Stop the Drama on the Field

Stop the Drama on the Field

By Stacie Mahoe

If you have drama in your life, chances are you bring it on yourself. I recently saw another example of the effect of "drama." This time it was in the online business world. No fist fight broke out seeing as how the drama was all carried out online, but there were insults, attacks, name calling - all your basic drama. Interestingly enough, the drama stopped. How? One party manned-up and admitted they were wrong. They admitted that the situation should have been handled privately instead of in a public forum like internet pages. They admitted that they should have contacted the person they were upset with, and talked about how each side had so many other things to do than be involved in drama. This party also talked about the fact that if you stay away from the NEGATIVE and stay focused on the POSTIVE you'll have much greater success in whatever you do.

You see, the "keep the drama off the field" concept is not only a lesson for your softball team. This is a lesson for life AND business.

There's also something else I want to mention. Often times people who DO bring their personal life into public areas end up saying something like, "This has nothing to do with you, you should keep your mouth shut and stay out of it."

Well, that's true. Your personal life isn't the business of your teammates....until you choose to bring it on to the field with you. At that point, you've made the conscious choice to make your personal business the business of everyone on the team because now your personal issues have invaded team time and space. So if you want everyone to "stay out of your business" do not bring NEGATIVE personal issues onto the field with you. This includes any negative comments, actions, or opinions about others on the team. If you have a personal problem with your left fielder, keep it personal and keep it private. If you keep it personal, your short stop or your pitcher or anyone else has no say in how you handle that issue.

However, if you decide to bring those personal issues up in any way shape or form during softball time, you've just made it the entire team's business. Personal drama has no place on the softball field and you are not being the best softball player you can be if you bring it there. Once you bring it into softball time and space, it IS everyone's business and you give up the right to tell others to stay out of it and keep their mouths shut. Great players find a way to leave personal issues off the field so that they can perform at their best day in and day out. They also find a way to help their teammates do the same regardless of how they feel about them personally. Remember, you'll have much greater success if you stay focused on the positive and let the negative go.

by Stacie Mahoe
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Fun Softball Practice Drills

Fun Softball Practice Drills

By Becky Wittenburg

Many softball players believe that practice always involves doing things that aren't fun. However, there are many fun softball practice drills that can be done. Not only are these drills fun but they're also beneficial. Three such drills are - Knock Barney off the Can, Pickle, and Beat the Ball.

Knock Barney off the Can

This drill involves hitting a stuffed Barney (the purple dinosaur some kids love) off of a garbage can that’s turned upside down. A player stands about 50 feet from Barney and all the other players line-up behind her.

The coach should then hit a grounder to that player. That player has to field the ball and then try to hit Barney with the throw. A little prize can be awarded to any player who is successful.

Of course there can be many other fun softball practice drills that are similar to this but use a different object or a different stuffed animal. As long as it works on a player’s fielding and throwing accuracy the drill will work great.

Pickle

For this drill players need to be divided into groups of three. In each group there will be a runner and two fielders. The fielders will line-up on bases that are placed up to sixty feet apart. The runner will begin on one of the bases.

Then the fielders will first throw a grounder to each other and then a pop fly to each other. During one of the four turns (two grounders and two pop flies), the runner has to try to advance to the other base.

Once the runner gets thrown out three times or steals three bases, the runner becomes a fielder and one of the fielders becomes the runner.

This drill gives the runner practice trying to steal a base and it helps the fielders work on fielding grounder and pop flies, throwing, and applying a tag.

Beat the Ball

This drill needs to be done on the base pads. The catcher lines-up behind the plate with a ball and a player takes each base. Then a player starts at the plate and will run around all the bases.

On the coach’s signal, the runner takes off. Meanwhile, the catcher must throw the ball to third base, receive a throw back, throw the ball to second base, receive the ball back, and then throw to first. The first basemen will then throw the ball back to the catcher, receive the throw back and then throw to each of the bases.

This continues until all 4 defensive players have taken their turn throwing to every base and home plate. This should happen before the runner makes it around the bases twice.

This fun softball drill helps work on every major facet of the game - running bases, catching, and throwing - except hitting.

Practice Can be Fun!

Practice doesn’t have to be boring and tough all the time. There are plenty of fun softball practice drills to add some excitement and entertainment. Most of these drills are beneficial too. Three such drills are Knock Barney Off the Can, Pickle, and Beat the Ball.

Coach Becky has been coaching softball for well over a decade. She's constantly on the lookout for new softball practice drills You can get instant access to a sample of her softball practice plans by visiting her website:
SoftballSpot.com

For a limited time, all coaches who visit Becky's site will also get a free copy of her special report: "The 7 Biggest Mistakes Softball Coaches Make". Go get your free copy today!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Becky_Wittenburg

Best Softball Bats Secret - Find Out Why Your Team Needs the Top Softball Bat This Season

Best Softball Bats Secret - Find Out Why Your Team Needs the Top Softball Bat This Season

By Peter Westwood

So your softball team didn't make the playoffs last season. There is always next year right? Well next year is upon us. Are you going to make the same mistakes as last season. The truth is in softball if you don't come to the game with one of the best softball bats then you've lost before you've even threw the first pitch. Bringing a 100 hundred dollar Sports Authority Easton, or Mizuno bat to the game is like bringing a knife to a gun fight. I am going to break down why you need the very best softball bats for your team and how it will help you make the playoffs.

The Best Softball Bats Have Pop! Turn your field into Coors Field by buying the top softball bat. The better the bat the bigger the sweet spot. The Bigger the sweet spot the bigger the pop. Chicks dig the long ball because the long ball wins ball games. If you can turn your fly outs to round trippers then your team is going to score a lot of runs and in slow pitch softball scoring runs wins games.

The Best Softball Bats Stretch The Field! The more times you burn the outfield deep the farther back they are going to play. If you NEVER burn them deep then they will move in. You do not want this to happen. If you have a top softball bat that can back them up then your team will be rewarded by turning little fly out bloops into base hits. Cheap base hits turn quick innings into marathons. This is the kind of advantage a top softball bat can bring to the table.

The Best Softball Bats Last Longer! What you probably don't know is that bats have a limited amount of shelf life. Meaning after a certain number of hits the bat dies. This is true for all bats. But the truth is that the top softball bats last longer. So while you might save money now on a cheap 100 Easton or Mizuno Modells Stick you will end up losing out in the long run. So Don't be cheap. Buy the top softball bat and help your team win games.

Below is a link to the best softball bats. Check them out and seriously consider picking one up and make this year the year you win it all.

Tired of flying out to the outfield. Beat them deep this season with the best softball bats.

Click here to see which 2009 bat is the top softball bat!

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Softball Bat Rolling - How Does it Work

www.SoftballrUs.com


You just bought a brand new composite bat and are holding it admiringly in your hands. What is is made from and what does composite really mean? Also, why does bat rolling make a composite bat so much better? Can't they make a composite bat that doesn't have to be rolled, but rather comes right off the assembly line as good as it will ever be?

By Josephine Maxten

You just bought a brand new composite bat and are holding it admiringly in your hands. What is is made from and what does composite really mean? Also, why does bat rolling make a composite bat so much better? Can't they make a composite bat that doesn't have to be rolled, but rather comes right off the assembly line as good as it will ever be?

Wahat Does Composite Mean?

The actual word "composite" refers to a substance or product that is made from more than one ingredient. Metal bats are not composite bats, because they are made entirely from metal. Composite bats however; are made from graphite fibers and a polymer that is used to bind the fibers together as one unit in a linear fashion.

Graphite Fibers

A polymer, is a resin or glue that requires that more than one ingredient be mixed together to create a reaction. When a polymer resin and graphite fibers are used to make a composite bat, the results are great, because the fibers are long and strong and everything is solidly bound together tightly by the polimer.

A Solid Finished Product

However; while the manufacturing process for a composite bat works great the composite materials in the finished product are in fact a little too tightly bound. By nature of the materials that are used it is impossible to avoid this during the manufacturing process.

A Much More Even Break in

By rolling the bat repeatedly between to hard rubber wheels, some of the graphite fibers inside of the bat are ever so slightly freed up to become more springier. At the same time the integrity of the outside of the bat is completely unaffected. The result is that the bat will be completely broken in in a much more even and well distributed fashion.

Article written by Josephine Maxten. Find out more details on Bat Rolling and we also give you the top info on Composite Softball Bat Rolling.

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