So, this poll (leave a comment below to vote) is about how often you practice hitting.

In what percentage of your practices per week would you say you practice hitting?

• Is it every practice? (you do some kind of hitting drill at every practice)
• Is it only half? (you practice hitting in about half the practices you have each week)
• Is it less more than half?
• Less than half? (you focus more on defense or other skills)

How often do you hit in practice?

Leave a comment below to vote in this poll.  Can’t wait to see what you have to say!

But if you want to know one of the BEST ways to get your point across to your coach…keep reading…

Talk is cheap…

Actions speak louder than words…

If you want to send your coach a message, do it with your PERFORMANCE!

Your performance in practice, your performance in pre-game, your performance in game situations is much more likely to make an impression on your coach than anything you (or your parents) could say.  Make sure that the message you send with your performance is a consistently positive one and you’ll have a much better chance at getting the playing time you want.

I, too, am often baffled by how poor some players basic skills are even when they reach the high school age level.  These player have been in this game for 4-5 years (at least) and still make fundamental mistakes when it comes to throwing and catching.  Not only does this increase their chance for error, it’s often times slowing down their execution of a play (which means a lower chance of actually get the out even when no error is made).

As Ken Krause stated (the guy who wrote this blog post I read),  one of the BEST times to work on basic throwing and catching skills is during warm-up. Every team I know of includes throwing as part of their warm-up on a daily basis.  This actually makes emphasizing proper technique during this portion of practice critical!  Why?  Because it’s something your players are doing day in and day out.  Every single practice they spend time throwing and catching during their warm-up.  If EVERY single day they are practicing poor throwing/catching habits and mechanics during warm-up, obviously, that is going to affect their ability to execute it correctly when it really counts.  It’s almost crazy to allow your team to practice incorrectly every day at the start of practice then demand perfection later.

Some of the most common mistakes I see during throwing/catching warm-up usually include:

• basic footwork – toes of both feet always point toward target, lead foot not even stepping in the direction of target, no move to the ball when receiving a throw
• body alignment – lead shoulder and hip are not pointed in direction of throw
• glove position – making catches with fingers of the glove pointed to the right (or left if lefty) instead of up for balls received above the waist
• stuck feet – no step to the ball with glove foot including no movement of the feet to help catch a ball that is thrown of center/target
• dumping/tossing – players dumping or tossing the ball from their glove to their throwing hand in transition

All of these issues are bad habits that are only being re-emphasized when you allow it to happen day in and day out during warm-up. Start your throwing and catching practice right there at the beginning of every softball day. Get that cleaned up and it will:

• allow you to get solid fundamental practice in without having to add time to your practice sessions or take away time from another skill
• increase the likelihood that your players will do it right during practice and game time
• decrease your chance for error
• increase your odds of getting outs
• be easier to remind your team of the proper mechanics during other situations (in practice drills or in games)

Warm-up is an often overlooked time for working on basic skills.  Making this one change in your practice can benefit tremendously on the performance front.  If you’d also like to check out Ken’s blog post on emphasizing basic throwing and catching technique, click HERE.

Here they are in no particular order – all the specials that are ending soon

1.  Fastpitch Assistant at 41% off: get 6 months of weekly practice tips and ideas to make planning practice easier on you!  CLICK HERE to save big before the special ends tomorrow.

2.  Free Mental Game Help: Dr. Tom Hanson is GIVING you a number of awesome resources sharing success secrets of the best in the game of baseball.  Plus he’s answering some of the most pressing questions real players, parent, and coaches have about the mental game.  Learn more HERE.

3.  Workouts for Baseball/Softball: Brand new workout DVD from Coach Dan of BaseballStrength.com and you get it for “Shipping Only.” No additional costs for the workout DVD that will help you easily incorporate an effective fitness/training component to your practices or training routine.  Limited number of DVDs available, so get yours today.

4.  New Workout Video for Softball Pitchers: learn from the pros and use the exact exercises they are using to get same day results.  Barry Lovelace (the King of Core) got together some of the softball players he trains and he is going to show you the exercises they use to increase strength and pitching speed…all for just $9.  Obviously that’s a great deal that won’t last long.  Get your pitching workout HERE.

5.  Coming Soon: I think I heard Marc Dagenais mention that he’s going to be doing this personalized programs again.  I don’t have the details yet, but will let you know if and when that is available.

Whew!  That’s a lot of stuff, but it’s likely that there’s only ONE that you “really” need right now (and will put to use immediately if you get it).  Don’t go all crazy just because you can’t resist a good deal.  Just get the one program or resource that is going to help you the most right now. IF there is more than one that will help you immediately, then go for it, but I don’t want to see you spending money on something you’ll never use.  If you want the most for your dollar and you KNOW you will need/use it – then by all means, take advantage of these deals before they’re gone.

Hope you had a lovely weekend!

1. Use Runners: Add runners to your defensive practice so that your fielders have “competition.” They have something to “beat.” Additionally you can give your runners an advantage to really put the pressure on your D. Runner will go on the hit, but let them start 5 feet closer to 1st base or let them start off the bag with a larger than normal lead. As a coach, you can decide how much of a jump to give your runners so that your defense really has to focus, attack the ball, and make clean plays.

2. Race the Clock: Stop watches come in really handy for adding pressure to practice. They can be used for defensive practice in place of baserunners. They can also be used during baserunning drills so that players again have something to “beat.” You’d be surprised how much more effort and focus you get just because they players know the clock is on. It no longer, just a drill they go through the motions in. It’s a drill where their performance is also being measured. Knowing that adds pressure to the situation. Whether the players feel the “pressure” or not depends on their mental toughness.

3. Add Consequences or Rewards: A combination of both throughout practice days and drills are probably best. Consequences can be set (before the drill) for failure to achieve a certain goal. Or, on the other hand, you can set rewards for desired performances. Consequences can be as simple as additional reps, push-ups, sit-ups, running, dragging the field, etc. Rewards can be as simple as not having to put away equipment, getting a water break, getting out of the drill faster, getting to hit first when batting practice comes around, etc, etc, etc.

4. Keep Score: I find that keeping score works well in many different drills, bunting, hitting, and fielding. Set up some kind of scoring system for your drill. Give points for desired actions/results and subtract or give 0 points for failure to perform the task. Give each player as set number of reps and keep track of what their score is after their turn. This helps give the players that feeling that every play and every swing matters (just like in the game).

5. Set Goals – Raise the Bar: Instead of just hitting balls to your defense or pitching balls to your batters, tell them what you want them to accomplish during their turn. Tell your infield how many plays in a row you want the, to make without an error for example. If your hitters are young, tell them they are only allowed to swing and miss once in their at bat. If your players are older challenge them to hit a certain number of balls on the ground or on a line during their at bat. The idea is to give them a clear goal to reach so that there’s more of a focus during the drill.

These ideas are so simple and easy to incorporate that you can begin using them immediately! Just choose one or two of these to add pressure to your next practice session and help you get the results you want on the field.

What Does Chemistry Have to Do with Softball?

I’m not too sure, but this blog post will eventually be about softball…just stick with me

Chemistry had to be one of my weakest subjects in high school.  It’s not so much the “chemistry” that I didn’t get, but the unit conversion thing took me a while. Anyway…there are 2 things my chemistry teacher used to always say that I distinctly remember (funny, neither has anything to do with chemistry).

One was “Neato Burrito” which I still say from time to time.

The other is “More does not mean better. Less is More.”

Some people say, “Less is the new more.”

I find this to be true in softball too.

For example, more “muscle” is not always better. Trying to muscle the ball when you throw, pitch, or hit often times causes your body to tense up in ways that it shouldn’t and actually stops you from performing your best.

More is not better.

Obviously more practice or more training can also be detrimental if you overdo it. Again less is more in this case. Especially if “less” means higher quality whereas your “more” is just quantity, quantity, quantity.

But let’s break it down even a little bit further.
I find that players get more quality in when they’re not continuously bombarded with reps.
For instance, when hitting in practice, we sometimes tend to do too much at once. Hitting an entire bucket of balls in one station (be it soft toss, machine, wiffles, or anything else) is not always the best idea.

After all, most batters will probably have their best, most focused, highest quality hits right there in the beginning. After 10+ balls (maybe even less) players will often start changing the way they swing, start getting tired, start getting a little lazy with mechanics, etc.

So let’s say their first 5 balls were great, but you kept going and did 15 more where their swing and their performance quality was not as good as the first 5. What did you just practice? Good habits or bad habits?

5 good, 15 not so good…which one is the body more likely to “remember?”

Same goes for defensive practice. Break your practice down into shorter, bite-sized more manageable chunks (in the players eyes) and I think you’ll find that players will be a bit more focused resulting in a higher QUALITY of performance in practice.

Just remember that More is Not Always Better and see if there are ways you can squeeze more quality out of your players by turning your practices up into bite-sized, easy to handle portions.

Have a great week!

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For additional practice tips, drills, and ideas, don’t forget to check out Fastpitch Assistant at
http://www.allaboutfastpitch.com/fa

Practice Help is on the Way

I’m super excited about the new project I’m working on. I know, I always say that, but it’s always true. I love putting together new resources to help you out.

I was actually talking to a very NON-softball person earlier this week. This woman knows practically nothing about the game, but she is actually the one that thought this suggested this idea. Not so sure why I never thought of it all by myself, but oh well, no biggie.

What she told me to find a way to help coaches out with their practices – and do it EVERY week throughout the whole season. Basically, I’d be your own personal “virtual” fastpitch assistant or it’ll be like having a secret assistant coach in your back pocket so to speak – however you want to look at it. I promise not to go on a power trip or try to take over your whole team. LOL

Really, the plan is for me to send you one message each week with helpful and immediately useful information to make your practices better and improve your team. And I will do this for you for 6 full months!

I’ve actually already started putting some of the weekly tips and drills together and am having so much fun doing it! I may actually be able to start offering my getting you this practice help sooner rather than later, but I’ll keep you posted. If you think this is something that could help you, let me know.

This is something that will be free for Elite Members, so if you’re already an Elite Member, I have already uploaded the 1st week of practice help to the member area.

If you’re not an elite member yet, you can still get in at the introductory price at if you sign up today.

I’m also working on an idea that will give you a chance to get me as your “virtual” fastpitch assistant for free. More on that later…