Everything Fastpitch Softball Connect with other
parents, coaches
and players!
Softball Rampage Special courtesy of Softball Pickles. Buy Softball Training Equipment and save 10% off. Enter coupon code 10BGSR at checkout. Also, get free shipping for orders over $99.00. Expires 12/31/2011. Your Role As Parent V Coach
So You're Thinking About Starting A Travel Team Softball Pitching – Effective Off-Season Workouts for In-Season Wins
Winter off-season training for pitchers should include drills and workouts that enhance and improve the pitcher’s repertoire or ammunition and will have a direct effect on their performance from the outset of the season opener. Too often, pitchers and coaches have a goal to maintain abilities through the winter and try to ensure that skills do not decline through the decreasing number of total absence of pitches. Off -season training is prime-time to make corrections and improvements in form and pitches while also increasing strength and stamina in preparation for a demanding spring and/or summer schedule. The following are focus points of off-season training...more
At recent clinics, I have frequently reminded hitters, plus coaches, that good hitting does not end when the pitch is hit, missed, or even not swung at. Whether it’s a pitched ball or with use of a batting tee, there should be a “rest of the story.” After the pitch or swing at a ball on a tee, the hitter should pause to learn from what occurred. Immediately before the learning phase, if necessary, she should control her emotions so she can properly evaluate what happened and how she can use it to be a better hitter. The “control of emotions” becomes vital when she gets angry, frustrated (awful swing, alleged bad call by umpire, or knocked over tee), confused, scared, or whatever other emotion might cloud clear thinking. Think how smart a hitter (employee, student, parent), we could become IF we briefly paused after each repetition to evaluate what happened and use it to perform hitting (or life) better. Simple advice, sure, but oh so neglected!
Many folks have asked me how we came up with the name, "Softball Pickles." You may be wondering the same thing, so here it goes. One night, while sitting on the back deck at our home, My wife, DD, and I were making a list of possible domain names for the site. My DD would then go in the house, and check online to see if the names were available. At one point, she came outside, and enthusiastically shouted, "I've got it! You're going to love this.... SoftballPickles.Com." She was being her usually witty self and only joking, but my wife and I immediately looked at each other, and with raised eyebrows and a lightbulb above our heads, simultaneously shouted, "Hey"!! Well, the rest is history. In the words of the famous Paul Harvey, "And now you know the rest of the story."
Pickles and Softball? Now, if you're not in the know, you may be wondering what fastpitch sofball has to do with pickles. According to Wikipedia, a pickle, also called a rundown (it gets this nickname from the game "Pickle-in-the-middle" where two people keep the ball away from another) or a hotbox, is a situation in the game of baseball/softball that occurs when the baserunner is stranded between two bases and is in jeopardy. When the baserunner attempts to advance to the next base, she is cut off by the defensive player who has a live ball and attempts to return to her previous base before being tagged out. As she is doing this, the defenseman throws the ball past the baserunner to the previous base, forcing her to reverse directions again. This is repeated until the runner is put out or the defense commits an error and allows the runner to reach a base safely.
Fastpitch softball year round? What ever happened to the traditional softball season? You know...in rec ball, when practices started the first week in April, and the season opened 2 weeks later. By the first week in June, the regular season was over and playoffs began. By July 1st, the all-star teams are playing. Three weeks later, we were packing away the Softball Equipment,
And then came Travel Ball. What Vacation? My DD (darling daughter) now plays travel ball. I coach her travel team, and my wife, the ultimate Softball Mom, handles all the logistics of a travel softball family. Reality has set in. Fastpitch Softball has become a year round venture for us. All-stars may have ended in July, but the weekend travel tournaments and practices on week nights continued. In September, Fall Ball Sunday double headers commenced. (I just love getting up at 5:00 am on Sundays...but anything for my DD!) By the first of November, Fall Ball has ended. Ahhh!!! Finally, a little R&R, and a chance to get reaquainted with the extended family during the holidays, in between the on-going pitching and hitting lessons of course.
But, then the New Year arrives!! Just in time to begin indoor winter workouts and a 8-week hitting league. Oh, did I also mention twice-a-week pitching lessons? Are you feeling my pain yet? If so, you understand that it is a good pain. We wouldn't have it any other way, would we? Fastpitch Softball has become our passion...a way of life. That's why you are here. That's why I created this site. For Softball Junkies like you and me and our DD's. Care to share? We are very interested in your family's softball stories and experiences. We want this site to be a "gathering place" so to speak, for fastpitch softball families. You can read about our family's entire softball evolution by clicking on the about us link. And when you're finished, please feel free to "share your experiences" with us. We'd love to publish them on our site for the benefit of our extended softball family. In the spirit our our DD's favorite game, I enthusiastically proclaim, Play ball!!
|
(Photo courtesy of 
