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!

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!

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.

I have to admit. I see this all the time at youth softball practices. Coaches who are more concerned with the outcome of a play in practice vs the process.

Example? Trying watching a youth softball team practice turning a double play. More often than not you’ll probably see coaches satisfied when the ball is fielded sure handedly, thrown to 2nd, thrown to 1st, then thrown back home.

As long as the ball makes it through all those stages and back to the catcher everything is good and the coach is happy.

But what about how the ball was fielded? Did that person do a good job with footwork while fielding and throwing? Did they transition the ball well and get it to 2nd as quickly as they could? Did they make the catch as easy as possible for the person covering 2nd? Or did they use poor fielding and throwing technique and footwork? Did they make the catch and “turn” at 2nd difficult?

What about the “turn” at 2nd? Did the person covering 2nd approach the bag properly? Were they set up on the base right? Did they use the most efficient and effective footwork to get the out and quickly get rid of the ball to 1st base?

Then there’s the first baseman or the person covering 1st. Did they stretch to the ball correctly?

Was there good communication between the players on the play?

…and so on and so on and so on.

Too many coaches disregard all these components of a good double play.  Their only concerns are that the hit ball is not missed and that the thrown balls are not thrown wildly away. All they care about is that the bases were touched and the ball makes it back home – in other words, the result.

But what is that teaching the players? Are they practicing it right? Are they practicing it right consistently? Are they even close to getting both outs? Are there things they could do better? Or are they just practicing how to turn a double play incorrectly and inefficiently?

None of these things get addressed most times I watch a practice.

I know, I know. Taking the time to correct and refine ALL of that would take so long. Yes, it’s true that you may only get about half the amount of double play reps if you take the time to actually coach all that.  So what?! I’d much rather have 10 quality reps than 20 poorly or incorrectly done reps!

I also see this “Results over Process” mistake with hard throwing players. By the time I get to coach players they are 14, 15, 16 years old. Many have been playing since they were 8 or younger. They’ve been throwing the way they throw for a long time, and yet I see many, especially the hard throwing ones, who have poor throwing mechanics. They don’t get the most out of their body with the throwing motion they use. Most barely use their legs and rely on just their arm.

Since hard throwing players have a these nice strong throws, it seems most coaches during their youth ignored the fact that they weren’t throwing with the best mechanics. Coaches see a nice hard throw and which ends up in the catching vicinity of the person receiving the ball and that’s all they care about. The end result of the throw was good, so why “fix” anything?

Why? Because that’s your job as a coach! To help players get better even if they are already the best on their team or the best in the league for that matter.  There is always room for improvement.  You do your players a great disservice of you don’t help them get better despite how “good” they already are.

Allowing hard throwing players to continue using poor mechanics…

• wastes a players energy. Proper throwing mechanics are efficient allowing for maximum output with minimal effort. This is super important on long tournament weekends or over the course of a long season!
• makes them slower defensively than those who use efficient mechanics. The point on defense is to get the ball to your target in the shortest possible time frame (not with the highest possible velocity) in order to get more outs.
• puts unnecessary strain on their arm.
• reduces their arm’s effectiveness over the course of the season.
• shaves time off the longevity of this cannon arm over the course of this player’s career.

Like I said…disservice.

Focus on process over results – how they threw the ball, not where it ended up or how fast it was going when it got there – and you will avoid this issue.

Process Over Results
It’s not whether you get the ball here or not, it’s HOW you made the throw.
It’s not whether you came to practice or not, it’s HOW you trained while you were there.
It’s not whether you ran your sprints or not, it’s HOW you ran them.

Is the point simply to complete the task or complete it well?

It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s HOW you play the game.

You cannot always control the outcome of a performance. You can choose a good pitch and hit a ball well, but you cannot completely control whether you get hit or not. Someone on the other end may make an unbelievable catch and steal your hit. It doesn’t mean you did a bad job. You just couldn’t control the outcome of your good hit. All you can control is your performance.

• Did you give it your all?
• Did you do your best on that given day?
• Did you do what you trained to do to the best of your ability?

Have you ever walked away from a win with a less than satisfied feeling? Have you ever walked away from a win disappointed and bothered by your personal performance in it?

In contrast, have you ever walked away after a loss without anything to be ashamed? Have you ever walked away from a loss feeling proud that you did all you could do and simply came up short on that day against a worthy opponent? Have you ever come away from a loss more deeply respected by your teammates, your opponent, your coach, your family and your fans?

Was it the score or the result of the game that allowed you to hold your head high after a loss vs stew with dissatisfaction after a win?

The score or the result of the game is ultimately NOT the most important factor in how positive the experience was for you. It was about the PROCESS!

Funny thing is, mistakenly emphasizing results, results, results typially don’t get you to the results you want.

Focus on quality process, on best effort in the process, on best attitude about/in/regarding the process…that’s what usually gets you results you want.

Good results are a BYPRODUCT of excellence in your process (in your HOW)!

Good results are not “the point” – good results are what happen when you really truly get the point.

Many people have theories on how lineups should be made. There are general rules of thumb that many coaches follow. For example:

• lead off hitters general have good on base percentages and speed
• hitters in the 2 slot are typically decent bunters with speed as well
• 3-4-5 tend to have more power than hitters in the first 2 spots in the lineup
• etc, etc, etc

However, coaching softball isn’t as simple as going “by the numbers.” If the ultimate lineup was based upon basic hitting stats, there would be formulas out there by which to create the best possible hitting lineup for a team, but there aren’t. At least not that I know of!  I don’t know of any software program or softball calculator where you plug in your team stats and have it spit out your “dream” lineup.  (If you know of one, please shoot me an email and let me in on this secret weapon!)

Then again, that would take a lot of the fun out of coaching wouldn’t it.  Then “anyone” could make head coaching decisions regarding playing time so long as they know how to do math or work the software.

Can you imagine if the ultimate defensive lineup was based on basic fielding stats as well, how on earth would you reconcile a player who has a wonderful fielding percentage and an abysmal batting average?  The computer software would probably spit out two completely different lineups if you entered both hitting and fielding statistics and had it compute “strongest” lineups based upon defensive stats and another based upon offensive stats!  Then what would you do?

Obviously, creating an effective softball lineup is more than just filling in the blanks based upon past results.  If you base your lineup solely upon stats, you fail to consider the conditions under which those stats were generated.  For example, some coaches talk about “protecting” hitters throughout the lineup.  For example, if you don’t “protect” your biggest power hitter, she may not have the RBI stats you think she should simply because opponents opt to walk her and pitch to the next batter instead.  So if your #4 has weak RBI stats, it may not be because she’s a poor RBI hitter.  It could be because of the “conditions” under which she hits.  Place this same hitter in a spot before another hitting threat and you may see her RBI stat increase.

Another reason coaching softball is not math…
Math is great. I love math. It was actually one of my favorite subjects in school. Yes, I was a bit of a nerd. But math that normal people like you and I can do does NOT factor in any human element into the equation. Let’s face it, when we create a softball lineup, we are dealing with human beings.  Any human being that is breathing, especially one going through the first few decades of their life, is undergoing change, transition, or progress.  Human beings are not static individuals who never evolve.  What a player did yesterday or last week or last month is NOT today’s reality.  The benefit a particular player provided your team last week or last month may not necessarily be what your team needs today.  All these variables factor in to the lineup you write for this game.

Yes, past performances give you the information you need as a coach to make informed decisions.  Numbers are great at showing quantifiable facts so that you have something to “lean on” besides your memory or a “feeling.”  I’m not dissing the math altogether or saying you should never use stats as part of a your decision making process, just that stats and numbers are only part of the equation when it comes to putting together your strongest starting lineup for this game.

Besides, if math and numbers were the ultimate way to figure out who the best is, there wouldn’t be so much controversy surrounding the BCS system in college football.

One thing you cannot control is how your negative vibe impacts others.  It can be one look, one word, or one action that we put out and can never get back.

While you may be able to drop it, move on and play your game, you have NO control over how others are affected by it.

One distraction from you may be enough to knock someone else’s performance just a bit off kilter and bring down their overall performance.  If you have that affect on most of the teammates who were around you when you put that vibe out, impact is exponential!

On game day especially, do your best to make sure your actions, words, decisions, etc are HELPING your team performance their best!

Athletes like to be in a particular mindset or “groove” as they go into competition.  Disrupting that “mojo” of any of your teammates before a game or during a game is not a good idea.

If you’ve ever run track or run for competition, you know how critical breaking stride or losing your form for just a split second can be.  I know because it happened to me before.  I was just ahead of another sprinter and for just a moment, I lost my form.  I did get it back, but in just that moment, she went from just behind me to just in front of me.

After I regained my stride and form, I did close some of the gap, but not enough to pass her by again.  That’s how I see disruption from inside the team environment/mojo before a game.  It might be a “small” thing that just throws the team off balance just a little, but it can be enough to alter the outcome.

So the challenge for game day is to make sure your impact on teammates and on the team is positive and improves performance!

photo credit: softball team

A player that lifts her teammates to a higher level and helps them quickly recover from mistakes is more valuable than a player who has a stronger arm or bat but doesn’t know how to be a source from which her teammates gain confidence, positivity, and power from.

That post received 53 “likes” within days. That’s the highest yet!

Have you had the opportunity to be on a team with a player like this? Or maybe just observe one on another team?

Players with decent softball skill and this exceptional softball attitude are so much more valuable to a team than a player that has superior softball skills but no further reach.

What do I mean by reach? Dr. Tom Hanson once wrote an article that I wish I could find right now. He was talking about Derek Jeter and about how, when you’re in the room with him, you can just feel his confidence.

His confidence just flows out of him into his surroundings, and therefore, to the people around him as well.

Some players have this effect. Their enthusiasm, confidence, and positive attitude spills over into anything near them.

Other players, while highly talented, do not have this effect.

It’s like everything is bottled up inside them. They perform great, but no none of their teammates can feed off them or “get their juice.”  There’s nothing flowing out of them into their surroundings to feed off of.

While these players may perform at a high level, they do not elevate the game of those around them.

Real MVPs however…

• effectively uplift their teammates
• elevate the game of those around them
• are a source of confidence, strength, resilience, and positivity that others can draw from
• make the game easier and more enjoyable to play
• draw so much enjoyment from simply playing the game their positive “can-do” attitude becomes infectious

Some people refer to this as the “it” factor.  For MVP’s, whatever “it” is…

IT’s in their words and how they say it
IT’s in their every action and every move
IT’s not only when things are going well, but ALL the time
IT’s simply part of who they are

When they infect the rest of the team with their confidence and belief in the team, their team is practically unstoppable!

Seriously, when a team is unified under a common blanket of confidence – watch out!

A player that can bring that to the table every game, to me, brings so much more value than one that can hit a homerun in every game.

What do you think?

Since this topic of “Enough” seems to keep popping up, I decided to post something about it on the AAF Facebook Page.

People seems to like it well enough and some have asked if they can share it with others.  Of course, I have no problem with that, so long as you remember to mention where you got it from.

So feel free to share this Softball Quote of the Week with your team this week…

Whether you win or lose, you really won’t be much different, as a person, than you were 2 hours ago.

Never allow the scoreboard to dictate your self worth!

It’s a highly unreliable and completely irrelevant indicator of your true value as a human being.

Really, a couple of hours doesn’t completely change your life. Maybe you’ll learn a few lessons. Maybe it does give you a different perspective on things.

What you choose to do with your experience may very well change your life.

The win or the loss in and of itself does not do that.  You do. The win or the loss does not suddenly make you amazing if you weren’t before nor does it make you worth less than you were before.

Never tie your self worth to the outcome of your performance or of a game. Your true friends and your loved ones don’t love you any more or less because you did or did not hit a ball, because you did or did not make an error, or because you did or did not win a game.

Who you are as a person, as a human being, is not at all correlated with outcomes on the field.

Now if you’re connected with All About Fastpitch on Facebook, then you saw part of this. I realized this needed to develop into a full blown blog post when facebook wouldn’t post the status update as I originally wrote it because it was too long. lol

So here is the expanded version of my softball attitude tip/rant of the week…

I’m sorry, but if you think you can’t or don’t learn anything sitting on the bench you need an attitude adjustment.

Been there – learned tons because I CHOSE to. I made it a point to LEARN any chance I got whether it was in practice or on the bench in the game.

Heck there were even times when I was on the bench during PRACTICE due to injury. I still tried to learn anything and everything I could regardless of the situation I was in.

I made it a point to increase my contribution to the team in any way possible even though I couldn’t play!

Stop your whining. It’s not going to get you what you want.

Whether it’s sitting on the bench or a slump or a bruised knee or a wet field there will ALWAYS be something that challenges you. There will always be obstacles along the way.

Find a way to still be a positive impact on your team. You may not get the game winning hit or the make the game winning play, but this experience WILL serve you well in your future in softball and in life!

Well, sometimes players need it in softball too!

Have you ever run across a player that wants to be too perfect?  Perfectionism in athletes can actually be detrimental because athletes that are perfectionist often:

• are afraid to make mistakes
• get upset over the littlest mistake
• are often disappointed frustrated with their performance because it never measures up to perfection
• are reasonably critical of themselves
• expect too much of themselves

All of these things can put a dent in a your confidence. If you try to play this game without confidence, you’ll probably fail much more than you should and, on top of that, won’t find the game very enjoyable. Obviously if you get to that point, you’re in trouble!  Once this game is “no fun” its either time for serious changes or time to give it up.

SO – since you probably don’t want to get to that point, here’s a little trick Dr. Patrick Cohn, youth sports psychology expert, uses to help players who are perfectionists.

He suggests giving them 3 “Get Out of Jail Free” cards at the beginning of a game or practice.  If your player/child makes a mistake, they (mentally) use one of the cards to let go of the mistake and move on.  Being able to let a mistake go and keep moving forward is such a critical part of becoming the best softball player you can be.  Not only that, this is yet another skill that applies to all areas of life, not just to playing softball on the field.

What do you think?  Is this something you would try?  Do you think this can help you?

But what happens when a call or two doesn’t go your way?  Or when one mistake leads to another?  Or when the playing conditions are less than desirable?  Or after you’ve been playing all weekend long and fatigue is starting to set in?  Or when your “best” players go down due to injury, health, or ineligibility issues?  How does your team react then?

Do they have the same approach? Do they remain upbeat and positive?  Or do they start to fall apart?  Do they start to press?  Do they start to get frustrated with themselves or each other?  Does your team fall apart or can your team still perform when things get tough?

I’ll admit, it’s not possible to re-create every challenging game-like situation in practice.  However if your team is never challenged in practice chances are they won’t be able to respond the way you want when challenge arises during the game.

Some very wise coaches and elite athletes suggest that training should be harder, tougher, and more challenging than competition.  That way when game day comes, it seems “easy” in comparison.  Is that what you do? Are you preparing your team to perform under adverse conditions, under any circumstance that may occur?  Or is your practice and training too easy?

Here’s an excerpt from an article by Wayne Goldsmith, high performance expert which pretty much sums it all up…

Accept that all teams have to learn to win in tough conditions and prepare to deal with them better than your opposition.

Notice he didn’t say “your team” – he said ALL teams. Often times we use an unfortunate circumstance in our season as an excuse for poor performance, but that’s just a cop out. Do you really think that the best NEVER have a bad day, or calls go against them, or bad weather to deal with, or personality clashes aka drama?

I’m sure you’d agree that such a perfect team environment doesn’t exist. Every team has it’s ups and downs, it’s challenges and obstacles, but the ones that are best prepared to perform in spite of how tough it gets are usually the ones that come out on top.

Not only is “your best no matter what” a great skill to have on the softball field, but in life as well. Help your players learn to keep moving forward no matter what adversity they may face.  Not only will you probably win more games and maybe even a few championships, but your players will also carry invaluable life skill off the field and into the real world where stakes are much higher than a few statistics or a win-loss record.

But after months and month of coming out day after day, it’s not always easy to stay motivated and focused. It can be quite simple to start “going through the motions” and “check-out” mentally as you take your zillionth swing or throw of the season.

BUT - if you want to be the best you can be in this season, if you want to finish stronger than you started, (which is the point right), you really need to make a commitment to what you are doing. You need to make a commitment to put yourself “all-in” and push all the way through to the end and beyond – similarly to what I talked about in this baserunning post.

That’s why I think it’s so critical to be able to create a habit, the sooner the better, of doing the little things to perfection. Sometimes the long road ahead, or the long road that has already passed, make the entire journey too daunting to look at. It makes this ONE drill seem insignificant. In times like those, if you can simply go back to your simple habit of investing in each drill, in each rep – put your whole self in in each little segment of your training – just commit to that one moment, that one rep at a time…it can help you keep moving forward when the day-to-day starts to feel mundane. It can help keep you on track while to take a moment to rejuvenate and get the fire burning again.

If you can’t do that, if you don’t know how to keep doing at least those “little things” right, then that one “insignificant” drill or rep turns into two, or three. or simply turns into an entire day (what’s ONE practice right?). Then next thing you know, another day is “insignificant” and another and another until you’ve spent in entire week being sub-par, training at a level you’d never actually want to perform at and what good did you do yourself? Probably none at all, and in fact, you may have actually “hurt” yourself creating bad habits physically and/or mentally.

When it comes to staying “on track,” it’s also extremely important to set out with some “bigger” purpose. Something far more important to you than just one drill. Something that you are working toward and working for. Something that makes each drill and each rep and each day on the field worth it. If you’re lucky – just being there is reward enough. For some, that’s the way it is. The opportunity to go out there and do softball stuff is the highlight of any given day. For those people, motivation and focus is rarely a major issue.

But even the best, even the most determined sometimes get into those “moods” when they simply don’t feel like 100%. You know what? That’s human. It’s OKAY. Give yourself a break every now and then. Understand that it’s part of being an athlete. It’s something everyone goes through. Don’t waste time worrying about it. Acknowledge it, address it, and do what you need to do to refresh. You need it. It’s almost impossible to stay at full intensity ALL the time. You need to find ways to unwind, to relax, to refresh, and to rejuvenate mind, body, and spirit in order to perform the best you can.

Finishing up a season strong, isn’t easy. That’s why only a few an do it and do it well. It’s easy at the beginning. It’s easy as you start getting to the “meat” of your season. But when all that’s done and you’ve been climbing and climbing all year long…now there are two directions you can go. You can keep pushing and continue reaching higher and higher – usually this is the tougher, more challenging road. OR you can let up, stop pushing, and find yourself sliding,. or maybe even rolling, down the hill or mountain you just climbed.

Which is it going to be? Can you stay focused? Can you re-commit? Can you, for just a fraction of the time you’ve already put in…keep moving forward and finish stronger than you started? Take it one step at a time…you can do it!

Often times when coaches want you to run through the base better, they make you run farther than 60 feet. But that may not be the best idea.

You see, it doesn’t really matter if your coach makes you run 80 feet instead of 60 feet. If you always train to slow down at the end, you will ALWAYS slow down before your target no matter how far or close it is.

Excellence is a habit – so get in the habit of sprinting THROUGH any marker, goal, base or cone that is set for you, whether it’s 6 feet away or 60 feet away.

This habit is what will help you “get through the bag” more consistently at 1st base, put more pressure on the defense and get safe more often!

If you’re a coach, instead of making your players run farther, try shortening the distance and challenge them to run all the way through. After all, if they can’t consistently “run through the bag” at 30 feet, how do they expect to do it at 60 feet? Often times pointing this out to them is enough to get them focused on doing it right.

As they get better and better running all the way through the shorter distance, start adding more distance until they are running through any target you give them.

Always expect your player’s best speed all the way through ANY sprint you do, whether it’s a short spring or a longer spring, whether it’s their first sprint or their last sprint of the day.  Notice I didn’t say “fastest” because the more your work them, they slower they may get, but they should always be giving their best – whatever it is they have at that time.  Make them do it again if they don’t do it right. Help them create the good habit of going hard and giving their best ALL the way through to the end and beyond, just like you want them to do in a game – not only for baserunning but in every area of play!

So here are some basic tips and guidelines on using ice and/or heat for your softball injury:

1. For Acute Injuries, where you feel pain shortly after the injury (sprain, fall, collision etc) – cold therapy with ice is the best immediate treatment to use.
2. For Acute Injuries ice helps to reduce bleeding into tissue, reduce pain, reduce muscle spasms, reduce or prevent swelling
3. For Chronic Injuries, ice is the best choice after a workout
4. Do not use heat on acute injuries or on injuries that have inflammation or swelling because it can make imflammation and/or swelling worse
5. Heat is good for sore, stiff, or nagging muscle/joint pain/injuries that do not have inflammation or swelling
6. Heat is good to use on chronic injuries or pain before your workout/exercise
7. It’s better NOT to ice a chronic injury before exercise
8. Ice should be used on injuries less than 24 hours old or on injuries that continue to cause swelling
9. Moist heat is the best (heating pads/moist towels) – make sure there are enough layers between your heating source and your skin
10. Ice using something that conforms to your body (ice wraps, ice packs, frozen bag of veggies, etc)
11. Do not put ice packs directly on skin
12. Do not fall asleep with a heating pad on your injury!  Apply for no more than 30 minutes.
13. You can ice an acute injury several times a day for up to 3 days
14. There is little benefit to icing for longer than 20-30 minutes so do not leave ice on any longer than that
15. Ice is also helpful when you re-aggravate a chronic injury
16. If you are going to re-apply ice or heat, wait until your skin is completely back to normal in appearance
17. When icing, check skin color after about 5 minutes.  If skin is bright pink or red, remove the ice pack!  If not, you can continue icing for another 5-10 minutes.

It all started with a word at the field that was shared with others.  Then someone else came along and offered to share the insight they got from it.  The insight they shared then lead to this blog post which I am now sharing with you.  That’s a lot of sharing going on, but that’s how we continue to learn and grow and gain insight into ideas or concepts we may not have thought of on our own.  Or sometimes these things just serve as a timely reminder of what we already know – and the internet and social media make it easier than ever to begin and continue this chain of sharing, learning, and growing with each other.

Anyway – on to what this post is really about – The Challenge!

You see, in Coach Meg’s post, I read a phrase that just jumped out at me…

The challenge is to not become complacent

The challenge is to not become complacent…

• with your performance
• with your training
• with your mental approach
• with your school work
• with your interaction with your teammates
• with your performance
• with how you train
• with how you perform
• with what you’ve already accomplished
• etc, etc, etc

That’s such a great line and one that applies to so many player and coaches in the game today.  It’s so easy to become complacent once we find something that “works” or once we accomplish a goal or once we see that we are one of the best amongst our immediate competition.  But complacency is the quickest path to repeating crisis or failure.  So, you may be on top now, but never ever let that stop you from moving forward or continuing to develop.

One thing is certain, once you reach the top, once you become a champion, you now have what everyone else wants. Some are fighting tooth and nail and are willing to do almost anything to get what you have.  If you choose complacency, if you think that now, since you’ve finally reached your goal, that you can relax.  Think again.  That “prize” you’ve earned and worked so hard for will be gone in an instant if you think for once second that there’s nothing else you need to do…that there’s no more to improve upon.  Whether it’s a championship, or an award, or a starting position, or a spot on the team – working for it and earning it does not entitle you to it forever.

You think getting to that point was tough – staying there is a whole ‘nother level!

Complacency is a very sneaky enemy.  The challenge is to not become complacent.

5 Softball Coaching Mistakes that Can Limit Your Success

• Flying by the Seat of Your Pants – aka not having a practice plan. This wastes time, greatly reduces coaching efficiency, and hinders your team from progressing as quickly as they could.
• Trying to Please Everyone – Pleasing everyone is all but impossible. Not everyone is going to be entirely happy in any given situation. Worrying to much about and focusing too much on the few people who’d rather grumble than make adjustments is a waste of time and energy that could be better spent helping the entire team get better.
• Focusing Too Much on Your Opponent - It’s always important to stay focused on the thing you can change and let go of the things you can’t. Your opponent is not something you can change. Some feel it’s important to know your opponent to be able to form a plan of attack which is fine, but they should not be the focus of all your pre-competition chalk talk. Stay focused on your team and what you need to do to be successful.
• Not Practicing Skills You Expect to be Executed Well – Skills like taking leads, bunting, or getting out of the box are things that coaches often expect to be done well but may not dedicate enough practice time to.
• Ignoring the Mental Game - This is huge!  Don’t forget to train both mind and body.  All the skill in the world without mental toughness won’t get you very far.  You’re players need to be able to overcome the challenges and obstacles that are sure to arise during the season.

Take a look at how you prepare and see if you are making any of these common softball coaching mistakes with your team.  If not, great!  You’re on the right path.  If you are, identify the problem and make a positive adjustment to enjoy more success this season!

1. Hit and Run - Getting Out of the Box
In a game, what do you have to do after you hit the ball? That’s right, RUN! Yet, how many of your swing in practice are followed by a run down the line to first base? If you’re team gets a lot of reps in station drills or in the batting cage, then chances are they may very rarely actually hit then run in practice. Maybe you NEVER actually run down the line to first after a hit in practice, yet this is a very important aspect of the hitting process! Obviously you have a better chance at being safe at first if you get out of the box as quickly as possible, but if you never practice it, how are you going to get better at it? How many times have you seen players, especially younger ones, hit the ball, then “forget” to run right away? This is not something that comes “automatically” to every player. It needs to be practiced like anything else. Make sure you practice running after a hit or swing.

2. Getting into the box
Another things that’s often overlooked is getting into the box. There are things that a batter must do and should do before getting into the box to hit. One, of course, is to look at the base coach for a signal (again, how many times have you seen players skip this step?). Another thing players should be doing is going through their own little routine when getting into the box. Just as basketball players often have a set “approach” before the shoot a free throw shot, softball hitters should have their own little routine when getting into the box. They should do they same thing each time. This is a big part of being in the right frame of mind and having a good mental approach to the at bat.

Routines are what make us feel comfortable, confident, and in control – the 3 C’s you really want when going into any at bat. Getting into the box the same way, a way that makes you feel comfortable and in control, each time helps promote the right mental approach to an at bat. Again, an important part of hitting, but how often is this practiced??? There’s a good chance you never practice this part of your hitting outside a game situation. But how can you expect to be solid in every part of your hitting when you leave out such important portions of it in your practice time? Set aside some time to practice at bats all the way through from beginning to end. One of the best ways to do this is with visualization drills. No equipment needed except, you, your bat, and your mind.

3.  Taking Leads
I realize this isn’t a hitting skill, but it does come right after a hit if you get on base and it is still an “offensive” skill if not a hitting one. But taking leads is also overlooked quite often, especially at the older age levels where most players already know how to do it. Unfortunately, many don’t do it well. You’ve probably seen players take leads a couple different ways: straddling the bag (rocker) or back foot on the bag. EITHER WAY – this skill must be practiced. The biggest mistakes I see players make are: not taking strong leads, not taking leads the same way all the time, and probably the most annoying for me to see…not timing leads properly which can most definitely mean the difference between an out and safe call!

So, when you put together your plan to practice hitting or offensive skills, please remember these.  Improving these areas can make an immediate positive impact on your game!

BUT, from a parent perspective…

What’s more important?
If you had to choose one or the other which would you choose?
Or if you had to say that one was primary and the other secondary, which way would you go?
If you knew one team guaranteed a winning season, but not necessarily a lot of progress for your daughter and the other guaranteed improvement for your daughter, but maybe not a championship type record – which would you choose for her?

What’s more important to you?

a) that your daughter be on a winning team
b) that your daughter improve her skills as a player/person

Leave a comment here and share your thoughts!  I, of course, have my own thoughts as a softball parent, but I am interested in hearing what you think too!

Actually, not much. I was just thinking of a common phrase you hear at fast food restaurants where you can “have it your way.” One thing they always ask you is, “Would you like fries with that?” Some softball players seem to carry the “have it your way” mentality onto the softball field. I mean, believe me, I think it’s great that all I have to do is ask and I’ll get a chicken sandwich with no lettuce, but athletics doesn’t always allow you to have things your way. Too many softball players want things “their way” in order to perform at their best. Guess how often they’re going to do well.

Not very often.

Yes, bad weather may make the game more challenging. Yes, bad calls can be frustrating. Yes, having your great hits caught all day long can be discouraging. BUT if you always let these outside circumstances dictate your confidence and how you feel, chances are you’re never going to be in the optimal mindset for maximum performance.

I mean seriously, you’ve trained for too long to let ANYTHING take that away from you, much less something you have no control over. Whether this is only your first season and you’ve only been training for a few weeks or whether you’re an experienced player and you’ve been training for years – trust all that hard work you’ve already done. Don’t let one or two things on game day override all that effort you’ve already invested in yourself and make you feel like you can’t be successful.

It’s true the situation around you or your environment may not be what you want. Maybe the field you play on isn’t the best, or your team isn’t the best, or your equipment isn’t the best, BUT there will always be something and you can’t let that stop you from being your best.

You have full control over what you think and the mindset you having going into competition. Don’t leave it to chance. Stop allowing yourself to use excuses for poor performance. The more you blame other things, the less you’ll be able to make the real adjustments you need to help you get better as a player.

If you’re waiting for everything to be perfect before you can perform your best, it may never happen. Yes, it might be easier if you had the best of everything around you – better teammates, better coaches, better field conditions, better equipment, better umpires, etc, etc, etc but if you keep looking to everything around you to get better or keep looking to what you don’t have as the reason you’re not successful, where do you draw the line? When does it stop? Really, if you’re going to wait for all that to be just right, what else are you going to want? Would you like the sun to be at a certain angle perhaps? How about we wait for the wind to blow one direction while you’re up to bat and the other when your opponent is up to bat? Planetary alignment maybe?

Do you want fries with that?

You get the idea. When does it end? If you keep looking for excuses, you’re never going to reach your full potential. At some point you have to put all the outside BullSh*t aside and take responsibility for your own performance! Too much focus on everything else that could be different doesn’t help YOU get better. Make adjustments where you can – with YOURSELF and stop focusing so much on things you have no control over.

“How Do I Stack Up?”

This player is a freshman that college coaches of some of the best programs in the nation already know about.  She’s got great grades and doesn’t have to be hounded by her parents or coaches about it.  She’s not one of those players who’s been playing since she was 5 and yet, she can hit the ball and “has it all” as a pitcher.

AND is just a freshman in high school this year!

So how do you stack up?  Where are you in your skills and grades and attitude?  Are you working hard enough?  Or are you just “settling” for “being the best” where you are at?  Are you really, truly striving to being the best you can?  Why should a coach choose you?  Can you do better?  Can you strive for more?  Can you push for more than you’re doing now?  Do you need to raise the level of your softball performance?

Maybe now is a good time to do a serious self-check and re-evaluate your direction.  Be Great!