For experienced pitchers, year-round training should be divided into sections including the off-season, pre-season and in-season. They each serve their specific purpose. In the offseason (October through December), experienced athletes should learn new movement pitches and make major changes to mechanics if necessary. These two things affect accuracy, so the offseason is the best time to adjust.
Read MoreMaking the ball move is one thing, but making it move with late break is a whole separate animal. “Late break” means that your pitch travels straight and then changes direction very close to the hitter. About ten feet is about the standard for excellence.
You need to be able to know the truth. Was that lake break? Or was it gradually moving to one side? You don’t want to wait to find out in a game. If you haven’t seen too many pitches that actually break before, you might be judging incorrectly. You need feedback.
If your breaking balls gradually move from one side to the other, rather than late break, it is because one of the following problems:
1. Not enough rotation on your ball
2. Incorrect axis - the ball is not rotating on the correct plane
3. Incorrect body position/release point - your arm trajectory is going the opposite way of the intended ball movement.
It's not about winning, it's about HOW you win and challenging yourself. Even if her team would have lost the lesson stands strong. Coach Hanning was preparing Jennie to reach her potential, an Olympian and NCAA National Champion, not a summer ball tournament champ.
Read MoreThere was something different happening on this team which I never experienced. It was cool to try hard. The players didn't tolerate others who didn't hustle. It wasn't the coach who had influence over attitudes, it was my peers. This was a completely new concept to me, growing up on teams where players bonded over complaining about or disobeying the coach. How many car rides home did I take where we talked about how I wasn't being treated fairly? This team seemed different. Athletes were on the same "side" as the coach.
Read MoreProcrastination has the same effect on pitching. When it’s game time in April and you’re simply “hoping” you’ll get a strike, rather than strategizing the best strike-out sequence, you’ll know that procrastination has taken effect.
Procrastination takes hold of the high school student who uses the excuse, "It was cold out this winter I had nowhere to pitch. I was waiting for my coaches to organize practice for me."
Read MoreAs the season is underway pitchers everywhere stand on the mound hoping to throw a strike. There is a special group of pitchers that aren’t just hoping to throw strikes. Those are the ones you’ll be watching on TV. Right now top teams are battling for the NCAA World Series title. Those pitchers aren’t just hoping to throw strikes with a really quick fastball. They are fooling the batter by moving the ball almost every pitch.
Read MoreI felt the urge to add a little flare to the newsletter this week! If you are wondering about what it really takes to help your daughter learn the pitching position, look at the infographic below. If you are an experienced pitcher or parent, what do you think of this information? What should I add or remove? Either reply to this email or comment on the blog. Please enjoy this wordy-art!
Read MoreIn our pitching school, we give away pins every session to a select few students. They say, “Commit to the Process.” To earn one, a pitcher must do any sort of pitching practice every single day between lessons to earn a star for her team. Then, over the span of a 10-week off-season, if she’s able to accumulate all 70 days of consistent work, she earns the pin. This is quite a feat, to say the least.
Read MoreOne of the least effective ways to help a pitcher develop better accuracy is to instruct them to "release sooner" or "release later." Her arm is moving too fast to make such small movements intentionally, especially for a young person who has little body awareness. Secondly, athletes respond better to “external cues” which are conveyed by relating their body to something outside of themselves, like a target in the distance, or the ground, or the sky.
Read MoreWerner has the following suggestions on pitch count. She is much more conservative than Bristow. In a perfect world, with exceptions for weekend tourneys, she believes the following pitch counts would be the best, when possible.
10U - 60 per day with one full day rest after each of these days. A pitch includes anything where your arm is spinning. 60 every other day equals 240 pitches per week.
12U - 70 per day, every other day (280/wk)
14U - 80 per day, every other day (320/wk)
16 - 90 per day, every other day (360/wk)
18 and older - 100 per day, every other day (400/wk)
If you are coaching a team with more than one pitcher (hint, hint that's you) you're going to need to develop your group as a staff, not just as individuals waiting their turn. When you create depth you'll get the most out of each pitcher, teach teamwork, and be able to overcome the day when your number one pitcher and sole hope is struggling. I said when, not if.
Read MoreAre you trying out for a travel ball team this summer? Most tryouts are within the next month or so, and you’ll have to be prepared with questions before you commit. Too many parents and players sign up for a year-long obligation are left feeling dissatisfied with their choice, only because they didn’t know what things to consider before they tried out.
The first thing to do is have a discussion with your daughter. Share ideas with each other about what her long-term softball goals are. As you know, pitching requires a parent/player partnership. Your support and advice is imperative to your daughter's success. If you aren’t into it, she won’t have a chance of reaching her potential. You can get a good idea of her ambitions if she talks more about hanging out with friends than trying to get more playing time.
Read MoreThink back to your last golf round. What type of player are you? Are you praying that you'll hit your next shot in the air, or are you calculating the difference between the 5 and 6 iron? Are you just trying keep up with the rest of your group, or are you visualizing the angle of your draw?
These questions show a clear difference in competency level. One person is competing while the other is focused on skill development, without knowing what skill needs to be developed. She just knows she has to get the ball over there, with no idea how.
Without mechanical competence, your daughter's only thoughts will be, “Please throw a strike and don’t embarrass myself!” as opposed to, “I’m going to strike this girl out with a low fastball then and outside change.” Unfortunately, pitchers will go through this thought process their whole career unless they learn and practice. As a young player, I received instruction on how to pitch, but did not practice. So my “worried” thinking went all the way through the end of high school. Not until college did I put the work into grooving my mechanics.
So, in an effort to help girls of all levels learn to actually “play” softball, here is a list of 9 circumstances when you know your daughter needs mechanical help.
You think your daughter can pitch without learning how to do it.
I think the pitching position is a bit of a draw for perfectionistic people. While I doubt any pitcher can be a total perfectionist, since they'd definitely quit after one week of trying it out. You know about the grounders and hit batters and all. I think this is a subject that deserves some attention and have come across tools that have helped me and others. Please remember, I have quite a few of these qualities too so I'm writing out of an affinity with my fellow pitchers.
According to Oxford English Dictionary, a perfectionist is "a person who refuses to accept any standard short of perfection." Isn't it annoying when they use the word in the definition? Nevertheless, as I'll discuss below this definition is helpful after all. I added a little more context with information in the Harvard Business Review from an article called "How to Manage Your Perfectionism." I paraphrased the article here
Read MoreLast week I shared with you the new things I learned at the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s annual convention in Atlantic City. I don’t want you to forget all the good information on pitching from years past so here are more great jewels to help pitchers dominate on the mound this season.
Read MoreI was working with my personal trainer, Mondale, on posterior chain strength. He explained the short circuit of exercises I was going to do, then told me to go ahead and start. I did the first one, then completely forgot the other two exercises and looked at him with an “uh-oh emoji, help” face. Was I not listening? Was it too much information for my brain that only got 5 hours of sleep?
Read MoreWhat is more exciting than World Series softball? NOTHING tops it in my world. And this year in 2022, I was especially excited about Northwestern making it to OKC. It’s fun to see MidWest teams representing softball on the biggest stage - especially because it’s not as prevalent as the southern and western teams who make it to Oklahoma City year after year.
Read MoreI remember I loved checking my game stats when I pitched for Ithaca College. The sports information department would put up the box score with more information than ESPN does for the MLB! As soon as I got back to my dorm room after a game I'd hop on the computer and look up my ERA. My goal was to stay under 1.0. Being able to see the eb and flow every day really motivated me. The best softball pitchers at the time were under 1.0 ERA and I knew that if I could do that I'd be a great pitcher.
Read MoreAs the DI NCAA Softball Championship tournament begins, you’ll see amazing pitchers firing the ball the upper 60’s, low 70’s with extreme movement and devastating change of speed. How do they get to this level? Each began where many of you are today and slowly put in the work to be great. Here are five things it takes for you to do the same.
Read MoreI explain quickly, "Not exactly. I suggest you tell the coach that you know you can get the next girl out so give me another chance!" Although I understand Emma's logic, that players think they are helping the team by removing their poor-performing selves from the game, I explain several different concepts. You only fail when you give up. You always have to believe that the next pitch is going to be a great one. A good attitude regardless of the circumstance raises performance. And finally, it’s your coach's decision on who should be put in or taken out, not yours - even if she asks.
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