“From this point, your strategy is to make everyone else get ​on your level; you’re not going down to theirs. You’re not ​competing with anyone else, ever again. They’re going to have ​to compete with you.

From now on, the end result is all that matters.”

― Tim S. Grover

Fo​rget the old school

Ma​king Plays

Charge the ball'

'Get in the front of the ball'

– two coaching cues that might be holding back your infield game.

There is a time to charge, time to get in front, but not every ball requires either ​of those and you need to know the difference.

Always thinking 'charge' can put your first step in the wrong direction, affect your ​ability to read hops and the ability to turn in-between hops into short/long hops.

Result? Runner is safe.

Always thinking 'get in front' can position you poorly, impact your ability to field ​the ball, or make a play, especially when backhands/forehands are the better ​options.

Result? Runner is safe.

Learn to create time and space, move laterally, and take angles.

Learn to read the ball off of the bat.

Perfect your backhand/forehand skill set and dominate your position.

Wh​ere to start?

Pitching Essentials?

Start with Location🎯

A blazing 68 MPH pitch or an impressive 24+ RPS breaking pitch won't do you ​much good if they're consistently thrown for balls.

As the legendary Lisa Fernandez said, "Movement down the middle can get ​tanked."

Here's the breakdown:

• Location: Your foundational skill.

• Movement: Refine your pitch selection.

• Change of Speed: Keep the batter guessing.

• Velocity: Ramp up the speed!

Remember, as you work to improve skills 2-4, it's common for location accuracy ​to be off. Always circle back near the end of your practice session and make ​location your focus.

Practice matters!

ARE YOU READY TO PLAY?

There is a time for block practice.

There is a time for part practice.

There is a time to take things slow.

Those help build the skill sets you need to play effectively.

During the in-season, practices should prioritize quality over quantity. The emphasis should be on high-quality practices that closely resemble game-like situations. Speed. Conditions. This helps you adapt and perform at your best during actual competitions.

You can't control how team practices are being implemented.

You can't control the level of instruction.

You can't control the dedication of your teammates.

You CAN control how you perform during them.

Put your game face on in practice. Block the distractions. Get to work to be a better you.

For the experience...

MICHIGAN SOFTBALL CAMP

What goes on in a 2-day softball camp at University of Michigan?

Great energy.

Engaged coaches.

Fast pace practices.

Competitive participants.

Camps are also a great way to reignite the passion if you ever struggle with staying motivated and driven to be the best you can be.

Are you ready...

READY TO COMPETE?

To be ready to compete, it takes more than just practicing skills.

You must practice competing in order to develop the mental toughness and resilience needed to perform at your best come game time.

Competing is a constant process.

Compete with every rep.

Against your teammates.

Against yourself.

➡️ Scrimmage? Don't go easy. Throw her out, strike her out, steal that base, light her up on her best pitch, make that highlight reel outfield play.

➡️ Drills? Don't quit on a rep. Run the bases like a world class sprinter. Throw a strong bullpen. Crush the ball.

This builds habits and skills that carry over into games where your opponent is looking to wipe you off the diamond. By embracing competition at all times, you'll be ready to perform at your best.

If your team culture does not embrace "competing", it doesn't mean you can't.

Silence the VOD

VO​ICE OF DOUBT

Fact: Voice of doubt will hold you back from reaching your potential.

Your mind is the engine. It can make or break your game.

What are doing to replace VOD with VOC - Voice of Confidence?

Before the pitch. After the pitch.

VOC will make you a better player.

Find your trigger phrase.

Seek...

INF​IELD EXCELLENCE

As the game speeds up, sloppy and inefficient fielding technique is exposed and ​exploited.

You don't want what is usually instructed for the routine fielding posture:

• "Get your butt low"
  
• "Chest up!"
• "Back of glove on ground"

If that is coached, do the opposite.

✔️ Butt higher than knees (butt up)

✔️ Chest down

✔️ Back flat

✔️ Relaxed wrist

✔️ Face of glove open to ball

Try it. Feel it. Implement footwork to your target.

Then you will know why the best field this way.

Do this now...

OWN YOUR OWN DEVELOPMENT

International performance of Canadian athletes has been declining in some sports.

Trouble identifying and developing next generation of international athletes.

Identified issues:

• Bad habits because of over-emphasis on winning
  
• Skill development is poor
• Don't reach optimal performance level

Mid-teens (15+): Physical preparation must be optimized by now.

Late teens: Training to win at the highest level of sport.

Only the very best and most dedicated reach this stage.

Those who succeed in this stage almost always work with highly trained and ​qualified coaches. (Above Source: LTAD - CAC)

Does your level of skill development match your goals?

Are you instructed in fundamental skill execution routinely seen in the best in the ​world?

Are you robbed of your athleticism to fit the teachings of your coach?

Wh​ich is wrong?

45? 90? 0?

There is no absolute angle for your stride foot to land at.

Stride foot orientation is pitcher specific, sometimes pitch specific, and should not be ​considered an absolute degree.

Don't let yourself be forced to hit a specific angle. Find your own. Let your body find one ​that safely resists at landing while enabling you to be stable.

How much your torso opens/closes at release is impacted by not only your stride foot ​angle, but also drive foot angle and your strength.

Being forced to change your stride foot angle without regard to drive foot/core strength, is ​trouble waiting to happen.

Let your body find its way (organize itself) and make adjustments if needed.

Stride & drive orientation are two pieces of the same puzzle.

Don't adjust either in isolation.

A​nd don't adjust simply because you are told to.

Doing this? Stop.

STOP THIS DRILL

You DO want to stay inside the ball if possible. You DON'T want to cast your bat or have a ​long loopy swing. But the "Knob To The Ball" drill with the added push, is not it,

This drill promotes flaws that will need to be addressed:

• Hands beating the turn of the body forces turn of the barrel out of the zone and ​inability to stay through the ball
• Weak swing
• Inability to adjust to different pitches

The "Inside Seam" setup shown in this video:

1. Allows proper sequencing
   
2. Forces a path that has power
3. Allow adjustability

Do not do any drill that promotes inefficiencies.

If "thinking" knob to the ball gives you efficient direction, then of course continue.

It is clear that the best don't PUSH the knob to the ball as this drills promotes.

You don't need an outdated and flawed drill to improve your swing.

DO NOT train what you don't want. Doing this drill? Ask why.

Is yours excessive?

DRIVE FOOT

Excessive foot angle is one that diminishes drive power and changes the directional force ​from forward, to sideways. Position of your drive foot is a no-teach unless it forms an ​excessive angle.

Your drive foot angle affects your stride angle. Virtually every pitcher will have a degree of ​turn in their drive foot. There is no cookie-cutter degree. A turn helps to activate the ​strong muscles in the leg.

While an immediate push is desirable at all times, it is especially so for those that "sit" into ​the pitch and rotate the drive foot too far be​f​ore any linear movement.

The drive is the first part of the pitch sequence. Addressing this pa​rt of the pitch will have an impac​t​ on the nex​t​ sequence.

THE "FIX"?

• Ballistic push movements that force you to push once th​e drive foot is weighted.
  
• Stop standin​g sideways during warmups
• Pitch into a net when working on mechanical aspects to avoid ​focusin​g​ on "hitting your spots"

There is more to it but an aggressive and explosive drive (and​ the posture/stability to abs​orb it) is a great start.

Trust, but verify...

DON'T BE FOOLED

Athletes of today have instant access to some of the best that have ever played because of ​social media. That is not always a good thing.

A lot of coaching "knowledge" and drills are simply regurgitated from something the coach ​watched, read, or was told. Definitely not a good thing.

You must approa​c​h what you are told with a curious mind. A critical eye.

Does a superb a​t​hlete really do what they teach? Not always.

We have access ​t​o technology, stats, and data that didn't exist just 5-10 years ago. We can see what the bes​t do. We can quantify it. We know the "why and how" behind the movements.

"Hel​lo Elbow" i​s​ still a big teach.

Many point to Je​nnie Finch, who usually finishes with her elbow forward, as proof it is a how to pitch. B​ut it's not how she pitches. It's a finish. A means to decelerate the forward movement of her ​lower arm/hand.

Still doing thi​s​? Ask why.

Throw hard, throw safe...

Develop A Cannon For An Arm!

Throwing ability is a skill that you must develop. The ability to throw safely, from various ​angles, and with velocity, is a skill that is rarely taught.

Grabbing a ball for a "throwing warmup" doesn't cut it. It teaches nothing.

When throwing IS taught, most coaches use outdated & static methods such as wrist ​snaps and "L" drills that pattern the opposite of what a good throw requires.

This is made worse when weighted balls are used during the drilling of inefficient patterns.

From arm shape (infield/outfield a little different) to creating resistance and stabilization ​by working THROUGH positions (full body movements), this is how to develop a cannon.

This video contains elite throwing patterns except for the L drill/flicks section. Notice that ​in baseball and softball, the pattern is the same.

If this is not what you are being taught...what the best do...ask why.

Front toss is too important...

GET A BETTER TOSSER

Front toss is an important piece of the hitting puzzle that helps you:

• Build your foundation for an effective swing
  
• Develop your own approach through exploration
• Learn how to attack different locations
• Build an approach for stepping into the box

Expect the person behind the screen to take pride in their ability to toss. If not, find ​someone else.

• Poor skill by the tosser does you more harm than good
  
• Rapid fire to "get the reps in" is a waste of your time and builds bad habits
• Too high. Too low. Too in. Too out. Do not swing at junk
• Hitting batters

If your coach or whomever they designate as a tosser lacks this basic skill, ask why they ​have not improved as they would expect you to.

Say no to this...

"SQUISH THE BUG"

One big teach at all age levels has been spinning the back foot or "squish the bug".

It's a flaw and not something you see at higher levels of ball. It promotes an out of ​sequence swing and a lack of efficient energy flow.

• Have the back heel anchored to the ground as long as possible.
  
• The movement starts from the pelvis.
• Think of back heel being "peeled" off the ground by the move of the pelvis.
• The foot "gets" turned.

This allows not only rotation but also a linear component of hip extension.

If the back foot turns first, all the pelvis can do is spin and that gives a swing path across ​the body. This is a killer on outside pitches and for the majority of players, not all, lacks ​power.

Videos age 14 to D1 and pro-players.

Video doesn't lie. Assessments of the biomechanics of the best hitters, don't lie.

If your coach pushes this, ask why.

Use the right tool for the job...

STOP WASTING TIME

Make the most of your training time.

Agility Ladders/Speed Ladders. They don't measure up to their name.

Agility is an athlete’s ability to change direction at a rapid pace.

Speed = stride length times, frequency, power.

Ladder drills are rehearsed, choreographed and practiced as a skill, similar to dancing.

Not useless...just not overly useful for agility/speed training with an expectation to ​transfer into real world application. There are much better choices.

HO​W TO WIN?

One play at a time.

That's where your focus should be.

It's not butt down chest up...

FIELDING POSTURE

Are you this smooth?

Great infielders do a lot of the same things....

• Glove position
  
• Footwork/r​hythm
• Throwing arm pa​ttern
• Staying low on infield t​h​rows

Most of all, they aren't dropping their butt and raising their chest to field a ball. Fa​r too many online team training videos are showing postures that prevent movement tha​t has rhythm, is fluid, is athletic, or sets the fielder up for quick rel​e​ase.

If your posture is not close to those in the video, ask​ ​w​hy.

Everyone does this...

TEAM PRACTICE

Just going to team practice?

Every player goes to team practice.

You're doing the minimum and it will get you nowhere.

Listen in to my friend, former professional softball player and current Chicago Cubs minor ​league hitting coach Rachel Folden on the importance of "on your own" practice if your ​goal is to play at the highest levels of ball.

Rachel was kind enough to share her time with some of my former players a while ago for ​virtual hitting instruction. This is an excerpt about hitting but her words of wisdom apply to ​all areas ​of the game.