Author Archives: Ken Krause
Weather Outside Frightful? You Can Still Practice Part 1
In my part of the world we are currently at the time of year when the weather outside is, as the song says, frightful. Cold, snow, high winds, icy ground, and more make going from the house to the car, much less trying to pitch, hit, field, etc., a rather unpleasant experience.
In other parts of the world you may be facing monsoons, or at least a rainy season that has turned everything to mud, dust/sand storms that make it hard to see your glove in front of your face (if that’s your idea of a good time), or other weather phenomena that make outdoor practice time a no-go fo a while.
Sure, you can go to an indoor facility where it’s warm (or semi-warm at least) dry, and reasonably well-lit. But that means there has to be one available in your area, paying a fee (which not all can afford), and having transportation to it – none of which is a given.
So does that mean you have an excuse to skip practicing entirely until the days start getting warmer/drier/less frightful and spend all your time watching Tik Tok videos or sending Snaps between your friends or whatever it is you spend your free time on? I’m not judging.
No, it doesn’t mean that at all. Hate to break it to you but there are plenty of ways to practice that don’t require a facility, or even fastpitch softball equipment.
A lot of these activities actually help break down the skills and let you focus on areas in which you’re weak. You know the kind of things you hate doing when you drag your way all the way to a training facility where you’re paying good money for cage time.
But think of it this way: if you put in the time now to work on these details, you’ll be that much further ahead when it’s time to take the field next spring.
Over the next few weeks we’ll look at options for at-home practice broken down by position or skills. Today, we’re starting with…
Pitching
- Brush contact and wrist pronation– If you’ve been paying attention at all you know you need brush contact that creates pronation (inward turning) of the wrist, not a forced upward wrist snap, to deliver the highest level of energy into the ball in order to maximize speed. But if you were taught to do wrist snap drills, either standing three feet in front of a cager and forcibly snapping or kneeling on one knee in front of a catcher or wall, putting your arm behind the other leg snapping from there, you know how hard it can be to retrain yourself to pronate. Here’s where a rolled-up pair of socks is your friend. Put those socks in your throwing hand, pull your lower arm back a bit while turning the palm of your hand outward, then let your hand and forearm come forward rapidly, brushing lightly against your hip while allowing (not forcing) your hand and wrist to turn inward. Do it over and over until it feels natural, then move further up the back side of the circle, and keep working your way back until you can make a full circle. The nice thing here is you can throw the socks into any wall in the house, or even a mirror, without doing any damage.
- Leg drive force – This is another thing that almost every pitcher can use more of. Yet most don’t focus on it as much as they should. But it’s another thing you can do at home. All you need is about 8-10 feet of space and a floor where you won’t slip, such as a concrete floor in a basement or garage or even a rec center. Take all the leg drive drills your coach has given you and do them without throwing. You can start by not using a throwing motion at all, then add a motion (but no ball) to it. Then take your rolled-up pair of socks and add them into the mix too. Keep working on maximizing how you’re using your legs, and how you’re stopping yourself, until you feel like you’re flying rapidly and weightlessly forward then stopping suddenly. Focus more on speed of movement than distance.
- Leg drive timing – One of the most important checkpoints for pitching speed is what happens with your drive foot when your arms are at 3:00, i.e., straight out in front of you. It should be detaching from the pitching rubber at that time. If it’s not, home-based practice is the perfect time to work on it. I recommend setting up your phone to record video so you can see if you’re getting off the rubber on time, because if you could feel it you’d already be doing it. Usually this problem occurs when you lead with your hands/arms instead of your legs/hips. So to address it, put your hands/arms behind your back and work on driving out with just your legs. Do that hundreds of times to get the feel of starting with your legs/hips, then slowly start adding your arms back in, stopping at 3:00 first, then 12:00, then all the way around. Check the video to make sure you’re doing it correctly and don’t move on until you can nail it every time at that point. Finally, add in the socks to make sure you can maintain the timing while actually throwing.
- Elbow bend – I know some of you were actually taught to make your arm long and straight, and then push the ball palm-down on the back side of the circle. But that’s not the way high-level pitchers pitch – even those who were taught (or teach others) to do it that way. Instead, you need to keep the ball facing either upward or slightly out to the side, and get some bend (flexion) in your elbow so that when you come into the release zone you can whip the forearm past the upper arm (humerus) in a series of decelerations and accelerations. It is one of the toughest corrections to make, but f you can’t do it you’ll never maximize your speed. To relearn this movement start by placing the little finger-side edge of your hand against a wall and then move around the circle keeping that edge against the wall until your forearm is forced to pronate naturally near the bottom of the circle. Rinse and repeat, being sure to keep your arm relaxed. Then move away from the wall, stand with your feet at 45 degrees to your “target” and take something that weighs around 16 oz. (a plyo ball is preferred but a can of green beans works too) and SLOWLY move your arm around the circle, paying attention to whether you can feel the bend. Be sure to keep your shoulders from moving forward as you start to pull the ball (or green beans) down the back side of the circle. Check yourself with video. The OnForm app can be helpful here, because ir will actually measure how much elbow bend you’re getting. It should be roughly 20-30 degrees as you get to about 8:00, although your results may vary depending on your motor preferences. Then get rid of the weight and use a faster throwing motion. Finally, start throwing the socks and again check with video to see if you’re maintaining the bend. If not, go back to the last step where you COULD keep the bend and work more from there before trying it again.
- Spins – For this one you’ll need a little more room and a foam ball. A regular Jugs Lite Flite softball will work for pretty much anything. An EZ Riseball is a great choice for the rise or curve. And no, I’m not getting any promotional consideration for either. Take your choice of ball and work up-close into a net or a tarp. You may want to mark the seams of the Lite Flite with a Sharpie marker to make it easier to see the spin direction or spin axis (whichever you prefer). Spending time on the spins at home will save you time during lessons or practice later, and will help ensure you’re getting the movement you’re looking for when it’s time to pitch to live hitters.
So there you go – 5 ideas of what to do to either correct pitching issues or enhance pitching performance. Next week we look at what hitters can do in the same situation.
Snowstorm photo by Jeffrey Czum on Pexels.com
The Importance of Intention in Achieving Fastpitch Success
As a private instructor, one of the questions I often get from parents of new students is, “How much should my daughter practice?” While well-intended (see what I did there?) the question is usually a tipoff that said new student generally doesn’t practice very much and the parent is looking for someone who isn’t them to make their daughter practice more.
My answer typically is, “As much as it takes.” I say that because practicing is not a time-based phenomenon. It’s goal-based.
Yes, it would be nice if you could quantify practice into increments of time, such as practice three times per week for a half hour and you will be great.
The reality, however, is it doesn’t quite work that way. Because basing practice on the amount of time ignores an essential ingredient to success in fastpitch softball, or any other endeavor for that matter: intention.
When you perform whatever skill it is you’re working on in practice or a game, you have to have an intention to do it at the highest, most focused, most energetic level you’re capable of on that particular day. The measurable outcomes will vary from day to day depending on factors such as whether you’re tired, hungry, stressed, injured, happy, inspired, “in the zone,” etc.
But the intention to do your best with whatever you have that day should always stay the same. Anything less and you’re basically cheating yourself.
Think of it this way: your ability to execute in a game is greatly affected by how you execute when you’re working on those skills.
If you base your practice on time alone it’s easy to walk through the motions without putting any major effort in. Ask any kid who was forced to take piano lessons from 150 year old nun who seemed to go out of her way to find the most uninteresting music every written for her students to play. Sorry, just had a traumatic flashback.
Back to our topic, let’s take a pitcher who is supposedly trying to increase her speed. Sure, she’s going to a pitching lane three days a week with her mom or dad and throwing for an hour.
But how is she throwing? Is she just throwing pitches from full distance in a way that is easy for her? Or does she have the intention of throwing harder and thus is doing things that might be less fun and less comfortable for her, such as working on her arm whip from a close distance into a net or trying to improve her leg drive by exploding out as quickly as she can without the ball?
Is a hitter just swinging the bat and knocking 100 balls off the tee because she heard somewhere that to improve you should take 100 swings a day? Or is she focused on trying to get her sequence correct and feeling the energy flow up through her body and out her bat with the intention of seeing the ball fly off and hearing a resounding crack?
One might drive minor improvement through sheer volume. The other will take an average or even good hitter and help her become a great hitter in a shorter amount of time.
That’s what having intention is all about. It’s not just about putting in time to check the box.
It’s about putting in real work to ensure that when the game is on the line you’re prepared to perform at the highest level of which you’re capable.
That doesn’t mean everyone has to practice like a maniac. If you’re playing softball for fun in your local rec league and not really too concerned about how you perform overall you don’t need to bring a whole lot of intensity to your practice routines.
As long as you’re doing something a couple of times a week you’ll probably improve enough by osmosis or sheer repetition to perform at an adequate level.
But if you’re a youth player and your goal is to play in college, or win a high school state championship, or dominate in travel ball (even if you don’t plan to play in college), or win one of the big tournaments, you need practice with intention.
If you’re already a college player and your goal is to get off the bench, or win a conference championship, or play in the Women’s College World Series, you’d better be bringing a whole boatload of intention not just to every practice but to every rep you take during that practice. Because if you don’t, someone else will, and they’ll be getting all the glory while you’re stuck watching from the sidelines.
The good news is intention is something you have complete control over. All you have to do is decide you want something bad enough and then put in the effort to get there. It doesn’t cost a cent and it’s readily available whenever you want it.
If you really, truly want to get better and become whatever qualifies in your mind as a top player, don’t just go through the motions and put in the “required” time. Starting cranking up your intention to perform at the highest level you can manage every single day and you’ll find improvement comes faster and more easily.
Giving a Little Love to the First Basemen
Have you ever stopped to think about which defensive position in fastpitch softball is the least valued? I think you can make a pretty argument for first base.
I mean, sure, there are plenty of parents who think that playing the outfield (doesn’t matter which specific position) is an insult to their highly talented daughters. Especially in the 10U-14U age groups.
But eventually they come to see that playing the outfield has some pretty unique challenges, as well as that having great outfielders can make or break a team’s success. Game-saving catch or throw, anyone?
There is, however, one position that doesn’t seem to get much love from coaches, parents, or fans in general: first base.
I’ve heard plenty of long-time coaches say that first base is where you put a good hitter who can’t field or throw. Or it’s where you put a left-handed thrower whose parents are complaining about her being in the outfield.
Those who think that way, however, are missing an important point, which is that a great first baseman can make up for some serious deficiencies at other positions.
The most obvious, of course, is when you have a team that struggles to throw the ball accurately. A quality first baseman will snag all those errant throws while still finding a way to either keep her foot on the bag somehow or sweep a quick tag as the runner is approaching first.
I’ve even seen first basemen do the splits trying to pick up a throw going in the dirt. Not consciously, necessarily, but they’re so focused on getting the ball and getting the out they just end up there. It’s quite a sight to see.
A heads-up first baseman can also save you some runs when another infielder forgets there is a runner on third with less than two outs. A quick snag and throw to home can catch a baserunner who thought she could take advantage of a fielder who either didn’t know or should have known better.
On a dropped third strike first basemen have to know where to position themselves based on where the ball ended up, then have to stand there while that batter/runner charges full steam ahead toward them. That may not seem like too complicated of a play but how many times have you seen it played incorrectly – and had a hitter who struck out reach base instead?
First basemen have to know when to charge a bunt and when to go back to the base. They’re often involved in rundowns between first and second as well as home and third.
They have to know when to go for that ground ball to their right and when to let off of it to cover the base. And they’re often the cut on throws to the outfield, which means they have to understand how to get in position depending on where the ball is hit and then pick out the catcher’s voice from the cacophony of voices on the field, in the dugout, and in the stands telling them what to do.
In other words, it’s more than just standing there playing a simple game of catch on an easy ground ball to short.
Basically, first base is what you might call a “lunch bucket” position because most of the time, if you’re playing it well, no one notices or they take it for granted. Even on some of the crazy stretches or the jump and tags.
But don’t come up with a ball in the dirt and you’re going to hear about how you have to “scoop it.” Come off the bag a little late on a wild throw and you’re going to hear about how you have to come off sooner. Even if the real solution would be a better throw to begin with.
It can be a frustrating for sure. Which is why I thought it might be nice for those first basemen out there to get a little love and recognition for everything they do to basically fix the mistakes everyone else makes.
So here’s to all of you who play first base – a position so under-valued it doesn’t even have a cool nickname. I see you.
Keep doing what you’re doing and saving your teammates’ bacon time after time. You may not get a lot of recognition, but they’ll surely miss you when you’re not out there.
6 Softball Things I’m Grateful for: 2024 Edition
With Thanksgiving coming next week it seemed like a good time to offer up a potpourri of things in the softball world for which I am thankful.
Now, this isn’t going to be one of those sentimental posts where I talk about how thankful I am for my understanding wife who lets me spend so much time working with other people’s kids, or my supportive family, or the opportunities I have to work with my students and their families, or all the people over the years who have and still continue to help me expand my knowledge of the sport and how to teach it, or you, my readers. That would be lame, right?
Instead, I thought I would talk about more tangible things that we can all appreciate. In other words, stuff.
After all, what good does it do you if my wife is awesome? But the items on this list are things that you can easily benefit from as well if you’re willing to put the time and/or money to take advantage of them.
So without further preamble, here are some of the softball things I am grateful for in 2024. If you have anything you’d like to add, please throw them into the comments below.
New GameChanger Home Page
This probably won’t mean much to a lot of you, but for me it was a literal game changer. If you follow multiple teams and haven’t seen it yet I’m sure you’ll love it too.
Most users probably only follow one or maybe 2-3 teams per season, so it was easy for them to keep track of when game were happening. I, however, typically am following dozens of teams where I have students playing.
When a team I am following is playing I typically receive a notification on my phone. On a typical summer or fall weekend my phone might get pinged 10-20 times an hour.
Prior to this fall, if I clicked on one of those notification I could see what was happening in the game. But if I forgot which team it was later I couldn’t check back on it until I received the notification the game was over.
This fall, GameChanger changed the home screen to list every game for teams I’m following that is currently happening at the top, upcoming games in the middle, and then final results for the day (I presume) at the bottom. So all I have to do to see what’s happening is open the app and click on whatever game I want to check out and the game tracker opens.
When I’m done and click the X to close the game, it goes right back to the game listings rather than that team’s home page. I can now check out a dozen games quickly. Brilliant!
If you’re a coach like me who wants to keep track of his/her students, a program director who wants to keep an eye on all of your organization’s teams, or even a grandparent whose children took the phrase “Be fruitful and multiply” to its logical conclusion, you’re going to love this great new way they’ve organized the info.
OnForm Video Analysis Tool
I’ve talked in the past about what a great tool OnForm is. OnForm makes it easy to capture, analyze, organize, and share videos and analysis to help coaches communicate with players so the players can get better.
I use it on a daily basis with my own students. But every now and then I receive a video from a parent looking for a little help or a coach looking for a second set of eyes on a player.
Often those videos are shot with the phone’s native video app. But OnForm makes it easy to import those videos into the app so I can provide slow motion or even stop motion analysis, complete with all the drawing and other tools it offers.
I can even do side-by-side comparisons to show what the player looks like compared to a more high-level player.
It’s just a great all-around tool whether you’re working with one player or 100 (although once you get past one it does get considerably more expensive).
Now, if they will just add the ability to superimpose a clock face over the video and give you the ability measure degrees of an arc from wherever you start to wherever you want to stop so you can check the angle (such as from the ground to where a pitcher’s humerus is at the time the front foot lands) I’d be a totally happy camper.
A Softball Bag with Wheels
This may seem like an odd thing to care about but in my opinion a bag with wheels that can store and transport up to four dozen softballs is one of the greatest inventions ever. Anyone who does outdoor practices in particular, like I do in the summer, should feel the same.
Consider you’re working with a hitter who did a good job of hitting the ball where it was pitched, which means the balls are sprayed all over the outfield.
If you have to carry the ball bag out to pick them all up, and you’re working for 2, 3, 4, or more hours, it gets awfully heavy and tiresome. But if your bag has wheels you can just roll it around with you like luggage to pick them up.
Or even wheel the bag toward second base, toss all the balls in near it, and then pick them up and put them in. Much more efficient.
Then there are the team coaches who need to (or need their players to if they’re smart) lug a ball bag from the furthest reaches of the parking lot to the part of the complex the parking lot is farthest from. Sure, you can toss a regular ball bag in a wagon, but if you don’t need a wagon full of stuff a bucket with wheels is a whole lot easier to manage.
The only problem with those buckets is they can be really tough to find. I’ve bought essentially the same bucket multiple times under five or six different brand names.
It’s like a company thinks, “What a great idea,” slaps their name on a standing design, sells a bunch, then decides to get out of the business. At which point you the consumer has to wait until another company thinks it’s a brilliant idea so you can buy a replacement when you ultimately forget to put the handle down only to see one of your power hitters smash a line drive into it and dent the handle so it won’t slide up and down again.
Once they’re off-market you have to keep searching for them until they finally pop up again. At least the last time that happened to me, when I finally found the latest company to offer this apparent loser of an inventory item I bought two.
So I’m covered for at least a while.
If you can find them, buy one. You won’t regret it.
I Still Own A Working Diamond Kinetics Ball
Right now, if you want to check out the spin direction, spin rate, spin efficiency, and other parameters on a pitch you pretty much have two options: You can either spend multiple thousands of dollars to purchase a Rapsodo set-up or find somewhere or someone that has one and is willing to rent it out for a couple of hours.
But there used to be another alternative. Diamond Kinetics (DK) used to sell a DK softball for $99 that would do everything Rapsodo did, right on your phone or tablet. It took seconds to set up (basically you’d open the app, spin the ball, and if the ball was charged you were ready to go) and didn’t require any special lighting or WiFi conditions.
Sounds like a dream, right? DK stopped selling those balls a couple of years ago.
I’m not sure why, although I’ve heard a few rumors. But I sure wish they’d come out with a new version and start selling them again.
In the meantime, I’m glad my old one still works – even though the ball itself is getting a bit slick from all the times it’s been thrown. Still, it beats dropping a down payment on a car on a system that doesn’t work any better than a $99 ball.
The Ability to Shop on the Internet
Say what you will about the Internet and all its issues, especially relative to social media. When it’s time to purchase special items (like some of those above) or even everyday items such as bats, balls, gloves, workout equipment and more, there’s nothing like the ability to open your computer, tablet, or phone, do a quick search, and make the purchase without ever having to leave your home.
I come from the era where we actually had to get off the couch, drive somewhere, and then be stuck with whatever inventory the store you went to decided to stock. In most cases it was fairly cheap, mass appeal items rather than quality gear.
Today, though, I can not only search for the good stuff – high-quality gear that will perform well and will last – but I can also search for where I can buy it for the cheapest price. After all, price does still matter.
For you digital natives who never had to rely solely on brick-and-mortar stores, be grateful you live in the times you do. It beats traveling all the way to a sporting goods store only to find they don’t have what you want – or if they do have it it’s so bad you’re afraid it will break on the way to the cash register in the front of the store.
Quality Educational Materials on the Internet
Sure, there’s a lot of crap on the Internet regarding how to develop softball skills. Especially on social media where the goal seems to be more focused on getting clicks than teaching something worthwhile.
But there’s a lot of good out there as well. Hopefully you consider this blog one of them. But there are others as well.
For training pitchers, you can’t beat Rick Pauly’s High Performance Pitching certification program. Rick is an extremely knowledgeable pitching coach and a great presenter who makes it easy to understand what high-level pitchers do and how to teach it.
Sure, you can try to piece the same information together from multiple sources or YouTube/TikTok/Instagram videos. But Rick has put it all together in one place with proven techniques and strategies that will get you or your daughter or your players where you want to go faster.
The DiscussFastpitch Forum is another great resource where you’ll get ideas and opinions from all around the sport. It’s an open forum so you have to be a little careful about who and what you listen to, but if you invest some time on there you’ll figure out pretty quickly who knows their stuff and who doesn’t.
As a starter, I would recommend checking out the “sticky” threads that are pinned to the top of the pages you’re interested in. Their information has been vetted and proven itself over time.
There are plenty of other examples out there for all aspects of the game too. As long as you take a little time to learn what you should be looking for first you’ll find the info you need to become a better coach for your team or your own daughter.
Many Thanks
So there you have it, my list for 2024. If you’re in a country that doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, that’s a bummer.
It’s the ultimate holiday, because all you do is eat and watch sports. Unless, of course, you’re hosting, in which case all you do is spend the week before cleaning the home top to bottom and preparing food so all your guest can sit around eating themselves into a food coma and watching sports.
Luckily I’m in the former category this year.
But even if Thanksgiving isn’t a thing nationally, you can still be grateful you live in such an awesome time for the great sport of softball.
Happy Turkey Day everyone!
Cornucopia photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
The Dark Side of College Softball
Like many of you I’m sure, my Facebook feed has recently been filled with photos from Signing Day ceremonies across the country. Congratulations to all those who have officially achieved their dream of becoming a member of a college softball team.
Yet as the classic W.W. Jacobs tale “The Monkey’s Paw” illustrates, getting your wish isn’t necessarily all sunshine and puppy dogs. It can come with a variety of unforeseen consequences that can turn a positive into a negative so it’s important that players and their families enter into this next phase of their careers with their eyes wide open.
Probably the biggest risk factor new college players must understand is that college softball at all levels is a business. Sure, you can probably still find some places where it’s still considered more of an extracurricular activity.
But for the most part being a head softball coach at a college isn’t a sideline or an avocation; it’s someone’s job,. And keeping that job depends on the team performing well, which means the head coach in particular probably isn’t going to have a lot of time for you if you’re not able to help him/her put Ws on the scoreboard.
I recently heard about a highly touted local player who went to play at a Power 5 (P5) conference team – one of those you’ll often see on TV at the Womens College World Series (WCWS). A couple of years ago there was tremendous excitement when she received her offer and signed the paperwork; the future looked rosy indeed.
Fast forward a couple of years and she’s been told she’s no longer on the team and her scholarship has been taken away. Not for doing anything bad or against the rules as I understand it. As far as I know (and I honestly don’t know her personally) she’s a fine, upstanding student athlete and a true team player.
Instead, she was basically shown the door because the coaching staff didn’t feel she was good enough to compete for a starting role and decided to give her spot to someone they thought might do better. If that girl doesn’t, in a couple of years she’ll probably suffer the same fate. That’s just business.
But that’s not the only bad thing that can happen. There have been plenty of stories about college softball coaches who are physically, emotionally, and/or verbally abusive to their players.
I’m not talking about coaches who lose their tempers after a tough loss or throw a clipboard now and then or make their teams run foul poles after sleepwalking through a game they should have won. That can happen even with caring coaches.
No, I’m talking about those who still subscribe to the idea that they need to intimidate and abuse and belittle their players on a constant basis to get them to perform. Then, if anyone complains the coach calls them weak (among other names) and tries to get the rest of the team to ostracize them and drive them out so they don’t have to be accountable for their abuses.
In a time when suicide rates among young females continue to rise according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that sort of approach can have far-reaching affects on young lives. And their families.
Not all of the negatives are so dire, though. One thing that is an eye-opener to many players entering college is how little the coaching staff may actually know about the technical aspects of the game.
It’s easy to assume that someone coaching at a high level has worked hard to gain expertise in skills such as hitting, pitching, throwing, fielding, general human movement, etc., and are constantly looking for new information that can give their players an edge. Yet as many have discovered to their chagrin, that is not always the case.
There appears to be plenty of coaches who figure they learned everything they needed to learn years ago and thus don’t need to keep up with new developments. Old dogs, new tricks, and all.
But that thinking isn’t limited to the old guard. Even young coaches fresh off their playing days can fall prey to it.
They assume that because they were successful they should teach the current crop of players what they were taught, without ever looking to see if that is what they actually did. They repeat the same old cues and use their position of power to force compliance onto the players under their control.
And what happens if that coaching makes the current players worse? Do they look into it and think maybe they should reconsider what they were saying?
Sometimes, perhaps. But more often than not, if a player’s performance or metrics go down, they simply move on to the next player who is performing at the required level. Sad to say, but many a career has been stunted or dashed completely all because of a lack of understanding about A) the core concepts of a particular skill, and B) how an individual’s DNA, body type, conditioning approach, mental approach and more can affect how their body moves in space.
Look, I’m not saying playing college softball has to be a bad experience. To the contrary, I know many, many former players who cherish those years – even some who experienced some level of the issues discussed above.
But it’s important to go into it with complete awareness of the risks that accompany the rewards so you’re more ready to face those challenges.
Like anything else, college softball has its upsides and downsides. If you go into it knowing what the pitfalls can be (rather than viewing it all through the proverbial rose-colored glasses) you’ll stand a much better chance of creating a positive experience – and choosing a program that best matches your personality and playing ability so you spend your four years of eligibility on the field instead of watching from the bench. Or the stands.
Book Recommendation: “Crunch Time”
We’ve all seen it or experienced it: the player or coach who is great in practice (aka a cage warrior) and seems like he/she should be a star, only to struggle when they get into a game. It’s frustrating to watch, especially because the breakdowns often seem to happen at the worst possible time, yet helping them break free of that mindset can be extremely challenging.
Fortunately I recently read a book that addresses this very issue. It’s called, “Crunch Time – How to Be Your Best When It Matters Most” by Rick Peterson and Judd Hoekstra.
If you’re not familiar with them, Rick Peterson is currently Developer of Pitching Development for the Baltimore Orioles, was the pitching coach for the Oakland A’s during the “Moneyball” era, and is considered one of the top pitching coaches in all of Major League Baseball.
Hoekstra is a bestselling author of books on leadership as well as a vice president at The Ken Blanchard Companies, a consulting firm that specializes in training business leaders at organizations of all sizes. Pretty good pedigrees for both authors.
While the book’s lessons apply to a general audience rather than specifically to baseball or softball, it definitely speaks to the challenges players and coaches face when challenged to perform under extreme pressure. The nice thing is it’s a pretty quick read too; I finished it cover-to-cover while on a 4.5 hour flight coming home from vacation.
The central theme of the book is that when you are facing a difficult situation you need to reframe it in order to manage the stress and allow yourself to perform the way you know you can. In other words, instead of seeing that difficult situation (such as an at bat where the game is on the line) as a threat, view it as an opportunity.
So in that example, the immediate threat is losing the game if the player doesn’t perform well, i.e., get a hit. But the underlying threats are that coaches and teammates will be mad at the player, the player might get benched, teammates won’t want to associate with the player, one or more parents might be angry with the player, the player will be embarrassed, etc.
The result is the player gets so caught up in potential consequences (especially if he/she has faced this situation before and failed) that he/she freezes up and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s difficult to perform at a high level when you’re paralyzed with fear.
After explaining the need for reframing the authors then get into several techniques to accomplish this task in subsequent chapters, including:
- Reframing from trying harder to trying easier
- Reframing from tension to laughter
- Reframing from anxiety to taking control
- Reframing from doubt to confidence
- Reframing from failure to learning moment
- Reframing from prepared to overprepared
Each chapter not only talks about the techniques but offers anecdotes from the authors’ experience of how they were applied. For example, Peterson talks about making mound visits during MLB games where he used humor to help a pitcher put what was happening into perspective, allowing him to get past an initial walk and single in order to strike out the heart of the opposing lineup and get out of the inning.
One of the nice things is that unlike many “mental game” books, applying the lessons in “Crunch Time” doesn’t require going through a plethora of exercises in order to master the techniques. It’s more of a philosophical approach presented in a simple form that makes it easy to grasp the lessons so you can begin applying them right away.
While I’ve been talking about how coaches can use the lessons in “Crunch Time” to help players, they can also use it to help themselves become better coaches at critical points of the game.
In that way it reminds me of a story legendary football coach Bill Walsh told in his book “The Score Takes Care of Itself.” Walsh was one of the first if not the first to develop the laminated play calling sheets all football coaches now have with them throughout the game, and was lauded as an innovator for doing it.
Yet in his telling, the reason he did it wasn’t because of some stroke of genius. It was the result of him having trouble making quick decisions under pressure. By creating the play calling sheets when he was calm and reasoned, i.e., before the game, he could just look at what he figured out already and just follow it, relieving the pressure of those in-game, critical decisions.
The lessons of “Crunch Time” can help in the same way. Take the international tie breaker, probably one of the most high-pressure situations in softball coaching because often any minor miscue or poor decision can lead to the loss of the game and possible elimination from a tournament or conference championship.
Rather than viewing a loss as a threat, by reframing it as an opportunity (we’ve prepared well for this situation so we have an advantage over our opponents who are clearly nervous about it) coaches can make strategic decisions with confidence, knowing their teams will execute, and can convey that sense of confidence to the team to keep them from being rattled and making those types of mistakes.
As I said earlier it’s a pretty quick read but there’s a lot of great thinking contained within the content. If you’re looking for techniques to help your players perform better, and/or ways to help grow your own coaching abilities, I recommend you pick up or download “Crunch Time.”
Captain Picard’s Lesson on Winning, Losing, and Errors
Sorry to nerd out on this one, but there is a great Star Trek: The Next Generation episode called Peak Performance that puts some perspective into the challenges of competing in fastpitch softball. Even if you’re not a fan you might one to check this one out.
The part that’s interesting here is a side story involving Commander Data, the highly advanced android crew member. An outsider named Kolrami who is a grandmaster at a game called Strategema (sort of a holographic version of Space Invaders) comes on board and quickly irritates the crew with his arrogance.
A couple of crew members encourage Data to use his computer brain to take Kolrami down a peg by challenging him to a game of Strategema. At first reluctant, Data finally does it to defend the crew’s honor – and promptly gets his butt kicked by his flesh-and-blood opponent in about a minute.
Shocked, Data immediately surmises there must be something wrong with his programming and tries to take himself off duty until he figures out where the “problem” is. Captain Picard, who is captain of the ship, rather harshly tells him no he can’t do that, he needs Data, and that Data should quit sulking even though Data has no emotions and so presumably no capacity to sulk.
Then Picard tells Data something that every fastpitch softball coach, players, and parent needs to hear: It is possible to make no errors and still lose.
In our case I’m not talking only about the physical errors that get recorded in the scorebook. Playing error-free ball and losing happens all the time.
I’m talking more about the strategic decisions and approaches to the game that seem like they’re sound but still don’t produce the desired results (a win). Here’s an example.
There are runners and second and third with one out in the last inning of a one-run game. The defensive team opts to intentionally walk the next hitter to load the bases in order to create a force at home and potentially a game-ending double play at first if there’s time. They also pull their infield in to give them a better shot at that lead runner.
The next batter after that hits a duck snort single behind first base that takes a tough hop and rolls to the fence after landing fair and two runs end up scoring.
No errors were made, and the strategy was sound. But the result is still a loss.
Here’s another one from my own experience. Down one run with no outs in a game where they have been unable to hit the opponent’s pitcher, the offensive team finally gets a runner on first.
She’s a fast, smart, and aggressive baserunner, so putting the ball in play somehow could go a long way toward tying the game. The obvious solution would be a bunt to advance the runner to second, giving the offense two shots to bring her home from scoring position.
But the defense knows that and is playing for the bunt. So the offense opts for a slug bunt (show bunt, pull back, and hit the ball hard on the ground) combined with a steal of second. If the hitter can punch it through the infield the runner on first, who already has a head start, will likely end up on third and might even score, depending on how quickly the defense gets to the ball. Best case the batter will end up on second, as the potential winning run, worse case with good execution she’s on first.
Unfortunately, the batter does the one thing she can’t do in that situation – hit a weak popup to the second baseman. The batter is out and the runner who was on first gets doubled off.
Now, you can argue that the failed slug bunt was an error, but was it really? It was a failure of execution but not necessarily a mistake in the classic sense. It was just one of those cases where the hitter lost the battle to the pitcher.
The point is that sometimes, despite our best efforts and doing all we can to play the game correctly, things don’t work out the way we’d like. There are things that happen beyond our control that can influence the outcome of a play, an inning, or a game.
We can’t beat ourselves up over it or spend endless time second-guessing ourselves. We learn what we can from the experience and move on.
Sometimes we make different decisions the next time – and sometimes we don’t – and hope for a different outcome.
In case you’re wondering about Data, at the end of the episode he requests a rematch. This time he keeps the game going until Kolrami finally gives up in frustration.
When asked about it, Data explains that Kolrami entered the second game assuming both he and Data were trying to win and played accordingly. But Data’s strategy was to play not to lose, basically playing defense the whole time, until his opponent essentially forfeited the game, giving Data the victory.
Anyone who has played an international tie breaker can relate.
Not every decision you make on the field is going to work out the way you hoped, even if you’re making it for the right reasons. All you can do is learn from the experience and hope it works out better the next time.
Captain Picard photo by Stefan Kühn, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
How “Garbage Time” Can Become Your Treasure
There is an old saying that states “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.” (Actually it says “one man’s” but I have updated it for the modern era. You’re welcome.)
This concept definitely applies to softball, especially if you are one of those players who is struggling to get playing time at a particular position so you can prove what you can do. It all revolves around what football fans call “garbage time.”
The term “garbage time” typically refers to a point in the fourth quarter where one time is so far ahead the other team has no chance to catch up, but there are still several minutes left to play. That’s usually where you will see the second string quarterback (as well as other bench players) take the field to run out the clock while keeping the starters from suffering a stupid injury.
The softball equivalent would be a game where one team is clearly over-matched, down by several runs, and there is a time limit. It’s clear the team that’s down isn’t going to be able to overcome the deficit in time but they have to keep playing anyway.
Here’s how you can turn this unfortunate situation into an opportunity.
Let’s say you’re the third or fourth pitcher on your team. You started the fall season kind of rough but have been working hard over the offseason and have improved your pitching considerably over the last few months.
Now that it’s summer you’re eager to prove what you can do, but your coach still thinks of you as you were back in the fall and is reluctant to put you in to pitch.
So suggest to your coach that you will take all the “garbage time” innings you can get. (Although you may not want to refer to them as “garbage time.”)
Frame in the context of helping the team: The team still has to play, but why waste one of the “good” pitchers on meaningless innings? Wouldn’t it be better to save them for a game where you have a better chance of winning?
That logic should make sense to most coaches – at least the ones who are honest with themselves. Worst case you go out there and give up a bunch of runs and the game ends early due to the run-ahead rule.
Embarrassing, sure, but does it really matter if you lose by 7 runs or 10 runs? And if you do get run ruled your team gets a little extra time to rest, relax, and reset before having to play their next game.
But you’re not actually planning to give up any runs. In fact, your plan is to show the coach that you’re ready to pitch by holding your own against a team that was beating up on your #1 or #2 pitcher.
Do that a couple of times and your coach may start to look at you differently. Perhaps he/she will let you start or relieve in a pool play or “friendly” game where the outcome isn’t already decided.
Do well there and he/she may start giving you more opportunities, and eventually turn to you as a regular member of the staff instead of the pitcher of last resort.
All because you volunteered to eat up the innings no one else really wanted.
While this strategy probably works best for pitchers, it can be applied to other positions as well. After all, field players need a break from time to time too, especially if they’re already nursing injuries or you’ve been playing a lot of games either in one day or on back-to-back days.
And who knows? Maybe your eagerness and positive attitude can spur the team to keep fighting and do better even when it feels like all hope is lost.
In the right conditions it just takes one spark to light a major fire. You could be that spark.
It’s said that luck doesn’t just happen; we make our own luck. Volunteering for “garbage time” is a way to make your own luck – and turn what looks like trash into your own personal treasure.
Gold bars photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Why You Shouldn’t Let Today’s Setbacks Define You
Not sure who needs to hear this story today but I have no doubt there are some who do – and others who may in the future. So I thought I’d share it, courtesy of my friend Tim Boivin who first shared it with me.
Hopefully the link works and you can read the full story. But just in case I will summarize it here.
Today we all know Mike Trout as an 11-time Major League Baseball All-Star and a standout hitter and outfielder ow playing for the Los Angeles Angels. Even those who don’t follow baseball closely have probably heard the name.
He’s definitely one of the top current players in the game and will likely make the Hall of Fame in either his first or one of his first years of eligibility. His career stats include a batting average of .299, on base percentage of .410, slugging percentage of .510 and on base + slugging (OPS) at a hefty .991.
Back in 2008, however, Trout was invited along with 99 other players to try out for the USA Baseball National team. You would think someone with his skill and athletic ability, demonstrated over years at the highest level of the game, would be a lock for something like that.
But he wasn’t. He was kind of an unknown going in and didn’t have the hype some of the other players did.
So when the powers that be assembled the final 18-player roster, Mike Trout’s name wasn’t on it.
I’m sure it hurt, to come that close and not make it. But he didn’t let it deter him.
Instead, Mike Trout continued to work on his game and play his heart out, and he eventually rose to outshine all those players who were selected instead of him.
You see, that’s the thing. It really doesn’t matter where you start the race, only where you finish it.
I mean, the world is full of stories like this – Michael Jordan not making his high school varsity basketball team as a sophomore, The Beatles being turned down by every major record label in Britain, and so forth.
So maybe you tried out for a team and didn’t make it. Or maybe you’re on a team but not getting many opportunities to show what you can do.
It’s easy to get discouraged and give up in that type of situation. But instead of hanging your head and letting others define you, keep working at it.
You may only have so much natural ability or athleticism but you can have a boundless supply of desire, determination, and positive attitude if you want it. Use those qualities to lift yourself up and someone will recognize it.
At some point, you will get an opportunity to show what you can do somewhere. When that happens, make sure you’re prepared to take advantage of that opportunity.
Give it all you’ve got and good things will happen.
And always remember sometimes the things we desire most may not be the things that are best for us in the long run. But as they say in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, the universe tends to work out the way it should.
So if you’re facing disappointment today, shed a few tears or overturn a few tables or deal with it however you deal with it. Then get back to work.
And someday you may find someone writing an inspirational story about you.
There’s No Good Reason to Squeeze the Strike Zone
Before I start I want to say that this is not your typical rant about how umpires are terrible and shouldn’t be allowed to walk free with the rest of us. To the contrary, I have tremendous respect for umpires because I know it’s a tough and often thankless job, and that nearly all umpires do the best they can to keep each game fair for all involved.
That said, one thing I’ve never understood is why some umpires seem to have a strike zone that is roughly the size and shape of a child’s shoebox. Who do they think it’s benefiting?
According to the USA Softball Rulebook (which is the book all other sanctions are based on) the strike zone runs “from the batter’s arm pits to the top of the knees.” Further, it is “that space over any part of home plate, when a batter assumes a natural batting stance adjacent to home plate.” (Rule 1, Definitions. I looked it up so you don’t have to.)
That’s a pretty big area, really. Note that it doesn’t say the entire ball must be over the plate when it crosses, just that the ball must cross some part of the plate.
So that’s about 18-19 inches wide if you just catch the corners. The vertical area will vary by the height of the batter and her natural stance, but it’s still a lot larger than the 4 inches to either side of the beltline that some seem to demand.
If that’s the case, what reason could there be for shrinking it any smaller than that? Who does it benefit?
Let’s look at all the possibilities.
The Pitcher
That’s a big negatory. You could try to make an argument that the pitcher must learn to spot her pitches better when the strike zone is small.
But the effect that happens in 99.999% of the cases is it forces the pitchers to throw meatballs all game long because that tight little zone sits over the heart of the plate. Pitchers should be learning to pitch the corners – preferably no more than half a ball on – and nip at the very top and bottom of the strike zone.
When she’s forced to throw it down the pipe or have it be called a ball all you’re doing is discouraging a pitcher from growing her craft and creating unnecessary frustration that might discourage her from continuing in the position.
There is already a shortage of pitchers at the older ages. Squeezing the strike zone, especially on younger pitchers who are just beginning to find their way at the position, encourages their abandoning the position.
The Hitter
Sure, you would think forcing pitchers to throw meatballs would be a great thing for hitters. Who wouldn’t love a steady diet of easy-to-hit pitches?
But in many cases it has the opposite effect. Coaches who are more interested in winning a game today than in developing their players will often tell their hitters to keep the bat on their shoulders and wait for the walk instead of swinging.
At least until they get two strikes. Yes, they get lots of extra baserunners that way and might even get some extra runs on walks or wild pitches. But the HITTERS DON’T LEARN TO HIT.
They learn to stand there. At some point they’re going to have to swing the bat, but if they’re not getting reps because umpires are squeezing the zone they’ won’t develop the skills or the mechanics under pressure to execute a successful swing.
Once they’re playing in a game where a more realistic strike zone is being called they’ll be toast.
The Fans/Parents
Nope. Of course, the pitcher’s parents will be apoplectic watching a game with a shoebox-sized strike zone.
A little less if it’s being called the same way on both sides, but still angry that little Maizey is getting screwed over by the person in blue.
But even the hitters’ parents aren’t going to care for it much because it’s BORING. No one wants to watch a walkfest. No one.
The Coaches
Truthfully some coaches will be happy about it. Those are the ones for whom winning is the only important thing.
They’re the ones who are sending their kids to the plate looking for walks.
But any coach who is truly in it for the kids will want their kids to have the opportunity to learn all aspects of the game. That means pitchers learning to give their all instead of trying to hit one tiny spot, hitters swinging at pitches when they’re hittable, balls being put in play so fielders can make plays and learn how to react to different situations, and baserunners can learn how to run the bases.
The Umpires
Finally we get to the folks causing all the commotion. Why any umpire would squeeze the strike zone when it is counter to their own self-interest is beyond me.
Umpires should want to keep the game moving. If it is an untimed game, the more strikes they call the faster the game will go and the sooner they can get off the field and onto whatever they want to do after the game.
But even in a timed gameall they’re going to do is make coaches and parents angry. The last thing they need to do is encourage any more of that.
Not to mention that not calling the strike zone by the rules hurts the players as well as the game. Normally, well-meaning people volunteer to become umpires because they want to serve the game and those who play it.
Whether it’s due to a power trip or just not caring about calling a good and fair game, squeezing the strike zone goes against everything they are supposed to be doing.
At the end of the day there is simply no reason to shrink the strike zone into a belt-high, middle of the plate box. Call it properly and everyone will benefit.
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 