This week is an exciting week in softball all over the place I’m sure and Hawaii is no exception. If you don’t live in Hawaii, don’t dismiss this message just yet. There will be a way you can watch some of the Hawaii action live via the internet! I’ll tell you more about that in a second.

Anyway – the Hawaii High School State Softball Championships begin TODAY at UH Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. Today’s games are at 1:00, 3:00, 5:00, and 7:00 pm. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for kids and seniors.

There are also Div II games going on at CORP. Today there are a total of 4 games. Two starting at 5:00pm and the other two starting at 7:00pm.

While none of today’s games are being shown via the internet, games on Thursday and Friday will be shown online via live streaming video at http://www.oc16.tv. Two games will be shown each night. One starting at 5:00pm HST and the other at 7:00pm HST.

If you’re in Hawaii and want to catch some fun college action, head over to HPU for NCAA Div II Regionals this weekend starting Friday.

For more information on the Hawaii High School State Softball Championships, check out today’s article at http://bit.ly/acF0Ob

To view the bracket for the NCAA Div II Softball Oahu Regional go to http://bit.ly/9OQUUp

NCAA Div II Regionals Hub is at http://bit.ly/b6Q4dQ

Enjoy!!!

“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!

Congratulations Roosevelt!

In addition to all the hard work Roosevelt did, I think their success is also attributed to their approach. There was something Coach Clay said in the newspaper article about their championship win that caught my eye.  It was a topic I had wanted to talk about, but didn’t really know how to go about it or explain it well.  Hopefully by referencing this article, it will help, so I’m going to try.

In the article, Coach Clay said, “To be honest, we didn’t really think about (an approach to Mililani’s lineup),” Roosevelt coach Clay Okamura said. “Mililani is a mean team, take nothing away from them. But we didn’t think about (them), we were more concerned about what we had to do.” That’s a big part of why they won.

Too often we focus on our opponent. The pitcher has a great change up.  Their batters can hit the ball.  They’re great at putting down the bunt.  They’re aggressive on the bases.  Watch for the rise ball…etc, etc, etc.  Not that it’s wrong to know your opponent, but I think it’s a mistake for them to be your primary focus.

What about YOU and what you CAN do? When you go into a game thinking primarily of all these things your opponent CAN do what happens when you start to see it in the game.  You see that great change up the pitcher has working.  You see them being aggressive on the base paths.  You see them getting great hits.  All they need to do is show any of those things a few times and you start thinking, “Oh man, there’s that change up of hers” or “Gosh, they really are fast on the bases” or “Yup, they sure can hit the ball a ton.”  What does that do for your confidence or your view of the game?  It only affirms your “beliefs” in what the other team CAN do, probably starts to discourage you or at least plants seeds of doubt about your team’s chance at success, and only makes the other team more of a formidable opponent.

And since you’ve been so focused on them, when your team gets a great hit here or there or your pitcher makes some great pitches or when your team makes a great defensive play, you almost don’t even “see” it because you’re too busy seeing all the great things the other team can do.

But what if you hadn’t been so focused on your opponent.  Yes, be aware of the threats they may throw and you and be ready for them, but focus on your team, what you CAN do and what YOUR STRENGTHS are. Then when your team gets a good hit or two, you think, “See, we CAN hit this pitcher” – it builds on your confidence to be successful in the game even more.  When you focus on knowing that your defense is strong and can make plays and then you see it start (just start) to happen in the game, again, it only builds your confidence and re-affirms your belief in your team’s ability to get the job done on defense.  And while all this is going on, since you haven’t put much focus on the other team, you probably aren’t thinking so much about the things they are doing in the game.  Yes, they may get a hit here or there or they may make a great play on defense or their pitcher may make great pitches throughout the game, but if you’re focused on your team and what you CAN and ARE doing, I think you’re a whole lot more likely to be successful and play closer to your full potential.

PERFORMANCE = POTENTIAL – INTERFERENCE

Dr. Tom Hanson talks about performance in terms of the formula PERFORMANCE = POTENTIAL – INTERFERENCE.  I think focus on the other team strengths is interference that takes away from your potential and lessens your performance.

I mean, let’s get real here for a minute.  If you’re playing a tough team they ARE going to hit the ball, they ARE going to make good defensive plays, their pitcher probably WILL get some of your batters.  It’s all a part of what makes them a worthy opponent. If you’re going to allow those things to discourage you, then you’re probably going to get discouraged real quick because those things WILL happen in the game.  Focus less on them and more on you because your performance is the only one you can do anything about.

Anyway – congratulations again to this year’s State Champions. A link to the story and pictures will be posted at http://hhsaa.org/sports/softball.

Also – congratulations to Pac-Five for winning the DII championship tonight as well. It’s an ILH sweep of the State Championship titles this year – wow!

This article also talks about the mechanics of pitching and the stress or lack thereof on the shoulder. That’s fine, but what about the rest of the body? The shoulder isn’t the only part involved in pitching.

I’m just a bit surprised at the format of the tournament they talk about in the article because our state tournament here in Hawaii is only 12 teams, single elimination and it runs over the course of 4 days (and does include teams from outer islands who travel away from school to come and play). Now I’m not saying the girls are not capable of it. I’m sure lots of the girls LOVE playing that many games in a short period of time. I would have, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best way to do things.

In high school, the team I was on entered lots of pre-season tournaments where we played a number of games in a short period of time, but pre-season is very different from post-season. In pre-season, you’re usually carrying extra players (those trying to make the team), you’re doing lots of subsitutions (to give everyone a chance to see what they can do), and the “Big W” isn’t all that important. In post season, it’s a completely different story.

I just can’t imagine why a state would run a 16 team double elimination state tournament in just two days. There’s probably a logistical issue I’m not considering? But I would hope that, for the sake of the girls, they’d come up with a better way to run the tournament. What do you think? Read the article here, then leave me a comment below with your thoughts.

If I’m not mistaken…the homerun stood in this game and Kailua went on to win the game even though they were down in the late innings of the game.

Another thing I learned is that the NFHS rules have been amended to permit metal cleats in 2008. I would have LOVED to play in metal cleats in high school. I always wondered why the baseball boys could wear them and we could not.

One rule change I don’t really like is the one that says a batter shall take her position in the batter’s box within 10 seconds of the ball being returned to the pitcher in the circle. I mean, I can understand the reasoning for it because sometimes batters take way too long. Shucks, I suppose it can be done, but between taking a signal, taking a deep breath to reset, and scanning the defense for cues, that’s not all that much time, especially if the coach is talks to baserunners between pitches and you have to wait to take a signal OR if the coach gives a long set of signals OR if you get confused with the signal and have to ask to see it again.

Anyway – to read more about these issues and other changes, visit
http://www.nfhs.org/web/2007/07/high_school_softball_rules_amend.aspx

Great job to all the high school teams this season! I’m already looking forward to next year.