USSSA pitching distance moving to 43 feet
This morning I received an email from USSSA announcing that, effective immediately, the pitching distance for 15U and above is now 43 feet. The decision is a reaction to the National Federation, the high school sports ruling body, moving the pitching distance to 43 feet for varsity. I have a few thoughts about this move (as you might expect).
One is kudos to USSSA for sending an announcement out directly to coaches instead of making us hunt for it on their Web site — which is what ASA typically does. Nice to see an organization actually using more modern technology to disseminate their information.
The second is amusement that high school softball is essentially dictating what summer ball does. For all the talk everyone puts out about how high school ball is a joke, it’s not as important as summer ball, blah blah blah it seems that the summer folks actually do put a priority on high school ball. Actions speak louder than words, boys and girls.
I can also see where pitching coaches (including me) are going to have some dilemmas this off-season. The key one is what distance to use when working with your pitchers. If ASA, NSA, Pony, NAFA, AFA and whatever other sanctioning bodies out there don’t follow suit, it’s going to be tough to know how to practice. There are some adjustments that need to be made going from 40 feet to 43 feet, and some pitchers adjust better than others. It’s conceivable that a pitcher will pitch a tournament one weekend from 40, the next from 43, and so on. (Or maybe even from 46 feet like my pitchers did at one tournament where the umpire didn’t know how the field had been set and assumed that the far pitching rubber was the right one.)
Of course, that dilemma already exists for high school age kids. Should a freshman practice at 40 feet, which is likely to be the frosh/JV distance, or should she assume she’s going varsity and practice at 43 feet? The longer distance doesn’t become mandatory in high school until the 2010-2011 school year, but Illinois has already adopted it for varsity.
It’s all very confusing right now. I expect that eventually it will all be standardized, and the distance will be 43 feet from freshman/15U up for everyone. Then the 12U and 14U pitchers will get better and soon everyone will be there, except 10U pitchers who will move to 40 feet.
I say why not get it over with and just have all pitchers pitch from second base like Eddie Feigner used to? Then they won’t need to wear masks, and you’ll have fewer ground balls getting through the middle.
Silver lining in the IOC’s decision?
I’ve noticed traffic has been down on the blog a bit this week. Hopefully just a combination of the people who’d be most interested being on vacation this week after concluding their summer seasons and the fact that I’ve been a bit lax on posting lately. This topic, though, ought to stimulate some conversation because it’s somewhat controversial.
First of all, let me add my voice to those who are sorry to see softball pretty much shut out of the 2016 Olympics. I know it’s not quite dead yet, but my guess is the final vote is just a formality. It was fun seeing our sport in the world’s most popular international athletic forum, and I’m sure it was a thrill for those selected to represent their country. That being said…
I can’t help but wonder if this decision will actually help the NPF. Think about it.
First of all, one of the biggest draws the NPF has are the “name” players — the Cats, the Jennies, the Jessicas, etc. During an Olympic year, those top players are absent from their NPF teams, which may hurt attendance. Not amongst the hard-core faithful, perhaps, but from the broader fan base they need to sustain a league. Yes, I know one of the reasons they have that popularity is the Olympics. But as long as ESPN continues to cover the WCWS and events such as the KFC World Cup brought to you by Six Flags, that popularity will still be there. They don’t have to establish now, they just have to sustain.
Secondly, eliminating softball from the Olympics means one less place you can go to see high-level competition among post-college players. That makes the NPF that much more important. If the NPF is smart, they’ll find a way to play up on that fact. Respectfully, of course. But where else can the average fan go to see that level of quality?
Finally, with Olympic squads limited to 15 players (or whatever the actual number is), it’s tough for players to get the opportunity to participate. But with a vibrant and growing NPF, many more girls would have the opportunity to compete at that level. Maybe the teams would get enough money to provide locker rooms at all the parks. Perhaps USA Softball or the major TV networks will give it more attention and invest some promotional money to help it grow and thrive.
So perhaps a door has been shut, but a window has been opened. It remains to be seen if anyone will take advantage of it. And if there isa vibrant and popular NPF, maybe it will convince the IOC to reexamine the issue down the road.
Mundelein Thunder 16U looking for players
We have a new 16U team forming with the Mundelein Thunder (Mundelein, Illinois) and we’re looking for a few good players to round out the team. I am the coach, by the way.
If you’re 16U eligible and looking for a change, or perhaps more opportunity to see the field, or otherwise want to change your stars, send me an email — coachken@softballsuccess.com.
A cue for hitters who are dropping their hands
Dropping the hands is a fairly common problem among young hitters. I personally think some of that is due to the number of coaches telling their hitters to “throw your hands at the ball,” and part of it is telling them to “swing level,” which translates in their heads to “level to the ground.” But mostly it’s probably just a natural reaction to trying to hit a moving ball with a moving bat.
Tonight I was working with a girl who was doing just that. She was trying to hit a thigh-high pitch, but her hands were coming down so low that there wasn’t much angle to her bat. I wanted her to make sure she was keeping her hands above the ball, but saying that just didn’t seem to make sense to her. So I told her to keep her hands above her waist, and just lower the bat to get to the ball.
Bingo! That seemed to work. She went from hitting bouncing ground balls to driving line drives and pounding some deep fly balls. She continued to hit through the ball consistently.
I don’t know if it will work for everybody, but it certainly worked tonight — probably because it was specific and measurable. Saying keep your hands above the ball requires judgment. Saying keep your hands above your waist (or bellybutton) is a lot easier to understand and execute.
The quiet wheel gets the shaft
Heard this one from a friend the other day. His daughter was playing on a travel team this year, and despite her good performance she didn’t seem to be getting a lot of playing time. I don’t think this is the case of a father not evaluating his daughter’s capabilities fairly, because if anything he tends to be tough on her.
Anyway, as a former coach himself he didn’t want to cause any problems. But after a season of less than optimal playing time, particularly at her preferred position, he decided to ask the coach what his daughter needed to work on to increase her playing time. The coach’s response was that he thought she was a very good player, maybe the best at that position, but the other girl who plays it (and/or her father) would cause a lot of problems if he cut her playing time. Since my friend never complained it was easier for the coach to sit his daughter instead.
I can understand it in a way. No coach wants to put up with a lot of grief from parents so it’s tempting to take the easy way out. But it’s still wrong. All you’re doing by going that route is rewarding (and encouraging) bad behavior. Yes, the squeaky wheel often tends to get the grease. But in so doing you’re encouraging the players (and parents) you really want to go elsewhere.
As difficult as it can be in the short term, it’s important to act with integrity to support the long term. There are lots of criteria you can use to determine playing time — best nine players, even playing time, development of players at a position, etc. Who would complain the most if they don’t get their way shouldn’t be on the list.
FYI Blue, the strike zone is described in the rule book
Just had to bring this one up after finishing up the season. The rule book of every major organization takes the time and ink to print its definition of the strike zone in its respective rule book. So why do some umpires feel they need to develop and call their own strike zones?
This past weekend we had one umpire in particular who was just unbelievable. His strike zone appeared to be the size and shape of a shoebox. Not even a good pair of Timberlands either. More like a pair of pumps from the Junior Miss area.
We were in the field, our pitcher threw a pitch that crossed the plate above the knees. The Blue called it a ball. We asked where the pitch was and he indicated it was too low. He also wasn’t calling anything on the outside corner, and God forbid you should let the ball get any higher than the waistband. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of room, especially for a finesse pitcher. What you wind up with is a lot of easily hit balls.
As reminder to the men and women in blue, the strike zone extends from the top of the knees to the armpits, and from one side of the plate to the other. The entire ball does not have to cross the plate to be a strike. As long as some part of the ball passes some part of the plate within the height detailed above it is a strike. That also means if you see a curve ball that actually curves as it crosses the front part of the plate, if it nips the plate it is a strike. Also, the height is determined by where the ball crosses the plate, not by where it is caught by the catcher. In other words, if a drop ball crosses above the knees while over the plate and winds up on the ground behind the plate, it is a strike.
I know a lot of you know it, and call it that way to the best of your ability. I also know it’s not easy to do — I’ve done it. I hope that when you work with someone who decides the book rule isn’t good enough for him or her and decides to redefine the strike zone you will say something — either to the UIC, or to whoever runs the scheduling. The game is a lot more fun when you let the players play it.
Luck: it all depends on your perspective
You’ll need to stay with me for a bit on this one to get to the softball point. But I promise there will be one.
Yesterday, coming home from a tournament where we didn’t do particularly well (to say the least) a more serious disaster struck. While driving on cruise control down I-70 in Ohio, the car’s engine started to race wildly. I crossed three lanes to pull over on the side of the road and disengaged the cruise control. Then I tried to pull back onto the highway — only nothing happened. The engine revved, but the car didn’t go anywhere. It quickly became apparent that we had gone as far as we were going to go. We called for roadside service, the car was towed, and we wound up in a Hampton Inn in Englewood, Ohio. (Nice little town if any of you are from there, by the way.)
Today we got the bad word. As I suspected, the transmission was shot. Apparently Mazda Tributes have some known issues with their transmissions. Unfortunately with this particular one, it also affected the cooling system; we have to replace both the transmission and the radiator, and flush the cooling system. Looks like it will cost us about $4,000 or more. Not only that, we had to leave it there while we rented a car to come home.
It would be very easy to say “what terrible luck,” and in some ways you’d be right. A $4,000 car repair bill, plus the cost of a rental car and a hotel room for the night is not exactly what we were hoping for out of Sunday. But there’s also another way of looking at it. I’ve been thinking about all the things that were lucky about it. Here are a few examples:
* We weren’t on our way to a game. I carry the team equipment. Had the breakdown occurred during the tournament rather than afterward the team would’ve been hosed, especially since we only had 10 players with us and one was injured during the tournament.
* We were traveling down a major highway. On the way down I followed the GPS, which took us through every little town in Indiana and Ohio. I chose to go back down I-70, which made us a lot easier to find, and made for a much shorter tow.
* Another of our players (Carla) and her family had hung back to watch a friend play in the same tournament. As a result, my daughter Kimmie was able to go home with them Sunday night since they were kind enough to stop and pick her up.
* We broke down close to a nice hotel. It was a nice room, and my wife and I were able to hit the pool, take a nice walk, and spend some quality time together after a hectic softball season.
* Thanks to a helpful shuttle van driver, we were able to find a rental car for half the price we’d seen online and were able to get home today.
So in a lot of ways we were actually very lucky. It all depends on how you look at it.
The same can occur with a softball team, or a softball season. Things may seem bad, and you may want to cry “woe is me.” But if you stop and take a look at it from another perspective, you may find things are actually better than they seem. Maybe that error at a critical time is just the inspiration you need to work a little harder and improve. Maybe a baserunning mistake that costs you a game today becomes the teaching moment that allows you to win a more important game down the road. You just never know.
So when things look their darkest, do your best to find the positive. It may take a little while, but it will pay off in the end.
Thank you all — mission accomplished (trophy update)
Today’s entry is to share some good news. Thanks in no small part to the people who read this blog and participate in the Discuss Fastpitch Forum, today I finally received the trophy I’ve been waiting for since July 2008.
Thanks to all who wrote, called or otherwise sent a message to help shake it loose. I truly do appreciate your taking the time to help me out. Power to the People!
Also thanks to Steve Verive who marshalled this through on his end. He personally dropped it off at my home today, and made sure everything was taken care of.
By the way, I have taken down the previous post since it’s no longer necessary. Again, thank you to all who helped out. You guys are the best!
Feeling better about my team’s hitting
Over the past couple of weekends our team has been struggling at the plate. It’s not that we’ve been overpowered by great pitching for the most part. In fact, I’d say the pitching overall has been on the weak side. But in spite of that we’ve been popping up and hitting a lot of weak ground balls. It’s been maddening, really.
So tonight I’m watching the KFC World Cup series — USA v. Australia. USA got up 3-1 early, and was in command of the game. Then Australia brought in a relief pitcher, a girl throwing a lot of pitches in the low 50s, with a few in the high 50s. So what do you think happened?
The USA has hit five straight weak pop-ups. They are really struggling with the off-speed and general junk.
These are some of the best hitters in the world, and they’re having trouble making the adjustment — doing exactly what we were doing. Somehow I suspect they’ll get through it quicker, but I guess tonight I’m seeing it can happen to anyone. I’m feeling a little better about our difficulties adjusting. But just a little!
Nice problem to have
I am currently watching the championship game of the KFC World Cup series — USA v Australia. Eric Collins and Michele Smith were just talking about the decision to pitch Monica Abbott instead of Cat Osterman in this game.
Let’s face it. Don’t you wish you had that decision to make? I wonder if Jay Miller agonizes over it? I also wonder if he worries about the confidence of one or the other, or whether one of them will be upset if she doesn’t get the ball? Still, that’s a great problem to have. And he didn’t even think about Jennie Finch, apparently. She’s over at first base and unlikely to pitch. Imagine having Jennie Finch and not even thinking about pitching her.
Must be nice!
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 