Knowing the rules
Before I launch into this let me preface it by saying I have nothing but the utmost respect for the men and women in blue. It’s not easy to do the job they do. I know. I’ve done it. Every single pitch requires a decision by the home plate umpire, and often you have to think quickly and make a decision before you really have all the information you need. Add to that six to eight games in a day in the blistering heat and humidity and you have a tough job on your hands.
That being said, this tirade isn’t about making the calls. I may not always agree with the calls they make but I’m sure they’re making the best calls they can.
No, this post is about umpires not knowing the rules. To me there is no excuse for that. I’m just a coach, but every year before the season I read the rulebook cover to cover. I make sure I know what’s changed and what’s new. Apparently not all umpires do the same.
Here’s a case in point. For the second time this season an umpire declared in a pre-game meeting that a catcher’s mitt couldn’t be used certain positions. Which used to be the rule. Of course, this umpire stated that you can’t use a catcher’s mitt in the outfield, which was never the case. The old rule said a mitt could only be used in the catcher and first base positions.
That rule was changed I believe in 2006. Rule 3, Section 4 of the 2007 ASA rule book states “A Glove/Mitt may be worn by any player. The dimensions of any glove/mitt used by any fielder shall not exceed the specifications set forth below (see drawings and specifications.” In other words, as long as the mitt meets the legal dimensions it can be used in any position on the field. If it can be used in the catcher’s position, it can be used anywhere on the field. The rule is perfectly clear. It’s not highlighted as a change so it’s been on the books for at least a year. Why is it that two different umpires at two different tournaments insisted otherwise? Isn’t it their job to know these things? As my friend Rich says they’re the only people being paid to be on the field. It’s their responsibility to know the rulebook backward and forward.
Now, this is not to say that I like or encourage field position players to wear a mitt, especially in the outfield. They’re designed to accept a hard-thrown ball, not to catch a fly ball or a ground ball. But if a player insists on it, the point is it’s legal.
Ok, so maybe it’s tough to know every rule. Again I can understand that. But that doesn’t mean you should declare something that is patently incorrect. If you don’t know, and you are challenged, perhaps you should have a copy of the rulebook handy so you can look it up. I know I always have one.
This year one extraordinary thing did happen. During a game I declared a courtesy runner for my pitcher and the umpire wasn’t sure he should allow it. I quietly told him that the ASA rules state a courtesy runner can be used for the pitcher or catcher at any time, and that it has to be someone not in the game. I told him I had rulebook in the dugout and he could confirm it there if he wanted. To my surprise he said yes, go ahead and find it. I did, he looked at it between innings, and he actually apologized for not knowing the rule. That was pretty cool of him. And pretty rare.
In a perfect world every official would know every rule. That’s not going to happen. I don’t claim to know them all by heart either. But if you don’t know the rule, as an official you shouldn’t be making declarations about it before the game. That’s just wrong.
A Little Perspective
It had been a rough weekend so far. We were 1-2, but as they say in Bull Durham it’s a miracle we’d won the one. Now it was Sunday morning and we were a 4 seed playing a 1 seed out of a tough pool. Not exactly the formula for a great day.
I’d gone ahead to check if the field was open so we could warm up there. It wasn’t, so I started heading back to where our team was waiting. That’s when I saw her. A young girl, perhaps about 12 or so, shriveled up and being pushed in a wheelchair. It looked like her physical challenges were multiple, and that she may have some mental challenges as well.
As we approached each other I saw it — she had a softball glove in her lap. Then as we got closer she put the glove on, as though she was getting ready to play. She was smiling as I walked past her, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
It was then that the first thought struck me. My players were sitting around getting ready for warm-ups. It was 8:45 AM, and some were probably thinking how they’d rather be back in bed. It was just another day at yet another tournament, and maybe a few were thinking about somewhere else they’d rather be this July day. After all, a season can be wearing after a while.
But I thought about that little girl, and what she wouldn’t give to spend just one day doing what these girls were taking for granted. Just one day to be able to run out onto a freshly dragged and lined field, feel the heat coming up off the infield dirt, and get her uniform dirty diving after a pop fly that’s falling short Just one day to step up to the plate and face a pitcher bringing some serious heat. But I knew it was never to be.
I thought about telling this story to my players but decided against it. It just didn’t seem like the time to tell it. I feared instead of inspiring the girls it might bring them down. You never know how people will react. We went on to lose that Sunday morning game, getting blown out after a good start. We went home early, and I will admit I was rather bummed about our inability to play to the level we can this weekend.
Then in the evening the second thought hit me. What would that little girl have given to be be the coach of a team that got run ruled on that Sunday morning? To be making up lineups, calling defenses, giving signals from the third base coach’s box on a bright and sunny July morning? I realized then that my problems were small, and instead of feeling sorry for myself that I should be thankful for the opportunity to do what I do.
I don’t know who that girl is, or what team she was there to watch. But I feel lucky that I had the chance to see her. She helped me gain a little perspective on an otherwise disappointing weekend. If she can smile and be happy to be a part of this great game, I should remember to do the same.
Conditioning without conditioning
As I watch and hear about various practices, it’s amazing to me how much practice time gets wasted on pure conditioning. For example, coaches will have their players line up on a foul line, then have them run endless rounds of 60′ sprints. In the meantime, the clock is ticking and you’re not solving any of your other softball-related concerns, such as throwing and catching.
Now don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I don’t see the value of conditioning. I do. I wouldn’t be checking out the Softball Performance web site all the time if I didn’t. But when you’re in-season, or even preparing for the season, running to run is just wasting time. Don’t even get me started on distance running!
Last night we ran a drill that on the surface is aimed at improving our ability to throw and catch on the run. It’s a variation of the four corners drill, where you set a player on each base and throw the ball around. Normally when this drill is run you stack two or three players at each base and alternate. Sometimes you throw to the left and run to the right, or throw right and run left to the next base to get a little movement in. But with two or three players waiting at the next base there’s no sense of urgency to get there, and the running is more of a job.
So we took it down to its bare essentials. One player on each base, throw left and run right. Now it’s a sprint, because that ball can get thrown around the bases a lot faster than anyone can jog. Depending on where you are, you barely have enough time to get there.
We ran the drill three times with each group. Do the math. Four sprints, three times each, equals 12 sprints. To make sure they were full sprints, we timed each set with a stopwatch, and on the third go-’round we offered a prize (a page of coupons to Dick’s Sporting Goods that I’d gotten for free) to each participant on the winning team. Later we used different people for baserunners in a fielding drill, which increased the amount of running considerably. But never, at any time, did we say “now it’s time for conditioning.” Everything was done within a softball context.
Imagine trying to motivate your team to run 20, 25, 30 sprints just for the sake of conditioning. You could find yourself mightily challenged. But put it into the right context and you won’t have to motivate them. They will motivate themselves and each other. And you’ll improve the conditioning of your athletes.
Knowing what’s coming
I was just reading one of Dave’s posts on the Girls Fastpitch Softball, and he hit on something that drives me crazy too: the way hitters will stand and watch good pitches go by for no reason.
Now, if you’re facing a pitcher throwing 65 mph with good movement and a change of speed, and you’re used to hitting 55 mph or less with little or no movement, it’s understandable that you might be a little overwhelmed. I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about standing there taking perfectly good and hittable pitches coming in at a comfortable speed. It just makes no sense.
Now, I am an advocate of the Mike Epstein “get a good pitch to hit” philosophy. With a 0-0 count there’s no need to swing at a pitch you don’t hit particularly well. But if you let yourself get into a hole with an 0-2 count, your odds of getting a good hit decrease dramatically. Even MLB players hit sub-.200 with an 0-2 count, and they’re theoretically the best in the world.
Younger pitchers (and their coaches) tend to be obsessed with throwing strikes. Throwing a ball is considered a bad thing, and throwing two in a row usually gets action out in the bullpen. That’s a risk-averse mentality but a lot of people have it. That can be an advantage to a hitter if she knows how to deal with it.
If you’re not one of the first two hitters in the lineup, you should have a pretty good idea of what and where the pitcher is throwing by the time you come up to the plate. If you start out by looking for that pitch, you’ll give yourself an advantage. It’s like blackjack players counting cards in a casino. You only gain a 2% edge over the house, but if you’re smart about your approach it should be enough to carry out some cash.
The first thing to look at is does the pitcher tend to throw high or low? As a pitching coach I can tell you that pitchers are generally taught to keep the ball low. See if she mostly throws waist-high or below. That’s something that’s easy to tell from the on-deck circle, or even from the dugout. If she always starts out with a low pitch, you can cut the strike zone you’re trying to cover in half. Especially if you see that when she tries to go high she tends to throw a ball.
The next thing to look at is whether she tends to go inside, outside, or middle early in the count. The odds are she’ll be looking to go outside first, because most hitters don’t like that pitch and will let it go. But it’s not a certainty. Watch the catcher’s glove and see where she’s getting the ball. Middle is a gimme, so if you can see that she’s throwing mostly inside or outside you can cut the remaining strike zone in half. Now you’re looking for a pitch in 25% of the zone you were before. If she is consistent with her placement, and you’ve observed correctly, you can be looking for the ball in a particular spot as though she announced the location to you. That’s a nice advantage to have.
Suppose your observation tells you the pitch will likely be low and outside, and you don’t like that pitch. Well, you can let it go, but then your covered strike zone gets bigger. Instead, if outside is what bothers you move in closer to the plate and turn that outside pitch into a de facto down the middle pitch. Forget the plate, just see the ball coming down the pipe and pop it! If she likes to start inside, try backing off the plate to give yourself a little more time to get around on the ball. Don’t forget, you don’t have to start there. You can line yourself up normally, and then as she starts her windup creep in or out a bit. Just be sure to give yourself enough time to get set.
The changeup is another tough one. A good change will tend to freeze a hitter who’s not expecting it. But here’s where observation can help you again. First, look to see if she throws it on the same pitch count, then look to see if every batter sees one. If she’s throwing it to everyone, you may want to plan for it, and simply wait until she throws it to crank it. You can also look to see if she telegraphs it, either by playing with the grip, shortening her arm circle, or slowing down the arm. I watched an opposing pitcher last night give away her speed on all pitchers by her arm speed. If you can recognize the subtleties you’ll have a pretty good clue as to what’s coming.
For movement pitches, try to train yourself to recognize the spin. It requires a lot more focus and concentration than the average fastpitch player gives to her at bats, but it does make a difference. Ask your team’s pitchers how they throw movement pitches, or maybe volunteer to catch for them, so you can get used to seeing the motion and the spin. It definitely helps.
Hitting is still a low-percentage activity. Succeeding 3 out of 10 times makes you an All-Star. But you can help increase your odds by paying attention to what the pitcher is doing, learning her patterns, and narrowing down your happy zone. After all, it’s a lot easier to react to a sudden movement if you know what’s coming.
Trackbacks are temporarily closed
Just wanted to let everyone know that I have temporarily closed trackbacks for this blog. Ol’ Coach Ken was getting tired of having to delete robot-generated trackback notices for porn sites and wonder drugs from his e-mail.
I may open them back up after a couple of weeks. But for now, just remember on your own to give credit where it’s due. Thanks!
It’s about time to end the time limits
Over the weekend the Mundelein Thunder 16U team I coached played in an NSA World Series qualifier. The rules for the tournament stated that no new inning could start after one hour and fifteen minutes. Not just in pool play but in bracket play too.
That is just insane. The time elapsed to play one fastpitch softball game from beginning to end was less than that for a youth soccer, hockey, or basketball game. That’s just not right. All of those sports by nature have a clock, with natural breaks (quarters or halves) to reset strategy and make substitutions. They’re oriented toward a clock, and cutting out a little time per period doesn’t have a huge impact on the game.
Putting a clock on softball does. After all, as George Carlin says, it’s a pastoral sport played in a park. Or as Yogi Berra said, it ain’t over ’til it’s over. When you put a time limit on softball, especially one as short as 75 minutes, you have changed the essential nature of the game.
If you are dedicated to giving your players the opportunity to play (as I am), rather than the opportunity to watch their friends win trophies, a 75 minute time limit is particularly tough to deal with. You have to be ready to make substitutions around the 35 minute mark. Not so bad if you’re the home team. But if you’re the visitors and want to sub when you go on defense, some kids aren’t going to play very much. I find that managing the time is far more stressful than managing the game.
But even if you’re not trying to squeeze in all your players it can still be rough. Some teams, for whatever reason, take a little while to get going. By they time they’re hitting on all cylinders the game is over or nearly so. They never get a chance to establish their rhythm, wear down their opponents, or get the feel of the game. It’s wham, bam, thank you ma’am, clear the dugouts so the next team can get in. It definitely favors the team with the biggest, strongest pitcher since hitters sometimes need a couple of at bats before they can zone in on the pitcher. Hey, it took Arizona three full games to figure out Monica Abbott.
This is a phenomenon peculiar to summer ball. High school games can (and sometimes do) go on forever, as two worthy opponents slug it out. College games are the same, as is youth league play.
It’s tempting to say the time limit is driven by greedy tournament directors trying to squeeze 10 lbs. of teams in a 5 lb. facility. But that’s not necessarily true, at least in the majority of cases. What it probably points to more is a lack of adequate facilities to host these summer tournaments.
Not sure what the answer is, but after experiencing it this weekend I think all tournament directors should be required to post what the time limits will be where they have the entry information. That way coaches can at least make an informed decision BEFORE they’ve committed their teams and their budgets. As a postscipt, I once took a team to a tournament where the 1:15 time limit was cut to an hour because of rain the day before. Needless to say I’ve never gone back there.
At the high school level and above, two solid teams can complete a game in 1:30 to 1:45. If you have to have a time limit, use one of those. An hour and fifteen minutes doesn’t serve anyone well.
Pitch movement in the WCWS
Is it just me, or are the pitches in the WCWS not moving as much as the announcers are saying? I’ve been watching on a DVR, and when they show a view from behind the catcher I’ve been putting it into super slow motion.
I already knew the rise ball doesn’t really rise at the end. In fact, it seems like with the better pitchers it sort of flattens out at the end. But watching even curves and screws it seems like there hasn’t been a lot of pronounced movement. Especially with Monica Abbott. I really thing she’s throwing hard and fairly straight rather than getting late breaking movement. Whatever she’s been doing has been effective, but I don’t think it’s movement.
Maybe it’s an illusion with the DVR, but often I don’t even see the ball having the correct spin. I just watched a supposed screwball have a spin more like a curve ball. It didn’t seem to break much either way.
Take nothing away from these pitchers. Both are terrific. But if you watch closely, are you really seeing a lot of ball movement?
Sacrificing speed for control
Here’s another one that’s said a lot that drives me crazy. A pitcher will be in pitching a game. Apparently couldn’t find the plate if it was made uranium and she had a Geiger counter, so her coach advises her to “slow it down and throw strikes” or something to that effect.
I understand why it’s being said. If your pitcher keeps walking everyone it’s going to be tough to win the game. But having your pitcher slow down her motion in order to gain control is extremely counter-productive, both for her and for the team. If she has been working very hard to learn to be an effective pitcher, asking her to completely change what she’s doing is going to set her back. You’d actually be better off taking her out and putting someone else in there. After all, if speed doesn’t matter and you just want strikes, that isn’t that tough of a goal. You can put pretty much anyone in there to lob meatballs in order to avoid the almighty walk.
What got me thinking about this one is an article that re-ran recently in a business newspaper called Investors Business Daily, or IBD for short. In addition to the usual business articles about corporations and such they like to run articles about leadership and success. It just so happened that I picked up the issue where they were talking about a particular major league baseball pitcher who had the very same problem we’re discussing. He threw hard, but he was wild.
According to the article, when the pitcher had been in the league a couple of years “He’d go six or seven innings, throw 160 pitches, walk seven guys, strike out 15.” His strikeout-to-walk ratio ran close to 1:1 for several years, starting in the minors and continuing to the majors. He could chuck his fastball in the high 90s, which helped keep his ERA low (and kept him in the majors) but it could go anywhere. Think Nuke Lalouche in Bull Durham. He was also advised to slow down and get the ball over, ut he kept working at it, making changes in his mechanics to improve his control instead. It took a while, but he eventually harnessed his speed, and in six years made four All-Star teams, finished in the top 10 in Cy Young award voting five times (winning one) and dominated the game. The pitcher’s name? Randy Johnson.
In the same article, pitching coach Brent Strom is quoted as saying “With a pitcher like Johnson, who throws very hard but wild, you’re better off letting him be wild for a while. There’s a saying: ‘The best way to ruin a pitcher is to try and make him a pitcher.’ We take these guys who are a little wild, and we immediately want to slow them down to get more control. Invariably guys go from throwing 98-99 mph and wild to 91 and still wild. Taking away what a pitcher does best is the wrong thing to do.”
Yes, it can be hard to watch the girl you thought would be your ace walking half the Western world in a single game. But assuming she is practicing and taking lessons to learn her craft, you’re not doing her any favors by telling her to slow down. All you’re doing is taking away the one thing in her that made you want her in the first place.
Control is not a goal. It’s not something you have to work at separately. It is a result of good mechanics plain and simple. Encourage your pitchers to use their bodies properly to throw the ball and you’ll see plenty of strikes. Maybe not today, but it will happen if they work at it properly.
And don’t even bother telling her to “just throw strikes.” That’s a waste of breath, because unless she’s just emerged from a cave for the first time ever she knows she’s supposed to be throwing strikes. It’s just a lot harder than it looks.
You are what you practice
There is a warm-up drill I’ve seen many teams use that I just don’t get. Basically, two lines of players stand facing each other, their feet firmly planted in the ground. They then throw the ball back and forth between partners, rotating their trunks and shoulders. Generally speaking, they also chit-chat with one another as they perform this drill.
Now, I get what the drill is supposed to accomplish. It’s supposed to stretch the trunk muscles and get the shoulders involved in throwing. What it is actually doing, though, is teaching players to throw face-on and flat-footed — often times with their weight on their heels. Then coaches wonder why, at a critical moment in the game, their players try to make a quick throw flat-footed from their heels.
Think about it. What do we coaches always stress in working with our players? Muscle memory. It’s how we justify making them do boring reptitions of the same skills. “You have to build muscle memory” we say as they hit their 100th ball off a tee or throw their 100th pitch in a practice session. With enough proper repetitions, they no longer have to think about the skill. They just execute it automatically.
Well, muscle memory doesn’t know a good drill from a bad drill. So if players stand flat-footed facing each other and throw by only moving their trunks and shoulders, what are they building? That’s right — muscle memory. And that’s what they’ll call on when they need to make a throw.
It makes a lot more sense to practice a skill the way you want it executed in a game. Especially if you’re warming up to play one. For throwing, that means shuffling your feet to put your body into a sideways position so you know how to find it when you need it. Players should be practicing quick footwork during warmups, not no footwork, so they have the skills they need. Doing anything else, especially before a game, just doesn’t make sense.
This is not to say this drill has no value at all. It’s a good beginner drill to teach young players to rotate their upper bodies — although I prefer they do it from their knees to separate the drill from the standard throwing motion. But once they understand how to use their shoulders you’re a lot better off having them start sideways and throw through with a proper motion.
The other reason teams sometimes use this drill is for a dynamic warmup of the upper body. But that’s something you can also accomplish with standard stretching. When it’s time to throw, then throw — the way you expect it to be done in a game. You will be what you practice. Practice for success.
Kudos where they are due
In my opinion, one of the toughest things to do is keep your cool in the middle of an important game, especially when your season is on the line. A couple of key errors, a bad pitch, hitting into an untimely double play, or any of a dozen other things can cause even the best coaches to melt down, lose faith, or hang their heads. Not that I’m putting myself into the “best coaches” category, but I know I’ve had that meltdown.
That potential was there in the HS game I was watching today. A couple of throwing errors in the top of the 13th inning that led to two runs could’ve caused the wheels to come off the wagon. But they didn’t. Instead, I watched the coaches keep the girls in the game, and believe they could come back. Which they did, plating three runs on three hits in the bottom of the inning to earn the victory. Two of the hits were by players who made the throwing errors, and a two-run double came from the #8 hitter. That’s what makes it so impressive.
I readily admit I can be a bit(?) judgmental on other coaches from time to time. But I can also recognize a job well done. Tonight I saw a textbook example of the difference a coaching staff can make in the toughest part of the game – the mental game. Kudos to both coaches for helping their team do what it takes to win.
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 