Softball Tips: Contribute EVERY Day

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Stacie Mahoe

No matter what your skill or experience level, YOU bring something special to your team. There IS at least ONE thing you do better than anyone else on your team. Make it a point to give whatever it is you have each and every day. If you don’t, who will?

Truth: After EVERY game you should know that you did something to help your team that day, whether you played every pitch or none at all. If you can’t think of anything you did to help then you didn’t do your job.

EVERYONE has something to contribute!

Posted by Toby on Facebook…

There is a girl on my daughter’s HS softball team, that has not gotten into any games, even the blow out games, who cheers on her teammates all the time. The other day my daughter Melanie told me that when she hears this specific girl yell out, “Sit her down Mel!” when she has a full count on a girl it gives her such a good feeling inside and it motivates her to strike out the batter…. You are so right about every teammate can give something to the team.

I have also seen this type of situation with my own eyes: players lacking in skills finding big ways to contribute to their team.

Find a way every day.

If they can do it so can you. No excuses!

Vision: What Does it Mean to Be a…

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Stacie Mahoe

I’m currently reading the book EntreLeadership
and I do believe that many of the principles shared in the book also applies to leading and running a softball team or program. One thing that struck me yesterday were the thoughts on vision. It’s not the first time I’ve thought of vision in relation to a team, but this book added some additional insight which got me thinking about it again.

Here’s what I picked up:

First and foremost you need to actually have a vision for your team
You must talk about your vision early and often
You need to talk about your vision for your team 21 times before they really start “hearing” it
You can’t talk about your vision “too much”
Even after they “get it” you still need to restate it so that as your team or program grows and changes it continues to reflect that vision

With that said, do you have a vision for the team or program you lead? Does your staff and your team know what that vision is? Do they know what it means to be a part of the team?

Having a clear vision which is communicated to the team and coaching staff will ensure everyone understands:

What it means to be a “insert your team nickname here”
What is expected of team members and what they represent as part of the team
What you are striving toward together
Why your team chooses to do things the way we do
That there is a bigger picture involved, not just decisions for “today”

The single biggest thing I realized after reading this part of the book was that most coaches don’t communicate or share their vision enough. They have it in their head. They may mention it once or twice. They may share it in bits and pieces, but in most cases they fail to saturate the team environment with it, then they wonder why team members don’t represent the team colors or the team name or the organization as a whole they feel it should be represented.

Most coaches don’t tie every job, biggest and smallest, to the team vision. As a result, some things are seen as less important when they’re really not and team members fail to take pride in everything they do, they only do so in the things that feel important.

Having a vision is the start of influencing the “culture” or environment of your team. Sharing that vision is essential to cultivating that culture. Mission statements clearly and succinctly communicate your vision to all team members. However, mission statements are not something you can come up with in a matter of minutes or even within a few days. The best mission statements are mulled over with input from the entire staff until it fully embodies your vision. A good one will last for years and years and help keep you, your staff, and your program on track toward your ultimate goals.

Mayweather vs Ortiz – Cheap Shots and Champions

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Stacie Mahoe

If you watched the Mayweather/Ortiz fight this past weekend, you surely have an opinion about how it ended. While many defend Mayweather saying his blow was not at all illegal and many fault Ortiz because one of the first things you learn as a boxer is “Defend Yourself at All Times” there are some of us who still think Mayweather’s shots were cheap.

Just as the fight ended there were a ton of facebook status updates about the subject. Here’s what I posted…

The head butt may have been dirty but true champions don’t have to match dirt for dirt.

After all the talk of the fight and people bringing up that Ortiz’s headbutt was illegal and Mayweather’s knock out punches weren’t, something else came to my mind. I posted that too.

I have a few thoughts on that type of mentality (it’s “okay” or there’s “nothing wrong with it” so long as it’s “legal”). First of all, “right” and “wrong” are not always defined by rules or laws. For example, just because you “can” cleat defenders when you slide into them doesn’t mean you should always intentionally do so. Along those lines, here is another facebook post I made the night of the fight that came as a result of comments people made on the Mayweather/Ortiz fight…

When true athletes go into competition their goal is not just to be better than that opponent on that given day but to be the best THEY can be every single day.

Whether it’s training or competition, big stakes or no stakes, millions watching or with no one watching, under ideal circumstances or under adversity, there is no difference. True athletes strive for excellence in all they do.

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts!

Please Let This Be the End

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Stacie Mahoe

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know we’ve had some major website issues lately. Well, we have a new tech guy on the job and he has been very responsive to requests to get this site back up and running like it should.

So, let’s hope this is the end of this ridiculous website problem era!

After all, we have better things to talk about, like softball.

That said, while the site was down, I was keeping communicate open via the All About Fastpitch Facebook Page. If you have taken a moment to stop by there, please do so and click the “Like” button. This will quickly and easily keep you up to date with the latest here at AAF right there through facebook.

If you’re already a facebook user, you probably spend more time there than here, so it’s a simple way for you to get your softball fix without having to visit lots of different places. If you’ve never been by the AAF FB page, go check it out now. You’ll see some great comments, quotes, and stories there since I haven’t been able to post here!

Plus, when I do post here, it shows up there too. Like I said, simple way to keep up with the latest and greatest stuff from AAF. Hope you “like” it!

A Piece of Hawaiian Fastpitch Softball History – Puueo Poi Pounders

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Stacie Mahoe

This article was sent to me by Hal Skinner. It’s about a men’s fastpitch softball team who traveled to Clearwater, Florida decades ago to represent Hawaii in the ASA Men’s Fast Pitch National Tournament. The team battled many challenges along the way, but still made a great showing for Hawaii all the on the other side of the country!

Click to enlarge…

How to Throw More Heat

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Stacie Mahoe

If there’s one thing pitchers, and parents of pitchers, and coaches of pitchers love, it’s when they (or their pitcher) throws more heat or is able to increase her pitching speed! Speed gets attention. Speed looks good!

Most pitchers are constantly trying to improve their pitching and improve their pitching speed. Many pitchers practice pitching a lot to get better, but there are other ways to improve as a pitcher, especially when it comes to throwing more heat.

I’m talking about this because I was just browsing around on facebook when I saw this status update by the King of Core himself, Barry Lovelace…

Every time I hear testimonies from softball players that work with Barry (especially pitchers), one thing stands out is they all talk about how they see results FAST! Just about every one mentions that, after just a few sessions and workouts with Barry, they can already see and feel a difference in there softball performance. What other kind of training does that?

Barry uses lots of core power training, functional training, and sport specific training when working with softball players. He’s designed some great softball training programs that can help you (or your team) step up your game and do it quick! Best of all, you can do his Barry’s softball training programs during season or off season, any time you want or need it!

Learn more about how you can ramp up your softball performance quick and do it for far less than you’d spend for a personal softball trainer or gym membership => SoftballTeamTraining.com.

What to Expect at the Crystl Bustos Clinic in Hawaii

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Stacie Mahoe

The Hawaii Bustos Bash is just two weeks away! August 6th & 7th with a coaches/parent clinic on the 5th.

Please remember to share this information with anyone you think may be interested!

What to Expect at the Clinic

The Got Bustos? motto is: “See It, Feel It, Fix It”

This is something that Crystl and instructors take to heart. They let the players “see” what they are teaching, “feel” how their body should feel when doing the exercise and give the tools to “fix it” if they are not doing it correctly.

The Got Bustos? clinics started as “Weekend with Gold” back in 2005 with the help of Mary Ellen Bonner who is now our clinic coordinator. From that one clinic the response to Crystl and her method of teaching was tremendous, but more importantly reaching out to the players that weekend turned into Got Bustos? Sports Training, LLC.

Crystl’s goal has always been to give the players a lot of quality time and training with a limited number of players at a cost that is affordable. It’s always been quality, not quantity with Crystl. We set up our clinics with separate stations. We try to limit the stations to 4-6 players. Crystl and her instructors teach proper throwing and fielding mechanics, which all corresponds with hitting and the rest of the clinic Crystl instructs the players through her “Seven Steps of Hitting.”

Players of the same skill level are put together in stations. The clinics start out with Crystl and the instructors demonstrating a specific drill. The girls then return to their station to work on that drill with an instructor. As Crystl and/or Howard walk around they check to see if all the players understand that particular drill. If not she brings them back together and does another demo. Then back to their group. If there are still players who are struggling she will then put them individually with an instructor until they understand what she is teaching.

In each clinic Crystl always takes time at the end of the session to take pictures with each player (and she lets them wear her Olympic Medals in the picture) and autographs. I have never seen Crystl leave a session without making sure each player gets a picture and something signed. Sometimes that means she signs item after item for the same player.

Each player leaves a Got Bustos? clinic feeling not like they just had a workout with the best hitter on the planet but also made a new friend.

Education and training are both important to all of the Got Bustos? staff and Crystl takes time to talk to the players and explain what having good grades can mean. She also makes it known that she believes it takes a lot of hard work and you have to be willing to put in the time and effort in order to succeed.

Crystl’s motto is: “At the end of the day there is no one to blame but yourself for something you do or do not get”.

Crystl is working to help today’s young players, who will be our Olympic Softball Players should softball make it back to the Olympics, prepare to bring the Gold back to the USA!

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