All About Fastpitch Softball Blog

Just a quick update about the Bill Hillhouse clinic which is scheduled for October 10-11 here in Hawaii.  Bill has just agreed to help out our local families and pitchers by offering this clinic at a reduced price.

Participating pitchers can now attend this 2-day clinic for just $50 (includes BOTH days!).

• Saturday: clinic/instructional session (3 time slots to choose from)
• Sunday: small group session (6 sessions to choose from)

More information is available on the Clinic Flyer.

You may print/save the registration form for this clinic HERE.

Spaces ARE limited so please reserve your spot as soon as possible by turning in both your registration form/waiver and payment.  This will be Bill’s 3rd time coming to Hawaii and each time parents ask when he’ll be coming back!  This is your chance to work with one of the premier men’s fastpitch pitchers and clinicians without having to travel to him.

I hope to see you there!  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.  Contact information is avaialable on both the flyer and registration form.

Coaches, parents, and anyone else who wants to come watch, learn and ask questions are invited to come for FREE!

Here are some pictures from Bill’s 1st clinic here in Hawaii.

Technorati Tags: Bill Hillhouse, fastpitch softball clinic, pitching

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I’m afraid of the ball…Did I just say that? Well, not terrified of the ball like some people are, but I admit, I am more afraid of getting hit by a ground ball than I used to be. Why? Mostly because I know that I’m not as quick as I used to be. My reaction time is slower than it used to be. Let’s face it, I’m no longer training to actively compete as a softball player. I do not practice fielding ground balls on a daily basis and therefore, I know that my skills are a little rustier than they were 13+ years ago when I was training to be the best infielder I could be.

I’m not, however afraid of balls that are thrown at me. I’m still quite confident in my ability to catch a thrown ball and do that quite often, so it’s not something that worries me. But lack of that confidence is a common reason why young athletes are afraid of the ball. Not only is it a relatively hard object traveling toward them, but they lack the confidence in their ability to handle it. They do not believe they possess the adequate capability to safely deal with this hard moving ball that
is coming at them.

I know that if I were to practice and train to actively play softball again, my fear of the ball would all but disappear as I regained confidence in my skills. The same is true for young players. If they gain confidence in their own ability to adequately deal with and protect themselves from this ball that’s coming at them, they won’t be as terrified of the ball anymore.

Of course, that’s more easily said than done in some cases and there are specific things you can do to help them along the way. I’ll talk about that in another post, but first I wanted to know if you’ve ever personally dealt with this situation before (players being afraid of the ball).

• What triggered it in their case?
• What did you do to help them?
• How old are the players you work with?
• Is there anything in particular you’d like to know about helping players get over their fear of the ball?

This seems to be a topic that I get e-mailed about a lot lately, so I just wanted some of your thoughts on it in case you were also dealing with the same issue.

Leave me a comment and let me know.

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Bill Hillhouse Pitching Location Update

Location for the Bill Hillhouse 2-Day Pitching Clinic in Hawaii (Oct. 10-11) has been set at St.  Francis High School. Registrations are already coming in for the clinic and spaces are limited! For more information, print out the flyer at http://www.allaboutfastpitch.com/BH2009.pdf

Grab your registration form at http://www.allaboutfastpitch.com/BHR2009.pdf

Technorati Tags: batting, Defense, fear of the ball, pitching, Youth Softball

As a coach, do you engage your players?  Or are you a coach who simply tells their players what to do and has them follow along?

What’s the difference?

Coaches who Tell: These coaches are the ones who simply tell their players what to do and often times have a one-way street of communication: do this, do that, throw like this, stride like that, cover here, throw there, etc.  Often times they ARE instructing their players to do the right things, but may not be getting the most out of their coaching time without input from players.  Players can get so used to being told what to do that they wait for instruction during the game (someone to tell them what they should do in different situations).

Coaches who Engage: These coaches tend to have a little more discussion time in their practices, allow players to think through situations on their own, ask questions, and allow players to share their own answers with their teammates (vs just telling them what the right thing to do should be).  This type of coaching allows for players to develop a better understanding of the game and also promotes having players who know how to think for themselves so that they can make good decisions under pressure in the game.

Maybe it’s also a reflection of today’s society, but players seem to be less and less willing take responsibility and think for themselves and more and more likely to wait for someone else to tell them what should be done.   The way you coach *might* be encouraging one attitude over the other.

How do you coach and What do you think?  Do you find that some players just don’t know how to think for themselves on the field?

Technorati Tags: Coaching Softball, softball practice