Everything Fastpitch - The Podcast

This week the coaches discuss the need to teach players not to react to an umpires call and forget about what is going on in the game. We have seen it at the highest level, where a player starts protesting what they think is a bad call and the other runners keep on going.Support the show

This week's lineupWarmup SegmentListener Question: Players are skipping high school ball, is this a thing? (@15:13)Paige's Power Play: Stats about confidence in girls (@24:34)Best time of the year to watch softball (@28:07)Summer camp season. How to pick the best option. (@35:18)Action Coach Tip: Game plans are important in games and business (@40:16)Support the show

Coach Tory Acheson gives his review of the Division 1 NCAA Tournament Regionals. He breaks down each Region and predicts the winners. He also gives insight of the unseeded teams and which ones to watch out for.Support the show

The coaches discuss situational coaching when we have a lead and just need outs. Coach Tory is watching a lot of softball while he is recuperating and he sees things that he just doesn't understand. Support the show

This week's LineupWarmup SegmentListener Question: Daughter moved up to a stronger team, but now wants to quit. Any advice? (@11:42)Paige's Power Play: Stop hoping for a bounce back from a mistake, take action (@17:23)A lot of player's are ending their careers and we can learn from them and put things in perspective (@20:45)Pro Fastpitch is in trouble, how can we help? (@28:57)Action Coach Tip: Noisy workplaces(@32:33)Support the show

The coaches discuss the need for better base running decisions. Even at the collegiate level there are too many mistakes being made. We have to drill the players until they understand the game situation and the do's and don't's.Support the show

This week's lineupWarmup SegmentListener Question: How to build hitting lineup? (@9:25)Paige's Power Play (@13:58)Interview about the importance of CPR and first aid.  (@16:40)How a quote from Geno Auriemma applies to softball (@36:03)Action Coach Tip (@43:03)Support the show

When learning/practicing skills there needs to be a reflection pause between reps for the athlete to evaluate what was right and what was wrong. If we just speed through reps, improving the skill takes more time.Support the show

This week's lineup:Warmup SegmentListener Question: Why are fields that school ball and travel ball use in such bad condition?  (@11:15)Paige's Power Play: Failure Recovery (@18:19)In some areas the school ball teams have a no-cut policy and the roster size is too large. What do we think? (@20:43)Traveling long distances to play when there isn't high level options available locally.  (@28:09)Communication and clear directions (@34:12)Support the show

Coaches, Instructors and Parents need to be consistent in the message they are sending to the players. A confused player is an inconsistent player. For the benefit of the player, everybody has to work together. The coaches discuss the relationship between players and coaches and instructors and parents.Support the show

This week's LineupCatchers must back up first base (@0:39)More games are lost than won (@13:49)Quit saying "My Bad" (@26:39)Support the show

 Players need to advance their skills by practicing skills that are out of their comfort zone but not into their panic zone. In this episode we discuss the three zones that people fall into when performing tasks. The comfort zone where we are totally comfortable. The stretch zone where we are being pushed beyond what we are comfortable with. And finally the panic zone where we are asked to perform a task that we are incapable of performing. The coaches give you advice on how to use this knowledge to make it easier to develop your players.Support the show

A listener asks for some advice for bullying on a team whether this be physical, mental or isolating some players. This is a topic that all coaches should be on the watch for,Training hitters for fast pitchers. Hitting is reaction time and there are some drills that we can do to help them.Support the show

Hitting through the ball is a concept that a lot of players have trouble grasping. The coaches discuss what it means and some tips on how to improve your players hitting.Support the show

This weeks lineup:Coaches who yell. Some advice to coaches and parents who scream and yell during games and practices.  Too many travel teams. There are more players than ever and that is great, but we don't have enough pitchers to support the number of teams. Changes need to be made and the people putting these teams together need to be more realistic of how far up the food chain they can go. Look Good, Play GoodSupport the show

This week we help coaches whose primary experience is in the baseball world understand the difference between communication required in softball as opposed to baseball.Support the show

This week's lineup:Warmup SegmentListener Question: Strengths of batting the entire lineup or nine hitters (@12:09)Paige's Power Play: Mental work helps confidence (@22:36)Moving players around at a young age (@25:28)College Softball observations (@33:17)Slumps (@44:54)Support the show

We have all seen it, players cannot execute the very basics of playing catch but they are practicing run downs, relays, etc. No matter what level you coach at, but especially those with inexperienced players, you have to be able to throw and catch. It may be boring, you might have to divide your players into groups but you have to work on throwing and catching until the players are competent, before moving onto anything else involving throwing and catching.Support the show

This week's LineupWarmup SegmentListener Question: What are ways to set up hitting stations for practices? (@12:00)Paige's Power Play: Getting Past Perfection (@15:58)Why do organizations advertise having  national, premier or gold level teams.(@18:51)Lack of respect for stars in women's sports? (@27:34)Support the show

We see this too often. In a game we are hitting with 100% effort, but in our training we don't practice at 100%. It doesn't make since to practice at a different level of effort than how we want to perform in a game. Make adjustments.Support the show