Category Archives: Instruction
The Power of Using Video When You Practice
One of the tools I use the most when I give lessons is my iPhone. If I see a player making some sort of awkward or inefficient movement, out comes the ol’ phone and I immediately shoot a video I can show that player (and often her parent, guardian, team coach, etc.).
Now, I can stand there and tell the player what she’s doing without using video, but often it seems like they either think I’m exaggerating the movement they’re making or I am making it up entirely. I said that because it has little impact on what they’re doing, and they frequently will go right back to doing it.
But when they see the video, they suddenly know I was not exaggerating for comic effect but if anything was dialed back a bit on it. Seeing is believing, and believing enables them to start making the correction. Things usually get better from there.
That’s great during lessons. But what about the other 90% of the time, when the player is practicing on her own or with a teammate, parent, guardian, team coach, etc.?
There is a solution that will help shortcut the time-to-improvement. It involves a little practice secret that I’m now going to share with you.
The Revelation
These days pretty much everyone’s personal phone has the ability to shoot video. And those video capabilities can be used for more than a Snapchat or a Tik Tok dance video.
Why not set up the phone to the video setting, hit the “Record” button, then take a video of whatever skill she is trying to master? Then she can play it back, watch herself, and see if she is leading with her hips (if she is a hitter), getting some elbow bend over the back side of the circle (if she is a pitcher), or making whatever movement she is supposed to be making at whatever point she’s working on.
I know, genius, right?
Sure, when I shoot video I use the OnForm app so I can easily slow it down, scrub it back and forth, draw on it, measure angles, or do whatever else I need to do. It’s really cool to be able to do that, as I describe here.
But you don’t absolutely need all of that, especially if your coach has told what to look for/work on specifically. The basic video any smart device shoots is enough to give you eyes to see what’s happening and whether the movements that player is making are the movements that player SHOULD be making.
I know on an iPhone you can even scrub it back and forth by tapping on the video and then using one finger to move the little frames at the bottom back and forth. I imagine Android and other operating systems offer the same capabilities.
Different Learning Styles
So what makes video so valuable?
Science has documented that different people learn in different ways. Some of us learn better from reading directions. (Most of those people tend not to be male, as most males tend to jump in first and then only read directions when they get in trouble – usually halfway through the project.)
Some learn better from hearing things explained, the way it would typically happen in a lesson or team practice. “Suzy, you have to get your butt down on the ball.”
Some learn best by actually performing the skill we are attempting to perform. Although in my experience a lot of young players actually have trouble feeling whether they are doing something correctly while they are in the middle of it.
But the vast majority of us (65%) are visual learners. If we see it, we can understand what we’re supposed to do, or what we’re not doing now, better.
Yet when it comes to actual practice sessions, players and coaches rely almost entirely on the two weakest preferences for learning – auditory/listening to instructions (30%) or kinesthetic/doing it and feeling it (5%). Doesn’t make much sense, does it?
By incorporating video into the learning process players can learn faster by using the method most prefer. And even if they are in the other 35%, augmenting auditory and/or kinesthetic instruction with video is neutral at worst and a plus beyond that.
Video Power in Your Pocket
The beauty of all this is that it doesn’t require a lot of work. Today’s teen or preteen carries more video power in her pocket or purse than was available when Debbie Doom (yes, that was her real name, and what a great name it was) was dominating hitters, Lisa Fernandez and Sheila Cornell-Douty were winning gold medals in the Olympics, and Linda Lensch was becoming a USA Softball Hall of Famer.
All you have to do is take that device out of wherever it is, prop it against a nearby bench, bat bag, or rock, and hit “record!” Then you have instant feedback on where you are and whether what you’re practicing is making the player better – or worse.
She can even do it by herself. And if the coach says it’s ok, she can even send it to the coach’s phone or other device to receive additional feedback to make sure she stays on track.
That’s sure a lot faster and easier than the early 2000s, when I started coaching. Back then it was a production.
I had to bring a laptop and separate video camera, set up the camera on a tripod, connect the video feed to the laptop and then whatever video tool I was using, and then manipulate it all to run it back. I had to plan it all ahead too, and hope an errant throw didn’t knock out the camera or laptop.
Now it’s just pull out the phone, open the app, shoot, and review.
Opportunity Knocks
The opportunity here is tremendous, and the cost is nil if you already have a phone or tablet. So why wouldn’t you take advantage of it?
By incorporating video into their practice sessions players can learn more effectively – and reach their goals faster.
Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Phone photo by Wendy Wei on Pexels.com
Proper Form? The Shadow Knows!
You’ve no doubt heard that different people learn best in different ways. The four basic learning styles are visual (watching the skill performed), audible (listening to instruction about the skill), kinesthetic (learning by doing), and reading/writing (using written words to understand).
Fastpitch softball instruction typically uses audible (coach explains) or visual (coach demonstrates, or at least tries to) learning, then expects that to translate into kinesthetic as the player tries to emulate the instruction. The idea is to get the “feel” of the movements so they can be carried forward later.
While this is important, some players have difficulty moving from visual/audio to kinesthetic learning. They are trying, but they can’t quite get the feel of it and thus go right back to old habits.
A great example is a pitcher trying to learn to keep an elbow bend down the back side of the circle to allow her arm to whip at the end. She may be trying to bend it, but as she goes into the back side her elbow straightens out and the arm becomes stiff, which means no whip.
One solution is to video the player so she can see what she is doing. Sometimes it helps, but often she has trouble translating what she sees into what she does.
A better approach is to use a mirror so she can see what she’s doing AS she tries to feel it. The combination of the two is very powerful, and often helps shortcut the learning curve.
But what if you are outside and don’t have access to a mirror? Not to worry – there is another solution: her shadow!
If you place the pitcher with her back to the sun, her body will cast a shadow. She can then watch that shadow as she moves to see if she is maintaining elbow bend or coming out of it over the top.
This quick, crude video demonstrates how that works:
Note how rather than reaching back with the hand I pulled the upper arm or elbow down, maintaining bend that leads into release. By watching the shadow while moving her arm, your pitcher can begin to feel where her arm needs to be as she practices.
She can continue to observe as she builds up speed, first without a ball and then throwing a ball into a net or screen. Over time she will feel it more and more until she no longer needs the visual cue – at which point you can really turn her loose.
This is just one example of how you can use a player’s shadow to enhance learning. For example, if she tends to drop her hands or flatten out her back too early while hitting, her shadow will show it, enabling her to make that adjustment.
If she is pulling her hand straight back while throwing instead of retracting her elbow with her scap and then letting her hand rotate behind her, that will be easy to spot in a shadow too.
Next time you’re outdoors on a sunny day and a player struggles to get the feel of a skill, give this idea a try. It’s quick, easy, and free – and the shadow always knows!
Don’t Just Put In the Time – Put In the Effort
One of the most common questions coaches get at the end of a lesson or practice session is, “How long and how often should my daughter practice?”
While it’s a legitimate concern – parents want to their daughters get the full benefit and they get a better return on their investment – I tend to think they’re asking the wrong question. Here’s the reason: practicing is not actual time-based; it’s quality-based.
Take two players who are at the same skill level and have been assigned the same drill(s) as “homework:”
- One diligently does the homework, being mindful of her movements and attempting to execute the skill the way she has been taught. She does this for 20 minutes three times before she has her next lesson.
- The other goes out to practice for a half hour three days a week between lessons. But she doesn’t like doing drills because it’s “boring,” so she instead just decides to pitch from full distance or take full swings or field ground balls hit by a partner etc. the whole time.
Which one do you think will show improvement in the aspect that needs the most help as well as in the overall skill?
Player two put in more time – an extra half hour to be exact. If time were the only factor that counted she should do better at the next lesson.
But I will tell you from experience, and bet you dollars to donuts, that player two will be the one who is most likely ready to advance further at the next lesson. She may not have put in as much time, but she put in more effort to solve her biggest issues – the one that is most limiting her.
So if she’s a pitcher who was straightening out her arm on the back side of the circle, she is now far more likely to have a nice elbow bend or “hook” as her arm gets ready to throw the ball. If she is a hitter who was dropping her hands straight to her waist before swinging, she’s far more likely to be keeping them up and turning the bat over to get the ball.
That’s because she mindfully worked at changing what she was doing. She is serious about improving so she put in the effort to make those changes.
Player two, on the other hand, actually put herself further away from her goals by practicing as she did, because all she did was reinforce the poor mechanics she should be trying to move away from.
Yes, she put in the time and could mark it down on a practice sheet, but she didn’t put in the effort. Without the effort to improve, the time is pretty much meaningless.
She would have ended up in exactly the same place at best if she hadn’t practiced at all. And she may have ended up further behind because now those extra reps with the wrong techniques will make it that much more difficult to get her to the right path.
If your daughter is going to spend her valuable time on practicing her softball skills, or anything else for that matter, make sure it’s on something that will help her advance her abilities forward.
Have her make the effort to concentrate specifically on the areas that need improvement rather than spending all her time making full pitches, full swings, etc. and you’ll see faster progress that leads to greater softball success.
P.S. For any parents of my students who may think I’m talking about their daughter, don’t worry. I’m not. It’s a big club. But do keep it in mind as you work with your daughter anyway!
Navigating the Maze of Fastpitch Skills Development
People often talk about the “path to greatness” when it comes to fastpitch softball skills development. But when you think about it, it’s not really a path – it’s more of a maze.
Everyone starts out in the same place – at the entrance. Everyone knows the end goal is excellence.
But it’s really not a straight-line journey, i.e., you hire a coach, join a team, or try to try to train your daughter yourself. Instead, the journey can be full of twists, turns, blind alleys, and dead ends.
Go the wrong way and you’re going to spend a lot of your time backtracking or trying to get your bearings again. Get in deep enough and you may never find your way back to a lane that will take you to your goal.
Take pitching for example. There are those who believe it doesn’t really matter what you teach to budding pitchers; they say eventually those pitchers will find their way to the mechanics that will lead to success.
I can tell you wholeheartedly that that is not true. Yes, some can overcome learning “hello elbow” (HE) when they start out, replacing them with more body-friendly internal rotation (IR) mechanics as they mature. They are usually exceptional athletes.
But that is not the case with everyone. I’ve acquired many pitching students who were taught turn the ball back toward second and push it down the back side of the circle who struggled to unlearn that early, sub-optimal teaching.
It can take them months just to learn how to keep the ball facing forward at the top of the circle (and just past it) so they can set themselves up to whip the ball through release. It’s not that they’re bad pitchers or poor athletes.
It’s just that the habit has been so ingrained into them that it’s difficult to break. They essentially got deep into the maze and then have to find their way back to nearly the beginning to get on the right track.
Hitters can have this too. They’re taught to “squish the bug” or “throw their hands/knob of the bat” at the ball or over-use their arms, or some other outdated concept.
Or maybe they’re just allowed to swing the bat however they want because they are big enough and strong enough at the younger ages that the techniques they use really aren’t important.
However they get there, they follow that path thinking they’re on their way, only to discover after their habits become ingrained that it’s been a series of blind alleys once again leading to a dead end. The other players have matched (or surpassed) them in size and strength, and suddenly what made them look like studs when they were young has them seeing more bench time today.
Just like in an actual maze, it’s important to start out in the right direction early. So how do you know which way to go when you’re just starting out so you ensure you don’t waste a whole lot of time and money that you will never recover?
Fortunately, unlike an actual maze there are plenty of signs and guideposts that will help you find the most expedient path to your goal. Some of those include:
- Watch high speed video of what actual high-level players do, then match that up to what potential coaches are teaching. If they’re not closely aligned you probably don’t want to go that way.
- Research the topics that interest you on the Internet. Yes, the Internet has as much bad information (or more) than good, but if you’re really interested in doing what’s right it shouldn’t take you too long to separate the gold from the garbage.
- Ask other parents, especially those whose daughters stand out, about their journey and what their daughter is being taught now They can help you avoid the pitfalls they themselves fell into.
- Try what’s being taught yourself to see if it makes sense. Many people actually seem to miss out on this simple test. See what it feels like to move your body the way it’s being described. Be aware of what you feel and whether it feels natural or forced. The goal is for it to feel natural and easy, because it means you’re working with your body instead of against it.
- Once you’ve gathered the data, think through it carefully to see what makes sense. Don’t just accept what Famous Player A says, because Famous Player A may not have a clue as to what she does on the field. She was probably one of those who found her way to good mechanics DESPITE what she was taught. Yet when it comes to teaching herself, she just goes back to what she was told when she was young because that’s all she consciously knows.
Starting down the wrong path in the beginning, or taking a bad detour along the way isn’t unrecoverable. But it definitely makes achieving one’s playing goals a lot more difficult because there’s going to be a lot of backtracking (and angst) before you can move forward again.
Take the time to determine which path will lead you through the maze of softball skills development more efficiently and you’ll find the entire journey to be a lot more enjoyable.
Maze photo by Tom Fisk on Pexels.com
5 Reasons Lefties Should Be Trying to Hit to Right
The other day I was working with a left-handed hitter and noticed two things.
The first was that her sister, who went out to shag balls after her own lesson, set herself up in left field. The second was that the sister was correct – everything was going out that way.
I told the girl who was hitting that she was late, needed to get her front foot down earlier to be on time, especially on inside pitches, and all the usual advice for someone who is behind the ball. But then it occurred to me – she might have been going that way on purpose.
So I did the most sensible thing I could – I asked her about it. “Did someone tell you to hit to left all the time?” I asked.
“Yes,” she replied. “My old team coach.”
This is the second time I’ve heard that from a lefty. The first actually got that advice from a supposed hitting coach.
Forcing lefties to try to hit to left on every pitch makes no sense to me. Sure, if the pitch is outside you should go with it. That’s hitting 101.
But on a middle-in pitch? No way! Here are five reasons why that’s just plain old bad advice.
Giving Up Power
This is the most obvious reason. The power alley for any hitter is to their pull side.
You get the most body and bat velocity on an inside pitch when you pull it. Laying back on an inside pitch to try to hit it to left is taking the bat out of the hitter’s hands, which you don’t want to do – especially in today’s power-driven game.
Encouraging the hitter to barrel up on the ball and hit to her pull side will result in bigger, better, more productive contacts. And a much higher slugging (SLG) and on base plus slugging (OPS) percentage, leading to more runs scored and opportunities taken advantage of.
Creating a Longer Throw from the Corner
If a left-handed hitter pulls the ball deep down the first base line and has any speed at all there’s a pretty good chance she will end up with a triple. It’s a long throw from that corner to third base, and will likely actually involve two long throws – one from the corner to the second base relay, and another from the relay to third.
A hit to the left field corner, however, will more likely result in a double. It’s a much shorter throw and one that doesn’t (or at least shouldn’t except for the younger levels) involve a relay. One less throw means one less chance for something to go wrong for the defense.
I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather have my runner on third than on second. As this chart from 6-4-3 Charts shows, your odds of scoring go up considerably regardless of the number of outs when your baserunner is on third:
You probably didn’t need a chart to show you that – it’s pretty easy to figure out on your own – but it always helps to have evidence.
Hitting Behind the Runner
Coaches spend a lot of time talking screaming at their right-handed hitters about the need to learn how to hit behind the runner at first. Then why shouldn’t lefties be encouraged to do it as well?
It ought to come natural to a lefty. Now, part of the reason for hitting behind the runner is to take advantage of a second baseman covering second on a steal, which is less common in softball and probably doesn’t happen with a lefty at the plate.
But what about advancing a speedy runner from first to third? Again, longer throw from right.
A well-hit ball to right, even one that doesn’t find a gap, gives that speedy runner a chance to get from first to third with one hit. A well-hit ball to left that doesn’t find a gap will probably still require the runner to hold up at second because the ball is in front of her.
So if you’re teaching your lefties to go to left all the time you’re leaving more potential scoring opportunities on the table. In a tight game, the ability to go to right instead of left could mean the difference between a W and an L.
Taking Advantage of a (Potentially) Weaker Fielder
This isn’t always the case. There are plenty of great right fielders, especially on higher-level teams.
But for many teams, right field is where they try to hide the player who may have a great bat but a so-so ability to track a fly ball or field a ground ball cleanly.
Why hit to the defense’s strength when you can hit to its weakness instead? At worst, if right field is a great fielder you’re probably at a break-even point.
If she’s not, however, you can take advantage of the softball maxim that the ball will always find the fielder a team is trying to hide.
Reducing Their Chances of Being Recruited
Most of today’s college coaches want/expect their hitters to be able to hit for power. Not just in the traditional cleanup or 3-4-5 spots but all the way through the lineup.
A lefty who only hits to left looks like a weak hitter. (And is, in fact, a weak hitter.)
Unless that lefty is also a can’t-miss shortstop, college coaches are going to tend to pass on position players who don’t look like they can get around on a pitch. That’s just reality.
Teach your lefties to pull the ball when it’s appropriate and they stand a much better chance of grabbing a college coach’s attention. And keeping it until signing day.
Don’t. Just Don’t
Teaching lefties to hit to left as their default is bad for them and bad for the team. It also doesn’t make much logical sense.
Encourage them to pull the ball to right when it’s pitched middle-in and you -and they – will have much greater success.
The One Tool Every Fastpitch Coach Needs in His/Her Bag
There are all kinds of devices and training tools available to fastpitch softball (and other) coaches today. A quick scan of Amazon or any sporting goods website will offer all kinds of ways to solve all kinds of problems at all kinds of price points.
But there is one tool today’s coaches need to make sure they have in their bags if they want to meet the expectations of many fastpitch players and especially parents today: a magic wand.
(Mine happens to be a Sirius Black model, as I’m sure Coach Katie McKay Phillips has already identified. If you don’t know who Sirius Black is, you really need to read more.)
The reason you need a magic wand is simple: many players and parents want to see instant improvement in individuals and teams.
They don’t want to spend hours practicing skills such as hitting, throwing, and pitching in the basement, backyard, or batting cages. They don’t want to spend hours out at the field learning their positions and what plays to make in specific situations or how to communicate where the ball will go.
Instead, they want you as the coach to wave a magic wand and take the team from looking like a group of misfit toys to a unit that can compete for tournament championships every weekend. So you’d best have a magic wand in your bag to show them you’re trying to give them what they want!
Now, of course, as any Harry Potter fan knows the wand is only as good as the wizard who wields it. So you’d best be practicing your spells and charms.
Once you have your wand, here are a few you can try. Some are directly from the Hogwarts courseware, while others are spells and charms of my own design.
Just remember, if you are a total Muggle and can’t get them to work, you’ll have to acquire the results the long, old-fashioned way – with lots of practice and repetition.
- Wingardium Leviosa – This one is one of the first Hogwarts students learn. It’s a levitation charm used to lift objects. Comes in mighty handy when your team can’t hit too well. Throw a little Wingardium Leviosa at a weak ground ball and watch it turn into a soaring line drive. You can also use it more subtly to turn a weak pop-up into a duck snort that sails just out of reach of every converging fielder. I’m sure you’ve seen that before.
- Expellliarmus – Good for when an opposing fielder is about to make a play that will result in a costly out. Originally designed to pull an opponent’s wand from his/her hand, it’s also great for turning a routine fielding opportunity into an instant error. No doubt you’ve seen this one being used by your opponents to make you look like you’ve never taught your players how to play. Naturally some coaches over-use it and then your team makes error after error, giving up a big inning. After all, the team couldn’t be that bad on their own after spending THE ENTIRE WEEK working on fielding ground balls and bunts.
- Petrificus Totalus – This is a full body binding spell that causes temporary complete paralysis. You have probably seen this one in action when your hitters were at the plate. The opposing pitcher throws a meatball down the middle of the plate and your hitter watches it go by for strike three. They didn’t freeze up on their own – they were hit with Petrificus Totalus by a wizard on the other side of the field. What other explanation could there be?
- Oblivius – This one is really handy becaue it enables you to erase the memory of people or events you don’t want someone to remember. It can be used in a couple of different ways. When used on opponents you can cause them to forget what to do with the ball on defense so they just stand there confused, holding it and looking around. No doubt you’ve seen this one in use as well. For your own team, you can use it when your pitcher just gave up a home run or other big hit to an opposing hitter and has now lost total confidence in herself and her ability to throw a strike. A little Oblivius and she’s right back in there. Coaches can also use it on themselves to forget bad innings or entire games before it gives them ulcers.
- Accio – The summoning spell that brings things to you. You’ll have to teach it to your players so the ball goes to them. How else do you explain a sure home run that hits a phantom gust of win and stays in the yard so the worst fielder in the game can catch it?
- Confundus Charm (Confundo) – Ever see three fielders converge on a ball only to let it drop between all of them? That’s Confundo in action.
- Instanteous Pitchus – Learning to pitch can be a long, arduous journey filled with hard work and major disappointments. But it doesn’t have to be. If you use this charm correctly you can turn any wannabe-pitcher into an instant ace in just one lesson. Which is what many parents expect of their coaches. No long, boring practice time or hours spent chasing balls around a backstop. Any pitcher can go from zero to hero if you apply this charm.
- Sluggeraramus – Does for hitters what Instanteous Pitchus does for pitchers. Or what parents expect purchasing a $500 bat will do for a kid with a 5 cent swing. If you can cast this spell, which is not easy to do, you won’t have to use Wingardium Leviosa so much in a game because every hit will already be a great one.
- Awareweed – Not so much a spell or charm as an herbal potion you can feed your players in lieu of spending practice time teaching them what to do with the ball in specific situations. Somehow they will just know where the ball should go, such as whether they should throw home to try to cut down the lead runner or realize that run is already scoring so go after one who is more vulnerable. It also gives them situational understanding, such as throwing to first for the sure out when your team has a 10-run lead rather than trying to get the runner heading home on a tag play. When your team is loaded up on Awareweed, coaches and parents can just sit back and enjoy the magic happening on the field.
- Silencio – While this silencing spell can be used on players when their incessant cheers are giving you a headache, it’s best applied to all the parent “coaches” in the stands who are yelling advice to their players (especially at the plate) or providing a running monolog of every play you as the coach should have made (after the fact, of course), criticisms of personnel or baserunning decisions, ideas on how to improve run production, and whatever else pops into their mind at the time. It can (and should) also be applied to those who have decided it’s their job to teach the umpire how to do his/her job.
That’s a fairly comprehensive list – enough to keep you studying for at least a year until you can pass your Ordinary Wizarding Level (O.W.L.) exam and more on to more advanced spells, charms, and potions.
That said, if you don’t have access to a wand, or can’t make it work, you’re going to have to do it the old-fashioned way – and explain it to your players and their parents as well.
The old-fashioned way isn’t quite as easy for them, and it takes longer, but it brings its own kind of magic as players achieve capabilities on their own they never dreamed they could acquire. And in the long run it’s a lot more satisfying because it’s been earned.
Don’t Pay a Coach to Watch Your Daughter Practice
The other day I was speaking with my friend James Clark (Coach James), a top-level pitching coach from Indiana. He is the owner and chief instructor at United Pitching Academy.
We were talking about some of the challenges of working with pitchers when he said something I thought was quite profound, and quite accurate.
James said, “Parents really shouldn’t be paying me to watch their daughter practice.”
I totally agree.
What he was talking about was the girl who comes in for a lesson, is given some homework to do to help her get better, then doesn’t pick up a ball again until her next lesson.
I always tell players and their parents that the time they spend with me is the least important part of the whole process. It’s the time they spend in-between visits to me that will determine their level of success.
The reason is they can really dig in and put in the quality reps, doing something specific over and over until they not only get it right, but can’t get it wrong. That’s not going to happen at a lesson.
Or at least it shouldn’t, which brings us back to today’s topic. If a player doesn’t work on whatever skill she’s supposed to work on in-between visits to the coach (and that includes team practice too, not just private lessons), she’s going to have to do it sometime.
So rather than mastering the skill on her own she’s going to have to try to learn it while she’s with the coach. Which (in the case of private lessons) the parents are essentially paying the coach to watch their daughter practice skills that already should have been acquired, or at least well on their way to being acquired.
That is a slow slog, and not a very efficient use of anyone’s time or the parents’ money.
So what should the coach be doing instead? Tweaking any little aspects of current skills that might not be where they should be then moving on to new concepts that will help a player continue to grow.
Let’s use the example of a beginning pitcher. The coach teaches her how to lead the upper arm down from the K position in a lesson, how to keep it relaxed, and how to let the ball go with a pronating motion (turning her hand inward) to maximize velocity.
At first she’s probably going to be a bit awkward with it. But as she goes she starts relaxing and getting better releases. Then the lesson is over.
There are two things that can happen from here. One is that she goes home, mindfully works on the things she learned in the lesson, and comes back to the next lesson with that motion looking pretty natural.
The other is she doesn’t work on it at all, or “pitches” during the week but doesn’t pay attention to HOW she’s doing, and then comes back to her lesson the following week with all the same issues she had at the start of the previous lesson. So the coach has to go over all the same material again, because what I described from the K position is pretty foundational to becoming a quality pitcher.
In the first case, where she has the K motion down pretty well, the coach moves her into full circles or other drills that will help her continue to advance her skills and get her ready to compete. In the second case, the coach is essentially paid to watch her practice to try to get that motion down.
Nothing new is introduced because you shouldn’t move on to part two until you can reliably execute part one.
Where it really becomes a problem is when the coach is being paid to watch the player practice the same things over and over. Every lesson (or in the case of a team every practice) that’s spent on going over the same thing is time that’s not being spent learning new or more advanced concepts.
It doesn’t take long until the player is pretty far behind where she ought to be. Then both player and parent are wondering why they’re spending all this time and money and not getting better.
It would be like a painter working on a painting all day. Then overnight someone covers it with white paint and she has to do it again. It won’t take long before she’s frustrated and wondering if it’s even worth doing.
Coach James is absolutely right. Don’t pay to have your coach watch your daughter practice.
Instead, make sure she’s practicing during the week so the coach can continue to help her move forward. It’s a far better investment for all involved.
Photo by Victor Freitas on Pexels.com
Why “I Don’t Know” Is Not a Sufficient Answer
If you asked the average person whether playing fastpitch softball is a physical or mental activity, there’s a good chance the answer would be “physical.” After all, there’s a lot of movement involved, and these days many softball players are training their bodies to the point of constant exhaustion (a topic for another day).
In reality, however, it’s a trick question. Because while it is obviously physical, there is also a huge element of mental activity that goes into it as well.
Or at least there should be.
When I train a player, I tend to use what’s known as the Socratic Method. The short version is I don’t just constantly tell them what to do; instead, once they’ve been taught something I will ask them questions to try to ensure they actually understand what we’re trying to do instead of just blindly following directions.
For example, if I am working with a pitcher and she throws a pitch in the dirt on her throwing hand side, rather than saying “You released too early” or “You were too open at release” or whatever the issue was, I will instead ask her “Why did that happen?” It is then up to her to think through what she has (supposedly) learned, plus what she felt, in order to provide an answer to the question.
The goal, of course, is to help the player become her own pitching, hitting, fielding, whatever, coach.
We want that so when she’s practicing on her own she can make corrections to keep her on the right path. We also want that because I’m sure the last thing that player wants is for Mom, Dad, Team Coach, or the spectators on the sidelines to be shouting instructions out to her in a game.
When I ask these questions the answers I receive aren’t always right. But to me there is one answer that is always wrong: I don’t know.
Because even if a player provides an incorrect response to the question, at least she’s making an effort to figure it out. She may not quite understand what she should be doing yet but she’s trying.
Saying I don’t know, however, to me shows a total lack of mental engagement in the process of whatever we’re doing. It’s the easy way out, basically saying, “Tell me so I can robotically follow directions” rather than really digging in to understand the movement we’re trying to achieve at a deeper level.
When I hear “I don’t know,” I always think of Mr. Hand and Spicoli.
In a softball context, in turning the tables the conversation would go, “Will I be able to get hitters out Coach?” “I don’t know.” “Will I get some hits instead of striking out?” “I don’t know.” “Will I be able to make the quick throw?” “I don’t know.”
And that’s the reality of it. If a player’s brain is not engaged as she practices she could just as easily be practicing the wrong things – in which case when she goes into a game she won’t have the skills she needs to succeed.
Now, I’m not saying “I don’t know” is always the wrong answer. If the coach who is asking the question of a player hasn’t taught her whatever he/she is asking, the player shouldn’t be expected to know. In which case “I don’t know” is correct.
Or if a player asks a coach about something out of his/her area of expertise, like how to throw a riseball if the coach has no background in pitching, or what strengthening exercises they should do at home if the coach hasn’t researched it, “I don’t know” is a better answer than just making something up so the coach doesn’t look “stupid.”
I actually wish more coaches would give that answer when it’s appropriate.
But when the activity is something fundamental that has been taught and reinforced dozens or hundreds of times before, “I don’t know” is not a sufficient answer. The player should know and be able to self-correct.
That’s the fast track to improvement and advancement. Because players who can identify issues on their own can correct them on their own and keep themselves moving forward; those who can’t, well, they’re doomed to repeat those mistakes over and over.
If you’re a coach, hold your players accountable by asking questions they should know the answers to and then making them accountable for it. If you’re a parent, reinforce the importance of players getting their brains engaged instead of mindlessly going through whatever motions they’re being told to do at the time.
And if you’re a player, take ownership of your softball education and really learn what you’re being taught. Not just the movements but the reasons for them, and why things go wrong when they go wrong.
It’s one of the biggest keys to producing better, more consistent results. Which makes the games a lot more fun.
Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com
Land the Helicopter: How Parents Can Get the Best Value from Their Child’s Softball Lessons
Here’s the situation. You are bringing your fastpitch softball player (or any child in any sport for that matter) to a private instructor.
Presumably you have vetted that instructor and think he/she has something to offer your player. Then, when the instructor explains how to do something you take it upon yourself to repeat the exact same instructions to your daughter (or son)?
Probably more of you than you care to admit. I get why you do it.
You’re excited, and you see the value in what’s being said. You’re also anxious to be sure your daughter (or son) understands what’s being said so she (or he) can execute it flawlessly. Not to mention you’re probably used to giving your child instructions in all areas of her (or his) life.
Yet whether you realize it or not, all you’ve done is get in the way of the learning process. It would be like following your daughter (or son) to math or history class and repeating everything the teacher says – as if your daughter (or son) can only understand information when it’s given by you.
To get the best value for the money you’re investing, you need to let the instructor do his (or her) job. Unless the instructor speaks a different language and you need to translate, or your daughter (or son) is hearing-impaired and needs you to sign what’s being said, allow the instructor to speak and interact directly with your daughter (or son).
The reality is if you and an instructor are both talking, your daughter (or son) is going to tend to hear your voice over the instructor’s. After all, she (or he) is used to hearing you and is attuned to your voice.
But if you’re bringing your daughter (or son) to an instructor, presumably it’s because the instructor has a level of expertise you don’t possess. Or your daughter (or son) just tunes you out and needs to hear the same thing from a different voice.
Either way, if you’re repeating what the instructor says you’re not getting what you want out of it.
It’s like the scene in the movie “The Blind Side” where the private tutor is suggesting topics for Michael Oher to write about. At one point she mentions “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” at which point Michael’s father starts quoting the poem from the couch as he’s watching basketball.
The tutor (played by the great Kathy Bates) then says to him, “How about you come teach then and I’ll watch basketball?”
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be involved in the lessons. I will always invite parents to come in close to observe and listen so they can reinforce what I’m teaching. After all, I tell them, they will spend a lot more time with their daughter (or son) than I ever will.
But it’s not an open invitation to jump in and conduct the lesson, or parrot what I just said.
It’s an opportunity to hear it first-hand rather than trying to guess what’s being said from a distance based on hand gestures and other movements.
Now, if a parent needs a clarification because he/she doesn’t understand, then absolutely. Speak up.
If a parent recognizes that his/her daughter (or son) isn’t getting it, based on verbal cues, then yes, they should encourage their daughter (or son) to ask a question rather than standing there silently in panic. No problem there.
But they should let the instructor instruct.
That especially goes for the bucket parents who are on the receiving end of pitches. Don’t tell your daughter (or son) to throw strikes, or complain that you’re having to chase the ball or that your daughter (or son) isn’t doing this or that correct.
That’s the instructor’s job. He or she probably has a process, and you inserting other ideas can mess that up considerably.
Simply pay attention to what’s being said, try to understand what the goals are for the lesson, and be supportive as your daughter (or son) attempts to learn something new or get out of her (or his) comfort zone to improve her (or his) performance.
Yes, we know you want your daughter (or son) to be successful, and in our modern world you want that success to come fast. But remember everyone learns at their own pace. If you’re bringing your daughter (or son) to a professional, let that professional do his/her job.
In the end the progress will be faster, and you’ll feel like you got a lot more for your investment of time and money.
Photo by Jean van der Meulen on Pexels.com
6 Reasons to Watch the NCAA D1 Softball Tournament
We are coming up to the best time of the year for fastpitch softball fanatics: the NCAA D1 Women’s Softball tournament. Over the next couple of weeks 64 of (presumably) the best college softball teams in the country will be going head-to-head to see which will ultimately make it into the Elite 8 and the Women’s College World Series WCWS).
Fortunately for those of us who love it, these games will be all over ESPN. Not because ESPN has any particular love or feels any particular sense of responsibility to the sport, but because over the last few years it has been a rating juggernaut.
In fact, last year alone it drew more than 1.2 million viewers, which is 60% more than the Men’s Baseball College World Series. It draws the eyeballs, which draws the sponsors, which ensures you’ll see it.
Yet as popular as it is, if you ask the average youth or even high school player if she plans to watch any of the games, she will probably turn her head and stare at you the way a dog does when you ask it if it knows what it just did. That’s her way of saying no.
In fact, I have found over the years that most players don’t have a favorite team, or a favorite player, or can even name a college or pro player. That’s because it never occurs to them to watch the games. And if they do watch because a parent makes them, they don’t really pay attention or get invested in it.
That’s a shame, because there is much that younger players can learn by watching these elite athletes perform in the biggest showcase fastpitch softball has. (Yes, you can argue that the Olympics and other international tournaments offer a higher level of play but there’s no guarantee softball will be in the Olympics again – and just try finding international tournaments if you don’t have more than a basic cable or satellite subscription.)
So with that in mind, here are some of the reasons why you either want to watch the games with your favorite player or team live, or DVR them and watch them later. Even if you feel you have to turn off the sound on some of them.
1. See the Speed of the Game
This is probably one of the biggest eye-openers, especially for players in the 10-14 year age range. The game happens fast.
Players who are used to taking their time gathering a ground ball and making a throw to first, or jogging after a pop fly, will see how quickly plays develop – and are over. With slappers in particular, one little bobble by an infielder (no matter how minor it seems) gives the hitter just enough time to reach base safely.
Seeing the sense of urgency in every play can help individuals and teams learn to play at a higher level.
2. Watch How Top Players Execute Their Skills
It’s often said that when you’re looking at what techniques or mechanics to use for pitching, fielding, throwing, hitting, etc. that we should look at how the best players in the world do it. While the players on TV may not all be the “best” players they’re still pretty darned good at what they do so they make fine examples to study.
Here’s where DVRing the games comes in particularly handy. If a player hits a home run, you can go back and look at her swing from the multiple angles they show. Sooner or later you’ll get to see how a top pitcher throws her riseball – assuming it’s an actual rise and not a gyro spinning high fastball.
You can also use it for quantitative analysis, such as looking at how many pitchers use the “hello elbow” technique versus how many are using internal rotation. You can compare how many hitters “squish the bug” on their back leg versus shift their weight forward and get completely off the leg.
You can watch how infielders throw on a bang-bang play, how they make tags on steals, how they position themselves in bunt situations. You can watch how outfielders go back on a ball and how they scoop and throw home in a do-or-die situation. You can watch how many catchers throw from their knees versus their feet, and the specific techniques they use.
It’s a virtual cornucopia of skills on display, all delivered free to your living room.
3. See How Player Recover from Mistakes
One of the biggest challenges youth players face is learning how to recover from their mistakes, e.g., committing errors, striking out (particularly with runners on base), giving up leadoff walks, etc. As a general rule girls take “failure” rather hard, to the point where fear of failure can prevent them from performing at their highest level.
Well ya know what? Those players on TV do all those things too.
I remember the great Cindy Bristow telling a room full of coaches at a clinic that “My girls make the same mistakes your girls do. They just do it faster.”
So having your player(s) see one of the best in the game bobble a ball, strikeout, throw a wild pitch with a runner on third, or make some other mistake at the least will show her she’s in good company. (It will also show coaches and parents why they need to have realistic expectations for their 10 year olds.)
But the most important lesson for the player will be what happens next. Instead of brooding about it, the player in the WCWS will move on and keep playing. Sure, she may beat herself up over it later, especially if her team loses, but in the moment she pushes it down because she knows she needs to be ready for the next opportunity.
That is not necessarily a natural skill for most humans. But it’s one that can be learned of you make the effort.
4. Hear Some Inspirational Stories
Softball is absolutely a game of failure and adversity. And for some the journey is more challenging than others.
It’s easy to assume that everyone you see was a star from the beginning who was recognized for their talent and treated like royalty their whole career. But that isn’t always the case.
Fortunately, ESPN does a great job of profiling players and where they came from to tell fascinating human interest stories. Such as last year when Odicci Alexander captured the nation’s hearts with her story of being self-taught before leading her James Madison University team to the WCWS.
There are always stories players can relate to. Some talk about overcoming challenging injuries, including some that were supposed to be career-ending.
Some relate to issues such as being cut from a travel team or not making varsity and having to work even harder to elevate their games. Some involve personal tragedies.
Whatever the story, it shows that obstacles are only temporary – if you have the will to overcome them.
5. Bond With Your Player(s)
Remember the great James Earl Jones speech in “Field of Dreams” about how America marched along like an army of steamrollers, but through it all there was baseball? The shared experience of watching a sport played at its highest level can really help parents bond with their children and coaches bond with their players.
To make that happen, of course, you can’t make watching the games like school. Or at least totally like school.
Sure, you can go over plays and evaluate the coverages and executions. But you can also simply appreciate an amazing diving catch or the inner struggle on both sides of a 12-pitch at-bat.
You can laugh about that riseball that gets launched into the stands or the runner who evades the catcher with a well-timed dive or jump on a play at the plate.
But of course the best part will be spending time with those players sharing something you mutually love.
6. Follow the Benjamins
In the beginning of this post I mentioned that ESPN broadcasts every game of the tournament not because they love softball or softball players so much but because it makes them money. Lots of money.
Well, the downside of that is if the audience dries up so does the coverage. So if you want to keep seeing games on TV, even occasionally, one of the best things you can do is watch them now.
Keep those ratings growing and it will encourage even more coverage. Otherwise you’ll be singing this sad song.
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 