All About Fastpitch Softball Blog

While Bill Hillhouse came down to Hawaii to do a pitching clinic, Howard Kobata, who happened to be in town, decided to stop by the field to talk story and to share a hitting aid with us.  I was skeptical at first because I heard that it was a ball. Really, how cool can “a ball” really be? Then I got to see this “ball” in action and I got to try it out and I have to say, it’s pretty cool.

There are 3 main things I love about this TCB ball…

3.  This ball cuts down on hitting/pre-game time and space needed – this means more reps in a shorter period of time

2.  This ball gives instant feedback - any time your players can see for themselves what they are doing wrong without you having to tell them just makes your life as a coach/parent easier and less stressful.  One problem with today’s bats and hitting off pitching machines or hitting regular balls off live toss is that a player can hit a ball badly and it may still look and “feel” just fine.  Then as a coach, when you try to correct, it you may get some resistance from your player because their end result was “good” and they felt no negative feedback during the swing or hit.  With this ball, unless you hit it right, it doesn’t look and it doesn’t feel right.  You instantly see that your hit wasn’t a solid one.  This leads me to the #1 thing I like about this ball…

1.  This ball is addicting - I was able to get in the cage and take some swings at this ball.  Because of the instant feedback, whenever I didn’t hit the ball well, the competitive “player” inside me just wanted to try again.  Then when I did hit it well it was just something I wanted to keep doing over and over and over again since the “good” hits look and feel so much better than your “bad” ones.  Seeing it happen right was cool!  Seeing it come off your bat poorly, just makes you want to have another chance.  So, the player in me liked it.  It was addicting.  I just wanted to keep trying to hit that ball and hit it well.

In my book, anything that…

• cuts down on time
• makes your practice more efficient
• gives players immediate feedback
• AND is something players enjoy and want to do…

that’s a pretty great thing.

So if you’d like to learn more about this hitting aid or buy some for your team/player, check out Total Control Sports OR if you are in California or Hawaii, call your sales rep directly (Howard) at (714) 293-3088.

Technorati Tags: batting, hitting aid, softball, Softball Training

Just this evening I had a number of thoughts come to mind about how things have changed in the past 20 years. My daughter is playing in Bobby Sox tournaments as I did 20 years ago. She’s also playing ASA, but we gave Bobby Sox try this year and that’s primarily what’s bringing about all these thoughts on change.

Of course, Bobby Sox, in and of itself is one of the major things that crossed my mind. Bobby Sox is nothing like what it used to be. In Hawaii, from a league that had a number of different associations with multiple teams per age division per association to a league with where just 3 districts participate locally. It’s just much smaller than it used to be and the age divisions and minimum play rules have changed a little bit too.

Now-days ASA is a huge deal. When I was growing up, I had never really even heard of ASA until I was older. Yet 20 years later, my 7-year-old has played ASA for 3 seasons already.

Okay, I just realized, this post is going to make me feel old…LOL.

…but I’ll go on…

Tonight I saw a base bag for the first time in a looooooong, long time. I remember having to help our coaches put away bases after every practice. We had to get all those bases with straps and pegs into that big duffle with the pin that secured the top portion of the bag shut. I don’t think my daughters would even know what to look for if you told them to go get the bag for the bases.

Then there’s the face mask requirement. I’ve gotten so used to seeing young ladies play with face masks that, now, when I see a player without one it looks so “dangerous.” Yet, when the face mask became mandatory for batting helmets in youth leagues, I was right there with the girls feeling all the frustration of having to switch over. I was glad that change hadn’t been made when I was playing because I really wouldn’t have wanted to hit with a mask on. As a mother though, I’m so glad my girls are wearing one.

We can’t forget those racer back jerseys so many players love. There was none of that around when I was playing. Even playing in a sleeveless jersey was a stretch for my imagination. When I saw all the teams coming out with the racer back jerseys and shorts, I seriously began to think that, one day, girls would be playing softball in those skimpy volleyball-type uniforms.

After the popularity of the racer back came the emergence of those little black velcro things that scrunch up the shoulder or back of the jersey. I don’t even know what they’re called and I’ve been searching can’t find them online without knowing what the proper term for them are. If you know what they’re called, please post a comment here and fill in the blank for me. I’m sure it’ll come to me later, but if you get to it before me, please, post it in a comment here.

Oh yes, and we can’t forget….Under Armour! I used to wear those 3/4 sleeve undershirts and think it was so cool. But now, it’s all about the even “cooler” (and more expensive) Under Armour that the players HAVE to have. I don’t even know if my daughters realize that Under Armour was unheard of when I was their age. Eeek!

And, of course, the bats! Gosh, I can only imagine what kind of stats I could have had if we had today’s bat technology when I was playing! My hands certainly wouldn’t have stung as much that’s for sure…and I probably would have had more than 1 home-run per year in high school. Maybe some of those hard hit grounders would have made it through the infield. Whenever I see a young lady hit a towering line shot, I always think of how fun it would have been to use that type of high performance bat during my career.

Anyway – those are just a few of the things that come to mind tonight as I think about what has changed since I was playing as my daughters are now. Other things include offensive/defensive strategy, pitching technique, attitudes of players, perspective and philosophy on strength training/conditioning/stretching, the whole “travel ball” concept, and I’m sure there’s more, but I’ll stop there because all that’s getting a little too serious for me. We could probably get into all kinds of good discussions along those lines. But back to the “lighter” side of this topic…What else do you have to add?

Technorati Tags: fastpitch, softball, softball parent

We have a long weekend ahead! How will you be celebrating the 4th?

As for me, and I’m sure many others out there, I will be at the softball field. This weekend, my 3 daughters are all participating in Hawaii’s Bobby Sox State Tournament. Of course, less than 3 days away, and we still have no schedule. I still don’t understand why tournament schedules are set up so last minute. Why don’t the tournament people all get together the week before the tournament (instead of 1-2 days before) and set up the schedule so that parents and team members can do some planning? I guess we’re simply supposed to plan to be at the park all weekend from start to end; details not all that necessary, but will be provided later.

Anyway, while others are out bar-be-quing, beach going, firecracker popping/watching, and celebrating the 4th of July, my family and I will be at the park. Softball….the story of a lot of my life. But that’s just fine with me.

So – what are you doing this weekend?

Technorati Tags: softball, tournament