Tag Archives: pitching

How to Throw More Heat

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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…

barry lovelaceEvery 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.

Fastpitch Softball: How Do You Compare

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High School Softball PlayerIf you think you’re “hot stuff” as a softball player, read THIS ARTICLE and ask yourself…

“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!

Live Interview with Gold Medalist Michele Granger

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Michele Granger InterviewHey – just a quick note to let you know about a live interview I just found out about. Make it Pro will be doing a Live Interactive Interview with Olympic Gold Medalist Pitcher Michele Granger.

  • Who: Make It Pro, Michele Granger, and YOU!
  • What: Live Interactive Interview
  • When: Jan. 7th, 5pm Pacific.
  • Where: Take part, listen in, watch the interview live at http://www.makeitpro.com/tv

Hopefully you and I are able to take advantage of this opportunity to check out a fun softball event.  Mark your calendar.  Set an alarm on your phone or in your e-mail program.  Tell your friends, teammates, and colleagues about it!  Should be lots of fun.  Hope to “see” you there!

Hawaii Pitching Clinic with Bill Hillhouse

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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.

Bill Hillhouse in Hawaii

Hawaii Pitching Clinic

Bill Hillhouse Clinic

Bill Working with Hawaii Pitchers

Learn from the Pros: Pitching Workout

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pitcherIf you’re reading this blog post over this Labor Day weekend then, you’ll get a deal others won’t.  I just found out that Barry Lovelace (the King of Core and creator of the infamous Core Power for Baseball/Softball) just completed a pitching workout video with a couple of pro softball players.  Basicilly, he’s going to show you some of the exact exercises he does with these professional softball pitchers when he trains them.  Not only do these exercises help keep these players in great softball shape, one of them swears she felt the difference in her pitching after the FIRST session! The cool thing, this pitching workout video isn’t going to cost you $29.99 or even anything close to that.  Actually, Barry’s letting you pick up this new workout, for just $9 (but only ’till Tuesday).

Crazy guy only told me at the last minute that he’s offering this brand new workout video for fastpitch softball pitchers at just $9 until Tuesday!  Ummmm, doesn’t he know that softball people are usually BUSY over the weekend and no one checks e-mail or reads blogs (especially on a holiday weekend)?  So no one is really going to know about this, except you, since you ARE here still looking for ways to improve your game over a holiday weekend.  That’s the kind of dedication it takes to be the best.  So, for you, since you’re here when most people are out cruisin’ on the weekend, you WILL get the chance to grab this new workout for fastpitch softball pitchers before the special introductory price ends.  Get it HERE.

I’m Afraid of the Ball

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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


Pitch Count Obsession is Silly

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s12upitchforwardSo, I’ve been having this conversation on Twitter with a baseball guy about pitch counts.

If you’ve never checked out Twitter, it’s a pretty cool “micro” blogging community. Basically it’s short updates about what people are doing all around the world. If you have a f*ree account, you can login and see the updates from all the people you are following. There are even some cool softball people on there. Like I said, there’s no cost to use this tool – check it out at www.Twitter.com – follow me at Twitter.com/staciemahoe

Anyway – back to the story about my conversation…

One day on twitter I mentioned that I think that baseball people seem to be overly obsessed with pitch count; that they seem almost “religious” about it. Of course, this baseball guy responds that it’s not religion, but science. He said that if I’d seen the injuries to young pitchers arms (bone spurs, rotator cuff issues, damage to growth plates etc) that I’d understand.

I completely understand wanting to prevent devastating injuries to young athletes. I’m all for that. I just don’t think pitch count is an effective way to do that. In my discussion with baseball guy I talked about how I feel too many coaches are using pitch count as a “rule” rather than as a guideline. I think that there is sooooo much obsession with “pitch count” in baseball that coaches put too much emphasis on it and not enough on proper training, proper mechanics, proper care, proper warm-up, and listening to your body.

I feel that pitch counts are excellent…as a GUIDELINE!

Baseball guy said that rules have to be used when people don’t know how to properly use a guideline. However, I feel that if coaches are overlooking those other critical issues and just using pitch count as a rule, they could HURT their pitchers with their pitch count “obsession.” Continue reading →