Author Archives: Ken Krause
It’s about time to end the time limits
Over the weekend the Mundelein Thunder 16U team I coached played in an NSA World Series qualifier. The rules for the tournament stated that no new inning could start after one hour and fifteen minutes. Not just in pool play but in bracket play too.
That is just insane. The time elapsed to play one fastpitch softball game from beginning to end was less than that for a youth soccer, hockey, or basketball game. That’s just not right. All of those sports by nature have a clock, with natural breaks (quarters or halves) to reset strategy and make substitutions. They’re oriented toward a clock, and cutting out a little time per period doesn’t have a huge impact on the game.
Putting a clock on softball does. After all, as George Carlin says, it’s a pastoral sport played in a park. Or as Yogi Berra said, it ain’t over ’til it’s over. When you put a time limit on softball, especially one as short as 75 minutes, you have changed the essential nature of the game.
If you are dedicated to giving your players the opportunity to play (as I am), rather than the opportunity to watch their friends win trophies, a 75 minute time limit is particularly tough to deal with. You have to be ready to make substitutions around the 35 minute mark. Not so bad if you’re the home team. But if you’re the visitors and want to sub when you go on defense, some kids aren’t going to play very much. I find that managing the time is far more stressful than managing the game.
But even if you’re not trying to squeeze in all your players it can still be rough. Some teams, for whatever reason, take a little while to get going. By they time they’re hitting on all cylinders the game is over or nearly so. They never get a chance to establish their rhythm, wear down their opponents, or get the feel of the game. It’s wham, bam, thank you ma’am, clear the dugouts so the next team can get in. It definitely favors the team with the biggest, strongest pitcher since hitters sometimes need a couple of at bats before they can zone in on the pitcher. Hey, it took Arizona three full games to figure out Monica Abbott.
This is a phenomenon peculiar to summer ball. High school games can (and sometimes do) go on forever, as two worthy opponents slug it out. College games are the same, as is youth league play.
It’s tempting to say the time limit is driven by greedy tournament directors trying to squeeze 10 lbs. of teams in a 5 lb. facility. But that’s not necessarily true, at least in the majority of cases. What it probably points to more is a lack of adequate facilities to host these summer tournaments.
Not sure what the answer is, but after experiencing it this weekend I think all tournament directors should be required to post what the time limits will be where they have the entry information. That way coaches can at least make an informed decision BEFORE they’ve committed their teams and their budgets. As a postscipt, I once took a team to a tournament where the 1:15 time limit was cut to an hour because of rain the day before. Needless to say I’ve never gone back there.
At the high school level and above, two solid teams can complete a game in 1:30 to 1:45. If you have to have a time limit, use one of those. An hour and fifteen minutes doesn’t serve anyone well.
Pitch movement in the WCWS
Is it just me, or are the pitches in the WCWS not moving as much as the announcers are saying? I’ve been watching on a DVR, and when they show a view from behind the catcher I’ve been putting it into super slow motion.
I already knew the rise ball doesn’t really rise at the end. In fact, it seems like with the better pitchers it sort of flattens out at the end. But watching even curves and screws it seems like there hasn’t been a lot of pronounced movement. Especially with Monica Abbott. I really thing she’s throwing hard and fairly straight rather than getting late breaking movement. Whatever she’s been doing has been effective, but I don’t think it’s movement.
Maybe it’s an illusion with the DVR, but often I don’t even see the ball having the correct spin. I just watched a supposed screwball have a spin more like a curve ball. It didn’t seem to break much either way.
Take nothing away from these pitchers. Both are terrific. But if you watch closely, are you really seeing a lot of ball movement?
Sacrificing speed for control
Here’s another one that’s said a lot that drives me crazy. A pitcher will be in pitching a game. Apparently couldn’t find the plate if it was made uranium and she had a Geiger counter, so her coach advises her to “slow it down and throw strikes” or something to that effect.
I understand why it’s being said. If your pitcher keeps walking everyone it’s going to be tough to win the game. But having your pitcher slow down her motion in order to gain control is extremely counter-productive, both for her and for the team. If she has been working very hard to learn to be an effective pitcher, asking her to completely change what she’s doing is going to set her back. You’d actually be better off taking her out and putting someone else in there. After all, if speed doesn’t matter and you just want strikes, that isn’t that tough of a goal. You can put pretty much anyone in there to lob meatballs in order to avoid the almighty walk.
What got me thinking about this one is an article that re-ran recently in a business newspaper called Investors Business Daily, or IBD for short. In addition to the usual business articles about corporations and such they like to run articles about leadership and success. It just so happened that I picked up the issue where they were talking about a particular major league baseball pitcher who had the very same problem we’re discussing. He threw hard, but he was wild.
According to the article, when the pitcher had been in the league a couple of years “He’d go six or seven innings, throw 160 pitches, walk seven guys, strike out 15.” His strikeout-to-walk ratio ran close to 1:1 for several years, starting in the minors and continuing to the majors. He could chuck his fastball in the high 90s, which helped keep his ERA low (and kept him in the majors) but it could go anywhere. Think Nuke Lalouche in Bull Durham. He was also advised to slow down and get the ball over, ut he kept working at it, making changes in his mechanics to improve his control instead. It took a while, but he eventually harnessed his speed, and in six years made four All-Star teams, finished in the top 10 in Cy Young award voting five times (winning one) and dominated the game. The pitcher’s name? Randy Johnson.
In the same article, pitching coach Brent Strom is quoted as saying “With a pitcher like Johnson, who throws very hard but wild, you’re better off letting him be wild for a while. There’s a saying: ‘The best way to ruin a pitcher is to try and make him a pitcher.’ We take these guys who are a little wild, and we immediately want to slow them down to get more control. Invariably guys go from throwing 98-99 mph and wild to 91 and still wild. Taking away what a pitcher does best is the wrong thing to do.”
Yes, it can be hard to watch the girl you thought would be your ace walking half the Western world in a single game. But assuming she is practicing and taking lessons to learn her craft, you’re not doing her any favors by telling her to slow down. All you’re doing is taking away the one thing in her that made you want her in the first place.
Control is not a goal. It’s not something you have to work at separately. It is a result of good mechanics plain and simple. Encourage your pitchers to use their bodies properly to throw the ball and you’ll see plenty of strikes. Maybe not today, but it will happen if they work at it properly.
And don’t even bother telling her to “just throw strikes.” That’s a waste of breath, because unless she’s just emerged from a cave for the first time ever she knows she’s supposed to be throwing strikes. It’s just a lot harder than it looks.
You are what you practice
There is a warm-up drill I’ve seen many teams use that I just don’t get. Basically, two lines of players stand facing each other, their feet firmly planted in the ground. They then throw the ball back and forth between partners, rotating their trunks and shoulders. Generally speaking, they also chit-chat with one another as they perform this drill.
Now, I get what the drill is supposed to accomplish. It’s supposed to stretch the trunk muscles and get the shoulders involved in throwing. What it is actually doing, though, is teaching players to throw face-on and flat-footed — often times with their weight on their heels. Then coaches wonder why, at a critical moment in the game, their players try to make a quick throw flat-footed from their heels.
Think about it. What do we coaches always stress in working with our players? Muscle memory. It’s how we justify making them do boring reptitions of the same skills. “You have to build muscle memory” we say as they hit their 100th ball off a tee or throw their 100th pitch in a practice session. With enough proper repetitions, they no longer have to think about the skill. They just execute it automatically.
Well, muscle memory doesn’t know a good drill from a bad drill. So if players stand flat-footed facing each other and throw by only moving their trunks and shoulders, what are they building? That’s right — muscle memory. And that’s what they’ll call on when they need to make a throw.
It makes a lot more sense to practice a skill the way you want it executed in a game. Especially if you’re warming up to play one. For throwing, that means shuffling your feet to put your body into a sideways position so you know how to find it when you need it. Players should be practicing quick footwork during warmups, not no footwork, so they have the skills they need. Doing anything else, especially before a game, just doesn’t make sense.
This is not to say this drill has no value at all. It’s a good beginner drill to teach young players to rotate their upper bodies — although I prefer they do it from their knees to separate the drill from the standard throwing motion. But once they understand how to use their shoulders you’re a lot better off having them start sideways and throw through with a proper motion.
The other reason teams sometimes use this drill is for a dynamic warmup of the upper body. But that’s something you can also accomplish with standard stretching. When it’s time to throw, then throw — the way you expect it to be done in a game. You will be what you practice. Practice for success.
Kudos where they are due
In my opinion, one of the toughest things to do is keep your cool in the middle of an important game, especially when your season is on the line. A couple of key errors, a bad pitch, hitting into an untimely double play, or any of a dozen other things can cause even the best coaches to melt down, lose faith, or hang their heads. Not that I’m putting myself into the “best coaches” category, but I know I’ve had that meltdown.
That potential was there in the HS game I was watching today. A couple of throwing errors in the top of the 13th inning that led to two runs could’ve caused the wheels to come off the wagon. But they didn’t. Instead, I watched the coaches keep the girls in the game, and believe they could come back. Which they did, plating three runs on three hits in the bottom of the inning to earn the victory. Two of the hits were by players who made the throwing errors, and a two-run double came from the #8 hitter. That’s what makes it so impressive.
I readily admit I can be a bit(?) judgmental on other coaches from time to time. But I can also recognize a job well done. Tonight I saw a textbook example of the difference a coaching staff can make in the toughest part of the game – the mental game. Kudos to both coaches for helping their team do what it takes to win.
Catcher stances
This is probably a bit elementary for some of you, but it’s still something to keep in mind. The “natural” stance most people go into when they catch is to squat down on the balls of the field, with the heels off the ground. While it may be comfortable and easy to get into, it’s also slow and unstable — a point I like to prove by pushing gently on the forehead of a catcher in that stance and watching her fall backwards.
There are a couple of better stances that I like to see catchers use. With no runners on base, the catcher can spread her feet out roughly shoulder width apart, toes pointing out. From there, she lowers her rear end with the weight on the inside of the feet. It’s a fairly comfortable stance that relieves knee stress, yet allows the catcher to get up quickly if there’s a bunt.
With runners on base, the catcher needs to be up and ready to go more. For this stance, she bends forward and begins lowering herself until her back is parallel to the ground, and to her thighs, more or less. Her weight is forward over the balls of her feet. This allows her to be very low while still being able to move easily. If she has to block a ball in the dirt she can move laterally. If she has to throw a runner out she can pivot or pop up quickly.
Putting your catchers into a better stance can quickly help them improve their performance. Give it a try.
High school sports are communist
This is more a random thought than a specific complaint, and it doesn’t apply solely to softball. It applied to all high school sports.
I had never really thought about it before but the thought occurred to me this morning that high school sports are communist, while club/travel sports are capitalist. Why do I think that?
Consider this: high school sports are controlled 100% by the “state,” i.e. the coach. There is no voting, there is no discussion. The coach makes a decision, and your choices are live with it or quit. It’s a total dictatorship. If you try to rise up and complain, the odds are that the “conflict resolution” process used within the school will ultimately exile your kid to the sports equivalent of Siberia — the bench, with no possibility of parole. If the kid even thinks about speaking up, same fate. The coach is free to do whatever he/she wants, short of outright breaking the law, with little chance for censure much less dismissal. In many places, unless you’re the football or basketball coach the team can suck for years, underperforming time after time, and your job is safe. It’s good to be the Premier.
Behavior on club and travel sports, on the other hand, are dictated by market pressures. If you don’t like a club sport’s coach or policies, you leave and go somewhere else. If enough people don’t like him/her/them, the club folds up and goes away. Parents can band together and get a coach removed much more easily. Clubs that do well get rewarded, clubs that don’t lose players and wind up taking lesser kids, thus beginning the death spiral. Club and team sports don’t have a built-in constituency either. They have to advertise, recruit, or draw players in some other manner. No-nothing coaches tend not to last very long.
Interestingly, the college model is much closer to club/travel ball than to high schools. While there are scholarships and such at stake, if you don’t like your situation at one place you can always try your luck elsewhere. I’m not saying it’s easy, but you are not stuck.
I’d be interested to hear other thoughts on this comparison. Just remember that this is being set forth in a lighthearted way, so keep it clean and friendly!
Great article on hitting the changeup
Saw a great article a few days ago on some cool strategies for hitting the changeup.
I have one to add, which is really aimed at getting hitters to wait back on slower pitching than they’re used to. Telling them to “wait on it” is kind of vague. When hitters are used to seeing faster pitching (faster being a relative term), it’s hard for them to know just how long to wait.
What I will often do is draw a line in the dirt in front of home plate, and tell them not to start their swings until the ball crosses that line. Sometimes it’s just 10 feet in front of home, other times it’s further out. Sometimes I guess wrong and it has to move. But the principle still holds.
Rolling the wrists
You know, people have to know their limitations. There’s nothing worse than a coach telling a player she needs to correct a problem when there’s no problem to be corrected. Well, there are a lot of worse things of course, but it’s what’s on my mind today.
Here’s a perfect example. Today one of the high school coaches told my daughter not to roll her wrists. But it’s apparent that she doesn’t know what rolling the wrists really is. Here’s a picture of her at the contact point:
<IMG style="WIDTH: 157px; HEIGHT: 171px" height=631 src="/images/55650-48775/Kimmie_contact_point.png” width=268>
As you can see, she is palm up/palm down at contact. Here she is at extension:
<IMG style="WIDTH: 166px; HEIGHT: 167px" height=620 src="/images/55650-48775/Kimmie_extension.png” width=372>
The hands are still palm up/palm down. The wrists won’t roll until long after contact, and not until after extension. Working on not rolling the wrists would be a complete waste of time.
That’s something to keep in mind. Not everyone who has the title of “coach” has the qualifications to be one. As Mark Twain used to say, “Better to keep your mouth shut and have everyone think you’re a fool than to open it and prove they’re right.”
Best new rule…so far
Got the 2007 ASA rule book Monday night and started going through it as I always do. That’s when I found it — my nomination (so far) for the best new rule.
Essentially, it states that a legal pitch must be delivered from the side of the body on the throwing arm side. It specifically prohibits pitches delivered between the legs or behind the back. I can’t help but wonder what happened, and where it happened, that necessitated making a rule about it. Most pitchers I’ve seen are doing all they can to get the ball where they want it with a normal delivery.
This is almost as good as the one about all base runners returning to their original bases after an offensive conference. You shouldn’t even have to have a rule about that. But I guess you do.
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 