Softball Training Tips - This is What Really Counts

It's the Time Between Lessons That Really Counts

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

As most of you who have been around for a while know, I am a private instructor in addition to being a team coach and administrator of the Discuss Fastpitch Forum. It's something I love doing — I must, because for most of the off-season I'm doing it nearly every day of the week for hours at a time.

As such, I'm certainly an advocate of taking lessons for various skills — particularly hitting and pitching. A good instructor can really help shorten the learning process, and keep players from making a lot of dead-end decisions regarding technique.

Yet I always have one thing I stress to every new student and her parents: It's not the time you spend with me that's important. It's really the time you spend between visits to me that makes the difference.

Sure, I wish I could offer some miracle cure to players — a simple laying on of the hands, so to speak, that would instantly convey the skills they want to acquire. But honestly, if I could do that I'd be charging $1,000 per lesson, maybe more. And there would be a line a mile long to get a little of that "healing action."

That's not the way it works, though. Instead, learning skills in softball takes time and effort. Lots of both. But I find that when players put in the time on their own, their overall progress is much faster than those who show up once a week not having touched a ball or bat since the previous week's lesson.

The same, of course, applies to who your instructor is. Just because you're going to so-and-so, the famous ex-player or well-known coach, doesn't automatically mean you're going to get your money's worth out of it. If you don't put in the work, it really doesn't matter who you go to. Because I have yet to find anyone who offers the miracle cure.

Kids, in case you're wondering, the answer is yes. We instructors can usually tell if you've been working during the week. Those who do tend to pick up where they left off. Those who don't tend to have to take a couple of steps back each lesson before starting to creep forward again. We're always delighted to see a student who has actually worked at getting better too.

If the only work you put in is during lessons, the odds are you're wasting your time, the instructor's time, and your parents' money. The real learning happens when you apply the lessons you've learned on your own — trying things, thinking them through and making each instruction a part of your "natural" way of doing things.

The more you work on your own, the faster you'll get better. It's like one of those math graphs. You have time on one axis, and improvement on the other. The more time you put in, the faster you'll improve. The less time you put in, the more time it will take to achieve the same level of competence.

So go to your lessons, and absorb all you can under the watchful, helpful eye of your instructor. But just remember that going to lessons isn't enough. It's the work you put in between those lessons that will really deliver the value.

Anyway, that's the way I see it.

photo credit: aqualung on flickr

Thoughts?

Softbol Consejos - Un nivel de todo el mundo

Habitación publicación de Ken Krause, La vida en el Lanzamiento Rápido Lane blog

Cuando usted participa en una comunidad como el Foro de Lanzamiento Rápido Discutir , una de las cosas que encontrarás es que la gente suelen ser muy fanático de este deporte. Aquellos que utilicen estos servicios son particularmente frecuentes en él, por lo que no es de extrañar que tienden a centrarse en los más altos niveles del juego.

Por desgracia, uno de los subproductos de la que pueden ser miembros de otros preguntando lo que está mal con sus hijas / jugadores porque no tienen ese deseo de jugar 18U de oro de 14 años de edad, o para ir a la UCLA con una beca de viaje completo. Puede parecer como si usted no es el rodaje de la parte superior que está perdiendo el tiempo.

Sin embargo, nada podría estar más lejos de la verdad. Una de las mejores cosas de softbol de lanzamiento rápido es que todo el mundo puede participar, independientemente de su tamaño, capacidad o incluso la dedicación. Realmente hay un nivel para todo el mundo.

Veamos primero los de tamaño. En el baloncesto y el voleibol, lo que realmente ayuda a ser alto. Claro, no son más cortos que los niños pueden jugar un papel, pero es poco probable que las estrellas. Lo mismo con un chico corpulento. Pero en el softbol no tiene que ser grande para tener un buen promedio de bateo o el porcentaje de fildeo excepcional. Sólo tienes que hacer las obras.

Si eres rápido y pequeño, puede ser un percutor o un corredor de bases. Si usted es grande y lento, puede ser un bateador de poder. Hay un lugar para todos, de hecho, los únicos que realmente tienen un momento difícil son los niños que no pueden comprender la complejidad, porque hay mucho que aprender y todo es circunstancial.

Pero la verdadera clave está en los niveles. No todas las chicas quieren ser un jugador de nivel superior. Muchos, de hecho, se contentan con ser estrellas de la liga rec local, o el mejor jugador de su equipo de la escuela secundaria, y eso es todo. Entonces, ¿qué hay de malo en eso?

Nada, de verdad. Ser un jugador de alto nivel requiere de mucha dedicación. Si quieres jugar en una escuela superior que tiene que renunciar a muchas cosas para llegar allí. Entonces usted tiene que dar aún más una vez que estás allí. Lo sentimos, pero eso no es para todo el mundo.

Algunos jugadores no tienen la intención de cada juego una entrada única en la universidad. Eso no tiene el deseo de jugar el juego sea menos válido. De hecho, puede que sea más pura, porque está jugando sólo por el amor al juego y no como un medio para otra cosa.

Hay un montón de razones para jugar. La diversión es sin duda uno de ellos - y una razón que a menudo se olvida en nuestra cultura impulsada por el éxito. Algunos encanta competir, quieren desafiarse a sí mismos, pero no necesariamente la atención para poner en la práctica profunda necesario para ser una perspectiva D1. Y, por supuesto, algunos quieren ver qué tan lejos pueden llegar en el deporte.

Creo que es una de las cosas que se ha perdido con el softbol eliminado de los Juegos Olímpicos. Algunas personas en la parte superior del juego se denuncian porque dicen que le quita el sueño para los jugadores. Eso es una tontería.

La mayoría de los jugadores en el juego no tienen la ambición o la expectativa de jugar en la Selección Nacional, ya sea en los Juegos Olímpicos o en cualquier otro lugar. Su sueño es ganar el campeonato de la liga, o un torneo en particular, o jugar con su equipo universitario de escuela secundaria o docenas de otros objetivos. Seguro, es agradable ver a nuestro deporte en los Juegos Olímpicos. Pero no es una necesidad para la supervivencia del juego.

Lo importante es recordar que los jugadores juegan por una gran variedad de razones - y cada uno de ellos es igualmente vale la pena. Al final, la clave es salir y jugar. Es por eso que hay tantos niveles diferentes - para que todos puedan encontrar el que mejor se adapte a ellos.

Mantenga en mente que la próxima vez que usted se encuentra tentado a decir a alguien "sólo" juega tal o cual nivel. Para ellos, eso puede ser suficiente, incluso si no es para usted.

De todos modos, esa es la manera que lo veo.

Déjame un comentario a continuación a compartir sus pensamientos conmigo.

Softball Pitching Practice Tips

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

Over the weekend, I had a chance to work with one of my high school-age pitching students. She was telling me a little about her high school coach's approach to pitching practice.

What it amounts to is "throw 30 fastballs, 30 changeups, and 30 of another pitch." As a kicker, he also wanted those 90 pitches completed as quickly as possible. My student asked me what I thought about that.

I have to admit to an eye roll. Honestly, I don't understand how a coach with five or six pitchers  of varying ability and experience can prescribe a universal program for all of them. More to the point, unless he gets really lucky I doubt it's going to help any of them.

Since there are essentially two parts to the instruction, let's look at each of them separately, starting with the pitch count. For the sake of this discussion, we'll assume that fastballs will be thrown and that it's ok to do so. Whether a softball pitcher should ever use a fastball is a topic for another day.

Having a set number of each pitch creates a couple of problems, because it focuses on quantity over quality — or having a goal for the practice. A pitcher can easily throw 30 pitches and accomplish nothing. Just chucking the ball at a catcher or wall 30 times gives the illusion of practicing, but not the reality of it.

A pitcher who isn't focused on anything but hitting the number can easily be building bad habits. But let's say she is conscientious about working. Has she set a goal for that particular practice, such as hitting her spots or increasing her leg drive? If so, what happens if she reaches 30 pitches and hasn't accomplished her goal? Doesn't seem like it makes much sense to move, but the coach said 30 and move on so that's what you do.

On the other side, what if she throws three changeups and all work well for her? Should she continue throwing more anyway? Seems like a waste of time to me.

Yes, you can always work on perfecting things, but if you hit your goal in the first few pitches wouldn't it make sense to move on to something else? I will often tell students who successfully throw a particular pitch a few times that we're going to move on, because I can only screw her up from there. Seems to me the time would be better spent on something that requires more work than throwing 30 just for the sake of hitting a number.

Then there's the idea of get through it as quickly as you can. Gee, do you think that's going to breed sloppiness in the approach? Pitching is such an important part of the game. What could the pitcher possibly have to do that's more critical than getting quality practice time in?

Rushing through pitches can actually be counter-productive. As the season nears, the smarter approach is to work at game pace. It's easy for pitchers to get into a particular rhythm during practice — throw it, get it back, throw it right away again. Yet that's not how our sport works. There is a lot of time between pitches in most games. If you can't work successfully at the slower game pace, you're going to struggle on the field.

Finally, rushing through means there isn't a whole lot of thinking going on. Deep or deliberate practice requires thought. It should be more mentally taxing than physical. But if you're sprinting through your pitches, the odds are you won't be engaging your brain and getting better. You'll just be throwing to hit a number.

Again, the better approach is to set goals, and then do whatever it takes to reach those goals. If that means throwing 5 pitches, or 50, so be it. If it means taking an hour instead of a half hour, so be it. As a coach, know what you want your pitchers to be when they're on the field, and then set goals for them that will help them be there.

Players, if you're given those types of instructions smile, nod, say ok, and then set your goals on your own. (Remember it's your career, and your butt on the line if you struggle in games.) You know what you want and need to do. Make sure your practice time is spent getting you there.

Anyway, that's the way I see it.

Softball Pitching - How to Use Each Pitch

By Louie Johnston

Yes, in fastpitch, the pitcher is critical. The greatest defense in the world cannot win without decent pitching. Good pitching stops good hitting. I will leave the mechanics of pitching to others---there is a plethora of good videos and books about pitching alone. I have another perspective about pitching. I consider different pitches as tools. Just as you use a hammer for one job and a saw for another job, different pitches have different jobs to perform. The tools are:

Heat

Controlled heat will always be important in pitching. It makes common sense that the faster the pitch, the less time for the batter to react, therefore the batter makes more bad decisions when heat is thrown. Now think about that for a minute. Throwing heat is based on baiting a batter to swing at a bad pitch? Actually heat makes the ball move and makes batters miss as well. If you hit against a pitching machine in a cage, you can adjust to hitting any speed, no matter how fast. So, while important, heat alone can and will be hit eventually. Heat is relied on for the younger ages. As batters get older and stronger, they adjust to heat very quickly. Heat is most effective when other pitches are used as well to disrupt the timing of the batter. Heat is a strike out tool.

Rise

The rise ball is the most difficult fastpitch to hit. As players advance in age the transition from heat to rise ball dominance is evident. High school ages feature the rise. The difficulty for the batter is that the rise ball is half way to you before it makes its move….which varies from a “climber” to a “jumper”. The batter has to make a decision when the ball has yet to break, so the bat is enroute to the ball…and the sucker jumps or climbs over the bat!. To add insult to injury, the common practice for rise ball pitchers is to:
A) throw it waist high and watch it climb to the shoulders. Swing and a miss.

B) throw it letter high and watch it climb to the chin. Swing and a miss.

C) throw it shoulder high and watch it climb to the eyes. Swing and a miss.

This is called “climbing the ladder.” The “rise in the eyes” is a well used 0-2 or 1-2 pitch baiting the batter to swing at a bad pitch. The rise is a strike out tool.

The batter must actually guess where the ball is going to be when the bat makes contact. This does come with experience and after many whiffs.

Heat and the rise ball are the idols of young pitchers everywhere, because they can make batters look stupid striking out, and make the pitcher a hero. Jim Hendershott (Nashville, TN) made an entire career out of the rise. He could not throw another pitch, but he won hundreds of games with the one he did have. I was fortunate that he was my fastpitch coach. He taught me the shortcuts to hitting the rise.

Drop

The drop ball is not a strike out tool. It is not a macho, blow the batter away pitch. It is designed to force a batter into hitting it into the ground to the infield. As pitchers get to higher levels, they find they cannot just blow the ball by batters from the 43 feet college distance like they could be at the 35’ youth or 40’ high school distances. College and adult batters seldom strike out. That being the case, the best thing a pitcher can do is to keep the ball in the infield for routine ground outs. Sharp downward breaks of the drop ball make it difficult to hit solidly, particularly since the pitch is located around the knees…the farthest distance from the eyes that is in the strike zone. I love the drop as a coach, partly because I hated it so much as a batter! Bill Gentry (Nashville, TN) won hundreds of games in his fastpitch with very few strikeouts and just one pitch…the drop. His strike zone was from the top of the knee cap to the ankle. I was fortunate to play behind Bill and watch the frustration from opposing batters. I have never forgotten those lessons. 21 ground outs per game equals a win!

Change

The change is a pitch thrown with full motion that is much slower than normal. It usually is thrown at 0-2, 1-2, or when a batter has turned on a fastball and hit it solidly and pulled it foul. Any indication of over-aggressiveness will draw a change. It is particularly effective in making the fast stuff look faster as well. Lindy Lower (Beech High School, Hendersonville, TN) is the best pitcher I have ever seen at any level at throwing the change. Lindy throws it about 17 different speeds and makes batters look foolish. Umpires just shake their heads and laugh at her magic. Lindy knows the art of making batters miss. She features the drop and change, using heat only to set up her drop and change. Belmont University has another magician in Sherry Teagarden. Sherry once threw 7 changes in a row (nobody touched them) in the semi-finals of the 18-under World Series. I laughed so hard I cried. I love spunk and brains.

Creo que ya voy entendiendo

Veremos que pasa. El gran Houdini

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