A Very Special Day! Her First Softball Home Run!
Today was one of those days. You know those days, one of those days when it’s all worth it! Today was one of those days. Why? One of my players hit her first home run today! Big deal you say right? Yeah, you are right! It is a big deal! Unlike baseball, where we see plenty of home runs, home runs in softball are far and few between. In fact, this is the first one I have ever had the privilege of being on the field as a coach to witness! We have given up a few, but never had one. And this one was extra special.
What made it so special? Well, the fact that I have been coaching this girl off and on since she was 7 years old during the years our daughter’s ages crossed. I coach her on every team she plays on and have been working on her swing for years. She is a strong girl, it was inevitable, but she has spent the last year dedicated to becoming a great hitter. And today she hit her first home run! It won’t be her last.
Don’t get me wrong, as with every player, I simply point, it is up to them to make the changes and do the work, and to quote her tonight, “I have been focusing really hard in practice to do that.” That is the understatement of the century! She was a long time coming and should be proud.
I won’t go into the details about how we had to completely change her entire swing, she had to work on getting through the ball, and she had to believe in and commit to her efforts. But know that she had a long way to go and she made sure to dedicate herself to success.
Today, I am a proud coach, and I know she is sitting at home with the ball in her hand and, as her mom puts it, “a glow about her.” And I have to admit, I kinda have one too!
Congrats Rylea!
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Don’t Be Afraid to Succeed
Softball (Photo credit: borisvolodnikov)
You hear life coaches talk about it all the time. “Get out of your comfort zone, the good stuff makes you nervous” etc and it is true. But in baseball/softball there is an addition dimension to this expression. Don’t be afraid to succeed!
See, the harder you work at this game, the harder it becomes. “It’s not football” said Jessica Mendoza during the regionals in the College World Series last weekend. She said this in reference to a player who was in a bit of a slump and had been pressing. Only pressing in softball just makes it harder! Her point was, if it was football you could just play harder, exert more energy and run over your opponent, but trying that in softball simply makes it harder.
At the younger ages I see kids so afraid to fail that they don’t give themselves a chance to succeed. You see it all the time, Johnny is so afraid of striking out that he doesn’t even swing hoping for a walk and then he ends up striking out anyway. Jenny is so afraid of not making contact that instead of taking a rip and driving the ball she just makes a weak effort that doesn’t even get past the pitcher, 1-3, easy out.
So how do we as coaches encourage them to overcome this fear? Well, the answer is simple actually. Make it OK to fail! If the kid isn’t afraid to fail, they will inevitably succeed! It is almost magic. As they learn to succeed, suddenly they swing with power, make plays with confidence, and begin to win on a regular basis. All because you made it ok to fail in the first place.
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A Proud Day in the Coach’s Life
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Today our Junior Softball All-Star team played a fun pick-up game against our Major’s softball team. It was a blast as all the girls from both of the teams are good friends, the score, irrelevant really, was 2-0 and not because of pitching, but because of fantastic defense played by both teams!
As I stood in the coach’s box at third base, suddenly it hit me. With the exception of one girl, I had coached every one of these players, most for multiple seasons. This was the fruits of my, and many others labors, coming to fruition. The smiles on every one of their faces made this a very proud moment for this humble coach.
To understand you have to know a little history. About 5 years ago I moved here to this small town. The place was recovering from being hit by 3 three massive hurricanes in a row, over 40 inches of rain in less than a month left hundreds of houses flooded. There were messes to clean up everywhere with trees down and parks destroyed.
The season, though it started late, still went on though. Volunteers pitched in and cleared trees, mended fences, and got the sites playable again. Though challenged, peopled pulled together as they often do in times of crisis, and worked to get things back to normal.
It was that fall I had my first experience with softball in DeBary. Our team? 0-16. Did it matter? Not one bit. I could see the raw talent that existed, and I knew that there had to be a ton of other players out there that would love to participate if given the opportunity.
Tonight, there were 19 girls on the field, 18 of them I had coached before. Most for many years, all for many seasons. It was a proud moment. Four years ago we had one minor softball team, one major softball team, and one senior softball team. That was it. This year, we had four minor softball teams, two major softball teams, and a very large senior softball team. Our league grew from 275 players to 333.
Standing there it suddenly hit me how far we had come. There was only 1 error in the game, every player made the correct play at the correct time, and both teams hit the ball hard. I want to take a second to thank every coach who helped, every parent that tolerated our long practices, and every player for believing in each other and in our philosophies.
It was very obvious, the hard work and dedication of so many was paying dividends ten-fold. Thank you for allowing me to be a small part of this fantastic transition and it will be interesting to see how far we can go.
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The Kids Don’t Care
If you only read this headline, you would think I was about to write an article about how the kids don’t care any more, they are selfish spoiled brats, they only want to play video games, and don’t care about quality or performance or anything. But those of you that read this regularly know that isn’t my view of today’s youth. The parents, however, are a completely different story.
This weekend our league hosted the First Annual Spring Break Slam softball tournament using the new modified Little League Special Games Rules. The rules allow teams to play up to three games a day and relax pitching restrictions so you can stay competitive. Their are also other minor rules changes, but that is not important at this point.
My seniors team was eliminated in the first round of the elimination brackets so this afforded me the luxury of being able to sit back and watch games from an unbiased perspective. One I am rarely afforded. One thing stuck out to me more than anything else, the kids don’t care about anything except the game! The parents on the other hand.
For the most part, everything ran smoothly. All in all, the tournament was a huge success. But there were a couple of games where the coaches began arguing with each other, umpires, and spectators. While all this was occurring, I decided to focus on the field and watch the kid’s reactions. Guess what? They couldn’t have cared less.
The kids had no idea what the adults were arguing about, didn’t even care what they were arguing about, and at one point one of the older girls said to her dad, “Be quiet and just let us play the game”. Wow, amazing! And profound.
Meanwhile, while the coaches from one team were arguing with each other, the players were picking each other up, politely handing bats to one another, and showing professional courtesy across the board. Don’t get me wrong, they were playing hard and out to win, but they did it with dignity and a level or respect for each other that can only be learned through years of spirited competition.
Bottom line, the kids had no idea, nor did they care, what was happening outside of the lines, all they wanted to do was have fun, compete, and win or lose, they weren’t going to let it impact their lives.
I ask this to all the coaches out there, Does it really matter if you win the game tonight or the tournament next weekend? Will the sun still come up tomorrow? Will anything in your life be dramatically effected because the team of kids you coach aren’t champions? Of course not, so why do we act as if our lives depend on victory? Ironically, it is when you focus on fundamentals, sportsmanship, and teamwork, that victory soon follows.
Quit arguing, sit back, enjoy the action, provide guidance when needed, and focus when lost. There is no place for bickering on the field, it simply isn’t worth it.
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The Reason We Do This
Today I had a pitching lesson w/ a young lady that is just learning to pitch. She was struggling to throw strikes and needed a few minor corrections to help her find the zone. The entire time she was there she was attentive, trying her best, and most of all SMILING! I told her I loved her smile, but she might want to get a little meaner as time goes on if she really wants to be a pitcher.
At the end of the lesson, her dad had called to check on how it went. She was ecstatic going on about how much fun she had and asking “could she do it again”. In the short time we were together, she went from throwing the ball all over the place, to honing in on the plate. It only took a couple minor adjustments as she is fairly athletic in the first place, but the look on her face after we were done makes all the effort we put into this worthwhile.
This, my friends, is why we do this. What is your best “feel good” story? We would love to hear about it.
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What Makes a Team Magic?
A couple of years ago we had a softball team that could do no wrong. When we called bunt, they dropped the bunt down, when we needed a rally in the bottom of the 6th, we got the rally, when we played a team that should beat us, we found a way to win.
It was terribly nerve-wracking! Every game close, but somehow we won. Teams that come to mind are the 2008 Tampa Rays, the Florida Marlins pulled this off twice! How about the Colorado Rockies? All teams that didn’t really have super-stars, but they had “magic”. Where does it come from? This year I think it comes from our bright lime-green uniforms, but I have to wonder how? Why?
I have heard coaches and players at all levels speak of this before. The most magic team I ever witnessed was Joe Gibbs’ Redskins when Mark Rypien threw to the three amigos. The guy couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, but put him in a game and he would heave it down field 50 yards and Gary Clark would run under it for a touchdown! I remember having one game like this in the front yard of Riverside Elementary School. I would close my eyes, heave, and someone would catch it! Amazing stuff!
But why does this happen? What combination of attributes come together to create true magic? I am not talking about total dominance, anyone can put together dominant teams, I am talking about magic. That, “can’t do anything wrong” feeling. The kind where you turn to your friend and say, “she’s gonna hit” and she does, where does that come from and how do we continue to tap into it?
I guess if someone knew the answer to this they would be a billionaire, for now, I am just going to enjoy the ride! Anyone have any ideas?
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Rulebooks for Everyone!
Most of the people that know me well know better than to argue about rules with me. I am wrong on occasion about the rules, (once back in 1988) but for the most part I am a rules nerd. I am not exaggerating when I say I read the softball and baseball rulebooks cover to cover every year when they come out. I actually look forward to it! God I am a geek!
It is a little bit of a joke around town. When an opposing coach or umpire starts to debate a rule w/ me everyone in the stands on my team gets a chuckle. The most common quote heard is “Don’t they know better than to argue the rules with him?” My philosophy is how can you bend and stretch the rules if you do not know them thoroughly?
Anyway, Great News! Little League is making their rulebooks available for purchase by anyone! Only coaches and officials were able to get them before, but now, anyone can buy them! So when you are in the stands and want to argue rules with me, make sure you have your rule book handy! You are going to need it!
Purchase rulebooks from Little League here: http://www.littleleaguestore.net/forms—publications-publications.html
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Girls Must Be Social
I have often wondered why my softball teams would play so well when I had them dead to rights before the game would start. They would chitty-chatty during the entire warm up session, and then, when it came time to play, they got down to business. Then when we were strict from the beginning, they would not perform. This video provides some insight into the reason.
My favorite quote from the video: “Boys must play well to feel good, girls must feel good to play well.”
That is brilliant!
Anyway, enjoy.
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Product Review: 7 Minute Dynamic Baseball Warm-up
Jon Doyle from BaseballTrainingSecrets.com sent me a copy of his DVD “7 Minute Dynamic Baseball Warm-up”. (Yeah, yeah, I know Something about Mary fans, what happens if somebody puts out a 6 Minute Dynamic Baseball Warm-up video). That’s actually what caught my attention about the video.
Doyle had been advertising on our site for a long time via google adworks and I kept seeing the ad. It caught my attention. I am always looking for new and exciting warm-up routines and drills, so I decided to review this DVD. The package arrived in a padded envelope, a professional cover, and well designed artwork featuring a baseball on turf.
The video features Jon Doyle MCing and Giles Wiley and Mike Ranfone performing the stretches. The credits and number of commas after these guys names are impressive, they are obviously professionals with experience and training to back them.
The video is pretty much what you would expect. It is not a professionally produced product, it is done in a training facility with a standard video camera, but video quality isn’t what’s for sale, what is for sale is a stretching warm-up exercise, and there it delivers.
At times the video is hard to discern, one thing I wish they had done is used a remote microphone, but that can be forgiven based on the quality of content. The premise of the video is that dynamic stretching targeting those muscles most often used during baseball practice and games helps prevent injuries and strengthens the muscles most often used.
Doyle contends that “traditional” warm-ups of taking a lap around the field and doing a few basic stretches can actually prove harmful, he has a point. Followers of this blog will know that I am a huge opponent of any type of weight or strength training for those that have not reached puberty. This was beat into our heads by the strength and conditioning coach of the Washington Redskins when I lived in Virginia, this video borders on that so I don’t know that I would recommend it for younger ones. I think Doyle would agree.
For those in Juniors up, that have reached puberty, this is a great quick workout that won’t cut into your precious practice time. Another of my pet peeves about warm-ups is how much time they cut out of your limited practice time, this workout overcomes that challenge. For the younger kids, I would pick and choose a few of these workouts and incorporate them into a warm up that focuses more on muscle memory routines and motor skills, but for older kids, this is a very good warm up routine.
The video walks you through about nine stretches, my favorite of which is the “inch worm”, and then moves to hurdles. Rather than expensive hurdles, he chooses to use chairs, buckets or tees would work as well, the point isn’t the equipment, but the stretching out of the hips and hip-flexors. The duo ends with broomstick drills that focus on limbering up the upper body, especially the shoulders, vital for baseball and softball players.
I have heard both sides of the story, some say stretch before you run, some say run before you stretch. I prefer a light jog before stretching to get the blood flowing and the muscles loose. I recommend doing that before jumping into these extreme stretches to avoid pulling muscles. I have no medical expertise to base this on though and recommend you consult a professional.
All in all, this is a great video for kids beyond puberty, but stick to agility and motor skills warm-ups for younger kids. The main focus in the younger kids is fundamentals and muscle memory. Strength training can damage growth plates and stretching isn’t as important for muscles that have not yet developed.
What warm-ups do you do before practice and a game?
Videos available from Doyle Fitness:
7 Minute Warm-up
Baseball Training Secrets
Million Dollar Hitter
Unbreakable Abs
Update 10/17/08
Jon responded to my review and made some very good points in reference to the younger kids. Again, I am not the expert here, my opinion is based on experience and not research, I leave those things to the experts.
Here is what Jon said:
“I was surprised [sic], that [you] recommend it not be use for the younger guys. In fact, its perfect for them. If they can put their bodies through the stress of baseball, certainly this type of warm-up is safe and effective, from many angles. They are still developing overall body coordination and “balance” at this age. Most don’t realize this, but you cannot improve balance past puberty. You can improve your ability to right yourself in a specific skill, but not overall balance. The warm-up helps here.
Since the exercises are body weight, it will also increase strength & muscular endurance at that age. And since its not a lot of volume there’s little, if any, room for injury.
We have thousands of youth teams on the warm-up with nothing but great results.”
His point about the exercises being “body weight” seems to make sense. Quite frankly, I hadn’t considered that. I suppose that the training here is not so much “muscle” related as I initially thought. Also, the point he makes about balance is very true and relates directly to my agility point.
Again, I recommend purchasing 7 Minute Warm-up and incorporating it into your workout routines.
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Cool Infield Drill
This is the first in a series of cool drills that I find that I am going to post. The first is a good double rotation drill in the infield that keeps everyone busy. The key to a successful practice is keeping everyone busy! If kids are standing around they get bored and practice is no fun.
No matter what the drill you are doing think of a way to get the kids moving and then they are conditioning and don’t even know it. For instance, on this drill I may have the kids rotate their positions every few rotations. In other words, 3B runs home and slides, catchers run through first and stop at first, ect. Of course, I do this more in the fall and w/ the younger kids that don’t have positions yet.
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