All About Fastpitch Softball Blog

Sliding head first while running bases is something you see baseball boys do all the time. Some argue that girls don’t do it enough in softball. That may be true and there may be a number of reasons why. For me, there is one major reason why I, personally, do not slide head first into bases, I tell my daughters not to do it, and I don’t encourage it among my players. Now I do not stop or discourage players from doing it if it’s already something that’s 2nd nature to them.

However, for newer players, for my own daughters, and for myself, it’s not something I do or teach? Why?

Safety

Plain and simple, it’s a safety issue for me. Maybe I don’t pay enough attention, but I don’t hear about many baseball boys having season ending injuries from sliding head first into a base. However, I have seen and heard about many softball players breaking their collarbone, separating their shoulder, getting their fingers cleated, breaking their fingers, dislocating joints, etc from sliding into a base head first. I’ve seen it happen in games to people I know personally and I’ve heard about it happening to other softball players too. For this reason alone, I will always slide into a base feet first.

This doesn’t mean that I never dive. I will dive BACK to a base and I will encourage my players and my daughters to dive back to a base.

What’s the difference? Sliding head first into a base typically involves a players going at full speed running into a base and taking all the force and momentum into a possible collision. The same is rarely true when diving back to a base. Most times, you are not at full speed which means a much lower impact if their is contact. Is there still risk of injury? Yes, there is. But there’s risk with everything in this game. It’s just that for me, sliding head first into a base is not a risk I’m comfortable taking. The chance of game or season ending injury is too high for me.

What do you think?

• Have you heard about as many baseball players as softball players getting injured from this?
• Do you feel it’s a risk worth taking?
• Do you agree with the idea that the risk is higher going into a base vs back to one?

Don’t worry, I won’t be offended. I’d just like to know what other people, including you, think about this topic. Leave a comment below and share your thoughts!

Technorati Tags: Baserunning, offense

Stacie Mahoe Baserunning Baserunning, offense

One of the biggest college recruiting mistakes student-athletes and families make is basing their final choice of school solely upon scholarship offer(s). I often times see student-athletes simple choose the school that offering them some kind of athletic scholarship.  I’ve even seen some companies, that supposedly help with college recruiting, say that “money” is a “good” reason to choose a school.  In other words they list a scholarship offer as a good reason to chose the school you will be attending.

I happen to disagree with that completely!

Too often I see student-athletes make this mistake.  They choose the school that offered them the most athletic scholarship assistance based upon that factor alone.  Often times they disregard the fact that the school is in a location they don’t really want to be.  The disregard the fact that the school doesn’t exactly have the area of study the student-athlete is interested in.  To throw out all other factors and make a decision solely based upon or heavily weighed by the almighty scholarship dollar can be a huge mistake!

In almost every case that I’ve personally seen, the student-athlete gives up playing or stops going to that school completely by the end of their freshman year.  Why?   Because every other major factor that influences their quality of experience at the school is NOT what they were looking for or not what they are comfortable with.  Remember, if this college you choose is more or less going to be your home for the next 4-5 years!  It better be a place you want to live in.

Honestly, think about it.  If a student-athlete ends up not playing ball or giving up on the school completely after that first year, was it really worth it to chose the money? After all, they may have gotten that one year paid for (or helped with), but now where does that leave them?  Often times it leaves them out of the sport they love AND a college bill to pay for the next 3-4 years.

Wouldn’t it be better to choose a school that offered less money (or even no money) if it was a better fit for you?  If it was a place you loved?  And environment you enjoyed living in?  Had the exact academic program you want? AND gives you the opportunity to continue playing your sport?

Often times, even though your first year isn’t paid for athletically, you can 1) possibly get help from other sources (academic funds, grants, or other scholarship sources) and 2) possibly earn some “athletic help” in the future.  So yes, maybe you have to pay for that first year, but paying for one and getting help with or having the next 3-4 years paid for is so much better than having just that first year taken care of but paying for the rest.  Isn’t it?

The bottom line is that it’s almost always better to choose the school you WANT to be at, rather than simply choose the school that offers you the most money.  Be smart about this decision, it’s not only going to affect the next 4 years of your life, it will affect at least the next 40 years of your life!

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If you need personal assistance with your college recruiting journey, talk with the experts at NSCA.  They know their stuff and they are as passionate about getting student-athletes to the next level (and keeping them there) as anyone else I know.

Fill at the form HERE and a real live person will give you a call regarding your plan for the future.

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Technorati Tags: College Recruiting, college recruiting tips

Stacie Mahoe College Recruiting College Recruiting, college recruiting tips

Over winter break we had two college freshman (alumni from our high school team) come back home from their respective DI schools for winter break. Guess how much training they did over break….

Little to none!

How do I know?

1. Partially from what I saw during break
2. Partially from what I read on Facebook during winter break
3. But mostly because of what I read on Facebook now that they are back in school and training has again begun (they both admit that they probably should’ve done a bit more while they were on break)

I’m not saying all college freshman do this, but it’s a very easy mistake to make.  You’ve just finished up your first college semester ever.  It’s been crazy, busy, and hectic.  There have been lots of adjustments to make, time away from friends, and time away from family.  When you get to go home for Winter Break, it’s very easy to:

• Do nothing but party with all the friends you haven’t seen in a while
• Do nothing but spend time with and enjoy the company of your family
• Do absolutely nothing because it’s the first time in months you don’t HAVE TO do anything

Now I’m not saying it’s wrong to enjoy your time at home.  I’m certainly not saying it’s wrong to spend time with family, nor is it wrong to take a little bit of a breather and relax a bit.  I actually think breaks or changes of pace are a good thing.  However, as a college student-athlete, when you go back to school (especially for softball) you WILL go back to training.  You’ve already worked so hard for months!  Why take a 4 week break from everything and “throw away” any of what you’ve gained during your 1st semester?  I’m not saying you have to keep up the same intensity and you don’t even need to do the same exact drills or exercises that you do in college, but at least do “something” to maintain the fitness level you’ve built up for yourself.

Some think that one “small” break won’t make much of a difference. Let me tell you, when you have a team of players who’ve been training for months then there’s a break then you all come back to train…it is VERY OBVIOUS who took a break and did nothing and who kept their conditioning up.  Right now we’re going through conditioning with our team at the high school age level.  It’s just pre-season, we aren’t really “allowed” to make conditioning “mandatory” and over break there are various reasons why student-athletes say they can’t make practice.  Fine.  But as a coach, even if a student-athlete has only missed just ONE week of practice, our coaching staff can tell, it is very obvious, which players have been diligent with their attendance and been there on a regular basis and which players have missed conditioning sessions.

So if you want to make the best impression possible on your coach, stay on top of your fitness level!

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• Throwing harder
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• Reacting faster
• Staying healthy
• Avoiding Injury
• and so much more!

Start your 21-Day Express Shape Up Program today and enjoy more speed and power during your season!

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Technorati Tags: Softball Performance, Softball Training

Stacie Mahoe Softball Performance, Softball Training, Speed Training Softball Performance, Softball Training