What’s in your coach’s bag?
Most coaches have a bag or two they use to carry various items. Typically, one bag has items such as lineup cards, a clipboard, maybe an eraseable board to post the lineup, a scorebook, pens and pencils and assorted other items. The other bag might carry a glove, an extra ball or two, a stopwatch and maybe a bat.
But after nearly 15 years of coaching, I’ve found there are a host of other items that can come in handy. Throw them in your bag and, like a Boy Scout, you should be prepared for just about anything.
- Dandelion puller — This tool comes in handy if you’re using the breakaway bases with the thin post. A little dirt gets in there after a slide and the base won’t sit right. If there’s no ground crew around, the dandelion puller will help you.
- Resin bag — On a hot, humid day it can be tough for pitchers to get a good grip on the ball. A resin bag can help keep the pitching hand dry. Some pitchers like them whether it’s hot or not because it helps them get a little extra spin on the ball.
- Towel — Into ever life a little rain must fall. Every coach should have a towel handy to dry off the ball when it gets wet. Sure beats using your shirt.
- Duct tape — You folks from the South know what I’m talking about. Duct tape can fix just about anything. Have a shoe falling apart? Duct tape it. Lineup board blowing around on a windy day? Duct tape it. Water bottle leaking? Duct tape it. Is there anything it can’t do?
- Glove repair kit — In a perfect world, all your players would take great care of their equipment and inspect it regularly. Doesn’t happen. You can’t do much about a dented bat, but if a player comes to you with a broken glove what are you going to do? Loan her a glove she’s not familiar with? Not good. But if you have a lace pulling kit you can make a quick repair and get her back on her way. Be sure to have some spare lacing just in case it isn’t just out but broken.
- Glove cream — Ok, so she decides to get a new glove and it’s not broken in. You can help get her on her way with a little glove cream. Just remember to do it after the game or practice, not before.
- Tape measure — I have been on fields that just didn’t quite look right. But unless you can prove the pitching rubber is set too far or too close, or the bases are the wrong distance, you can’t get it corrected. A 100′ tape measure doesn’t take up much room, but it can be a life saver. It’s also good for measuring pitching distances during warn-ups, too.
- Spare batting gloves — Let’s face it — kids lose things. If one of your hitters loses a batting glove you can come to the rescue with a loaner.
- Sunscreen — You need it yourself, but also make sure your players are wearing it. If they don’t have any you can loan them yours.
- Insect repellent — Shouldn’t need it during the day, but if you’re playing at dusk, or on a field with lights, you’ll be glad you have it.
- Fold-up jacket or poncho — When the rain starts you’ll want to be protected. After all, you’re not 14 anymore.
Those are many of the things in my bag. What’s in yours? Did I miss anything? If so, add them to the comments below.
Interesting experience at a tournament
So, this weekend we were at a tournament and had an interesting experience. Thought I’d share and see if this was just localized or whether others are experiencing it as well.
The tournament started on a Friday night. I got there early to watch a couple of teams I knew play and it started right away. The pitcher threw the ball, and immediately the base umpire called “Illegal pitch.” Couldn’t say I disagreed with the call — I saw it too. But as the game progressed, it started looking a little ridiculous. There were multiple calls on things that weren’t so obvious. But I figured maybe it was just that game, or that umpire.
Then we got to our game. Our starting pitcher was called for an illegal pitch, and I was confused. I know this girl and she doesn’t leap. Apparently, though, she brought her hands together twice. I didn’t see it, but the call was made by the base ump, who was a young female. Our pitcher was also called for an illegal pitch because she adjusted her face mask and didn’t wipe her hand on her pants. The umpire thought she went to her mouth, so an illegal pitch was called and the baserunners advanced.
Later we put in another pitcher, and SHE was called for using a resin bag without wiping her hand afterward. It was the darndest thing I’ve ever seen. It became so aggravating I finally yelled “C’mon Blue, let ’em play.”
Apparently we weren’t the only ones who experienced it, though. I’m not sure what happened, but I’m guessing a few coaches tracked down the tournament director or the umpire in chief and complained about the incessant calls. The reason I think so is that from Saturday on, I didn’t hear a single illegal pitch called — and I certainly saw a few. There were definitely some leaps and crow hops, and I have little doubt some of the other ticky-tacky stuff was still going on too. I also never saw the young female umpire from Friday night the rest of the tournament.
You all know that I am all in favor of enforcing the pitching rules. But there is a point where it gets to be ridiculous. I had the feeling that the base umpires I saw were so busy watching the pitchers that they wouldn’t have caught a runner leaving early if it happened right in front of them. At some point it also gets in the way of the game itself.
The rules are there to make the game fair — so one team doesn’t gain an unfair advantage. A pitcher licking her fingers or using a resin bag to get a better grip on the ball on a humid day and on a dusty field isn’t gaining an advantage in my opinion. A pitcher adjusting her face mask isn’t either.
At some point, especially in a youth tournament, a little discretion has to be used. If you’re going to call everything to the letter, let teams know that ahead of time so they can make an informed decision. But don’t be surprised if you don’t get a lot of sign-ups, because if you look hard enough you can find something illegal in just about every pitcher. Fortunately in this case someone figured it out and the rest of the tournament was fine. As far as I know, none of the coaches had a problem with illegal pitches not being called either. For those who want emphatic rule enforcement, be careful what you wish for. It’s not as much fun as you might think.
Are the new, hotter bats killing the short game?
I don’t know about you, but it sure seems to me like the short game — traditionally one of the key strategies as well as one of the things that separates fastpitch softball from baseball — is going the way of wood bats. Certainly the most recent Women’s College World Series is evidence of that. Those games used to be 2-1 or even 1-0 10-inning affairs, not 15-9 blowouts. But you can even see it at the local level on ballfields all over country.
While more hitting instruction and moving the pitching rubber back have certainly contributed to more of a focus on power, I think there’s more to it than that. I can’t help but wonder if the newest, hottest bats don’t have something to do with it too. Not just the fact that a 5’2″, 95 lb. girl with a weak swing can drive a ball to a 200′ fence these days. But that the bats themselves are making it more difficult to be successful bunting. 
Consider how much the ball jumps off the bat on a regular swing. If you hit the sweet spot it flies. Now consider that many girls without good training also try to bunt the ball off the sweet spot (instead of the end of the bat as they should). What do you think happens when a hard pitch hits the sweet spot on a bunt? It goes too far, making the ball easier to field and the short game less successful.
You still can bunt with these new, hotter bats. But it takes more work. You have to pull back and “catch” the ball with the bat (instead of pushing out at it). And you have to use the end of the bat, which is a deader part of the bat and thus won’t hit the ball as far.
This is not a new technique. It’s been a standard part of bunting for at least as long as I’ve been coaching, and I’m sure for many years before that. But with the new bat technology it has become a lot more critical.
A good short game is still important to long-term success. Make the adjustment and you’ll have some great weapons at your disposal.
Gaining an advantage on base
In fastpitch softball, it’s not always easy to get runners on base. That’s why you need to take advantage of the situation as much as you can.
Many coaches like to bunt as soon as they get a runner on base, giving up an out to advance the runner 60 feet. As regular readers know, I’m not a big fan of that, especially since it only increases your chances of scoring by two percent.
Still, it would be nice to get that runner moved. So how do you do it? Sometimes you have the hitter bunt for what hopefully turns out to be a hit. That takes a lot of practice and a lot of discipline. But there is another way. You can take advantage of the pitcher.
The key is your baserunners have to change the way they watch the game. Most runners tend to take their leads, and then watch to see what happens at the plate. That’s too late. Instead, they should be watching the pitch out of the pitcher’s hand and taking advantage of what they see.
For example, if the pitcher has a great change a baserunner who can recognize it can bolt immediately for the next base as soon as they recognize it, hopefully before it’s halfway to the plate. What does that do?
Consider a pitcher throwing 55 mph, with a 40 mph change. While that change is on its way to the plate, the runner is running, and there’s nothing the catcher can do until the ball makes its way there. Do that a couple of times on changeups and not only are you likely to advance some runners for free, your hitters probably won’t have to worry too much about a change of speed when there are runners on base.
Another thing to watch for is the pitch that’s on its way to the dirt. It’s good if your hitters recognize when a ball is hitting the dirt and take off. It’s better if they realize halfway there that it’s going to hit the dirt and take off before it actually happens. It may throw the catcher off, forcing her to try to throw the ball before she has it. If it doesn’t, she still has to block it and then make the throw on a runner who is 10-15 feet further than she would’ve been if she waited.
It definitely takes some practice, but it’s worth the effort. Just remember to reward your runners for their aggressiveness!
Another great story of softball sportsmanship
A friend of mine turned me on to this story today. I think it’s one that everyone involved in our sport of fastpitch softball should read, because it’s both a positive message and the epitome of what sports can be when we take egos out of it.
The basic story is about a top-level high school softball team that had a game scheduled against an underprivileged school that was just starting a softball program. It had all the makings of a horrible blowout. But instead, the coach of the top-level school made a decision to take it in another direction. I don’t want to say more because I don’t want to give away such a heartwarming story. But it’s definitely worth a read.
Here in the Northern suburbs of Chicago there’s a team that’s very similar to the have-nots. They have very little budget, the families can’t afford good equipment or private lessons, and most of the girls have never played fastpitch softball before they step onto the varsity field. Most games end with them being run ruled by a huge score in the minimum amount of innings. Several area coaches use those games to help their kids pad their stats, and they proudly report the scores and how they got there as if it was a great accomplishment.
I hope some of our local high school coaches read this story and get an idea of something else they can do the next time their team meets the have-nots. The whole sport would be better for it.
If you’re going to umpire, know the rules
This weekend the team I’m coaching with now played its first tournament. (We managed a third place finish, but that’s a story for another day.) The tournament was put on by a local umpiring association, and it was an ASA Northern Nationals qualifier. So you’d expect that we would be playing by ASA rules, and that the umpires would know them backward and forward. No such luck.
Twice today we were told by the umpire in the pre-game meeting that no courtesy runners were allowed for the pitcher and catcher now that we were in bracket play. (We’d had continuous batting in pool play, so the courtesy runner was the last batted out.) The first time, our head coach went back to the umpire after she talked to me and asked about it again. He insisted no courtesy runners were allowed, so we played without them. I didn’t get it since they said we were playing by ASA rules, but whatever.
In game two the umpire correctly allowed courtesy runners. They had to be a player not in the game.
Then in game three the Blue once again told both coaches no courtesy runners were allowed. The opposing team batted first and got a pitcher or catcher on base. The first base coach asked the third base coach about a courtesy, and the third base coach made some gestures indicating it was possibly a sore point with the umpire.
Well, I’d had enough. I left the dugout to find the umpire in charge (UIC). I found him, and asked if we are playing under ASA rules. The UIC said yes, so I asked why we weren’t allowed courtesy runners. He said we were, so I asked him to inform the umpire on our field about it. He did, and we got to use our courtesies going forward.
But what I want to know is how could not one but two umpires at a tournament run by umpires not know the rules? The second guy pretended that what we got to was what he meant, but it was obvious to our head coach that he didn’t. I think that’s shameful, especially on something so basic. The courtesy runner rule has been around for many years now so it should be known by all. Even if different associations use different rules they should know in ASA ball that you can run for the pitcher and catcher at any point.
I thought they did a good job on the other aspects of the game, but this was ridiculous. Thank goodness the UIC was willing to come over and make the correction, because it was around 90 degrees today.
Knowing the rules is a pretty basic requirement. Hopefully we won’t have to deal with THAT again.
Coach learns a valuable lesson about the men in blue
Got an email today from the mom of one of my students about something that happened in a tournament. She wanted to know if I would talk to her daughter’s coach Kevin about it. I was a little concerned at first, but no need. She actually likes the coach, and it turns out he’s a fan of this blog. Of course I said “sure” — I would’ve done that even if he wasn’t a reader — and then waited for the call.
When he called he told me what happened. His team was at a tournament, and during a close game he noticed that the opposing pitcher was starting with one foot behind the rubber instead of both feet touching. Being the sort that believes people should play within the rules, he decided to bring it up to the umpiring crew — average age approximately 20. Yep, you guessed it. Big mistake.
The field and plate umps talked with him, and then the field ump declared the pitcher wasn’t doing anything illegal. Or at least he couldn’t see anything illegal about it. (He said the back foot was pretty obviously off, and I trust him on it, so it was more of a choice than an inability to see it.)
The next half-inning when his team took the field it started. The field umpire waited until the other team had a runner on base, then called his pitcher (my student) for crow hopping. Not once but twice, advancing the runner to third. Guess he showed Kevin!
I know this student very well, and she doesn’t crow hop. She may get a little airborne from time to time, which would be a leap, but you’d have to be looking awfully close to see it, and it’s nothing she does all the time. If the field umpire couldn’t see the other pitcher starting with her foot off the rubber, it’s unlikely he saw whether Kevin’s pitcher was leaping or not.
There was one other part to the story. Kevin told me there was a rather large rut coming off the pitching rubber, thanks to a general lack of field maintenance. So it’s possible that Kevin’s pitcher wasn’t even illegal since a pitcher is allowed to have her foot off the ground (level with where the ground would’ve been) if there’s rut.
The conclusion he came to was he probably shouldn’t have said anything about the other pitcher. It’s likely the umpire took exception to him bringing it up and decided to make him pay for it. (There’s also a possibility he got “homered” although he didn’t have any way of knowing for sure.)
Bummer, but such is life. Good umpires know coaches questioning things is part of the game and let it roll off their backs. After 15 years of coaching and never being successful in getting even an obvious illegal pitch called, I’d say it’s not worth it. If you see it, learn to let it go and hope the folks in blue care enough to keep the game fair and the playing field level. Thanks to Kevin for allowing me to share this story. And Kevin, if you’re reading this and have anything to add, be sure to leave a comment. The rest of you too!
Slappers don’t seem to be getting the advantage they should
Ever since we upgraded our cable package I’ve the opportunity to see a lot more fastpitch softball games on TV. Since most teams have at least a couple if not several slappers, I’ve had the chance to see many of them in action. It has led to an interesting observation.
My understanding of the advantage of slapping is that the hitter starts a couple of steps closer to first and gets a running start toward the bag. Now, the first part is a function of the setup of the field. The left-hand batter’s box is a little closer to first than the right-hand box, so no problem there.
It’s the second part that strikes me as odd. A lot of the slappers I’ve seen sort of walk to the front of the box, take a swing, then start running. As a result, they’re not really getting a running start. In fact, most seems to be pretty much standing in one spot when they make contact. So where’s the advantage. If they’re going to just stand there, why bother with the slapping technique? Might as well just set up in the front of the box and swing away.
Slapping is a difficult technique to pull off well. So if you’re going to go to that effort, might as well get the full advantage out of it. The more you can be at a full (or nearly full) run, the faster you’ll get up the line and the more pressure you’ll put on the defense. So despite what the old song says, run don’t walk when you slap.
I love it when the training takes hold
Had one of those experiences that makes a coach feel good — and guilty at the same time. We had a game today, with me coaching third.
We had runners on first and third, and there was a wild pitch. I sent the runner, who is not exactly fast, home as I could see the ball was slowly rolling back to the screen. I could see it was going to be a close play, so I stood there watching it like everyone else. The runner was safe at home on the toss. I then looked toward third, where I saw the runner who had been on first halfway between second and third, looking like she was not exactly sure if she should keep coming. I motioned for her to come and she was safe with no play.
It was a real heads-up play on the runner on first’s part. We’ve been talking about runners using their heads and making judgments on their own. We’ve also been talking about not settling for one base when you can get two. It was cool to see it actually happen.
The only negative was on me. While the play at home was going on, I stood their like a spectator. All I was missing was a box of popcorn and a Diet Coke. What I SHOULD have been doing was ignoring the play at home and looking to the trailing runner. Luckily, the runner was doing her job, even if I wasn’t.
With the A-Team movie coming up, I only have one thing to say about today’s play: I love it when a plan comes together!
Is Softball a Team Sport?
Guest post by Mike Hanscom
Softball is often a series of 1:1 battles. The pitcher against the batter or the runner against the fielder. I always used to say it was a team sport, because everyone else did too. Then I started coaching and realized it is all about individual match-ups and got away from believing it was a team sport. All you need to do is get a bunch of good individuals on the field at the same time so you can win more of those individual battles and then you will dominate, right? I mean, if you win more of those 1:1 battles, how could you not dominate?
I would watch the opponents warm up and know when their individuals were better than ours, or vice versa. I always knew the outcome of that game long before we played it, until we actually played it and it ended differently than I expected. For those games I would sit there afterwards trying to figure out what happened and why. I could pick out that certain player that made the critical error and privately put the blame on them, or on the #4 batter who struck out 3 times, or our pitcher who didn’t strike anyone out or the runner who got thrown out at the plate. There was always another reason nagging at me but I usually ignored it.
That feeling that I would ignore was the underlying feeling that we outplayed them as a team or vice versa. I wasn’t sure what that meant though – this sport is a bunch of individual battles – not a team effort. Seriously, how many players really get involved on a typical play? The pitcher pitches, the batter hits it, the fielder gloves it and throws to first. Four players on the average play, but it was all sequential. Nothing like football where you have running backs and lineman going one way and blocking just so you peel back and throw the opposite direction to a WR down the field. That’s at least 8-9 of the 11 players all doing things at one time to protect the QB, misdirect the defense, free up the WR – now that is teamwork!
Luckily I was an assistant then and simply helped out where I could, and luckily I had other coaches to help show me what it meant to be a team before I became a head coach. I realized that the feeling I was ignoring was the ability to have each player moving at the same time to accomplish a specific task.
I previously only saw the 4 players in the typical play. Now I was understanding that what I was missing was the right fielder moving to back-up the throw, the left and center fielders running to back-up the SS, the 2nd baseman covering 2nd in case the ball gets away and the runner continues to 2nd, the catcher yelling where to go with the ball, the third baseman staying close to the SS in case the ball caroms off the SS.
That is 8-9 out of 9 players involved on the play. Huh, now that is teamwork! That is what I’ve been feeling! Those good teams, they are the ones who have it all synchronized, their players are on the same page and move on every play – nobody is just standing there. Softball isn’t just about teaching the typical play, it is about teaching the kids how to plan for mistakes and what to do when mistakes happen – because they WILL happen. Sounds like a life-lesson if you can teach them to do that for life too.
It is teamwork that prevents the big innings, the big errors. If your left fielder isn’t backing up SS, how far does that grounder that went through the SS’s legs roll and where does that runner stop? Does she score because of it? With teamwork that runner stops at first.
Teamwork is that sac bunt that moves a runner over to get her closer to home to try to get that winning run in. It is that solid hit off the pitcher that gets the bats going because hitting is contagious. It is the batter who struck out on 3 pitches, who comes back to the dugout with her head held high (as opposed to sulking or crying) and tells the next batter what pitches to expect or how they move so she now has a better chance to get those bats going. It is that 2nd baseman yelling the runner is going so the catcher knows to throw her out. It is that catcher acting as a field general yelling where plays are to go that enable good plays to happen. It is the 1st baseman going out for a cut-off to prevent the tying run from coming in. If your kids are doing these types of things on a regular basis, then you are coaching a team and not a group of individuals.
You can see it in the teams that have good teamwork – there is a flow to them with how they warm up, how they encourage each other, how they huddle, how they communicate with each other on the field, how they know where to be in each situation.
Some say it is good coaching, I say it is teamwork, I say it is attitude. Some kids don’t get it – they are there for themselves and don’t care about the team and you can usually see those attitudes from far away. They are the ones standing there without a role after the play has broken down.
You know the kids who have the team attitude and give the extra effort. Not in stretching a single into a double, but the ones who help the other players become better players, team players. Those are the ones who help define that group as a team. They are the kids who others listen to and want to learn from, not necessarily in technique, but in how to make the group of kids work together as a synchronized unit, as a team. You need those kids to help the team be the best it can be. They are the ones who in the end can make the difference between winning and losing.
So if you feel you have a good group of individuals on your squad, then you are probably winning games because you win more of those individual battles (or a bunch of those games if you have that untouchable pitcher and you only need to score one run per game). Are you dominating though, or at least winning the ones you should? If not, then take a look at your kids and decide if you have a group of individuals or a team. If you have a group of individuals, then find those kids who can help you make it a team and get them working on it. If you are one of the better clubs in your area, then I bet you already have those team players on your team and are one of the better teams out there.
