Everything Fastpitch - The Podcast

This weeks lineup: Warmup Segment Listener Question: My daughter pitches behind often but still gets strikeouts. Is this a problem? (@8:51) Paige's Power Play (@12:50) Part 1 of an interview with Tristan Hildebrandt of the Anderson Bat Company. A great discussion on the bat manufacturing business. (@14:56) Listener question discussion. What do we think about a player being a pitcher only espe...

Coach Tory discusses his experiences with coaching in a softball tournament at a vacation destination. There are pros and cons. The family gets to combine a vacation with going to the tournament. The hosts market the tournament as a destination location because of the attractions. But for softball those attractions are really distractions. They can be detrimental to play. Just make sure everyone i...

This weeks lineup: Warmup Segment Listener Question: I live too far for access to instructors. What are some alternative options? (@10:00) Paige's Power Play (@15:02) Pitcher - Catcher relationships. The catcher can be valuable in getting better pitching performance.  (@19:53) The D1 recruiting calendar is back on and players need to be prepared for returning to somewhat normal. (@33:22) The...

In this episode we discuss the need for emphasizing the need to have an every pitch focus. Players need to understand each pitch could be the one that they need to react to. It's easy to lose focus, but we have to dial back in at pitch time. Support the show

This weeks lineup: Warmup Segment Listener Question: Pickup Players playing instead of team members (@15:30) Paige's Power Play (@21:15) Part 2 of Interview with Jerrad Hardin (@30:46) College Softball News (@45:03) Unusual skill for better practices (@51:36) Support the show

All sports have an optimum arousal level. When our emotions are below that level or above that level we don't perform as well. This week we discuss the need to monitor that level and make sure our players are not trying to execute while their emotions are out of bounds. Support the show

This weeks line:up Warmup Segment Listener Question: How to handle different coaching styles. (@10:20) Paige's Power Play (@16:46) Interview with Jerrad Hardin. Coach, instructor, camps and author.  (19:02) Highlights in the world of college softball (@49:26) An error can open the flood gates. Work on pitcher's fielding. (@01:02:24) Support the show

Most of us have to adjust to time limit games because of the number of games that are scheduled on a field. It is the environment we live in. Because of that, it is mandatory that managing the clock has to have a high priority. In this episode we discuss how much playing time is lost to wasted minutes. Each minute lost waiting on someone, changing sides, discussing calls, etc. is a measurable perc...

This weeks lineup: Warmup Segment: Listener Question: What are our thoughts on walk-up music (@13:50) Paige's Power Play (@20:15) College D1 Recruiting Changes (@27:45) D1 pre-selecting Regional Playoff Host Sites (@32:18) College Softball is Really Really Good (@38:05) Slap Defense 2nd baseman up close (@49:37) Support the show

We have had a lively Facebook discussion of our blog post on "a strikeout is just an out". The coaches discuss the concept that it is very difficult to have multiple swing mechanics. At the next game you attend watch the reaction of players, fans and coaches between going back to the dugout after striking out and after just poking the ball to the infield. Often we see shame in striking o...

This weeks lineup: Warmup Segment Listener Question:  Disappointment over not being team captain. (@16:27) Paige's Power Play: (@19:31) Interview with a Texas umpire on the shortage of umpires and the challenges facing umpires today: (@23:08) Safety Bases should be used at all levels: (@49:44) Preparing your team to play in bad weather: (@58:39) Support the show

The coaches discuss how to set up practice to make our baserunners better. The quickest way for a runner to advance is for them to be able to judge the ball and determine if it should get caught, might get caught or won't get caught. By the time a coach makes the determination and telephones it to the runner we probably have lost a base. But how much time do we practice this? Listen as they t...

This weeks lineup: Warmup Segment Are parents just unhappy and what is the root cause. Do we really have that many bad coaches or are people just generally unhappy. Let's find the middle ground. (@19:56) The coaches talk about some strange endings to games and what we can learn. If high level teams can get confused, so can our teams. (@32:47) When you coach long enough you have a stack of buc...

Managing pitching staffs and allocating innings to the different pitchers is a difficult task. It takes a plan. You need to blend the objectives of the team and the development of the pitchers. One thing is for certain, to develop pitchers you have to play more games. To play more games you have to win more so that you go deeper into the tournaments. The coaches discuss different concepts that wil...

This Weeks Lineup: Warmup Segment Listener Question: My daughter struggled during her first big tournament, should I panic? (@9:50) Paige's Power Play (@14:53) Softball has moved up to the 4th ranked sport  in college athletics. (@20:19) State of the umpiring crews. We have a serious shortage of umpires and coaches, tournament directors and parents have to get onboard with helping improve the...

A listener asks the question of how to become a college coach. Tory and Don give their experiences and discuss what you need to do and how to go about it. If you have ever given it a thought, you need to listen to this episode. Support the show

This weeks lineup: Warmup Segment Listener Question:  What are our thoughts on putting together a schedule.  (@9:38) Paige's Power Play (@16:00) Part 2 of interview with Justin McLeod of Justin's World of Softball. (@22:22) What do we think about the 1 knee down catching technique? (@49:56) Setting your defense. (@1:02:11) Purchase Square Cuts Training Discs fastpitchprep.com Support the...

Coaching the bases is a full time job. It is the coaches responsibility to be totally focused on the base runners and continuously remind them of the situations. Just as players strive to be great, coaches need to strive to be great base coaches. Players need to practice to get better, coaches need to practice with them to get better.  Support the show

This weeks lineup: Warmup segment Listener Question: Should I get a catcher's glove? (@9:38) Paige's Power Play (@12:24) Interview with Justin McLeod of Justins World of Softball (justinsworldsb.com) (@17:30) Field Conditions and the situations we experience in tournaments. (@46:45) Playing the sun fields on defense. (@56:45) Purchase Square Cuts Training Discs fastpitchprep.com Support...

We have all seen it. Team is struggling and the coach is not changing anything. The bench players and their parents are not happy because they are not getting a chance to see if they are better. The coaches discuss this problem and give our coaching friends some strategies to use in this situation. In fact, some of these strategies should be put to use even if you have a winning team. Purchase Squ...

This weeks lineup: Warmup segment Listener question: My daughter says she wants to play high level college ball but doesn't realize the work ethic needed. (@11:24) Paige's Power Play (@16:16) How do you handle Sportsmanship questions when you run rule a team. (@23:40) Grab bag of questions (@33:38) Signals - Don't overdo it (@44:12) Purchase Square Cuts Training Discs fastpitchprep....

The verb "Try" means to attempt something. The verb "Do" means to achieve or complete something. Try has a built in level of failure. If we attempt to do something and don't make it we can always say we tried. It makes it too easy to quit. If we attempt to do something with the attitude that we will "do it", we will keep trying until we achieve it. Trying is just...

This weeks lineup: Warm up Segment Listener Question:  My daughter is a super freshman and her coach never gives her a chance to play. During the recruiting process she was told she would be a starter. Do you have any advice? And should she transfer? (@12:20) Here is a link to an article describing what the coaches were talking about.   Some Quotes from the article: “Coming in I knew I had to comp...

It is still winter although we want to treat softball practice like its spring.  Indoor practices are the only option for a lot of the country due to weather conditions. With the right attitude indoor practices can be very beneficial and can give us the opportunity to work on things from a different perspective. And sometimes these can make improvements better than out on a field. Support the show

This weeks lineup: Lead off segment Listener Question: Coach is putting together his summer schedule. A lot of doubts about what will happen.  Wants coaches opinion of what they think about how to put the schedule together.  (@12:10) Paige's Power Play (@17:51) Recap of College Softball Kickoff (@25:50) Phenomenon of college coaches coaching teams at recruiting camps (@40:38) Throwing and Cat...