All About Fastpitch Softball Blog

I think this is so cool! I wish I could be there to see it.

TONIGHT the Schaumburg Flyers baseball club, of the independent Northern League will battle the Chicago Bandits, of National Pro FastPitch softball at Alexian Field.

The really cool thing is that it seems like a lot of people will have a chance to see first hand, what the Chicago Bandits can do. While most of their games average under 1,000 spectators a game, this Battle of the Sexes match-up has a chance of selling out the 8,500 capacity field by game time.

I sure hope there’s another article after this game is over that will let us know how it went.  While it’s not a true, men’s softball vs women’s softball game – I think it’s great that an NPF team will have a chance to play in front of a big crowd and hopefully spark interest in people who’ve never really watched the pro fastpitch league (or even the game in general) before.

If you’re in Chicago and are attending this game, you have to give us a report here!

Technorati Tags: Battle of the Sexes, fastpitch softball

Twitter is a real time social media network that allows users to post short updates about what they’re doing to a timeline.  When you join twitter for free, you can see all the updates posted by people you “follow.”  Twitter is very simple and straightforward without the “fluff” off applications, games, photo albums, and other add-ons that other social media networks like MySpace and Facebook have.

It does take a little time to get the hang of the conversation and community there, but once you do, you can meet some great people and learn things you would have never known if it wasn’t for twitter.  The best way to do it though, is to just jump in and try it.

Here’s what you need to do to get started:

1. Go to Twitter.com
2. Click on “Get Started-Join”
3. Fill in the form and click “Create my account”
4. Input your account/profile/settings information
5. Then look for cool people to follow

To help get you started, here’s a bunch of softball people I’m following (after you’re logged in to your account, click on the links below then click on the “follow” button on these twitter people’s pages):

NCAA WCWS: http://twitter.com/NCAAWCWS

DI Coach Bill Vasko: http://twitter.com/CoachBook

Marc Dagenais: http://www.twitter.com/coachmarc

Steven Anderson: http://twitter.com/ATumblebug

Jessica Jobes (MittMate): http://twitter.com/JessicaJobes

Angela Tincher: http://twitter.com/ATinch1

STATE the Movie: http://twitter.com/statethemovie

We Play: http://twitter.com/weplay

Philadelphia Force: http://twitter.com/PhilaForce

ASA Softball: http://twitter.com/ASASoftball

Ringor: http://twitter.com/ringor

Big West Softball: http://twitter.com/BigWestSoftball

Barry Lovelace: http://twitter.com/barrylovelace

Fastpitch News: http://twitter.com/FastpitchNews

Oh yeah, and you can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/staciemahoe

There are also some pretty cool softball parents on twitter as well.  You may see me talking to them every now and then.  Any time you see me talking with other twitter users about softball, I’d suggest clicking on their twitter name to go to their page so you can see if you’d like to follow them too.  If so, just click on the “follow” button on their page.

I’m seriously thinking about doing some short tutorial videos to show you some twitter basics.  I’ll certainly let you know if I get those made!

Technorati Tags: fastpitch softball, twitter

This is one of my favorite softball drills to put an infield through because it forces them to treat each play with urgency.  You can tell them to get to the ball quicker or to get rid of it quicker, but this drill gives them an “in your face” reason to do that.

Now, I’ve also heard that using a stop watch is helpful as well.  However, with a stop watch, the players don’t get as much of a visual on how far off or how close they are to making the play.  Using runners, like in this drill, gives them a more concrete visual of what’s going on.

So, how does this drill work?

1. Set up an infield
2. Have the rest of the team put on helmets
3. Runners will start 10 feet up the line to first (not from the batters box) and will start running when they hear the coach’s bat hit the ball
4. Coach stands in the batter’s box and  a hits grounders to the fielders
5. Fielders field the ball and and make the urgent play at first

Obviously this cuts down significantly on the time the field has to field the ball and make the play.  I like to run this drill with routinely hit ground balls…not screamers.  Force the players to come get the ball instead of sit back and wait for it and quickly get rid of it to make the play.  Do not hit laser shots at them and force them into a defensive mode.

This drill is a great way to put pressure on your infield and challenge them in practice so that game situations seem easy.  It’s also a great way to get some sprints in.  You can also switch out the infield and the runners to give everyone a chance at making these urgent plays as well as give everyone some sprint work.

Technorati Tags: Coaching Softball, Defense, fastpitch softball, infield, Softball Drills