on from those teachings years ago. Squish the bug, anybody?
Then there is the contribution of the Internet to spreading bad information. At least back in the day a poorly informed coach was only affecting his/her team, or program at worst.
Now with the ready availability of Facebook groups, Instagram posts, YouTube videos, etc., that bad information is being amplified and shared around the world. Some of it by famous names who really ought to know better but apparently don’t.
So what ends up happening is that the coachable athlete, especially at the beginner level, gets shown poor or sub-optimal techniques that quickly become ingrained habits.
They are able to get by with those techniques for a while if their natural athletic ability is superior to their peers who require more training. But eventually that natural advantage levels off and those peers start catching up to them.
At that point, the coachable athletes may find they have hit a plateau or are even falling behind their peers who, while not as athletic, have received better training. But since they may have two, three, six, or more years doing things the way they’ve done them, the techniques are so ingrained they may struggle to learn new, better mechanics or approaches.
It won’t be for lack of trying – they’re still the same coachable athletes they always were. But they’ve been down the rabbit hole for so long that finding their way out can be a long, painful journey.
How can you avoid this issue with your coachable athlete? The #1 way is to ensure you have good information about what is considered high-level in pitching, hitting, throwing, fielding, conditioning, agility training, strength training, and other pertinent aspects of the game.
It’s going to take some time to research, to be sure. The key is not to believe something just because a famous coach or athlete says it.
Seek out a variety of perspectives from a variety of sources, and see what makes sense. Give preference to those who explain the “why” behind what they’re saying, and see if that makes sense as well.
After all, if an explanation doesn’t seem to make sense from a biomechanical or physics standpoint, it’s probably just so much word salad.
Take the old “swing down on the ball to get backspin” belief in hitting. Its proponents will tell you that doing so will help the ball carry farther in the air.
But when you really think about it, any ball you hit on the bottom half will have backspin, regardless of whether you swung down or up. And any ball you hit on the top half will tend to spin downward.
Then realize that if you swing from the bottom-up you’re more likely to hit the lower half of the ball, while swinging from the top-down is more likely to give you contact on the top half of the ball. Also keep in mind that a popup has plenty of backspin, but it tends not to go very far.
And how much backspin is needed to actually overcome gravity to get more carry on a softball weighing 6.5 oz.? Probably more than you can apply with a bat no matter which way it swings.
Once you believe you have a pretty good idea of what makes sense, compare it to what high-level, highly accomplished softball players do. Notice I didn’t say compare it to what they say, because there are plenty of examples of high-level players (including former Olympians) who don’t teach the same mechanics they used themselves.
Use those high-speed video examples to see what most of them have in common. (Don’t use one player because there are always exceptions.)
Look across a variety of players once you know what you think you’re looking for. Then, when you’re pretty sure you know works best, look for programs, team coaches, and private instructors who will teach those techniques to your coachable athletes.
That way, when they’re a few years into their careers, they won’t find themselves having to break deeply ingrained habits that are no longer working for them.
Being coachable is a tremendous asset for athletes. But always keep in mind the old computer saying: garbage in, garbage out.
Be sure what your coachable athlete is learning is correct from the beginning and it will save him or her a whole lot of heartache and frustration later.
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 