Author Archives: Ken Krause
The Risks and Rewards of Playing on the Edge
We all love watching those SportsCenter highlights where outfielders dive for balls in front of them or go flying over the fence to rob a hitter of a home run. Or the ones where a pitcher strikes out a hitter with the bases loaded, a hitter comes through with a clutch hit on a pitch that should be out of her reach, an infielder tosses the ball straight from her glove to get a baserunner out by inches, and so on.
The reason they’re so exciting is that they are unusual because every one of those players is playing to the edge of their abilities. They’re leaving nothing on the field, as the old cliche goes, risking it all to get the biscuit, holding nothing back.
While it’s fun to see when it works, there is also a dark underbelly to these spectacular plays. Take the outfielder who dives head first for a sinking line drive.
If she gets it, great! She’s on SportsCenter. If she misses, however, the ball could squirt behind her and go all the way to the fence, scoring a run or three in the process.
That’s why so many youth and even college players are reluctant to get out there and play to the edge of their abilities. They simply don’t want to deal with the aftermath if something goes wrong – basically getting yelled at by a coach or parent for making a mistake that cost a game.
As they adopt that mentality, they start to play it more and more safe. They’ll pull up on that sinking line drive and let it drop in for a hit that could have been an out.
They will let a close strike go by rather than taking a chance on swinging at a “bad pitch.” They won’t throw a changeup when the situation demands it because they’re afraid it won’t work and they’ll look bad.
As a result, teams lose opportunities to win close games because their players have become conditioned to play it safe.
It’s understandable. No one likes to look bad if they mess up.
But if that’s how they’re thinking, how are they ever going to find out how good they can become?
If coaches really want to see their players develop to their full potential it’s important to create an environment where players feel comfortable and support taking chances that place them at the edge of their abilities.
Maybe it’s a catcher trying a quick pickoff on a runner on third. If she makes a good throw it’s an out that takes a potential scoring chance off the board, and maybe gets the team out of an inning. But if she misses, that run scores, and maybe another if there was a fast runner on second.
Create an atmosphere where that throw is never allowed because of the risk and you could stunt the development of a potentially great catcher. Give the catcher some leeway and you could end up with a stud behind the plate. Even if that particular play doesn’t work.
Just be sure your catcher also understands there’s a time to try it and a time not to. Risk and reward.
Or perhaps you have a pitcher who is working on a new pitch. She can practice it all she wants, but sooner or later she has to throw it in a game for it to have any value.
At first, you’ll throw it in a safe situation, such as a 1-1 count with no one out. That way if she sails it to the backstop it’s not big deal.
Eventually, though, you may need her to throw it even if you’re not sure it will end up somewhere the catcher can reach it. Showing the confidence in her now could pay off today, or it could pay off down the road as she gets more comfortable throwing that pitch in tight situations. Risk and reward.
These opportunities crop up all over the field in all aspects of the game. If you never let your players face the risks of a mistake they will never develop the aggressiveness to take the kind of chances that lead to big rewards.
Yes, it can be tough to see an individual game lost because someone took a risk. But if that loss helps you develop a player who can consistently play to the edge of her abilities without fear, you’ll most likely find that the rewards greatly outnumber the risks.
One last thought in this area. You also have to make sure that when players are given this leeway they are able to understand when the risks outweigh the rewards. Taking chances just for the sake of taking chances or looking cool or building your own personal stats isn’t good either.
Arm them with that ability to make decisions quickly, however, and you’ll have the best of both worlds.
Playing it safe is one way to go. But if you truly believe your mission is to develop your players (versus that just being a statement that looks good on a recruiting post) give your players the permission and support to play at the edge of their abilities.
And maybe one day you’ll see one of them on SportsCenter.
Product Review: Chargeball a Bright Idea for Extending Practice Time
So there you are. You rushed home from work, fighting traffic all the way (and getting home 20 minutes later than usual) so you can take your daughter out for a little practice session to help her improve her skills and/or get ready for the next game.
Unfortunately, it’s the time of year (early to mid-spring or late summer to early fall) where it starts getting dark just about the time you get going. You’d like to stay a little longer and give her a full practice session, but twilight is setting in and, since there are no lights on the field and you can barely see your hand in front of your face, you’re worried one of you (probably you) is going to end up finishing tonight’s session at the local immediate care facility covered in blood.
Sound familiar? Well, don’t despair. There is a solution, and it’s the subject of today’s blog post: the Chargeball glow in the dark softball.
I recently aquired one of the Chargeball kits and can tell you from firsthand experience it’s a great option for extending lesson or practice time for an extra 15-20 minutes past when it would normally be safe to continue.
(Full disclosure: I paid for the product with my own money and have not had any contact with anyone at the company. My review is based strictly my own user experience, with no financial incentives or product offerings promised for delivering a favorable review. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.)
I have used the Chargeball this week that took place after the official sunset (roughly 7:00 pm) and during the civil twilight hours. At that point I could see the pitcher and catcher, but just barely
As we went along I asked the catchers (who were also the pitchers’ fathers) if they could still see the ball okay and both said it was fine. This despite the fact that by the end I could barely see either of them from my vantage point about 20 feet away.
Ordinarily we would have had to stop about 15 minutes into the lesson at most. But by using the Chargeball we were able to go the full 30 minutes with no incidents or problems.
So how does the Chargeball work? It starts with the ball, which is the same size and weight as standard softball. It has medium seams, and so far good tack once you rub it down a little – same as any other brand name softball.
The key difference, however, appears to be a coating that is on the ball. It’s what gives the Chargeball its ability to glow in the dark.
To activate the ball you need to put it in the included vinyl case and connect it via a built-in USB connector to the included battery pack. The one that comes with the standard Chargeball package requires four AA batteries, but there is also a rechargeable battery pack available. More on that later.
You place the ball inside the case, close the lid, connect the battery pack, and wait about 20 seconds. When you connect the battery pack it actives a whole bunch of LEDs inside that light up with incredible brightness.
I know it’s that bright because I made the mistake of opening the lid and looking inside before disconnecting the charger and felt like I’d tried looking at the sun. In space.
When you take the ball out it is glowing brightly, and retains a decent glow for several minutes. That makes it easy to see as it is pitched, thrown, or hit.
When the glow gets too dim, just pop it in the case again for 20 seconds and you’re ready to continue.
The ball itself seems pretty durable. I haven’t used it much yet, but it has taken a few dives into the dirt and bounces off a chain link backstop and hasn’t sustained any damage.
The manufacturer says you can use it for batting practice so I imagine it holds up pretty well. While it would be expensive to purchase enough balls to do a full-on batting practice on an open field, it might be a good way to help hitters who are having trouble tracking the ball from the pitcher learn to watch it better.
If you use it when it’s fairly dark there would be little else to see BUT the ball. So it might help them get a feel for how to home in on the ball as it travels through space.
You could also use it pretty easily for fielding and/or throwing practice. Again, if you want your fielders to learn to watch the ball into the glove a little practice in the gloaming might be just the ticket.
For me, I’ve only used it so far for pitching lessons, but it’s worked well there. I recommend purchasing more than one ball so you can minimize downtime. While the pitcher is using one you can be charging the other so it’s ready to go when you need a recharge. Then rinse and repeat until you’re done.
Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it? But, you think, surely all this wonderfullness must be expensive.
Actually, not really. You can purchase a single kit that includes the charging case and battery pack, one softball, and one baseball for $55 as of this writing. If you’d like two softballs and no baseball, it’s $59.
The package I purchased, however, is the real steal. They had a promotion going on that included not only three softballs but also one baseball AND the rechargeable powerbank all for just $79. Perfect for the coach or parent who wants to keep things going without breaking the budget.
I don’t know how long these promos will go on for, but they are active as I write this in September of 2024. The promos don’t show up or even get mentioned until you add the product to your cart so you may need to do that to verify the one I got is still available.
If not, an extra softball currently costs $35 and the powerbank if purchased separately costs $10, although I’m assuming any powerbank with a USB connection will work. As you can see, though, your best value is purchasing the bundle if it’s available.
Also, for those who are interested, they also have footballs, volleyballs, soccer balls, rugby balls, and basketballs so you never have to come in at night. At least until the neighbors complain.
For anyone who finds themselves constantly trying to squeeze in a few more reps before it gets too dark, I recommend checking out the Chargeball. It’s definitely a bright idea for extending practice – and avoiding injuries!
There’s More to Calling Pitches than Calling Pitches
One of my favorite jokes is about a guy who goes to prison for the first time. As he’s being walked to his cell by a guard he hears a prisoner yell “43!”, which is followed by howls of laughter from the rest of the population.
About 20 seconds later someone else yells out “17!” and again there is laughter. After a couple more numbers are called out the new guy asks his escort what that’s all about.
“A lot of our population has been here a long time and has heard the same jokes over and over,” the guard explains. “To save time, each joke has now been assigned a number. Someone yells the number and the rest react to the joke.”
“Hmmm,” the new guy says to himself, “seems like a good way to try to fit it on day one.” So he takes a deep breath and calls out “26!”, which is followed by silence.
“What happened?” he asks the guard. “Why didn’t anyone laugh?”
To which the guard replies sadly, “I guess some people just don’t know how to tell a joke.”
The same can be said for pitch calling in fastpitch softball. While it might seem straightforward, especially with all the data and charts and documentation available (including this one from me), it’s actually not quite that simple.
The fact is pitch calling is as much art and feel as it is science and data, and like the newbie prisoner trying to fit in, some people have a natural knack for it and some don’t.
That can be a problem because nothing can take down a good or even great pitcher faster than a poor pitch caller.
Here’s an example. There are coaches all over the fastpitch world who apparently believe that pitch speed is everything. As a result, they don’t like to (and in some cases refuse to) call changeups because they believe the only way to get hitters out is to blow the ball by them.
But the reality is even a changeup that’s only fair, or doesn’t get thrown reliably enough for a strike, can still be effective – as long as it’s setting up the next pitch. And if that changeup is a strong one, it can do more to get hitters out than a steady diet of speed. Just ask NiJaree Canady, who can throw 73 mph+ through an entire game but instead leaned heavily on her changeup during the 2024 Women’s College World Series.
The reality is the ability to change speeds, even if it’s going from slow to slower, will be a lot more effective in most cases than having the pitcher throw every pitch at the same speed no matter how fast she is. Sooner or later good hitters will latch onto that speed and the hits will start coming.
There’s also the problem of coaches falling into pitch calling patterns. Remember that great change we were just talking about?
If you’re calling that pitch on every hitter and hitters are having trouble hitting your pitcher’s speed, the hitters can just sit on the changeup and not worry about the rest. It gets even worse if you’re calling a particular pitch on the same count all the time.
A truly great pitch caller is one who can look at a hitter and just feel her weaknesses. That great pitch caller can also see what the last pitch did to the hitter and call the next pitch to throw that hitter off even more.
I’ve watched it happen. When my younger daughter Kim was playing high school ball she had an assistant coach who was a great pitch caller.
She was never overpowering, but she could spot and spin the ball. The coach calling pitches knew her capabilities, and when they went up against a local powerhouse team that had been killing her high school the last few years he used those capabilities to best advantage.
The team lost 2-1, due to errors I might add, but that was a lot better than the 12-1 drubbings they were used to. The coach called pitches to keep the opposing hitters guessing and off-balance all game, Kim executed them beautifully, and they almost pulled off the upset.
The coach didn’t have a big book of tendencies, by the way. He just knew how to take whatever his pitchers had and use it most effectively.
And I guess that’s the last point I want to make. All too often pitch callers think pitchers need to have all these different pitches to be effective.
While that can help, a great pitch caller works with whatever he/she has. If the pitcher only has a fastball and a change, the pitch caller will move the ball around the zone and change speeds seemingly at random.
The hitter can never get comfortable because it’s difficult to cover the entire strike zone effectively.
Add in a drop ball that looks like a fastball coming in and you have a lot to work with. In fact, for some pitch callers that’s about all they can really handle; throw in more pitches and they’re likely not going to understand how to combine them effectively to get hitters out.
Some people have the ability to call pitches natively. They just understand it at the molecular level.
For the rest, it’s a skill that can be learned but you have to put in the time and effort to get good at it, just like the pitchers do to learn the pitches.
Watch games and see how top teams are calling pitches. Track what they’re throwing when – and why.
Look at the hitters, they way they swing the bat, the way they warm up in the on-deck circle, the way they walk, the way they stand, the way they more. All of those parameters will give you clues as to which pitches will work on them.
Then, make sure you understand how they work together for each pitcher. For example, maybe pitcher A doesn’t have a great changeup she can throw for a low strike, but the change of speed or elevation may be just enough to make a high fastball harder to hit on the next pitch.
Your pitchers aren’t robots, they are flesh and blood people. So are the hitters. If you understand what you want to throw and why in each situation you’ll be on your way to becoming a legend as a pitch caller – and a coach your pitchers trust to help them through good times and bad.
Remember to Celebrate Progress and Successes
The other day I went to visit a healthcare professional (HP). Nothing serious, just basically checking a box for the insurance company.
Anyway, we were talking about some lifestyle changes I’ve made to try to stay healthier longer. Yet it seemed like every time I told the HP about some improvement I’d made she countered with I should be doing this or that too.
It was kind of frustrating, because rather than feeling encouraged to continue doing better I was made to feel like no matter what I did it would never be good enough. The focus would always be on what more I could do or should be doing.
That experience got me to thinking about how we coach our fastpitch softball players. (Take that Google algorithms.)
Often times we coaches are so focused on trying to get our players ready for “the next level” (whatever that is) or trying to make them look just like the players we see on TV that we fail to acknowledge all the great work they’ve done to get themselves to this point. And that can be just as discouraging as my experience with the HP.
That’s why it’s important every now and then along the journey to stop and take a look backward even as you’re trying to look ahead to the next goal. Showing a player how far she has come can give her a real boost to continue putting in the work to keep moving forward.
Let’s take a hitter who has been working on her swing. Honestly, I get a fair amount of students whose only goal (or their parents’ only goal for them) is to not strike out every time they come to bat.
Mom and/or Dad aren’t looking for little Amelia to hit home runs or have the highest batting average on the team. They’re simply hoping she doesn’t get totally discouraged from playing because she wouldn’t hit water if she fell out of a boat.
They don’t want to have to cringe every time she comes to the plate, but that’s another story.
So Amelia gets help from a coach or instructor, fixes whatever was causing her to just randomly swing the bat and hope she hit something, and now she’s making contact with greater regularity and getting on base now and then. At which point the goal becomes to start hitting the ball to or over the fence.
That’s great that everyone wants Amelia to keep growing and improving. But maybe in the midst of all that take a step back to appreciate the fact that the original goal has been met and let Amelia feel good about what she has accomplished so far – at least for a few minutes.
Video is great for that, by the way. Even if Amelia isn’t quite getting on base often enough, showing her a video of how she used to swing the bat versus how she is swinging it now will probably help her build confidence and continue to focus on the process instead of the outcomes.
Then let the law of averages take care of the rest.
It’s the same for pitching. Maybe you have a goal of having a pitcher throw faster, or throw more strikes. Or both.
Regardless of the goal, the path to achieving it starts with improving her mechanics.
So perhaps when she started out she looked less like she was trying to pitch and more like she was trying to fold a fitted sheet.
Showing her a video of how she used to look versus how she looks now might give her some encouragement that she’s on the right track, even if the radar isn’t reflecting it or she’s still throwing a few too many in the dirt. That doesn’t mean you still don’t want to hold her to a higher standard.
But you can acknowledge the fact that she is improving so she has something to feel good about while she works toward the bigger payoff.
All of this doesn’t mean you should provide false praise just to spare the player’s feelings. If she’s not putting in the work and showing improvement that needs to be called out. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Often, however, we are in such a hurry to get to the ultimate goal (being names an MVP, making a particular team, winning a scholarship, etc.) that we don’t take the time to appreciate the progress that’s already been made.
So think about that today. If you’re a coach, what can you do to recognize how much better your players are today than they were a month ago, or three months ago, or a year ago, etc.?
If you’re a parent, what can you point to that lets your daughter know you are proud of how far she has come so far? Even if she still has a ways to go.
That little bit of encouragement may be just the thing your player needs to keep grinding – and build a level of confidence that will carry through not just her softball career but her whole life.
The Way You’re Training Your Players Could Be Hurting Their Performance – And Health
We’ve all been there. We have a player who turns out to be great, or we watch what great players do, and we study them intensely to figure out what they’re doing so we can replicate it with all our other players.
But then when we try to apply what we’ve learned we find it works really well for some, pretty well for others, and little or not at all for the rest. Some even see their performance level go down or even get hurt trying to implement what we’re telling them.
How can that be? we wonder. We did our due diligence and we know what we’re saying works. We’ve seen it work. So why isn’t it working here?
The answer is very likely to be related to something called “motor preferences®,” which can be simply defined as working with the way each body is designed to move from birth.
This is a concept I have been dabbling with for the last few months since learning about it from my friend and colleague Linda Lensch over at Greased Lightning Fastpitch. (If you’re in the Jersey Shore area she’s definitely the person to see about fastpitch pitching.)
I had previously taken an online course offered by Volodalen, a French organization that has performed 20 years of research into motor preferences and how they help athletes in all sports perform at a higher level while reducing injuries. But last weekend I had the opportunity to join a couple dozen of the best pitching coaches in the country for a two-day, in-depth, in-person training clinic hosted by James Clarke at United Pitching Academy in Centerville, Indiana. (Again, James is the guy to see in that area.)
The clinic was led by David Genest of Motor Preferences Experts, the only organization in North America authorized by Volodalen to teach how to identify and take advantage of motor preferences in this part of the world. To say it was mind-blowing and potentially game-changing is still greatly understating the impact that understanding your players’ motor preferences can have.
I’m not going to go into a lot of detail here, but I’m going to share some of these concepts to help you get a better feel for how learning about your players’ motor preferences can help you train them better.
One of the core concepts is that athletes can be classified into one of two groups: aerials and terrestrials. These are not black and white classifications but, as David told us, more 50 shades of gray.
So while some players may be totally aerial or terrestrial, most will fall somewhere along a spectrum in-between those two extremes.
Aerials tend to move rather light and bouncy, especially when they run. They like being up in the air, with their center of balance leaned more forward. Think of a kangaroo.
Terrestrials, as the name implies, tend to be more earthbound. Their center of balance tends to sit further back, and they pull themselves forward rather than bound forward. Think more like an elephant.
Those are two very different movement patterns. So you can see why, if you tell an aerial to spring forward when they move you’ll get great results, while telling a terrestrial to spring forward will probably not get the success you’re looking for. One is designed to do it, the other is not.
Another key factor is which side of the body favors being in extension and which side favors being in flexion. All of us have one of each, and it’s built into our DNA.
So if you have, say, a catcher who can block well to her right but struggles to get to her left, it could be her left leg is her extension leg, which is good at pushing/extending, while the right flexion leg is not so much.
There are many other motor preferences, such as a preference for red or blue, that need to be taken into consideration to develop a complete, individualized profile of a player, but you get the idea. The more you understand how their body is designed from birth to move, the better you can train them to take advantage of what they can do easily while avoiding what will be more difficult for them to do..
Now, I don’t claim to be an expert in motor preferences. While I am now certified in motor preferences use by MPE as well as Volodalen, I am still very early in this journey.
But I have already seen results within a single lesson after testing a few students and making suggestions based on the outcomes. For example, a hitter who hitting pop flies on front toss suddenly started hitting bombs after we adjusted her swing to use her motor shoulder more effectively.
I’ve also seen a pitcher improve her stability and pick up a couple of mph in a lesson after changing how she launches. Several pitching coach friends who were at the clinic are reporting similar improvements just through understanding their students’ motor preferences better.
If you are serious about helping your players become the best they can be – whatever that ceiling is – I highly recommend signing up for a Motor Preferences Experts clinic. You can find a list the upcoming dates and locations here.
I will tell you it’s not cheap. Attending a clinic is a $900 investment, although you can then attend additional clinics for a refresher at no charge, at least as of this writing. But in my opinion it is well worth the expense, especially if you plan to keep coaching or teaching for a while.
If you want to get started but can’t make it to a live clinic right now you can also do the Volodalen online course as I did. That will be a $990 cost (which cannot be applied to the cost of live clinics in case you were wondering because they are offered by separate organizations). It is not as complete as the live training, nor as valuable in practical application in my opinion, but you do get videos you can refer back to again and again.
Either way you go, however, spread that cost out over a few years, and compare it to the benefits you and your players will receive, both in terms of improving their performance and helping them prevent unnecessary injuries, and I think you’ll find as I did that it is an incredible bargain.
And you’ll better understand not only why things that work with some players don’t work with others but also how to change what you’re teaching to what WILL for those players. You can’t put a price on that.
Helping Pitchers Transition from 10U to 12U
Ask just about anyone who has gone through the full softball journey and they will probably tell you that the toughest transition is going from playing 10U to 12U (or 11U for those who like to talk in one-year increments). While it is challenging for all players, with new rules to keep in mind, greater disparities in size and strength due to the puberty fairy touching some earlier than others, and a generally higher level of play and expectations, nowhere is it harder than on pitchers.
The reason, of course, is two key rule changes that can have a huge effect on pitcher success: 1) the size of the ball increasing from an 11 inch circumference and roughly 5.5 oz weight to a 12 inch circumference and roughly 6.5 oz weight, and 2) moving the pitching rubber back from 35 to 40 feet.
Either of those changes would a challenge on their own for reasons we are about to go over. Having them occur together can be downright daunting, especially for the size-challenged.
Let’s take the size of the ball first, since that was the order I listed them above. Have to be organized when you’re a coach, after all.
Increasing the size of the ball by an inch or an ounce doesn’t sound like much to an adult. But it can be tough on girls who already felt like the 11 inch ball was filling up their hands.
If you’d like to get a feel for what it’s like, find one of those 14 inch softballs they sell as a training aid and try pitching or even throwing it overhand. Feel how insecure it is in your hand for a while, how it kind of slips out instead of getting propelled out.
Now imagine trying to throw that to an actual hitter in a game, where a couple of weeks ago you were throwing a smaller ball. Scary, isn’t it?
Then there’s the pitching rubber moving back five feet. Again, it may not seem like much to an adult, but to someone who is still 10 or recently turned 11 it looks like a long distance.
Suddenly all the old mechanics break down as pitchers try to push the ball more to make sure it gets there (even though they really don’t need to). That extra distance also gives hitters more time to see the ball and react, so even if the pitcher is able to maintain her previous speed during this transition time (which often doesn’t happen) the hitter perceives the ball as being slower, making it easier to hit.
And suddenly, that pitcher who was dominating in 10U is getting beat up in 12U. Discouraging, to say the least.
It can take a while before those newly minted 12U pitchers get used to all these changes and start feeling confident again. But there are a couple of proven strategies to shortcut the process.
Strategy #1: Just hold a ball
This is going to seem so simple you’re going to wonder why you didn’t think of it, or wonder if it will work. But trust me it does.
The bigger ball will feel strange in your pitcher’s hand, especially if she already has small hands. As a result, the fear of having it slip out could cause her to cup her wrist as she makes her arm circle, pretty much killing general arm speed and whip at release. So…
Have her hold a 12 inch ball whenever she can – while she’s standing around at practice, while she’s reading or watching TV at home, while she’s riding in the car, etc. Familiarity will breed comfort.
Within a couple of weeks the larger ball will feel normal to her and she won’t think about it much. And if she goes back and picks up an 11 inch ball she’ll marvel at how small and weird it feels.
Strategy #2: Pitch from short distance
Actually this applies to overhand throwing too, but we’re focused on pitchers today so we’ll describe it as such.
Basically, have your pitcher get in close to a net, screen, tarp, etc., and throw from the K position, full circle while facing in 45 degrees, and even a full windup/pitch. Basically, take distance out of the equation as she gets used to the feel of the ball in her hand while pitching.
Let her feel that she can go full-out into the pitch without the need to cup her wrist or do anything else to keep the ball in her hand. The more comfortable she gets, the more she’ll relax and quit over-thinking it.
Strategy #3: Do long toss
This may seem like a contradiction with the last strategy but it’s really not. Instead, the two work hand-in-hand so to speak.
The previous strategy was part of getting comfortable with the size of the ball. This one is about getting comfortable with the new, longer distance.
As mentioned earlier, when pitchers see the new distance they can get intimidated and feel like they have to force the ball out more. But as soon as you start pulling them back you start to take the arm by itself out of the equation and let them feel more of how the whole body contributes.
The ultimate goal, of course, is when they’re finished and you bring them back up to the rubber, suddenly 40 feet doesn’t look so far away. I highly recommend doing this outdoors so you’re not limited on how far back your pitcher can go.
To do this type of long toss, draw a line in the dirt a few feet behind the pitching rubber and have her throw from there with a full windup. If she makes it on a fly (as she almost certainly will) move back five or six feet and do it again.
Rinse and repeat until she just can’t get it there anymore. Then pull her back to the rubber and watch her amazement at how close 40 feet suddenly looks.
Pro tip: To help pitchers get back further than they otherwise might, as soon as they start to struggle tell them to get more air under the ball, or try to throw it over the backstop instead of to the catcher.
This exercise will not only help with the psychological side of moving to a new distance. Performed regularly it will help pitchers increase their speed by increasing strength and general effort into the pitch.
Easing the way
Although some pitchers can make the transition from 10U to 12U without trouble, most will have some issues at one point or another. Jumping on these strategies early can help speed the process along and prepare your pitcher(s) to continue to have success going forward.
Webinar: What to Do When a College Coach Calls
A few years ago, the college recruiting rules changed to restrict NCAA Division 1 coaches from speaking to potential student athletes until September 1 of their junior year. That was a huge improvement over the Wild, Wild West of recruiting that had seen verbal offers going to eighth grade (or even younger) players on a widespread basis.
Well, September 1 is rapidly approaching, which means there are a whole lot of rising juniors sitting on pins and needles waiting to see if they’re going to get a call or email from the coaches of their first-choice schools. If you are one of those, how prepared are you to take that call or respond to that email? After all, what happens next could determine whether that offer finally comes.
If you’d like to make sure you have your bases covered, Rick Pauly of PaulyGirl Fastpitch has put together a tremendous webinar that explains the process and talks about what you should say as well as how you should say it should you get the opportunity.
It’s about a half hour long, chock full of information that will help prospective student athletes and their parents prepare to make the most of any opportunities that come their way. It’s definitely worth taking a half hour out of your day to see what Rick, a former college coach himself and someone who has helped many players through the process, has to say.
Give it a listen sooner rather than later, and practice the recommendations he makes – just like you would any other skill. Good luck, and hopefully you’ll receive the call of your dreams come September 1.
12 Ways Fastpitch Softball Has Changed Over the Last 25 Years
It is always tempting to think that the way things are today is the way they have always been. After all, it can be difficult to imagine things being significantly different if you’ve never known anything else.
Well, I’m here to tell you that the game HAS changed significantly over the last (roughly) 25 years since I became involved with it. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, and sometimes somewhere in between, depending on your point of view.
So for those of you who enjoy a little history, or who wonder if things were better in the “good old days,” or would just like a little perspective on how we got to where we are today, here are X ways the game has changed over the last 25 or so years.
#1 – The Increase in Offense
If you look back at scorebooks, especially at the higher levels of play such as D1 college games, you would find a lot of games ended with a score of 1-0 or 2-1. You would probably also find that many of those games went into 8, 10, 12 or more innings to arrive at that finaly score.
There were a lot of reasons for that phenomenon, some of which we’re going to get into below. But regardless of the reasons, there typically wasn’t a whole lot of offense being produced back then.
Hits were a rarity – never mind the powerhouse slugfests we typically see today. Many of the “old school” types who played or coached in that era believe that’s when the game was at its best.
But the reality is unless you were a pitcher or a pitcher’s parents those games were kind of boring to watch, especially for the casual fan. So much so that on those rare occasions when ESPN would televise a game they would typically tape it, run it later, and edit out two or three innings where there were no hits or runs scored because they figured nothing happened so viewers weren’t missing anything.
That’s why many of the changes that follow were made – to make the game more accessible and interesting to the casual viewer so they could hike up ratings and capture those big TV dollars. Turns out that strategy was the right one because the 2024 Womens College World Series final games averaged 2 million viewers per game, and softball at all levels is more visible than ever on TV.
#2 – The Ball
This was one of the big changes made to try to increase offense.
The original ball for fastpitch softball was white with white seams. As a result, hitters would tend to see a screaming blur of white coming at them from a close distance, making it difficult to pick up on how the ball was spinning (which might give them a clue as to what it was going to do).
Today, of course, it is optic yellow with red seams. That makes it at least a little easier for hitters to pick up and follow to the plate overall, and gives them at least a shot at identifying the type of pitch being thrown so they can react accordingly.
That said, with all the bullet spin pitches being thrown these days picking up the seam direction is probably less important. Still, when facing pitchers who do have true spin on their balls it can help.
#3 – Pitching Distance
This was probably one of the biggest changes that helped the offense. Believe it or not, when I first became involved with the sport, the pitching distances were 35 feet up through 12U, and then 40 feet from 14U up.
That’s right – the college and international pitching distance was 40 feet!
Today, of course, only 11 and 12 year olds pitch from 40 feet. The extra three feet has helped older hitters gain a little more time to see the ball and execute their swings, resulting in more offense.
With so many more pitchers throwing at or near 70 mph, however, don’t be surprised if you start seeing a movement to push the pitching rubber back a little more in the near future.
#4 – More Offseason Training for Hitters
Today it’s almost a given that fastpitch softball players will go for hitting lessons pretty much year-round. That wasn’t always the case, though.
In fact, many players rarely picked up a bat when they weren’t in-season, or at least in the pre-season. Contrast that with pitchers training constantly in the offseason and you can see another reason why there was such an imbalance.
Today it’s pretty common to see players from 10 years old up either taking lessons or showing up to work on their swings in batting cages two or three times per week. They may not always have the greatest swings, but sheer repetition has helped them out-perform many of the players in the past.
#5 – The Proliferation of Facilities
The increase in the number of players who want to work out in the offseason has led to the growth of batting/pitching cage facilities throughout the U.S.
Back when my oldest daughter started playing you had to travel pretty far to find a space where you could pitch or hit in the offseason. And I live in a pretty high popular suburban area.
Today you can hardly swing a dead cat without hitting a high-quality facility that offers not only cage space but also a weight training area, speed and agility classes, and a host of other options to help youth players develop their games. Sure beats trying to sneak into the local high school so you can get a few reps in.
#6 – More Instruction
When my oldest daughter announced she wanted to start pitching I had no idea of what to do to help her. I felt lucky to come across a coach from another team who gave pitching lessons, and would drive an hour to take her to those lessons either at a field in the summer or in a middle school gym in the winter.
This was pre-Internet, by the way, so it’s not like I could have done a Google search to find someone. It was all pretty much word of mouth.
It’s not too hard to find an instructor today. They are in every local facility, and most can be found through social media or a quick search on “fastpitch pitching instruction near me.”
Now, that’s good and bad. Good because you can find them, but bad because it allows a lot of unqualified people to hang out a shingle and take your money while leading you down a rabbit hole.
Still, with a little due diligence you can find someone who can help your daughter develop faster than she would through the trial-and-error method on her own. Which is a good thing.
#7 – The Uniforms
Now we get to some of the fun stuff.
When my oldest daughter started playing, college teams and international teams wore shorts. So naturally all of the youth players wore or wanted to wear shorts too.
In fact, the travel program my daughter was in had pants and I had to fight on their behalf to get the standard changed to shorts.
Then college teams started going to pants, largely driven by Arizona who was a powerhouse at that time. And then everyone else went back to pants.
There is that saying that what goes around comes around, so I can’t help but wonder if one day shorts will make a comeback. I’m sure all the manufacturers who sold those calf-length sliding pads are hoping that’s the case.
The other significant change in uniforms is how many today’s players often have. Back in the day it was normal to have two, which meant if you had a three- or four-day tournament someone was going to be doing laundry at home or in the hotel.
Today, of course, teams can have four or five uniforms, plus maybe a specialty one for a cause, plus practice uniforms. The players of the past are likely pretty jealous of all the options today’s players have.
#8 – Time Limits
This may be hard for today’s players and parents to believe, but once upon a time EVERY game went a minimum of seven innings. Longer if there was a tie at the end of seven, because in fastpitch softball games could not end in a tie.
Nowadays it’s common in travel ball tournaments for there to be an 1:15 time limit. Sometimes that means no new inning, other times it’s that the game stops at 1:15 and if the inning isn’t over you revert back to the previous inning.
The addition of a time limit definitely makes it a different game. It’s critical for your team to start fast on offense and not make too many errors on defense early on, because you may not have the time to make up for any issues later.
It’s also a challenge for coaches who want to give all of their players ample playing time. One rough inning and those kids who started on the bench may not see the field. Or else the coach will have to put in subs in the middle of an inning, which usually doesn’t make anyone happy.
Time limits have also had a lot of other effects on the game. You can read more about my thoughts on this big topic here and here.
#9 – Offseason Training
For much of my early coaching career it was rare for teams in areas where there was a lot of cold and snow to do any practicing during the offseason. Dedicated facilities were rare, and local schools often didn’t like to rent out there gyms to outside programs so they’d charge an arm and a leg and then make it difficult to schedule times.
The program I was with was a rare exception. We worked out a deal with the local Park District to offer “open clinics” on Saturday mornings, which would give us an hour a week to work with our teams, plus any other players in the area who wanted to sign up. We’d actually draw a pretty good cross-section of dedicated players from various teams, essentially training our competitors.
Today it’s not uncommon for teams to practice two or three times a week in dedicated baseball/softball facilities, either their own or facilities they rent. It shows up in the way they play, which quite honestly is far better overall than many of the teams of yesteryear.
#10 – Winter Games
Readers in California, Florida, Arizona, and other southern states will have no idea what I’m talking about, but for those of us in cold weather states the addition of games and tournaments during the winter has been a huge change.
There are more domes and other large turf facilities than ever, which opens up the ability for teams to play two or three times a month if they choose. While I still believe there is more value to practice than games in terms of learning the sport, I will also admit that practicing all the time without any games to measure your progress can be boring.
Having the ability to mix games in with offseason practice has been a huge plus for today’s players.
#11 – The Technology
This has been a huge advance for today’s players over those in the past. Let’s start with bats.
Back in the day if you had a Louisville Burgundy bat (old timers, you know the one) you were highly privileged. Today most players wouldn’t use that for a practice bat.
Bat technology has advanced so much that now even a checked swing can result in a double if you hit a gap. One more reason scores now are more like 7-5 instead of 1-0.
But there is also technology like 4D Motion, Rapsodo, Blast, Pocket Radar and others than can deliver hard data instead of just having coaches eyeball a pitch or a swing and guess what’s going on. Not to mention high-speed video such as OnForm that lets you slow down the skill, mark it up, and really analyzed it to the Nth degree.
Finally, there is game scoring technology such as GameChanger that not only lets family and friends who can’t attend the game follow along (or see how their favorite players did afterwards) but also provide coaches with a lot of statistical data about how their teams are doing without all the hassle of transferring the information from a paper scorebook to a spreadsheet.
Of course, the data is only as good as the person who is keeping the book, but that was also true for a paper scorebook. The nice thing is it’s easier to pull it up when you want to get a feel for how your players are doing.
#12 – The Cost
Most of the changes we have talked about have been positive. This one might be more of a negative.
Back in the day, a typical team fee for a travel ball team was $400 – $800 dollars, either with or without uniform. Those fees would cover not only tournament and practice field fees but also team equipment such as bats, helmets, and catcher’s gear.
(Yes Virginia, in the old days teams would actually supply a few bats and helmets for shared team use. We’ve come along way since then.)
These days travel ball fees can run into the thousands of dollars. It’s not unusual for families whose daughters are playing on high-level teams to pay $10,000 a year or more, not counting travel fees which are additional.
Sure, we can talk about inflation and the numbers not quite being the same. But I guarantee even if you account for those differences the cost has gone up significantly.
The price of progress, I suppose. But it does mean young ladies who once might have been interested in playing fastpitch softball have now been priced out of the market, unfortunately.
Ok, those are some of the changes I have seen. What have I missed? What have you seen change within your time in the sport, whether that’s two years or 20 years? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
5 Positives to Not Being Invited Back
Right now the tryout season for next year is winding down in many part of the country – and beyond. That’s hard for an “old school” coach like me to conceive since I know of many teams that are still playing in various “National” tournaments with this year’s players,
But such is the reality of today’s fastpitch softball world.
For many next year will look pretty much like this year, i.e., same players (more or less) and same coaches. But for some, this is a time of heartache and tears because they’ve been informed that, despite having a tournament or two left to play right now, they are not being invited back to the team next year.
It’s difficult in any situation in life to hear you’re not wanted anymore by the people you’ve given your heart and soul to. If you’re a young, competitive athlete it can be particularly difficult.
So for those in that situation right now let me share a little secret: this may not be as bad of a thing as it seems right now.
Yes, it hurts not to be wanted. But this involuntary change of scenery might actually offer you one huge advantage – a clean slate with which to start over with no history or expectations.
Allow me to share a few of the positives this opportunity presents.
Positive #1: You’re not stuck in someone’s impression of you
It’s an unfortunate fact of life that once a coach decides who you are and what you can do that view never changes. Never mind that you worked hard over the offseason to improve your skills or increase your speed or build your strength.
For too many, the impression they got when you first joined the team is the impression you’re stuck with going forward.
On a new team you get a do-over. Even if that coach has the exact same issue – his/her first impression is the one you’re stuck with – you have that rare opportunity in life to create an all-new first impression.
In other words, wherever you are now is how that coach will see you rather than where you were a year ago. If you really put in the work you may find you’re rewarded better on the new team than you would have been on the old one.
Positive #2: Extra motivation
There is something to be said for revenge or an “I’ll show you” attitude to keep a player motivated on improvement throughout the long, boring offseason. There’s a pretty good chance you’re going to see your old team on the field, this time as an opponent.
What better way to get the better of the situation than to perform well, contribute to your new team’s victory, and show the old coaching staff what they missed in letting you go?
Now, I’m not saying you need to be mean or nasty about it. You don’t want to go into negative territory.
But there’s a pretty good chance that more has been accomplished in all fields in life by people who were once told they weren’t good enough to stay where they were than those who were safe and comfortable. If you’re a competitor at all, not being asked back should be all the fuel you need to kick your dedication and training level up or a notch or two.
And even if you never get a chance for that revenge game, the improvements you make in preparing for it will carry over to every other game in which you compete. Which is pretty cool by itself.
Positive #3: New opportunities
Sometimes moving to a new team can create opportunities you might never have gotten with the old team.
Perhaps the coach of the old team has a batting order he/she likes and never changes. Moving to a new team and proving yourself could give you the opportunity to hit higher in the lineup and get more at-bats. Especially if the coach bases his/her decisions on the stats instead of gut feel.
Or maybe you’ve always fancied yourself a shortstop but that position was already taken by one of the best to ever play the game. You’re not going to displace her no matter how good you are or how hard you work, whereas a new team will welcome your skill level at that position.
Having opportunities is particularly important for pitchers. So if you weren’t pitching much on the old team because you didn’t hit your spots or couldn’t match the others for speed, a new team with greater need at that position just might give you the opportunity you need to develop under game conditions – simply because they don’t have much choice.
All you can ask for is the opportunity to do whatever it is you want to do. The rest is up to you. But at least with the new team there could be more of a chance of getting that opportunity.
Positive #4: An overall better fit
Maybe you joined your old team because they had a great reputation for being the best in the area. But then you found out one of the reasons they’re the best is they are better at convincing already-developed players at coming to them than they are at developing players themselves.
Or maybe you enjoy being a multi-sport athlete while the rest of the team (and the coaches) are more about all softball all the time. As a result, you missed some games for your other sport(s) which caused you to have to sit the bench as punishment for choosing that sport over softball, even if the other sport was in-season and softball was not.
Or maybe the culture of the team was win at all costs, even if it means cheating or hurting your opponents on purpose while you’re more oriented toward playing a clean game.
Whatever the issue might be, you know in your heart of hearts that the old team wasn’t a good fit for you as a person, even if it was a good fit as an athlete. In that case, they probably did you a favor.
You can now find a team whose culture and attitude is a better fit for who you are and who you want to be. With a little distance you may even find that they did you a huge favor by not asking you back; sometimes it’s tough to see the negative behaviors when you’re in the middle of them.
Positive #5: Meeting new people and making new connections
It’s easy to get caught in a sort of closed-loop system, especially in today’s fastpitch softball world where you play so many games and have so many practices that your experience of the world outside your current team is limited.
By moving to a new team you may discover things or people you never knew existed. For example, you may find a skills coach (pitching coach, hitting coach, etc.) or a trainer who can elevate your game tremendously because one or more of your teammates goes to him/her.
You would have never known about that person had you stayed where you were. But this type of serendipity could end up leading you to skills and abilities you never knew existed within yourself.
The same goes for the other players. You may discover a friend for life you would have never known about had you stayed where you were.
Or you may find the way the players on this team approach the game is more in keeping with how you think of it, leading you to have a better overall experience. With a net result that you keep playing long after the attitudes on the old team would have driven you out.
Darkest before the dawn
Not being asked back to the team who already knows you can be tough on the ego and the psyche. It can make you feel like something is wrong with you, or cause you to think that you are somehow “less than” those who were asked back.
Don’t let that kind of thinking creep into your head. Just accept that there are many paths forward, and that what seems like a trauma right now could end up being the best thing that ever happened to you.
Keep a positive attitude, find that new team, and remind yourself that a year from now whatever sadness or hurt you’re feeling today will be little more than a bump in a much longer, better road for you as a player.
Now get out there and kick butt!
Heading photo by Karolina Kaboompics on Pexels.com
Thank You and Farewell to Retiring Coaches
As the travel ball season winds down (that went fast!) some of you out there are coaching your final games. Whether your daughter is done with her fastpitch softball career, is going to a team with so-called “professional” coaches, your organization is making a change in how it selects coaches, you’ve just decided coaching is something you no longer want to do, or there is some other reason, the next couple of weeks (or so) will no doubt be bittersweet.
Well, I for one, want to thank you for taking on what is often a thankless job and doing your best to help the players you served as either a head or assistant coach.
As your last team plays its last few games, be sure you take a little time to reflect on the journey that brought you here. Because coaching youth sports is both one of the most difficult and most rewarding ways an adult can spend his/her time (if you are truly in it for the right reasons).
You’ve weathered countless storms of parents angry about their daughter’s playing time, the position she’s played, where she is in the batting order, decisions you made on the field, the caliber of teams you’ve played (either too hard or too soft), when and where you set up practice, some random comment you made that someone took personally, your selection of white pants, and how you enforced the team rules that were CLEARLY spelled out at the parent meeting you held right after tryouts were held and offers were accepted.
You’ve endured countless sleepless nights the night before the start of a tournament, going over batting orders, field lineups, contingency plans, and other things no one else had to worry about. You got to the hotel before everyone else so you could drive from the hotel to the tournament site to make sure the time Google maps says it will take your team to get to the field is the time it will actually take.
You’ve made sure someone is arranging meals and snacks. You’ve checked and re-checked the med kit to make sure you have everything you may need in case of injury.
You’ve carried around a 20 lb. bag of miscellaneous objects such as glove lace (and glove lacing tools), duct tape, spare sunglasses, a measuring tape, drying towels, cooling towels, and more to ensure you’re ready for every contingency. You’ve say through countless pre-tournament meetings while everyone else was off having a meal and/or an adult beverage or swimming in the pool.
And now that part is all over, and you may feel a little sense of relief. But you’re feeling something else too.
You know you’re going to miss working with your team, running drills and walking through situations to help your team learn this very complex and often heartbreaking game. You’re going to miss the challenge of facing an opponent that on paper looks to be better than you but that somehow your team manages to overcome.
You’re really going to miss the thrill of seeing a player who came to you barely able to put her glove on the correct hand suddenly blossom into regular contributor to your team’s success. And you’re going to miss the camaraderie that comes with spending so many hours with a group of people you really like as you work toward a common goal.
Come this fall if you don’t have a daughter playing anymore it’s going to feel strange to wake up at 8:00 am on a Saturday morning with nowhere to be and nothing to do.
If you do have one playing for someone else, it will still be odd to be sitting on the sidelines in your camp chair drinking coffee instead of tossing batting practice, fungoing ground and fly balls, or sitting in the dugout agonizing over a lineup.
So thanks for the hundreds of hours you’ve spent working with your players, attending live clinics and online classes to learn how to coach your players better, and missing out on events with family and friends because your team had a game to play. Thanks for always looking out for your players’ best interests, even when it felt like they may have conflicted with your own.
And most of all, thanks for caring about your players as people rather than just chess pieces to be pushed around a board. You may not realize it now, but the impact you made on at least some of their lives is probably immeasurable.
So as things wind down, take a moment to savor all that was great about being a coach. Linger a little longer after practice, and especially after your last game, and think about the good times you’ve had and the lives you have touched by saying “yes” when many others would have said and did say “no.”
Thank you Coach and farewell! You have made a difference in a lot of lives.
Main photo by Kindel Media on Pexels.com
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 