Welcome to the Fastpitch Softball Coaches Tip Blog. Our articles on coaching fast pitch softball, softball drills, softball hitting, and softball coaching will be informative and useful to all softball coaches.
Showing posts with label fastpitch softball mechanics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fastpitch softball mechanics. Show all posts
Advanced Fast Pitch Softball Hitting Drills with Crissy Rapp Uploaded by ClubHouseGas
On http://ClubHouseGAS.com , noted college player and coach, Chrissy Rapp teaches Casey Bass advance techniques of hitting for fast pitch softball. Also check-out http://YouthSportTravel.com
Coaching Your Daughter's Softball Team for the First Time By guest author: 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.
Softball Pitching - 4 Steps To Great Mechanics By guest author: Becky Wittenburg
Because softball pitching requires one fluid motion, it is difficult to coach it in terms of fundamentals. However, pitchers need to understand the proper mechanics in order to develop their pitching skills. If a pitcher is struggling with her delivery, then breaking the pitching motion down into its fundamental elements will help isolate and fix the problem. The following tips will help coaches and pitchers establish a firm pitching foundation.
The Windmill Method
The most popular delivery in fastpitch softball is currently the windmill method. In this underhand pitch, the pitcher's arm starts in front of her body, winds back, completes a full circle, releases the ball at the hip, and then follows through.
The windmill is more than just an arm motion, however; it requires a long stride that utilizes the legs and torso to generate more power. Both speed and the shift of weight play an important part in executing the windmill effectively, so pitchers should practice the motion to develop a comfortable rhythm. Maximum velocity and accuracy will only occur if all of the movements are in sync.
The Fundamentals: Grip
In fastpitch softball pitching, the grip on the ball depends on the type of pitch being thrown. How the pitcher holds the ball will direct the rotation of the ball and the way the wind interacts with the seams, which will in turn determine how fast the ball travels. For example, to throw a four-seam fastball, the pitcher will hold the ball so the laces form a letter "C," then place her fingers across the "C." For a two-seam fastball, the pitcher will hold the ball so the laces form a "U." Her pointer and ring fingers will each rest along a seam and the middle finger will go in between the seams.
With either delivery, the middle three fingers will be on top of the ball, with the pinkie tucked underneath and the thumb on the side of the ball. The ball should be held securely in the fingers, not against the palm of the hand.
The Fundamentals: Stance
A pitcher's stance is the position she assumes before beginning her wind-up. It can vary from pitcher to pitcher, but a player should have a basic stance that is consistent and comfortable for her.
She should begin by holding the ball in her glove and standing up straight at the pitcher's mound. Her lead foot, or throwing-side foot, should be on the rubber with the toes extended over the front edge. The rear foot toes should touch the back of the rubber. Her front leg should be straight while the back leg is slightly bent, and the feet should be just a little closer than shoulder-width apart. The pitcher should square her shoulders toward home plate, keeping her weight on the balls of her feet.
At this point in a game, the pitcher would look to the catcher for the signal while slightly shifting her weight forward. She would then visualize her pitch, take a deep breath, and begin her wind-up.
Completing the Pitch
In order to properly execute the pitch, the pitcher needs to develop her wind-up, stride, arm movement, and follow-through. Once she is comfortable with her grip and stance, continue the pitching lesson by introducing the pitching motion. Players often become overwhelmed at first, but by starting with the basics, coaches can guarantee understanding before moving on to developing more advanced skills, like an effective change-up.
And if you'd like to see more free softball pitching drills and coaching tips, go here to watch a free video:
http://www.softball-spot.com
Becky Wittenburg is a softball coach, and the owner and publisher of Softball-Spot.com, the web's #1 resource for softball pitching drills, tips, and practice ideas for youth and high school coaches.
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!
