Author Archives: Ken Krause
The so-called “natural” pitching motion
Anytime there’s a discussion of fastpitch pitching v. baseball pitching, sooner or later the phrase “natural pitching motion” will come up. There is a belief that softball pitchers can pitch every day, all day, because it is natural, whereas a baseball pitching motion is not.
The fact is, there’s nothing really “natural” about fastpitch mechanics. They do tend to work somewhat better with the construction of the shoulder, perhaps, but that’s a long way from natural.
I think it was my friend Coach Rich who pointed out the proof to me. Watch a kid pick up a rock and throw it. He/she throws it overhand. Watch a National Geographic special and see how the indigneous population in non-industrialized countries throw rocks at game they’re trying to get for dinner. They throw overhand. If you’re trying to knock over pyramid of milk bottles at a carnival, you’ll throw overhand. Even fastpitch pitchers will likely throw overhand.
The truth is, it’s a lot more natural to throw overhand than underhand. I’ve spoken to baseball pitching coaches who are just fascinated by the fastpitch pitching motion. These experts on pitching baseballs can’t figure out how anybody can throw a ball with the kind of speed and accuracy fastpitch pitchers do. Especially female ones. They understand the overhand throw, but the underhand motion is completely foreign to them.
There is also a belief that because the fastpitch motion (when properly executed) works better with the shoulder than an overhand pitch that it is stress-free. Or nearly so. That’s not true either. As evidence, I offer these photos (courtesy of Mike Zupec) of my own daughter pitching in a recent game:
Notice the muscles in her upper arm, forearm, hand and shoulders. Hardly looks like her body is not under stress. Actually, we all think it’s kind of gross, but it certainly illustrates the kind of strain the arm and shoulder have to endure when a pitcher is putting forth maximum effort. Understand she is not a “power pitcher” either. She’s small and light, more of a finesse pitcher who needs to hit corners, change speeds, and move the ball in order to succeed. Her speed comes from mechanics and effort, not raw strength like some.
The fastpitch motion is not stress-free, nor is it “natural.” One more reason why conditioning and rest are so critical to a pitcher’s long-term success. And why pitchers should shut down for a little while when their season is over.
‘Tis the season
Yes, here we are. The travel ball tryout season has started. And along with it comes the ever-popular shuffling of players from one team to another.
There are certainly legitimate reasons to leave a team. If you’re a serious player and the others on the team are not you have reason to leave. If the coach is favoring certain players over others despite your hard work, again a good reason. If some of the girls on the team are just nasty and make it a miserable experience, you’d be stupid not to leave.
One thing I often see, though, is players thinking they’ve been treated “unfairly” because they didn’t get to play the position they wanted, even though they put no work into it whatsoever. This is especially true with pitching.
Little Suzy wants to be a pitcher. She told the coach she wants to be a pitcher. But she didn’t take lessons all winter, she didn’t practice because she had volleyball or basketball or hockey or band or whatever to do (or maybe all of them) and the one time the coach did put her in she walked and wild pitched the team single-handedly into a hole so deep it would be faster to climb out the other side than try to get back up. Is it really fair to take pitching time away from those girls who DID take lessons and work hard, just ’cause little Suzy wants to pitch?
No, it’s not. And going to another team is not going to solve the root problem. In fact, it may make it worse, because you may find that the first coach was a lot nicer than the new one. Nobody likes to lose, but some take it harder (and take harsher steps) than others.
If you really want to increase your chances of playing your desired position, don’t sit around wishing for it. Take positive steps to make it happen. Get yourself some lessons. Practice between them (which is where you’ll really get better). Show up to practices and work hard instead of continually asking the coach how much longer until it’s over. If that means you have to drop another activity or two, so be it. Or if you can’t make the commitment, drop softball. You do no one, including yourself, any good by signing up for a team and then not showing up or putting in the effort.
Nothing in life comes without effort. Even those who say they were “in the right place at the right time” first had to get to that place. If you’re not willing to put in the effort, changing teams won’t help. Remember, when you point your finger at someone, three fingers point back at you.
Excellent article on coaching females v. males
The other day I came across an excellent article by Jeff Janssen on the differences between coaching men and women. It’s kind of long, but well worth the effort to get through.
If you’re a male coaching females, you’ll definitely want to check it out. If you’re a male who’s been coaching boys up ’til now it’s critical that you read it. There’s a huge difference, and techniques that work with boys don’t always work so well with girls.
One of the key ones is how each gender reacts (generally) to criticism. I’ve always said if you yell at girls they tend to take it very personally, and feel that they’ve let you down. If you tell at boys like that they just think you’re a jerk. This article pretty much bears that out.
By the way, if you’re a female coaching females, or a female coaching males, you’ll find this article valuable as well. Whatever combination you have, you’ll probably want to keep this one handy.
The word on composite bats
I pass this along as an FYI for those who aren’t already aware. It hasn’t been made known to the public generally, but 2008 is the last year that manufacturers will be allowed to make composite bats — at least for now. The reason I’ve heard from a couple of distributors is that the bats pass the initial test, but then get considerably hotter after they’ve been used for a little while. It knocks them out of spec at times, but it’s too hard to police it. So ASA is just going to not test or allow new bat models to be used after this year.
A few examples of composite bats are the Louisville Catalyst, Demarini Phenix, Easton Synergy and Stealth, and Miken Halo.
The good news is, if you already have one, you will still be able to use it. This press release from ASA explains how current bats are being grandfathered in. They’re just not allowing more to be manufactured.
The bat manufacturers are quietly trying to dispose of their inventory. If you want one, you’d better order it quickly. A lot of the models are already sold out of the most popular sizes. But you can still find them if you look hard enough.
Good luck!
A little downtime is in order
When I first started coaching, around 15 years ago, it was not unusual for softball players to take several months off between the end of one season and the beginning of another. Many of the teams, at least in the Chicago area, wouldn’t hold tryouts until the spring before the upcoming season. The reasoning was you’d get a better look at where the player really was, rather than what you speculated they’d be come.
Obviously, that’s not the case anymore. These days there may only be a week or two between the last game at Nationals and tryouts for the next season.
That’s probably unavoidable. Everyone is competing for players. But once tryouts are done, consider shutting down for a little while. No practicing. No lessons. No coaching for coaches.
Zillions of articles have been written about the importance of taking vacations from work, to clear the head and recharge the batteries. But in softball, there is often an obsession with getting right to it and getting a head start on the fall, or next year.
Don’t do it. If you’re a player, take some time off. Let your bodies, minds and spirits recover. Recharge your batteries and let the absence of softball make the heart grow fonder.
If you’re a coach, you may need it even more. Let your mind relax. Shake off the old season, and do all the stuff you’ve been ignoring all summer — pull some weeds (which is what I did today), take the dogs for a walk, work on that project you’ve been putting off, take your significant other out to dinner for two instead 42, play some golf, or do whatever you find relaxing. You can check in places like this and other blogs, the www.discussfastpitch.com discussion board, and Web sites with good information (see the links on the right side). But don’t obsess.
Take a little time off and you’ll find your game is better and your mind is much more ready for the long haul when it is time to start up again.
Maintaining that even strain
Last week at the NSA World Series, my team got involved in an 11-inning marathon that included four international tie breaker innings. It was bracket play, so there had to be a winner. It was going to be whoever outlasted the other one.
At some points the other team had a runner on third with one or no outs. We used various strategies and some great playing by the girls to get out of those innings (we were visitors so one run was the ballgame), but it was very tense.
Later that night, one of the parents asked me how I could stay so calm during all of it. She said parents were pacing back and forth, some had their heads in the hands at various times, and if alcohol had been available I’m sure more than a few drinks would’ve been consumed. Even Rich, my assistant coach who’s normally a cool cucumber, was pacing madly. Yet through it all I just sat calmly on the bench.
I told her I was anything but calm. I’m sure no one was on the edge more than I was, and no one’s stomach was churning harder. But appearing to be calm is part of the job, so that’s what I did.
The team usually takes it cue from the pitcher, but in times like this they also tend to look to the coach. If the coach seems panicked, it’s easier for the players to panic too. But if the coach seems calm and confident, the players tend to be more reassured and confident too.
I learned this principle in the ASEP coaching course. No matter you might be saying, your body language tells a big story. If something bad happens and you hang your head, no amount of “nice tries” will bely the fact that you’re disappointed. And if you’re nervously pacing the dugout waiting for disaster, you’ll make your players nervous too.
So no matter what’s going on inside, on the outside it’s important to maintain an even strain. You need the cool appearance of a test pilot — someone who’s always in control, no matter what disaster is happening.
By the way, it did help. We won the game. We scored three in the top of the 11th, and it was too big a hurdle to overcome (finally!). Believe me, no one breathed a bigger sigh of relief when our second baseman caught a short pop-up for the final out. All in a day’s work!
The intentional walk
Sorry for not posting in a little while, but I was busy at the NSA 16U B World Series. It was a great and well-run tournament, and thankfully only affected by rain once. We did pretty well, ninth out of 34 teams, and with a couple more hits would’ve done even better. Oh well.
One thing that came up in the course of the week was the value of the intentional walk. I think the parents on our team were surprised when we pulled it out, because we hadn’t done it all year. But the circumstances were right, and I’m proud to say it did its job every time we used it.
A lot of coaches are either reluctant to issue the intentional walk or just don’t think about it. Maybe it’s a macho thing — we’re gonna gut it out and pitch to that hitter. Whatever the reason, you just don’t seem to see it a lot.
There were a couple of circumstances where we used it. One was with less than two outs and runners on second and third in a close game. We knew we had to cut off the run at home to keep the game close. We elected to put the next hitter on to load the bases. Throe hitter after that grounded to third and we got the force at home, giving us two outs and a little breathing room. The inning ended without a run scoring. That’s probably the classic scenario.
Another circumstance had a runner on third. The other team’s best hitter (at least against us) was coming up. We gave both her and the next hitter a free pass, again loading the bases, again with the desired result.
There are all kinds of circumstances where an intentional walk makes sense. And a few where they don’t. If the bottom of the order is up and your pitcher has been dominating them, you probably don’t want to bypass those hitters and get back to the top. If you’re in a position to trade a run for an out, you don’t want more runners on base. And so forth.
But if you really need to cut off the run, and you’re confident your infield can make the play, loading up the bases to get a force rather than a tag play makes sense. And bypassing a hitter who’s killing your pitcher in favor of one who’s not does as well. Even if the bases aren’t loaded. Heck, you might be better off walking her with bases loaded and giving up one run than letting her hit a double, triple, or home run and give up four.
As some of you head to Nationals, where presumably there will be a lot of parity in teams, keep the intentional walk in mind. It’s a gutsy call, but it just might save your season.
The intentional duck snort
This is an idea I’ve been toying with for some time now. How many games have you seen where the deciding hit was not a big blast or a sharp ground ball but what’s often called a duck snort, Texas leaguer or blooper — one of those weak, annoying hits that falls just out of reach of the infielders? Too often, probably, especially if you’ve been on the receiving end of it.
So I’m wondering: Why don’t we teach hitters to hit duck snorts intentionally? If you see the outfield is playing deep and the infield is playing at normal depth, a ball lofted weakly just out of reach of the infielders ought to put you on base every time.
Slappers are taught to do this. If the infield plays in and the outfield doesn’t, good slappers will try to lift the ball to the edge of the skin. Why not regular hitters?
I saw this up close over the weekend. We were in a semi-final game on a field with about a 200 foot fence. We drove a half dozen or more balls to or close to the warning track, but the outfield was playing back. If we had the bat control to just stick the bat out and drop it short into the outfield, perhaps we’d have gotten a few more runners on base and forced the outfield to come in, thereby opening things up deep.
Consider it a modified bunt. Only instead of dropping it short in the infield you’re trying to drop it short in the outfield.
I haven’t seen it done much if it all. But it sure seems like it would make sense. Don’t you think?
Wise words from Bertrand Russell
Saw this quote from philosopher Bertrand Russell and thought it was worth passing along:
“In all affairs it’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.”
That is especially true in coaching. I think most of us involved in coaching do it because we have a passion for it, for the sport, and for helping our players learn and grow. But sometimes that passion can put blinders on us as well. When that happens we cease to learn, which means we may be missing out on a better way to do things than we currently know.
Early in my coaching career I sought out whatever knowledge I could find in order to help my players. I would look at different resources and decide which ones made the most sense. But I also got into the habit of looking at materials I knew contradicted what I believed. It was sort of an acid test, to see if I still believed in the same things.
I continue to do it today, maybe not with quite as much vigor, but I still do it. It really is healthy to question what you believe to make sure you still believe it and are not just following the same old tenets out of habit. The stronger your beliefs, the more important it is to question them. If they survive the test, you will be that much more firm in your convictions. And if not…well, that’s a good thing too.
The challenges of being head coach
NOTE: For those of you reading this who have kids on the team I coach, this post is not directed at you! It’s based on general observations over the years, and especially what I’ve seen happen with newer or younger coaches. So don’t read anything into it.
Not too long ago, my friend and colleague Rich told me about the best explanation of the difference between being an assistant coach and being head coach. “The difference,” he said, “is the difference between suggestion and decision.” An assistant coach can and should make suggestions on the lineup, what’s happening on the field, the practice plan, etc. But it’s the head coach that ultimately has to decide whether to go that way or not.
For those who have never been the head coach of a fastpitch softball team, there’s more to it than you might think. Here’s a quick example. By the time you finish reading the description have your decision ready.
It’s the top of the fourth. You are down two runs but hitting this pitcher ok. You have runners on first and second with one out. The girl at the plate is a powerful hitter, but lately she hasn’t produced much. Still, she’s a good hitter and the potential is there. The hitter after her is not as powerful, and has been hitting about the same. Do you have her A) swing away, or 
bunt the runners over (she is also a good bunter)? Got your answer? Ok, whatever you’ve decided, you will now have to live with.
Now, multiply that quick decision by 28 to 38 and that’s what you’re deciding as head coach. Every hitter that comes to the plate presents a need to make a decision. Every runner that gets on base presents a need to make a decision. Do we try to steal or bunt her over? When she’s coming into the third and the outfielder has a ball fairly deep in the outfield do we hold her or try to score right now? Do we hit and run? You get the idea.
But wait, we’re not done yet. Your team also has to play defense. So now you have to decide defensive sets (do we assume bunt and play the corners in?), where the ball will be thrown in particular situations (do we cut the run off at home or go for the out at first?), and of course who is on the field with the game on the line.
There are dozens of decisions that have to be made by the head coach in every game, from who is in the lineup to what to do on the last play of the game. Again, they all have to be made in a few seconds (or less in some cases). But unlike the people in the stands (many of whom are also probably trying to make those decisions) only the head coach has to live with the consequences. If you’re in the stands and call for a bunt with a good hitter up and she pops up, or even if she gets it down and the next hitter grounds out to first to end the inning, only you know you agreed with the decision the head coach made. The head coach, however, put his/her decision on display and everyone who thought he/she should let the hitter hit thinks he/she is an idiot. 
This can be very tough on young or new head coaches especially. They’re often unsure of their decisions to begin with, and the pressure of being wrong (and having it pointed out repeatedly) can get to them. Grizzled old veterans like myself learn to live with it, but it can still be stressful at the time. If only we knew the outcome of the various options before we commit to one course of action. Then it would be a lot easier to determine which is right.
Do I play the “What would I do?” game when I’m in the stands? Of course. That’s part of the fun. And I can tell you it’s a lot less stressful making those decisions from up there. In fact, when I’m in the stands people will often ask me why a head coach did this or that and I will tend to defend the decision, even if I don’t necessarily agree with it. Generally speaking, the coach acts based on the best information he/she has at the time. If he/she does something downright stupid I’ll certainly say so. But most times it’s not quite as black and white as people would like to believe.
The other thing to keep in mind, especially in travel softball, is the other multiplier — the number of games the team is playing. The head coach has to go through this decision process for an entire game. Then, while everyone else is relaxing and checking out tee shirts or what they’re serving in the concession stand, the head coach is starting the entire process again.
The point is, there are a lot of decisions to be made by the head coach. Some of them are bound to be wrong, or at least not the best decision. But you can be sure that in 99 percent of the cases, the coach is doing the best he/she can in a difficult situation. And trying to do it for everyone on the team, not just the player you’re most interested in — your own. So give the head coach a break. And remember Rich’s definition of the difference between assistant and head coach. The gap is even wider between parent and head coach.
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 