Author Archives: Ken Krause
The “big dog” system of measurement for aggressiveness
Tonight I was working with a pitcher, and while what she was doing was technically fine it just wasn’t very aggressive. I tried to get her to attack the pitch more but she wasn’t quite getting what I meant. So I came up with a new way of explaining it that had the advantage of being both fun and effective.
The new method is what I’m calling the “Big dog system of measurement” for aggressiveness. Essentially, you take how aggressive the pitcher (or hitter for that matter) is being and compare it to a dog. You then try to move her up the scale.
For example, with Alyssa I told her she was currently at Labrador. I have a Lab, and they are loving, happy dogs. They can get aggressive when pushed or angered, but it’s generally short-lived. By nature they’re sweet. When I told her she was at Lab level she understood what I meant. I then asked her to step it up to German Shepherd. Shepherds also tend to be nice dogs, but they are more aggressive than Labs, which is why they’re used in police work. She went for it, and darned if her pitches didn’t pick up a bit and start smacking her dad’s glove harder.
At this point, here is what I have on the scale: Basset Hound (you’re practically comatose), Lab, German Shepherd, German Shorthair (I had a girlfriend who had one of those and it scared the heck out of me), Doberman Pinscher, Rottweiler and Pit Bull.
As you might guess, the dogs are ranked from least aggressive to most. Since it’s the “big dog” scale I didn’t include Jack Russell Terriers, Dachshunds (which can be very aggressive on your ankles) and other small breeds. The object, of course, is to make it up to Pit Bull. That’s a competitor!
I am looking for additional suggestions to help round out the scale. They have to be well-known breeds so the players can relate; they’ll have no idea if an exotic dog is aggressive or not. And for you dog lovers out there, please don’t bother defending a particular breed. I know the really aggressive dogs are usually that way as a result of their owners. But in this case I’m going with the popular perception to get the point across.
Again, the beauty of the big dog system is it provides context for what you’re asking. At least it did for the pitchers tonight. Anytime you can be more specific you’re going to be more effective too.
Camp Independence opens at YMCA Camp Duncan
Today was a very interesting and special day for me. I was privileged to attend the opening of Camp Independence at YMCA Camp Duncan — a youth campground located in Ingleside, Illinois. I was invited because I happen to give pitching lessons to the daughter of one of the driving forces behind the camp — Kim Kiser, Sr. Vice President of Camping for the YMCA.
When those of us in the softball world think of “camp,” we tend to think “opportunity to show my daughter’s softball skills so some college coach will pay for her education.” This was a camp of a different type. It is designed to help kids from seven to 18 who have spina bifida learn to live on their own instead of depending on their parents.
While I was there I heard an interesting story from Dr. Dave McClone, the founder of the camp and a doctor at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He said that back in the 1950s and before, no one thought much about what to do with kids who had spina bifida because the mortality rate was 95%. In the last 50 years, that figure has reversed, and now 95% of the kids born with it survive into young adulthood and beyond. In fact, they’re not sure of the length of life for those patients because this is the first generation they can really track it on, but the expectation is they will live a regular life span.
That created a new issue, though. spina bifida can be pretty debilitating, and so it makes it difficult to live on one’s own. Things we take for granted — going to the bathroom, making dinner, doing laundry and other mundane tasks — have to be learned. With many of this generation’s spina bifida patients’ parents now aging, the kids have to start learning these skills so they can function on their own and contribute to their full potential in society.
That’s what Camp Independence is about. It will be taking in kids to live and work around the camp with the goal of teaching them, as the name implies, independence. It’s a very worthy endeavor that benefits not just the kids but all of us. From a selfish point of view (as was also pointed out), imagine these kids out there working and paying taxes instead of having tax funding diverted to them.
I know Kim comes on the blog now and then so hopefully she’ll see this and let us all know what we can do to help. The building that was dedicated today was just phase one. There are plans for a second building in phase two, and if I know Kim that’s not all.
You’ll pay $100, $150, $200 or more to have your daughter attend a camp or a clinic just to spend five minutes with an Olympic player or a top-level coach. Consider taking a little of that and applying it so a young person just like your daughter can learn to fix her own dinner. And regardless of which side of that divide you’re on, hug your kids tonight!
When in doubt, go for nekkid people
The other day I was hanging around my local Walgreens waiting for a prescription to be filled, so I started wandering around the store. (I’m pretty sure that’s why they say it will take 20 minutes for your prescription to be filled when you drop it off, by the way — so you will walk around, look at stuff, and make a bunch of impulse purchases you never would’ve made otherwise.)
In any case, my stroll through the aisles took me past the magazine rack. As I stood there looking at the tabloid headlines, the pictures of pretty actresses I didn’t know on the covers of magazines I’d never read, and all the motorhead publications, something else caught my eye — a nearly nekkid Serena Williams on the cover of something called the ESPN Magazine Body issue.
Hmmm, I thought. That looks interesting. So I picked it up, fully expecting to find a lengthy discussion of the biomechanics of various sports. Seriously. But this was no bait-and-switch. Inside, there was page after page of photos of nekkid and near-nekkid men and women, athletes all. They had the “good parts” covered up, which is why it was available on the rack at Walgreens instead of behind the counter at your local convenience store. Still, it wasn’t your average sports magazine fare.
As I paged through, I found that our sport was well-represented. Softball may not be in the Olympics, but it was definitely in the ESPN Magazine Body issue. There, in all their glory, were Natasha Watley, Lauren Lappin, Cat Osterman, and a very pregnant Jessica Mendoza, channeling Demi Moore’s groundbreaking cover from Vanity Fare and apparently having a delightful time doing it.
The issue is interesting on a couple of levels. For one, I guess you could say “take that Sports Illustrated.” Not only did they forego the swimsuits entirely, they used actual athletes as the focus instead of the sidebar. They also put in plenty of photos of men, which may the only time some women buy ESPN Magazine. Ultimately, though, it’s that ESPN Magazine ran out of things to say about actual sporting events and so decided to fill out the year by running photos of nekkid people.
Actually, I know that last one isn’t true. Sex sells, and since the magazine industry generally is hurting it’s time to bring out the big guns, so to speak. Maybe the next step is to be like the British tabloids with their Page 3 girls and publish a photo of a nekkid athlete in every issue. Bet that would help drive subscriptions through the roof.
Ok, SI. It’s your move. Maybe Hef can offer a few pointers between takes on his reality show.
What is the deal with all these injuries?
I don’t know what’s going on these days. Maybe there’s something in the air or maybe there’s a bad mojo working in this area. But it sure seems like I’m seeing a lot more injuries this year among my students than I’ve ever seen.
Now, let me first clarify. These are not injuries as the result of the pitching motion or any hitting technique. Heck, some of them aren’t even occuring on the softball field. But they are happening. I’ve heard of girls injuring their shoulders playing volleyball, breaking their legs running the bases, hurting their legs running into a fence, even breaking their arms falling off bicycles. The latest is a student (whose father reads this blog, by the way) who blew out her knee playing basketball.
I have actually always been a fan of the multi-sport athlete approach. I think there’s a lot of benefits from training for different sports. But after what’s been doing on this year I’m not so sure.
Is this just a local phenomenon or are folks outside my immediate area (North/Northwest suburbs of Chicago) seeing an uptick in injuries as well? And if so, are they on the softball field? And where or doing what? I hope it’s just a coincidence or bad luck and that it will stop soon. Otherwise there may not be any players left by spring!
A solution to walking off the pitching rubber
A common problem for pitchers, especially here in the Northern climes where a lot of time is spent practicing indoors, is developing a habit of “walking off” the pitching rubber. In other words, instead of loading, transferring the weight to the pivot foot and then pushing off, pitchers will start to let the pivot foot slide forward off the rubber then plant and push off. This is often found with pitchers who practice on a flat gym floor instead of on a pitching mat. Here’s an illustration of that problem to make it clearer (those reading this on the Discuss Fastpitch forum may need to go to my blog to see the video — http://fastpitchlane.softballsuccess.com):
Stepping off the pitching rubber
Ashlee, the girl depicted here, is one of those who had developed this issue. (EDIT: I actually don’t have the video for Ashlee anymore, so another student, Emma, kindly stepped in {no pun intended} to demonstrate the concept.) We tried a number of the standard solutions, such has applying light pressure to her foot as she started to pitch, putting a piece of paper under her toes and having her try to drag it forward, etc. All would work while we were doing the exercise. But as soon as we went back to regular pitching she was right back into walking off. She is very aggressive in her footwork which contributed to the problem. Ultimately it got to the point where the walk off was very obvious.
This movement is a problem for two reasons. One is that it’s illegal. It’s essentially a crow hop without the hop, and because of the way it happens it’s pretty easy for an umpire to call. Beyond that, though, by not loading properly she wasn’t developing the proper level of drive she needed to maximum speed and sharpen her movement pitches.
So, rather than continue to fight her body’s desire to introduce early movement into her footwork we decided to work with it. Essentially, what we did was have her start with the heel of her front foot just barely touching the pitching rubber. Then, as she goes into the loading phase she actually pulls her foot backward so the ball of the foot is against the pitching rubber. Here’s how that looks:
Pushing off from the pitching rubber
As you can see, she still “walks forward,” which feels comfortable to her. But now when she does it she is loading better and remaining legal.
As a side note, the “after” video is her natural motion now most of the time. We actually had to take several shots to get the “before” video because it is no longer her habit. Not to say she doesn’t backslide every now and then, but for the most part this is where she is now, without having to think about it. Let’s say it’s a work in progress, but progress is good.
So if you have a pitcher with this problem, give it a try. It may be just the trick to help her overcome the issues.
Don’t let the pursuit of perfection stand in the way of execution
There is a tendency among coaches (me included) to place a lot of emphasis on having rock-solid mechanics. We know what we want to see, we know what the best players in the world look like, and we try to get our players to match that image we have in our minds. Our most dedicated players often know what they’re trying to achieve and work toward meeting that ideal, whether it’s hitting, pitching, fielding, throwing or any other aspect of the game.
Overall, that’s good. But sometimes this relentless pursuit of perfection can get in the way of player growth. How can that be? Simple. All those skills we’re working on with such passion require dynamic and often ballistic movements. Yet it can be difficult to be dynamic or ballistic if your focus is on being extremely precise with what you’re doing. A hitter trying to get an exact bat path, or a pitcher trying to throw a pitch “just so,” may wind themselves up too tight to get the kind of impact they need. So while they would look great in slow motion video — everything is exactly where it should be when it should be there — the result is less than explosive.
I don’t think this is something coaches build into what they’re teaching. In fact, I think it’s often something that’s more hard-wired into certain players. They have such desire for perfection and achievement that they let it get in the way of just going for it. Put another way, they are so focused on their mechanics they become, well, mechanical.
Pursuing perfection is a worthy goal, but it has to be tempered with a ballplayer’s attitude. We’ve all seen kids with terrible swings or terrible throwing form that still hit or throw the heck out of the ball because they approach it with such intent to hit or throw hard. That is something we all need to be sure we’re instilling in our players.
I would rather see more intent and less perfection in a player or student, particularly at this time of the year (fall). Yes, I want them to improve their mechanics and approach that ideal, but not at the cost of putting every ounce of themselves they have into it. It’s important to remind them every now and then that the intent to perform an action is every bit as critical as the mechanics themselves. After all, you can fix mechanics and make them better. It’s a lot tougher to fix intent if it isn’t there.
Where do coaches come up with this stuff?
I am often amazed by the things I hear from my students regarding what their team coaches tell them. Sometimes the statements are just jaw-droppingly stupid.
Last night was such a case. I was working on the changeup with one of my students. She threw a real nice one, about thigh-high and well-disguised. I complimented her on it, and she told me one of her team coaches told her that “a good changeup should hit the plate.” Huh? I was stunned.
Why in the world would you want to make your changeup hit the plate? If you are throwing it well, one of the good things that can happen is it causes the hitter to freeze. If that occurs and the pitch comes in for a strike, well, you get a strike. If it hits the plate, it’s a ball. Why in the world would you not want to get a free strike?
I can only think of a couple of reasons a coach might make that statement. One is he may never have seen a real changeup and thus doesn’t realize what it’s supposed to look like and what it can do. Even if a changeup gets hit, if it does its job and fools the hitter it’s usually for a weak ground ball or pop fly. Of course, if you’re just slowing your arm down and giving it away you might want it to hit the plate so it doesn’t hit the grass behind the fence.
Another reason would be if the pitchers are throwing it too high. Asking them to try to hit the plate might be a cue to help them bring it down. It’s mechanically unsound and unlikely to work, but at least it’s well-intentioned.
The third reason, of course, is that the coach is simply speaking of things which he knows not. As Mark Twain once said, “Better to keep your mouth shut and have people think you’re a fool than open it and prove it.” Apparently this coach didn’t watch Taryne Mowatt lead Arizona to a WCWS championship by throwing changeups for a strike. A change that hits the plate is what you would call a mistake.
For this pitcher, I gave her my standard instruction for dealing with this sort of thing: say “OK,” or “I’m trying,” then continue to throw it for a low strike. In other words, save this coach from himself. Maybe someday he’ll learn.
The dominant hand
I was working with a right handed hitter the other day, and we were talking about finishing the swing. She had a tendency to get to contact then come up short. In the course of our discussion she referred to her top hand as being her dominant hand — probably because she is right handed.
While it was just a terminology, it provided a teaching moment. I had planned on having her do some one-handed drills so I had been practicing them myself before she got there. When she mentioned her dominant hand it provided the perfect opportunity to get started.
First I had her use her choke up on the bat and use her bottom hand only. She’s done these before, so she started pulling the bat through and hitting the ball fairly hard off the tee. Then we switched to her “dominant” (top) hand. She had a tough time getting the bat through effectively, even while choked up.
It was a revealing moment to her. She’s always relied on her top hand for most of the power, so she rarely reached extension. She made consistent contact but never really hit the ball hard (which is why we were working together). After that demonstration she paid more attention to working her bottom hand and started extending after contact.
The real proof, though, came later that day during a game. This girl who was hitting pop-ups and so-so ground balls during the summer cracked a single, two doubles and a triple off three different pitchers. All were solid.
It’s important for hitters to understand the role of each hand, and how they work together. By taking advantage off the strength of both they can drive the ball more powerfully rather than leaving power on the table.
The wonders of life
Just started up the new season of lessons this week and was struck by something interesting.
One of the places I teach is about 30 to 45 minutes away from my house. Consequently, when I finish lessons at the end of April it’s usually the last time I see some of my students for a few months.
Tonight I saw a couple of them and was struck by how much they had changed in the intervening months. One girl in particular stood out. Not only did she look more mature in her face (at age 12), she was actually talking in a conversational way with me tonight.
At lessons I’m usually pretty chatty. Some of the girls will chat right back. Some will joke around with me and toss good-natured insults back and forth. But some will barely say a word. The one I’m thinking of was in that latter group. But tonight that changed. We had some good conversation, and she started calling out when she didn’t execute a technique the way I wanted her to. That’s awesome because I always tell my students that it’s important that I know what they should be doing, but it’s imperative that they know because they’re the ones who have to do it.
I’ve had a few over the years who didn’t talk to me (more than answering a hello and saying “ok”) for a couple of years. They were either shy or uncomfortable talking to an adult. But I think it’s really cool when that changes and you begin building a more personal relationship. It absolutely makes teaching more fun!
Great example of sportsmanship
Here’s a great example of coaches who understand that there’s more to life (and sports) than pummeling your opponents and running up your stats. It’s not from fastpitch softball, it’s from football, but I think the lesson here applies.
Essentially, two high school teams were playing. One was winning 46-0. The coach with 0 went to the other coach and asked if his team would allow a player with Down’s Syndrome who had suited up for every game but never played to score a touchdown. The coach with 46 agreed to give up his shutout on the last play to make it happen.
One kid got the thrill of a lifetime. But a whole lot of other kids got a lesson in sportsmanship and class. Kudos to both teams.
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 