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Sign The Petition To Restore Softball To The Olympic Games
by Dave
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Already quickly approaching 10,000 signatures, the petition to restore Olympic Softball to the 2012 games is online:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/olysoftb/
Please take a moment and sign it.
Permanent Link: Sign The Petition To Restore Softball To The Olympic Games
 
Practice Does Not Make Perfect
by Dave
Thursday, July 14, 2005
I don't know if there is another sport where girls practice their craft harder than they do in softball. If you've ever had the chance to attend a National Pro Fastpitch game and arrived there a little early, you probably saw these world class athletes practicing before the game. They drill so hard I would imagine they didn't have a game that day. Many amateur teams hold intense practices even on days when they play double headers. Sometimes they even hold intense practices during the morning hours when they are playing double headers on multiple consecutive days! There is little question that softball and baseball are sports where drilling of fundamentals is important. But drilling alone is not enough to play this sport well.
The diamond is a place where confidence is king. As a good batter approaches the plate, she sees herself drilling the ball for a hit or homerun. If you walk into the box thinking, "I hope I get a hit this time," chances are you are going to dribble the ball harmlessly to the pitcher orf other infielder. Conversely, if you are convinced you are going to hit one in the gap, chances are better that you will. There is no other explanation for extended hitting slumps. There is no other explanation for a guy like Major League Baseballer Chuck Knoblauch not being able to throw the ball from his position at second base to first without making more errors in one year than he did for his entire life prior to losing his confidence. Softball is a tough game where you have to shake off getting hit on the shins by a hard object hit at high speed. But it is also a game where your mental toughness is tested as much as, if not more than, your physical toughness.
I watched the NCAA Women's College World Series a lot this year. I think I missed just a handful of games. What struck me was the confidence that the Michigan team had. Jennie Ritter has a tremendous amount of confidence in the circle. She does not throw as hard as Cat Osterman but she knows she is going to get you out. Similarly, Samantha Findlay has a strange sort of glow around her as she approaches the plate to bat. She just knows she can do it. On the other hand, Anjelica "Jeli" Selden has some problems throwing the ball to first base on balls hit back to her. This is purely a mental thing as even my grandmother can throw a ball that distance without pounding it into the ground the way Jeli did on so many occasions.
Recently there was a fair amount in the media about how Alex (ARod) Rodriquez has been seeing a therapist. Alex has some issues about his father abandoning him and I'm sure that has much to do with him seeking therapy. But I think it is demonstrative of the need for mental health in a game where you have less than 1 second to decide whether a pitched ball is going to be in there, hit you in the head or otherwise miss the strike zone. Likewise, fielders have very little time to do what they do. Baseball and Softball are about confidence and being in the right state of mind.
I once had a conversation with a first year high school manager. She had been a great player and was only a few years removed from her playing days. We were talking about how hard girls practice this sport when she got this funny smile on her face. She told me that she is not the toughest coach around because she spends at least as much time getting into her kids' heads as she does drilling them. Her team would play for a state championship soon thereafter against a team which had been in the national top twenty most of the past two years, having lost only one game during that time. The "mental" coach's team, on the other hand, was not even recognized locally, let alone on the state or national level. Her team had lost to its nationally recognized opponent 3 times that year, each time facing the same pitcher who also happened to be an All-American. They had lost by as many as 10 runs and as few as 5, barely getting a runner on base during all three games. But in the final meeting of the teams, the unheralded, unrecognized underdog soundly defeated the unbeatable team.
So how do you go about creating the right mind set to bring your game to the next level? If you are a coach or parent, how do you get your kids to be confident? I remember a time when I was in college and a mentor asked me how I might improve my grades. I told him that I was working 50 hours a week and taking 12 credits. I was studying every free moment I had while taking only Friday nights off in order to go to bed by 8 PM so I could catch up on my sleep. I thought I might be able to work a little harder but not much. He laughed and told me it had nothing to do with effort. The only way I was going to do better in school was to visualize myself doing better. I had to see myself getting all perfect 4.0s and stop grinding myself into the ground in order to settle with a 3.8 average.
Hitting is sort of like the chicken and the egg. You cannot get a hit unless you know what it feels like to get a hit. Slumping batters often forget what it feels like to hit the ball sharply into the gap. Now everyone gets into a slump every now and again but the way to make yourself a better batter is to remember all the really big hits you have gotten your entire life. It doesn't matter if it was a single in a 10U game or the game winning home run in a high school championship game. Visualizing yourself being the hero, getting the big hit, is the way to build real confidence.
To begin, get in a comfortable, quiet place, close your eyes and visualize yourself in the dugout finding your helmet and bat. You are watching the pitcher throw and the game situation unfold in front of you. You feel that pre-batting anxiousness, that feeling in your stomach that your turn is coming. You really hope somebody can get on base so you have a shot to drive them in. The pitcher seems just a little distracted. She walks the first hitter and you step into the on-deck circle. Your wrists are loose after a couple swings and you take the weight off the bat. The pitcher throws a strike. The batter steps out of the box to take signs from the coach. You swing lightly flexing your wrists, watching the pitcher and your teammate as she steps back into the box. She drills the ball into right sending the first runner over to second. Two on, nobody out, your turn. You walk slowly towards the plate watching your coach who gives you the swing away sign. Everything seems slowed down as you hear yourself breathing and your stomach gets tighter. You step in and take a practice swing. You can even smell your bat as the pitcher throws her first pitch a ball, high and outside. You wonder why that pitch seemed so slow and the ball seemed so big. You step out, check the sign, step back in and swing slowly once. The next pitch is right in your favorite zone and your drill it over the left-centerfield fence. The ball had looked like some giant flattened grapefruit with thick red lines running through it. You could see every turn of the ball as it approached you. Why was it so slow? That girl throws 61 and even her change is in the 50s. Why did the ball appear so big? Who cares, you just hit the game-winning homerun!
We probably drill fielders more than anything else. I can remember as a very young player taking dozens of grounders at third during every practice. Yet I was never able to play the position very well because I completely lacked confidence. Even when I fielded balls cleanly, I had some sort of mental block about throwing to first. Years later I would catch and have no trouble throwing out runners at second. But I just couldn't see myself making the throw to first from third. I always had this mental picture of throwing the ball over the head of the first baseman. While catching, I often practiced visualization without knowing it. I guess I had some early success throwing runners out and this formed a constant picture in my head.
Fielders should practice the same kind of visualization that batters do. The one thing you want to avoid is what captured my thinking - making errors. Kids probably have to be coached through this as much as they need to be coached about technical aspects of playing the sport. Outfielders can focus on some good catch they made or a throw even just to the cutoff man that was quick and accurate. Infielders can focus on the look of the ball as it bounces towards them. Every player can focus on some important mental aspect of defensive play which makes them feel good.
Pitching is perhaps the toughest mental position to play. Young pitchers should focus on what it feels like to throw a strike. If they can conjure up the experience, maybe it was a particularly hard pitch they threw which resulted in a called third strike as the batter backed away in fear. As pitchers get older there is far more to visualize. They need to run through their entire repertoire of pitches and they need to visualize batters' swinging weak spots. Finally pitchers should run through an inning or two in their heads, perhaps visualizing how they plan to pitch the toughest hitters on the opposing team. All big time pitchers practice some sort of visualization. That is why a guy like Roger Clemens doesn't even talk to teamates on days when he is pitching.
Another aspect of the mental game of softball is the winning attitude. I coached a Little League Tournament team once where the girls practiced very hard. I felt they had a good chance to win a few games. But the mental attitude of the team really stunk. Why? The girl on the team who was seen as the star had a poor attitude. The last practice before our first game a conversation started in the dugout. One girl said, "It would really stink to lose two games. We're doing all this practice and then we go out and lose two games. Poof, season over." The star on the team said, "We'll probably lose." I became enraged and said, "Why are we going to lose?! What single reason can you give me that will cause us to lose?" She said, "I don't know" I replied, That is because you're wrong. There is absolutely no reason we are going to lose. We are going to win. If if if, we field the way we are capable of fielding, we hit the ball when strikes are thrown, walk when they are not, and if we run the bases well. There is no reason we should lose. We practiced hard. We deserve to win. We are going to win."
I have often heard that the second most catching disease is enthusiasm. The first? Lack of enthusiasm. You need to remove negative thinking from your team's minds. If you hear something mentioned, even in passing, about losing, nip this in the bud. Ask the person making the comment to explain it for everyone. Why are we going to lose? Give me the specific reasons. If the kid is like most, they will try to squirm away and not answer the question. Don't allow this to happen. Insist on a full explanation and then answer every reason with a good, reasonable answer. If the answer is the other team has a great pitcher, ask if she has ever walked a batter, given up a hit, or lost a game. If the answer is she has been perfect for 5 years, you may be in trouble. But since I cannot find such a pitcher in any record books, I have to imagine that whoever you are facing is beatable. This should be drilled into your kids. Whatever reason you are given, I'm confident that you can and will find a reasonable response to.
It doesn't matter if you are a parent, coach or player. Mental attitude must be worked on. If you are a player reading this, I think you can figure out how to visualize playing well and winning games. If you are a coach, I suggest you begin experimenting with visualization right away. If you are a parent of a young child, this job is likely to be your hardest. You need to have alone time with the kid who plays. This time should probably be at night, maybe right before bed. You will probably need to remind her of some good play or at-bat she had. You should probably talk her through visualization because while children have better imaginations than their adult counterparts, they do not know how to control and manipulate their imaginations. This will be time well spent and will carryover into other aspects of your children's lives. Visualizing successful studying is very important in high school and college when time constraints limit available study time.
In any event, using visualization will probably increase your child's confidence. And while practice alone does not make a perfect softball player, practice of visualization techniques does make you better at them!Labels: Visualization
Permanent Link: Practice Does Not Make Perfect
Patricia Piper Practices Pickles Pugnaciously
by Dave
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
I love pickles. They're fun to watch. They are less fun to be involved in and far less fun to coach. A poorly executed pickle from the defensive point of view can be be disastrous. Similarly, a pickle which presents a scoring opportunity that doesn't materialize is overwhelmingly frustrating to the offense. If you are the coach of a team, you want your girls to be ready on the both ends to execute the play while keeping their wits about them. The first team that breaks down is often the loser in these situations. And as always, practice familiarizes the kids with the situation and teaches them how to quickly think their way through it. This article focuses on the defensive perspective of pickles.
The first thing you want to instill in your kids on the defensive end is the situation dictates the defensive reaction. There are really only two kinds of pickles. One is done on purpose by the offensive team and the other is accidental. The first situation occurs when the offensive team is trying to manufacture a run. Runners might be on first and third when the runner on first steals and stops between the bases. Or a runner might have just gotten a base hit pushing somebody to third but not allowing them to score, the runner rounds first aggressively, makes for second, and looks to draw a throw. As soon as the ball leaves the throwers hand, the runner on third breaks for home. In these situations where the offensive team is trying to create a defensive breakdown, it is often best to simply end the play and not engage the runners. Pickles in these situations are only a good idea if you are dealing with good college players. Even the best high school teams should not engage unless, as in the first and third situation, you have already designed and practiced a defensive play. In any event, the last thing you want to do defensively is trade a run for an out unless you have a huge lead, in which case it isn't likely to be a pickle caused purposely by the offense.
The second kind of pickle involves a runner on base who made a mistake. She is likely a little confused and embarrassed about having gotten herself into this. If you act quickly, you can take advantage of her confusion. Assuming you don't have the risk of giving up a run, the next priority is to prevent the runner from getting an extra base. The lowest priority has to be getting an out.
In order to handle these priorities, the first, most important lesson is that pickling the runner is not an occassion to make a bunch of throws. If you make more than three or four throws, chances are pretty good one of them is going to be errant and allow the runner(s) to move up.
Obviously the play begins with a player who has the ball realizing that the runner has been caught off base. She makes the first throw. If the runner is close to the previous base and the thrower is also close to the runner, it is OK for her to throw to the player covering the over-run base. This usually happens when the ball comes quickly into the pitcher or catcher and the runner doesn't see who has the ball. This really isn't much of a pickle but it is an opportunity to get an out.
In most other circumstances, the player with the ball should either throw to the lead base or run at the runner. This is because you don't want to give up the extra base. Throwing to the lead base first prevents this and most often the runner will turn and run to the previous base. If that happens, your fielder at the lead base should make a clean catch and then throw to the fielder covering the previous base. If the runner is in the middle of the bases and completely stopped, often the best thing is for the fielder to run directly at the runner rather than throwing the ball to another fielder. This often freezes the runner or causes her to make a decision to run towards the base she thinks she can make. The fielder with the ball must keep good balanced body position while running. This means her run is more of a jog than a sprint. She must be ready to make a good, accurate and strong throw to the right base.
You may be surprised to find that running directly at a runner will cause her to freeze. I remember the first time I tried this as a player. The runner was fairly well skilled but he was expecting me to make a throw so he could either advance or sprint back to the base he just left. He was standing between second and third and I was at the plate having just tagged a runner out. I looked up, saw him and jogged right at him. He never made a move the whole time I was running and I promptly tagged him out. Afterwards we talked and he told me that he was just waiting for me to throw the ball and when I didn't, he just could not think of anything to do. He panicked. So I strongly urge you to indoctrinate your kids with the notion that running at the runner is often the best defensive move in pickle situations. Just make sure they understand that the fielder at the previous base should not run the runner to the next one.
Assuming throws are necessary, as I said, the first throw most often is to the lead base. The fielder who now has the ball should jog slowly at the runner. She has to know that somebody else is now covering the base she was just covering. She cannot be thinking, "I'm going to make this throw and then I have to get back to cover the bag." Her responsibility almost always ends after making the throw. But she should not immediately make a throw to the base. As we said, your first priority is to push the runner back, the second is to get an out. So she runs at the runner until she is convinced the runner has decided to try to get back and only then does she make a throw.
When a defensive player involved in a pickle has just thrown the ball, she must immediately get out of the way of the runner and other fielders. Fielders staying in the play is the most common cause of throwing errors. If the fielder who has just caught the ball needs to make a subsequent throw, the last thing you want is for her to have to decide between two players to throw to. Think of times when you have been involved in pickles. Most often you throw the ball in between the two fielders figuring somebody will catch it and tag the runner. You don't want that to happen to your kids. After throwing errors, the most frequent cause of a runner being called safe in a pickle, is a fielder called for interference. The rule must be, you throw the ball, you get out of the way, and do so in a hurry. Once you throw the ball, you are out of the play - your job has been completed. A player can circle back into the play but only when someone else has made a throw and she is now covering the base.
Another defensive consideration is ownership of the baselines. Your defensive players must know absolutely that they own the baselines. Quite often runners in pickles are called out for leaving the baseline. Teach your players to run directly in the baseline. Don't let them get into a habit of chasing the runner out of the line. This leads to runners juking fielders into mistakes. If for example, your catcher encounters a third base "dancer" (someone who comes half way down the base line, trying to draw a throw), she should physically force the runner back to third while staying in the baseline, if she engages her at all.
Just to sum up, here's what you want to tell your players:
- The situation dictates the play. Don't let someone score.
- Don't give up the next base.
- Minimize the number of throws.
- Running at the runner is often the best play
- Back each other up and after you throw, get the heck out of the way. Be ready to step in and cover the base for someone who has just chased and thrown.
Practicing Pickles
Practicing pickles can be a fun way to break up a practice and a great way to teach softball as a thinking person's sport. Your pickle session begins with discussion. You must instill the thought process first, the priorities next, and only then can you physically practice.
The best way to practice pickles is to play the old time favorite game of running bases with just a little adaptation. Divide the team into two groups, one running and the other playing the field. You can do a game between two bases (first and second) or you can play between two sets of bases (first and second and second and third or third and home) simultaneously. Have fielders stand at each base with backups at each base. If you are using two bases, start your runner in the middle. If you are using three, have one runner on base and the other in the middle. Have one player stand at the pitcher's circle and throw her the ball to initiate the game. If you are using just two bases, you can modify this by having a catcher or outfielder initiate play. In any event, start one runner between the bases and let play develop.
It is important to have a whistle or other noise-making device so you can stop play at any moment. You will undoubtedly see all sorts of mistakes made and can point them out in this way. The best way to correct situational fielding is in the moment. How many times have you been in a game and seen something develop where you wish you could just have 15 minutes of practice to work out. That's what you are doing here. You make a game out of a pickle and then correct mistakes.
You can even set up a point system and have the two sides play against each other. With three bases, make getting to the third one four points, the second two and getting back to the first base one, or anything you choose. Play numerous repetitions with players constantly shifting positions. The game itself is fun and after just a few times, your players should be able to keep their heads when all about are losing theirs.
Whatever you decide to do when planning your week's worth of fielding practices, please don't forget the pickles!
Permanent Link: Patricia Piper Practices Pickles Pugnaciously
What Position Do You Play?
by Dave
Monday, July 11, 2005
What position do you play? If your answer to this question is only one position, I want to try to convince you that the only correct answer is: "all of them!" Well, maybe you can leave off pitcher. That's kind of specialized. But my point is you should never limit your possibilities. I once did and was sorry for it.
When I was a kid, I mostly played catcher. This was the position I loved and still do. This position was the one I worked on to the exclusion of all others from about age 12 on. The only problem I faced was that my senior Babe Ruth team had another fellow who played catcher. Four or five years later this other fellow would be drafted and play major league baseball for close to ten years. What chance did I have of being my team's catcher? Very little. I did end up starting on that team, playing left field, but I was ill prepared for the experience. I spent a lot of time standing in the outfield hoping they wouldn't hit the ball to me and wishing I had done more outfield practice for the past several years.
What I'm getting at here is there is no reason to play one position and make it your own to the exclusion of all others. I guarantee you that there is somebody somewhere better than you at every position on the field no matter how hard you work at your craft. Learn them all or a bunch of them because even if there is a player on your team who is better than you at your favorite position, you may still be a starter. Besides, practicing all positions can be a lot more interesting than only working on one. Working only one position can become tedious. When work becomes tedious, you can become stale and get into bad habits. Working a new position can actually refresh your existing skills at your favorite position. Many of the skills you learn in the outfield are useful for playing the infield. Many of the lessons learned playing third base transfer over to first, short and second. Catching can teach you a lot about first and vice versa.
If you already have a position set by your coach and you have been extensively practicing that position, approach your coach by saying something like, "Hey coach, I was wondering if I could work a little at [other position]." If your coach asks you why, just tell him or her that you want to broaden your skills a little. If your coach continues asking questions, tell him or her that you think shagging flies in the outfield is a good way to build your running speed, practice retrieving pop-ups behind first base, or whatever you can come up with. It does not matter that your real motivation is to broaden your horizons. You will improve first base skills by shagging some flies. And anyone around hardball or softball should appreciate your initiative to learn all positions on the field. If your coach asks you whether maybe you are becoming bored with your position, let him or her know that your desire to practice other positions in no way reflects any sort of boredom. You are simply working on improving your overall skills and specifically you think practicing other positions makes you a better [whatever position you play].
Here are some suggestions as to which position to try depending on what you play now:
- If you play first or third, I suggest you try getting behind the plate. Let's be honest, many first baseman are made that position because they are not the fleetest nor most graceful of foot. Third basemen are often more agile than first basemen but their footwork is not quite as good as a shortstop. Catching can make your footwork at first and third easier because catching footwork needs to be very quick and is done in a close space. Also catching teaches you to block balls coming at least as fast as throws at first, although not as quickly as ground balls at third. Still it can be valuable for a third baseman as the ball blocking needed at third is very similar to catching. Also airing out your arm on throws to second is basically the same as it is for third to first, only faster. Catching has the added benefit of being the position where you get to really watch pitches. A catcher needs to react quickly to balls with different spins. The catcher gets to know, most of the time, which pitch is being thrown and see how it spins and moves. In short, while catchers are not always the best hitters due to the physical wear of playing the position, playing catcher can enhance your hitting.
- If you are a catcher, playing first or third can have benefits for you. For one thing, playing the field can give your legs a needed rest. Many older catchers move into the infield because their legs can no longer take squatting. Catchers can make good third basemen because they are used to blocking balls. But practicing third can help a catcher because it teaches you to block balls moving faster than a pitch with unknown spins. It also helps you with footwork at home because you field balls in such a variety of foot positions that it teaches you to quickly adjust.
- There are obviously tons of overlaps between second and short but switching the middle infield position you practice every so often has the added benefit of seeing balls which have different spin. The majority of batters are right-handed. A righty hits a ground ball with a different spin than does a lefty. If you only practice second base and only field balls hit by righties, you are going to be at a disadvantage when some lefty smashes a ground ball to you in the championship game. Practicing short does not completely compensate for this but it can give you a leg up. Also practicing third or first can help middle infielders with reaction time. First basemen can similarly benefit from playing first and vice versa. Likewise, practicing middle infield can benefit a corner player by having them see grounders with a broader spectrum of spins for longer periods of time. It can almost be like playing the corner in slow motion. Also, you have to cover more ground in the middle and you get to see where these players play and what balls these positions have the most trouble with.
- Switching practice positions between infield and outfield also has some benefits. An outfielder gets all kinds of tricky hops on balls. An infielder can sharpen their reaction to bad hops by playing the outfield some in practice. Also outfielders have to judge the trajectory of pop ups off the bat. Infielders can sharpen their skills on shorter pops by flagging flies in the outfield. Similarly, outfielders gain valuable experience by fielding grounders from the much more close up infield positions. Also outfielders can become somewhat lazy in their throwing skills. Playing infield places more demand for accurate throwing in live situations than playing outfield. But it is always good to put a little pressure on yourself to make accurate throws. So get in the infield and work those positions.
There is no reason to stick to these suggestions. I'm just trying to provoke thought. Even if your coach is not always receptive to you practicing other positions, few coaches will object to you playing out of position during live batting practice. If your team has live batting practice, go out into the outfield or into the infield during this time to work those same skills. If you run live batting practice, try volunteering to give the catchers a little break. If there is no opportunity to practice other positions, you may want to try attending clinics in the off season which teach you some of the skills at other positions. There is no way to know but chances are that when you tryout for the next level, there will be someone there who plays your position and it is also possible that this other person will be better than you. Playing all the positions on the field is fun, can extend your career, and often sharpens your existing skill set.
Permanent Link: What Position Do You Play?
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