Softball Coaching Tips
By Marc Dagenais
Take a look at the following situations. First, you know one of your players is doing something wrong with his pitching, but you can't exactly point out what the problem is. Or you'd like to find out why your batter seems to hit the sweet spot most of the time. You ask him about it, and all he can tell you is that that's the way he's been doing it since he was a kid.
It's frustrating, right? To give your players accurate feedback on their performance, you also need an accurate instrument to observe it. And what simple yet better way to do it than performing a video analysis of your players' game?
But let's get deeper into that. There are several reasons why you should do this, which I'm sharing with you in these softball coaching tips.
It helps you analyze your players' game closely
Because you can slow down videos of your players' performance, you can look at how they do things a lot more closely. Slowing down their throws or bats, helps you detect the tiny nuances of their actions. And even the minutest of adjustments can make a world of difference to your players.
You can repeat it over and over again
You can only make your players do so many rounds of pitches before they start complaining. So, instead of doing that just to analyze their game, perform a video analysis of their pitch. Now all you need is just several samples of their pitch, watch them, and rewind them. You can do hours of analysis without wearing your players down.
It's cheap
With new models of video cameras coming out several times per year, the old ones - usually just a year old - quickly gets cheaper. And since you don't really need a very high quality video for your video analysis, you can get year-old cameras to do the job. With the level of sophistication of these devices, you'll find most of your recording needs covered already. Well, that's just the basic record, rewind, and play buttons of course.
It's straightforward
Video cameras aren't just cheap, they're now simpler and easier to use. Gone are the days when huge and bulky cameras were the norm. Now you have lightweight cameras. Some even feature touch screens which make things easier for you to understand. So, even if you're a technophobe, there's no reason why you shouldn't use these cameras.
Or if you know how to hook your video camera to your computer, you can save your data there, so you can do your video analysis even when you're on the road. Fantastic, right?
So unless you're living under a rock, or aren't really serious about softball coaching, then, you should start investing on a simple video rig. Analyzing videos of your players' performance makes things a lot simpler for you. Aside from that, it eliminates the guesswork involved in relying just on your sight to do the job.
Marc Dagenais is a softball peak performance coach that helps softball players and coaches improves their game by sharing with them the tips and strategies used by the world's best softball players and coaches to achieve extraordinary performances. Visit his site and sign-up to get his FREE softball hitting tips!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marc_Dagenais
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3090135
Showing posts with label Softball Coaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Softball Coaching. Show all posts
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Monday, July 18, 2011
Fastpitch Softball Pitching Tips and Drills - The Killer Rise - The Best Pitch In Softball
Fastpitch Softball Pitching Tips and Drills - The Killer Rise - The Best Pitch In Softball
Uploaded by mavenvideo http://www.mavenvideo.com - Softball pitching drills and tips on how to create essential techniques for hurling the most effective pitch in fast pitch softball by coach Bob Todd. This video is a preview from his full DVD from mavenvideo The Killer Rise with Bob Todd. Releasing 2010.
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Thursday, July 7, 2011
Fastpitch Softball Tips - Building Your Endurance
Fastpitch Softball Tips - Building Your Endurance
By guest author: Marc Dagenais
When you think about sports and endurance, the sports that will come to mind might include marathon and triathlon. But somehow, you never ever associate softball with sports that require players to have a good amount of endurance.
That's perfectly understandable because when you look at it, it seems that the only job of players are to stand up, run occasionally, and throw or hit the ball.
But endurance also plays an important role on softball. That's especially the case if we're talking about long stretches of games or games under the heat of the sun.
If you're a softball player wanting to increase your endurance on the field, here are some tips I have for you:
1. Condition your body. Building up your endurance takes time. If you don't live an active lifestyle, it may take several weeks of intense training before you can build up your endurance. Jogging, interval training and other cardio exercises will help you do that.
This part of your training could be boring if you do it alone. So try working out with your team or with a partner.
2. Keep your body well-hydrated. Dehydration and heat are the enemies of any type of athlete. When it's hot, your body tends to sweat more to keep your body cool. While it's good, it's downside is that you lose important fluids in your body in the process.
And don't just rely on thirst to tell you already need to drink fluids. Once you feel thirsty, it's already a signal from your body that its supply of fluids is already severely depleted. So don't wait until you get thirsty. Take sips of water or sports before and during the game to keep your fluid levels normal.
3. Get enough rest. It's easy to succumb to all-night partying when you're young because you feel that you never seem to run out of energy. But the lack of rest can lead to a deterioration in your performance. When you lack sleep, you deprive your body of the time to recover from the day's work and to repair or replace any damaged cells in your body. So keep your partying to a minimum, or avoid it altogether if you can do that.
4. Eat healthy. You might not like eating healthy, but it sure can do wonders to your body and your endurance. That's because eating healthy means you get enough supply of the necessary nutrients that your body needs to function well. And when you're healthy, you'll be able to stay longer in the game even if it stretches to several innings or you're playing under the heat of the sun.
So in fastpitch softball, if you want to last longer than your teammates and the competition during long or exceptionally hot games, you must work on building your endurance.
Again, here's how you do it: condition your body, keep your body well-hydrated, get enough rest and eat healthy. Try them out today and see how they positively affect your game.
Marc Dagneais is Softball Peak Performance Coach that helps softball players turn their athletic talent into extraordinary performances and help coaches get more out of their players, turn their struggling team around or get an edge over their opponents. Visit us to access our directory of FREE softball drills!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marc_Dagenais
=====================
Thanks to our sponsors:
SoftballrUs.com/FastpitchSoftballSupply.com is the ultimate online fastpitch softball online store. SoftballrUs.com has Batting Trainers,Pitching Training, Training Bats,Defensive Training Equipment,Coaching DVDs & Books, Softball Pitching Machines, Softball Complete Net & Frame Batting Cage Packages, Batting Cage Nets, Protective Practice Screens and Nets, and BatAction Hitting Machines, and much, much more. Visit Softballrus.com now!
By guest author: Marc Dagenais
When you think about sports and endurance, the sports that will come to mind might include marathon and triathlon. But somehow, you never ever associate softball with sports that require players to have a good amount of endurance.
That's perfectly understandable because when you look at it, it seems that the only job of players are to stand up, run occasionally, and throw or hit the ball.
But endurance also plays an important role on softball. That's especially the case if we're talking about long stretches of games or games under the heat of the sun.
If you're a softball player wanting to increase your endurance on the field, here are some tips I have for you:
1. Condition your body. Building up your endurance takes time. If you don't live an active lifestyle, it may take several weeks of intense training before you can build up your endurance. Jogging, interval training and other cardio exercises will help you do that.
This part of your training could be boring if you do it alone. So try working out with your team or with a partner.
2. Keep your body well-hydrated. Dehydration and heat are the enemies of any type of athlete. When it's hot, your body tends to sweat more to keep your body cool. While it's good, it's downside is that you lose important fluids in your body in the process.
And don't just rely on thirst to tell you already need to drink fluids. Once you feel thirsty, it's already a signal from your body that its supply of fluids is already severely depleted. So don't wait until you get thirsty. Take sips of water or sports before and during the game to keep your fluid levels normal.
3. Get enough rest. It's easy to succumb to all-night partying when you're young because you feel that you never seem to run out of energy. But the lack of rest can lead to a deterioration in your performance. When you lack sleep, you deprive your body of the time to recover from the day's work and to repair or replace any damaged cells in your body. So keep your partying to a minimum, or avoid it altogether if you can do that.
4. Eat healthy. You might not like eating healthy, but it sure can do wonders to your body and your endurance. That's because eating healthy means you get enough supply of the necessary nutrients that your body needs to function well. And when you're healthy, you'll be able to stay longer in the game even if it stretches to several innings or you're playing under the heat of the sun.
So in fastpitch softball, if you want to last longer than your teammates and the competition during long or exceptionally hot games, you must work on building your endurance.
Again, here's how you do it: condition your body, keep your body well-hydrated, get enough rest and eat healthy. Try them out today and see how they positively affect your game.
Marc Dagneais is Softball Peak Performance Coach that helps softball players turn their athletic talent into extraordinary performances and help coaches get more out of their players, turn their struggling team around or get an edge over their opponents. Visit us to access our directory of FREE softball drills!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marc_Dagenais
=====================
Thanks to our sponsors:
SoftballrUs.com/FastpitchSoftballSupply.com is the ultimate online fastpitch softball online store. SoftballrUs.com has Batting Trainers,Pitching Training, Training Bats,Defensive Training Equipment,Coaching DVDs & Books, Softball Pitching Machines, Softball Complete Net & Frame Batting Cage Packages, Batting Cage Nets, Protective Practice Screens and Nets, and BatAction Hitting Machines, and much, much more. Visit Softballrus.com now!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Fastpitch Hitting - Swing Like "the Best in the World"
Fastpitch Hitting - Swing Like "the Best in the World"
By guest author: Joe M White
Many people who follow fastpitch softball consider Jessica Mendoza to be the best all-around player, and best overall hitter in the world over the past several years.
Mendoza can do it all at the plate. She is a great bunter, a very effective slap hitter, and hits away for a very high batting average and with terrific power. In fact, baseball fans can compare Mendoza side-by-side with most any major league baseball hall-of-famer, and see that they swing the way she does.
Although Mendoza isn't the first fastpitch player to adopt a Rotational swing, she does it at least as well as anyone who's ever played. More and more fastpitch players are turning to her method of hitting. Increasingly, Division 1 college coaches are converting their players to Rotational hitting (for example, Mike Candera, Head Coach at the University of Arizona, whose teams have won 6 College World Series National Championships, is teaching a peculiar variation of Rotational hitting).
While softball players can continue to have success using the Linear method of hitting, there are reasons for the shift to Rotational.
A Very Short History
Many in the fastpitch community are under the impression that Rotational is relatively new, and that Linear hitting has always been the norm. Actually, Rotational hitting was introduced to Major League Baseball by Shoeless Joe Jackson in the early 20th century, and after Babe Ruth copied Jackson's method, it became the swing of about 95% of Major Leaguers until the introduction of synthetic turf on many Major League fields from the 1960's to the 1990's.
Those early synthetic turf fields were nearly as hard as concrete. Major League batting coaches quickly realized that ground balls hit on it moved so fast, that many balls that were routine ground outs on natural fields were hits on 'turf. Many that would have been outfield singles bounced so hard they became doubles or even triples. So many began to teach Linear hitting to their weaker hitters. And in many cases it worked.
(Most of the Big Leaguers who hit over.300 in those years, and nearly all the RBI and Home Run leaders, continued to be Rotational hitters. As synthetic turf disappeared from the Major Leagues, so did Linear hitting. There are very few nowadays, and although many still use Linear terms to describe their swing, they actually use Rotational swings.)
The increasing use of Linear hitting in MLB coincided with the introduction of lightweight aluminum and composite bats. These bats were not only much lighter than wood -- and so could be swung much faster -- they also had more "pop." The ball came off the bat harder and faster, so grounders hit with metal or composite bats got past infielders more often than with the old wood bats.
While MLB rejected Non-wood bats, they were quickly adopted by youth baseball leagues, middle and high schools, and the NCAA. Along with the bats, coaches at all these levels began to teach Linear hitting. Boys and young men who might have struggled with heavy wood bats became good or even above average hitters by using aluminum/composite bats and Linear hitting.
During all this, fastpitch softball experienced a rebirth as a game for women and girls. Fastpitch softball was originally played with wood bats, and Rotational hitting was the dominant method for both women and men playing the game. In fact, relatively few women played fastpitch until the 1970's.
As young ladies took up the game, they used aluminum and composite bats, for the same reason their male counterparts were. Most of their coaches were men -- dads -- who were enthusiastically embracing the cutting-edge Linear hitting movement. So most ladies learned Linear hitting, which tends to create more grounders as we'll see. Read more.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3214665
======================
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---BatAction Machine at CoachesBest.com
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By guest author: Joe M White
Many people who follow fastpitch softball consider Jessica Mendoza to be the best all-around player, and best overall hitter in the world over the past several years.
Mendoza can do it all at the plate. She is a great bunter, a very effective slap hitter, and hits away for a very high batting average and with terrific power. In fact, baseball fans can compare Mendoza side-by-side with most any major league baseball hall-of-famer, and see that they swing the way she does.
Although Mendoza isn't the first fastpitch player to adopt a Rotational swing, she does it at least as well as anyone who's ever played. More and more fastpitch players are turning to her method of hitting. Increasingly, Division 1 college coaches are converting their players to Rotational hitting (for example, Mike Candera, Head Coach at the University of Arizona, whose teams have won 6 College World Series National Championships, is teaching a peculiar variation of Rotational hitting).
While softball players can continue to have success using the Linear method of hitting, there are reasons for the shift to Rotational.
A Very Short History
Many in the fastpitch community are under the impression that Rotational is relatively new, and that Linear hitting has always been the norm. Actually, Rotational hitting was introduced to Major League Baseball by Shoeless Joe Jackson in the early 20th century, and after Babe Ruth copied Jackson's method, it became the swing of about 95% of Major Leaguers until the introduction of synthetic turf on many Major League fields from the 1960's to the 1990's.
Those early synthetic turf fields were nearly as hard as concrete. Major League batting coaches quickly realized that ground balls hit on it moved so fast, that many balls that were routine ground outs on natural fields were hits on 'turf. Many that would have been outfield singles bounced so hard they became doubles or even triples. So many began to teach Linear hitting to their weaker hitters. And in many cases it worked.
(Most of the Big Leaguers who hit over.300 in those years, and nearly all the RBI and Home Run leaders, continued to be Rotational hitters. As synthetic turf disappeared from the Major Leagues, so did Linear hitting. There are very few nowadays, and although many still use Linear terms to describe their swing, they actually use Rotational swings.)
The increasing use of Linear hitting in MLB coincided with the introduction of lightweight aluminum and composite bats. These bats were not only much lighter than wood -- and so could be swung much faster -- they also had more "pop." The ball came off the bat harder and faster, so grounders hit with metal or composite bats got past infielders more often than with the old wood bats.
While MLB rejected Non-wood bats, they were quickly adopted by youth baseball leagues, middle and high schools, and the NCAA. Along with the bats, coaches at all these levels began to teach Linear hitting. Boys and young men who might have struggled with heavy wood bats became good or even above average hitters by using aluminum/composite bats and Linear hitting.
During all this, fastpitch softball experienced a rebirth as a game for women and girls. Fastpitch softball was originally played with wood bats, and Rotational hitting was the dominant method for both women and men playing the game. In fact, relatively few women played fastpitch until the 1970's.
As young ladies took up the game, they used aluminum and composite bats, for the same reason their male counterparts were. Most of their coaches were men -- dads -- who were enthusiastically embracing the cutting-edge Linear hitting movement. So most ladies learned Linear hitting, which tends to create more grounders as we'll see. Read more.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3214665
======================
Thanks to our sponsors:
www.BatAction.com
---BatAction Machine at CoachesBest.com
---BatActionMachine on Ebay.com
---BatAction Machine Video Clips
---BatAction Trainer - 15 Reasons Why You Must Own This Machine
---Message to Parents From Coach Nick
---If you are looking for BatAction Replacement Balls or Power Bands Click Here
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
5 Tips for Coaching 8U Softball
5 Tips for Coaching 8U Softball
By guest author: Stacie Mahoe
Work within an 8U Attention Span
Players at the 8U level can get bored and distracted very easily. Keep them involved by splitting them up into smaller groups. Have coaches work with as few players as possible so that there is minimal standing in line time. If you don't mind parent help, ask parents to come out and help roll grounders, throw fly balls, or take care of other simple tasks. This can help move practice along and keep groups or stations small.
Everyone is Involved
Strive to have your players understand that even if it's not their turn, you expect them to be involved and pay attention. Explain that they can learn by watching their teammates do drills. They can also help their teammates by cheering them on. Just like in the game, even if it's not their turn to field or catch the ball they are still involved in the play (i.e. cover a base, let your teammate know where to throw, etc). Also make it clear that no one should be talking or playing games as they wait in line. You can explain that practice is similar to school, there is no talking simply because the focus is on someone else. No one should be talking when the coach is talking just as no one talks in school while the teacher is talking.
Take Away the Fear Factor
Many players in the 8U division will be learning many of the skills you teach for the first time. Obviously, this means they may not be able to correctly perform certain skills, catching a thrown ball for instance. If a player at this age gets hit with a ball they try to catch, they may become afraid of catching. If you've ever seen a scared player trying to catch a ball, you know that it's not likely. The shy away from the ball, they turn their head, or they close their eyes. None of these actions will help them get better at catching. Help them stop doing these things by taking away the "fear factor." You can do this by using wiffle balls, or even crumpled up paper balls until the player becomes confident in their own ability to catch a ball. An added bonus is the fact that a paper or wiffle ball often moves in flight. It does not travel in as straight a path as a regular softball. Therefore, if a player can learn to catch a curving paper or wiffle ball, catching a softball that travels in a straighter path should be relatively simple for them.
Cover fundamentals
Cover fundamentals over and over and over and over and over again. I think you get the idea. If a player learns nothing else this season, they should at least learn good throwing and/or fielding mechanics. I say "or" because everyone has a different learning curve and you may have that one player who, for whatever reason, masters skills at a much slower rate than usual. Fundamentals are also the basic building blocks these players will fall back to over and over again throughout their career if they begin struggling with a particular skill. If they never learn these fundamentals, they'll have no clue how to "get back on track" later on in their career when they need to.
Have Fun - this is not the Olympics
Last but not least, players at this age will play because it's fun, not because they see that they are the best in the league. Never underestimate the importance of enjoying the game. It's what keeps players coming back season after season, year after year. Keep the softball fire burning by making practice and game experiences fun!
For help on Keeping Softball Fun ~ don't forget to check out the e-book at All About Fastpitch.
Get more Free Softball Coaching Tips from Stacie at StacieMahoe.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stacie_Mahoe
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/234699
====================
Thanks to our sponsors:
Baseball2u.com/CoachesBest.com is the ultimate online baseball training and coaching store. With over 1400 products organized into categories Baseball2u.com makes finding that baseball training product easy and simple. Order securely online or by phone. Baseball2u.com is a fully licensed company and has a full time staff available from 8:00 to 5:00 CST. Their toll free customer service number is 1-877-431-4487.
The Categories they have are: BatAction Hitting Machines, Hurricane Hitting Machines, Batting Cages, Pitching Machines, Jugs Equipment, Game and Practice Baseballs, Protective Practice Screens and Nets, Portable Pitching Mounds, Baseball DVDs & Books, Clearance Items on Sales, NEDCO Bataction Replacement Parts, Baseball Training Equipment, Youth Baseball Training Equipment, Training Bats, Pitching & Throwing Trainers, Defensive Trainers, SKLZ Hurricane Replacement Parts and Much Much More! Visit Baseball2U.com today!
By guest author: Stacie Mahoe
Work within an 8U Attention Span
Players at the 8U level can get bored and distracted very easily. Keep them involved by splitting them up into smaller groups. Have coaches work with as few players as possible so that there is minimal standing in line time. If you don't mind parent help, ask parents to come out and help roll grounders, throw fly balls, or take care of other simple tasks. This can help move practice along and keep groups or stations small.
Everyone is Involved
Strive to have your players understand that even if it's not their turn, you expect them to be involved and pay attention. Explain that they can learn by watching their teammates do drills. They can also help their teammates by cheering them on. Just like in the game, even if it's not their turn to field or catch the ball they are still involved in the play (i.e. cover a base, let your teammate know where to throw, etc). Also make it clear that no one should be talking or playing games as they wait in line. You can explain that practice is similar to school, there is no talking simply because the focus is on someone else. No one should be talking when the coach is talking just as no one talks in school while the teacher is talking.
Take Away the Fear Factor
Many players in the 8U division will be learning many of the skills you teach for the first time. Obviously, this means they may not be able to correctly perform certain skills, catching a thrown ball for instance. If a player at this age gets hit with a ball they try to catch, they may become afraid of catching. If you've ever seen a scared player trying to catch a ball, you know that it's not likely. The shy away from the ball, they turn their head, or they close their eyes. None of these actions will help them get better at catching. Help them stop doing these things by taking away the "fear factor." You can do this by using wiffle balls, or even crumpled up paper balls until the player becomes confident in their own ability to catch a ball. An added bonus is the fact that a paper or wiffle ball often moves in flight. It does not travel in as straight a path as a regular softball. Therefore, if a player can learn to catch a curving paper or wiffle ball, catching a softball that travels in a straighter path should be relatively simple for them.
Cover fundamentals
Cover fundamentals over and over and over and over and over again. I think you get the idea. If a player learns nothing else this season, they should at least learn good throwing and/or fielding mechanics. I say "or" because everyone has a different learning curve and you may have that one player who, for whatever reason, masters skills at a much slower rate than usual. Fundamentals are also the basic building blocks these players will fall back to over and over again throughout their career if they begin struggling with a particular skill. If they never learn these fundamentals, they'll have no clue how to "get back on track" later on in their career when they need to.
Have Fun - this is not the Olympics
Last but not least, players at this age will play because it's fun, not because they see that they are the best in the league. Never underestimate the importance of enjoying the game. It's what keeps players coming back season after season, year after year. Keep the softball fire burning by making practice and game experiences fun!
For help on Keeping Softball Fun ~ don't forget to check out the e-book at All About Fastpitch.
Get more Free Softball Coaching Tips from Stacie at StacieMahoe.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stacie_Mahoe
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/234699
====================
Thanks to our sponsors:
Baseball2u.com/CoachesBest.com is the ultimate online baseball training and coaching store. With over 1400 products organized into categories Baseball2u.com makes finding that baseball training product easy and simple. Order securely online or by phone. Baseball2u.com is a fully licensed company and has a full time staff available from 8:00 to 5:00 CST. Their toll free customer service number is 1-877-431-4487.
The Categories they have are: BatAction Hitting Machines, Hurricane Hitting Machines, Batting Cages, Pitching Machines, Jugs Equipment, Game and Practice Baseballs, Protective Practice Screens and Nets, Portable Pitching Mounds, Baseball DVDs & Books, Clearance Items on Sales, NEDCO Bataction Replacement Parts, Baseball Training Equipment, Youth Baseball Training Equipment, Training Bats, Pitching & Throwing Trainers, Defensive Trainers, SKLZ Hurricane Replacement Parts and Much Much More! Visit Baseball2U.com today!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Softball Coaching - Tips for Leading Female Athletes
Softball Coaching - Tips for Leading Female Athletes
By guest author: Becky Wittenburg
Softball coaching can be difficult, no matter what age, ability level, or gender of the players. Coaches need to be aware of what their players are going through, both in the sport and out, so that they can build trusting relationships and lead the players to be their best.
Some female athletes face mental and physical struggles when they feel pressure to perform. Girls softball coaches should know the signs of these problems so that they can know when they need to step in and help, before the situation gets out of control.
Female Athlete Triad
Softball players who feel overstressed might develop the Female Athlete Triad, a syndrome of three combined disorders that result from over exercising and not taking in enough calories.
Disordered eating: this aspect of the Female Athlete Triad occurs when an athlete stops taking in enough calories. It can develop as an effort to get their weight down or as a way to deal with stress. Disordered eating can be in the form of anorexia, where the athlete stops eating enough food, or bulimia, where the athlete consumes food but then throws it up.
Amenorrhea: amenorrhea occurs when the athlete starts missing her menstrual cycle. Athletes who normally experience regular cycles may stop to menstruate if they no longer eat enough or if they are exercising too much.
Osteoporosis: this part of the Female Athlete Triad happens when the athlete's bones start to lose their density, becoming fragile and prone to breakage. It is related to, and worsened by, the other conditions in the syndrome.
The Female Athlete Triad is not only unhealthy, it can be extremely dangerous. Watch for signs that your players might be over exercising or under eating. Ask them questions about their lives and let them know you really want to listen. When a player seems particularly stressed, make sure she knows how to relieve the pressure in a healthy way.
Helpful Tips for Coaching Girls
Let them be involved, particularly in picking positions. Have tryouts for different positions every season so the athletes can show how they perform and have a chance to try something different.
Develop a relationship based on trust. Coaches need to trust their players, and players need to trust their coaches. This means that a coach needs to respect when an athlete says she needs to use the restroom and understand that women's bodies are different from men's. This also means that a player should trust that a coach has her best interest at heart when he asks her to push harder, try a new approach, or change her position.
Remember that softball is just a game, and it's supposed to be fun. Coaches and athletes need to work hard, but practice shouldn't be a dreaded thing. Drills can be both challenging and rewarding, and if a coach is able to keep things positive, players will learn the sport, perform well, and have a good time.
For more coaching tips and free softball drills, go here to watch a free video:
http://www.softball-spot.com/vid/
Becky Wittenburg is a kids softball coach, and the owner and publisher of Softball-Spot.com, the web's #1 resource for softball practice drills, tips, and coaching ideas for youth and high school coaches.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Becky_Wittenburg
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5217610
==================
Thanks to our sponsors:
SoftballrUs.com/FastpitchSoftballSupply.com is the ultimate online fastpitch softball online store. SoftballrUs.com has Batting Trainers,Pitching Training, Training Bats,Defensive Training Equipment,Coaching DVDs & Books, Softball Pitching Machines, Softball Complete Net & Frame Batting Cage Packages, Batting Cage Nets, Protective Practice Screens and Nets, and BatAction Hitting Machines, and much, much more. Visit Softballrus.com now!
By guest author: Becky Wittenburg
Softball coaching can be difficult, no matter what age, ability level, or gender of the players. Coaches need to be aware of what their players are going through, both in the sport and out, so that they can build trusting relationships and lead the players to be their best.
Some female athletes face mental and physical struggles when they feel pressure to perform. Girls softball coaches should know the signs of these problems so that they can know when they need to step in and help, before the situation gets out of control.
Female Athlete Triad
Softball players who feel overstressed might develop the Female Athlete Triad, a syndrome of three combined disorders that result from over exercising and not taking in enough calories.
Disordered eating: this aspect of the Female Athlete Triad occurs when an athlete stops taking in enough calories. It can develop as an effort to get their weight down or as a way to deal with stress. Disordered eating can be in the form of anorexia, where the athlete stops eating enough food, or bulimia, where the athlete consumes food but then throws it up.
Amenorrhea: amenorrhea occurs when the athlete starts missing her menstrual cycle. Athletes who normally experience regular cycles may stop to menstruate if they no longer eat enough or if they are exercising too much.
Osteoporosis: this part of the Female Athlete Triad happens when the athlete's bones start to lose their density, becoming fragile and prone to breakage. It is related to, and worsened by, the other conditions in the syndrome.
The Female Athlete Triad is not only unhealthy, it can be extremely dangerous. Watch for signs that your players might be over exercising or under eating. Ask them questions about their lives and let them know you really want to listen. When a player seems particularly stressed, make sure she knows how to relieve the pressure in a healthy way.
Helpful Tips for Coaching Girls
Let them be involved, particularly in picking positions. Have tryouts for different positions every season so the athletes can show how they perform and have a chance to try something different.
Develop a relationship based on trust. Coaches need to trust their players, and players need to trust their coaches. This means that a coach needs to respect when an athlete says she needs to use the restroom and understand that women's bodies are different from men's. This also means that a player should trust that a coach has her best interest at heart when he asks her to push harder, try a new approach, or change her position.
Remember that softball is just a game, and it's supposed to be fun. Coaches and athletes need to work hard, but practice shouldn't be a dreaded thing. Drills can be both challenging and rewarding, and if a coach is able to keep things positive, players will learn the sport, perform well, and have a good time.
For more coaching tips and free softball drills, go here to watch a free video:
http://www.softball-spot.com/vid/
Becky Wittenburg is a kids softball coach, and the owner and publisher of Softball-Spot.com, the web's #1 resource for softball practice drills, tips, and coaching ideas for youth and high school coaches.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Becky_Wittenburg
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5217610
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Sunday, March 21, 2010
Coach, Be Consistent
Coach, Be Consistent
By Stacie Mahoe
When you learn about raising children, you hear about consistency. When you learn about working with animals and training animals, you hear about consistency. This key of consistency also applies to coaching softball as well.
It's only fair to your players, not to mention vital for you, that you be consistent in your actions, words, rules, and discipline as a coach. Ground rules should always be laid out at the beginning of the season. These ground rules should also include potential disciplinary actions for when those rules are broken. Be sure that you do NOT set a consequence that you will not enforce. This carries the same effect as "empty threats" in parenting. When you fall into the trap of using "empty threats" the following things happen:
1. Your players know that you won't follow through and will push the envelope as far as possible
2. You are undermining your own credibility and believability because you haven't kept your word
3. Chances are, you'll respect or make it harder to gain the respect of your players.
Whenever you give your word as a coach, be it in speech or in writing, ALWAYS do your best to stick with it. If for whatever reason, you can't follow through, let your players know before hand and figure out what you need to do to make things right. If you don't make it a point to keep your word, players will begin taking what you say "with a grain of salt" because they won't know when you actually mean what you say and when you're just talking the talk without walking the walk. This is not a good situation for you to be in as a coach. If you're players don't believe you, how can you lead them?
Avoid making up rules and consequences as you go along. Clear guidelines and boundaries from the start make life much simpler for players, parents, and coaches. Be up front about what your expectations, your rules, your guidelines, and your consequences and follow through. Choosing to follow through only *sometimes* is only asking for trouble as a coach. Make sure your rules, guidelines, and consequences are reasonable enough for everyone, including you and your staff, to follow and abide by throughout the season. Be consistent. Consistency will save you and your team a lot of heartache and frustration.
by Stacie Mahoe
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Join Stacie's Coach of Action Academy at CoachOfAction.com for help with reaching your BIG coaching goals.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stacie_Mahoe
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Friday, March 19, 2010
Free Youth Softball Coaching Articles - Free Softball Drills
FastpitchSoftballSupply.com - We only do softball & we do it right!
Youth Softball Drills
[Recreation-and-Sports:Baseball] It's important that children find softball drills that they can use during practice sessions. In order to become better at their sport, youths need to learn through softball drills. This article has free softball drills that youths can use which will expand their skills and make them better athletes.
Girls Softball Drills
[Recreation-and-Sports:Baseball] These girls softball drills will give you a chance of becoming a dominant softball player and increase your performance on the field. Take the time to practice these fast pitch softball drills so you can become as good as you want to be.
Free Softball Practice Drills
[Recreation-and-Sports:Baseball] Fastpitch softball drills are a great way to bettering yourself as a player. These drills are a great resource for you to perfect old skills and acquire others that are necessary in order to become a dominant softball player. The free softball practice drills here, are great to use during practice because they are ideal for those sessions and they get most of the team involved in the exercise. Perhaps, best of all, they're free of charge!
SoftballrUs.com/FastpitchSoftballSupply.com is the ultimate online fastpitch softball online store. SoftballrUs.com has Batting Trainers,Pitching Training, Training Bats,Defensive Training Equipment,Coaching DVDs & Books, Softball Pitching Machines, Softball Complete Net & Frame Batting Cage Packages, Batting Cage Nets, Protective Practice Screens and Nets, and BatAction Hitting Machines, and much, much more. Visit Softballrus.com now!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Coaching Your Daughter's Softball Team for the First Time
By Jim Moyer
Finally, Spring is here and with it comes the beginning of Fastpitch Softball season for hundreds of thousands of little girls. Along with the start of Softball season also comes the recruitment of parents to become volunteer coaches. The FEAR, the anxiety, the hope that you don't lead your daughter's team to a winless season. Here’s the good news, like just about anything else, if the new coach will find a successful mentor the coach can quickly learn what skills and strategies need to be utilized to win. However, the large majority of new fastpitch coaches are dads that think since they played baseball 20 years ago they can easily transfer that knowledge to their team and be successful. After all, it's just a bunch of 7 & 8 year old girls, right? Wrong. To be successful the new coach not only has to coach his team, he must also out coach all of the other dad-coaches.
If you think coaching doesn’t make that big of a difference, then please explain how a coach went 93-4-2 over a 5 year period in 8U fastpitch softball while coaching his daughters. That’s a very impressive record no matter what age you are coaching. And don’t think for a moment that it was talent that led to that record. I’m talking about a team that every year lost half of it’s players to promotion to the older age group and had to pick up 6 or 7 brand new players…typically girls that had never played the game. So how could this one coach pile up 5 straight 1st place finishes and compile a winning percentage of .960%?
It boils down to great coaching and knowing what strategies work at different ages. That’s the only possible answer. For example, the three most important positions in 8U Softball are First Base, Pitcher and Second Base. As players get older it’s certainly true that talent can make a difference. But talent still has to be coached. An athletic player under a poor coach will never achieve her full potential. However, average talent can achieve superior levels under the guidance of a great coach.
Regarding offense, most new coaches tend to build a batting order similar to how professional baseball teams put together a batting order. That's a sure way to lose games in 8U softball. The best advice is to stagger the strong hitters with weaker hitters mixed in. That way your team is able to bat further into the lineup, allowing for a couple of outs, yet scoring the maximum number of runs allowed. Many new coaches also forget to teach the girls how to bunt the ball. The younger the team is the more important it is teach girls to bunt as it helps to build hand-eye coordination while allowing the player to contribute to the success of the team.
Finally, most new coaches don't know what training tools would be of greatest benefit to their team. Typically the league will issue a sack of softball gear that might include a couple of bats, a dozen balls, a few batting helmets, and some catcher's gear and the new coach never gives it a second thought. However, regardless of age every coach needs to have a sack of plastic poly balls and a hitting tee just to name a couple of training aides. In the younger age groups a coach might want to have two or more hitting tees so his team gets plenty of practice time swinging a bat. As for the poly balls, not only are they perfect for batting practice, but they are also perfect for learning how to catch pop flys in order to prevent injuries.
Good Luck to all of the new softball coaches. Don't assume you know it all, find a mentor, do some research, teach skills that are age appropriate, and have fun. It's going to be a great season of softball and one that your daughter will never forget since her dad was the coach.
Jim Moyer is the author of http://www.mysoftballcoach.com Having coached over 500 youth fastpitch softball games, Jim decided to put the information online to allow parent/coaches to draw on his unique experience.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Moyer
Finally, Spring is here and with it comes the beginning of Fastpitch Softball season for hundreds of thousands of little girls. Along with the start of Softball season also comes the recruitment of parents to become volunteer coaches. The FEAR, the anxiety, the hope that you don't lead your daughter's team to a winless season. Here’s the good news, like just about anything else, if the new coach will find a successful mentor the coach can quickly learn what skills and strategies need to be utilized to win. However, the large majority of new fastpitch coaches are dads that think since they played baseball 20 years ago they can easily transfer that knowledge to their team and be successful. After all, it's just a bunch of 7 & 8 year old girls, right? Wrong. To be successful the new coach not only has to coach his team, he must also out coach all of the other dad-coaches.
If you think coaching doesn’t make that big of a difference, then please explain how a coach went 93-4-2 over a 5 year period in 8U fastpitch softball while coaching his daughters. That’s a very impressive record no matter what age you are coaching. And don’t think for a moment that it was talent that led to that record. I’m talking about a team that every year lost half of it’s players to promotion to the older age group and had to pick up 6 or 7 brand new players…typically girls that had never played the game. So how could this one coach pile up 5 straight 1st place finishes and compile a winning percentage of .960%?
It boils down to great coaching and knowing what strategies work at different ages. That’s the only possible answer. For example, the three most important positions in 8U Softball are First Base, Pitcher and Second Base. As players get older it’s certainly true that talent can make a difference. But talent still has to be coached. An athletic player under a poor coach will never achieve her full potential. However, average talent can achieve superior levels under the guidance of a great coach.
Regarding offense, most new coaches tend to build a batting order similar to how professional baseball teams put together a batting order. That's a sure way to lose games in 8U softball. The best advice is to stagger the strong hitters with weaker hitters mixed in. That way your team is able to bat further into the lineup, allowing for a couple of outs, yet scoring the maximum number of runs allowed. Many new coaches also forget to teach the girls how to bunt the ball. The younger the team is the more important it is teach girls to bunt as it helps to build hand-eye coordination while allowing the player to contribute to the success of the team.
Finally, most new coaches don't know what training tools would be of greatest benefit to their team. Typically the league will issue a sack of softball gear that might include a couple of bats, a dozen balls, a few batting helmets, and some catcher's gear and the new coach never gives it a second thought. However, regardless of age every coach needs to have a sack of plastic poly balls and a hitting tee just to name a couple of training aides. In the younger age groups a coach might want to have two or more hitting tees so his team gets plenty of practice time swinging a bat. As for the poly balls, not only are they perfect for batting practice, but they are also perfect for learning how to catch pop flys in order to prevent injuries.
Good Luck to all of the new softball coaches. Don't assume you know it all, find a mentor, do some research, teach skills that are age appropriate, and have fun. It's going to be a great season of softball and one that your daughter will never forget since her dad was the coach.
Jim Moyer is the author of http://www.mysoftballcoach.com Having coached over 500 youth fastpitch softball games, Jim decided to put the information online to allow parent/coaches to draw on his unique experience.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Moyer
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