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Growing up I was obsessed with Baseball. Just like every other kid, I knew I was going to play major league Baseball. My parents must have spent over $20,000 just on my education about pitching mechanics; that is no exaggeration. As a youth I was always tall so my parents and other high school coaches always tried to get me to play other sports, but I was never all that interested. Baseball was my game and Pitching was what I did best.

When I was involved in little league baseball I pitched the majority of the time. In my mind, pitching was the only thing worth pursuing and it consumed the majority of my time. I don’t regret a minute of it because of what I do for a living now. I was simply intrigued by every aspect of the game. Particularly pitching, where, at the early age of 10 I dedicated a lot of my time learning about pitching mechanics and pitching specific workout routines.

One year, I believe I was in Junior High at the time; I was studying the way Nolan Ryan threw the baseball. I became more intrigued in the way he was working out. I started doing light dumbbell workouts and elastic cord workout programs the way Nolan did them. At the end of that year I must have tried every pitching specific routine available at the time. There was only one problem; I didn’t have the time to keep up with all of them at once.

Every pitcher should have a regular workout program. However, you have to pick and choose which workouts are going to be best for you or you will find yourself being overwhelmed with all you have to accomplish. Make sure when you get involved with a new workout program you find a great workout partner. A great partner will be there for you to help you be consistent with your workouts and ensure you are on pace to reach your goals.

Training partners are also good at keeping you motivated when times get tough. I still train with somebody who lifts more than I do or seems to train harder that I do. I love the competition that brings. My point is to find a pitching specific workout routine that works best for you and then find a training buddy that will inspire you to stick with it.

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In softball, it is the job of the defensive team to force the offensive team to commit errors. It’s the role of the pitcher and the catcher to prevent the batter from hitting the ball, the basemen to protect the bases, and the outfielders to catch balls the come to their direction.

Therefore, it would be a huge mistake for defensive players to allow the offense to turn the tables on them, and forcing the defense to commit errors.

Since the pitcher plays a huge role in defense along with the catcher, she must keep errors on her part to a minimum. Doing that would increase her team’s chances of winning the game.

Here are some softball pitching tips I have for you to prevent the common errors most pitchers make.

Pitching with the Arm

At first glance, it looks as if most of the pitching motion and accuracy depends on the arm. After all, how strong the pitch is depends on the power the pitcher’s arm can deliver.

But the truth is that the pitching motion begins with the legs, connects to the hips and simply culminates with the release of the ball from the hand.

That’s why I recommend that you get a total training if you want to become a good pitcher. Focus on how you can improve your balance and motion with your legs and hips, as much as you would go to the gym and strengthen your arm muscles.

Pitching with a Straight Arm

Pitching with a straight arm seems like a logical idea when it comes to pitching. It’s probably good if it’s how you throw the ball naturally. Otherwise, I would recommend a whipping motion to enable you to throw your pitch much efficiently.

Not Giving Enough Time to Develop Your Pitch

It’s fantastic if your team has a training coach that will help you improve your pitching. And it’s even better if you can invest on hiring a personal training coach who can give you more personalized advice when it comes to your game.

However, it’s easy to treat these options as a crutch and expect yourself to become a fantastic pitcher in just several sessions.

The truth of the matter is that it takes a lot of time for you to totally develop your pitching skills. Some young players may not show a lot of promise at the beginning, only to develop their skills by the time they’re in their teens.

What I’m getting at here is that you should persist if you really want to be a good pitcher. Develop your mechanics, strengthen the muscles that you use for pitching, and put your own personal stamp on pitching that batters won’t be able to read easy.

These things take time. But when you fully develop your pitching skills, the rewards are fantastic.

Now that you know what some of the softball pitching errors you should avoid, why don’t you try it out for yourself and apply what you’ve just read here?

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Take a look at the following situations. First, you know one of your players is doing something wrong with his pitching, but you can’t exactly point out what the problem is. Or you’d like to find out why your batter seems to hit the sweet spot most of the time. You ask him about it, and all he can tell you is that that’s the way he’s been doing it since he was a kid.

It’s frustrating, right? To give your players accurate feedback on their performance, you also need an accurate instrument to observe it. And what simple yet better way to do it than performing a video analysis of your players’ game?

But let’s get deeper into that. There are several reasons why you should do this, which I’m sharing with you in these softball coaching tips.

It helps you analyze your players’ game closely

Because you can slow down videos of your players’ performance, you can look at how they do things a lot more closely. Slowing down their throws or bats, helps you detect the tiny nuances of their actions. And even the minutest of adjustments can make a world of difference to your players.

You can repeat it over and over again

You can only make your players do so many rounds of pitches before they start complaining. So, instead of doing that just to analyze their game, perform a video analysis of their pitch. Now all you need is just several samples of their pitch, watch them, and rewind them. You can do hours of analysis without wearing your players down.

It’s cheap

With new models of video cameras coming out several times per year, the old ones – usually just a year old – quickly gets cheaper. And since you don’t really need a very high quality video for your video analysis, you can get year-old cameras to do the job. With the level of sophistication of these devices, you’ll find most of your recording needs covered already. Well, that’s just the basic record, rewind, and play buttons of course.

It’s straightforward

Video cameras aren’t just cheap, they’re now simpler and easier to use. Gone are the days when huge and bulky cameras were the norm. Now you have lightweight cameras. Some even feature touch screens which make things easier for you to understand. So, even if you’re a technophobe, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t use these cameras.

Or if you know how to hook your video camera to your computer, you can save your data there, so you can do your video analysis even when you’re on the road. Fantastic, right?

So unless you’re living under a rock, or aren’t really serious about softball coaching, then, you should start investing on a simple video rig. Analyzing videos of your players’ performance makes things a lot simpler for you. Aside from that, it eliminates the guesswork involved in relying just on your sight to do the job.

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Every athlete hates it but there’s no escaping it. I’m talking about The Slump here. As an athlete, you can’t always expect your team to win. There are times when your opponent just plays better than you, or there are other factors that led you to losing.

We all have our off days, and as an athlete, you must learn how to deal with that. And I’ll show you just how you can do that. In fact, I have several softball tips for you on overcoming The Slump.

Let It Sink In

You could try to deny it, but the slump is like money on your back. Unless you deliberately shake it off, it won’t get off you. So, if you’re experiencing an off day, just let it sink in. Face the fact that it isn’t your day. Accepting things as they are is a lot easier than fighting it. Acceptance lets you move on immediately from the pit of frustration, or even depression.

Let it sink in and move on.

Don’t Play the Blame Game

Blaming yourself or your teammates for a shoddy performance doesn’t help anyone. We already talked about moving on, and blaming yourself doesn’t let you move on. Instead, you get stuck in the mire of frustration.

Almost the same thing goes with blaming your teammates. But it’s a lot worse. Because when you start blaming your teammates for a poor game, then, you create a lot of friction in the team, which can affect your future performances.

Remember that softball is a team effort. If one sinks, the whole team goes down with it. So, instead of pulling everybody down along with you, make an effort to let everyone’s spirits up. Encourage your teammates. Tell them that you’re in it together. It’s a more constructive way of dealing with The Slump.

Let It Out

Keeping your frustration to yourself will only make you go crazy. So, if you’re experiencing a bad day, talk to one of your friends. Let out your feelings of frustration. Believe me for you’ll feel a lot better after that.

So, don’t bottle up that emotion inside. Because when you do, things might not be pretty when it finally comes out in one go.

Take a Day Off

Some players prefer to play the game and practice hard after a disappointing performance. But it can only just build frustration within yourself even further.

So, I suggest you just take a day off from anything softball related. Watch a movie, play another sport, hang out with your friends. Do anything you want, as long as it isn’t softball-related (make sure it’s safe though). And when you pick up your bat again, you’ll look at the game with a fresh mind.

The Slump is just a temporary phase you go through occasionally. The secret here is that you learn how to deal with it. Don’t let it eat you. Let it out, deal with it and move on. The next time you hit the field, kick some serious behind.

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It is important to know the hitting mechanics of a ball in softball coaching because it brings consistency and power to any swing. Now, how will you know the hitting mechanics? First, you must consider the movement of the hips and the waist. When it comes to the “stance”, always take the same stance each time at bat. Constantly begin by bending at the waist, then bend at the knees. This is what you call a weight shift. The hitter shows the pitcher their back pockets as the hitter see the pitcher’s back pocket. When it comes to the stride, the hips remain coiled as the front knee points highly inward. During the swing, it begins by throwing the hips at the ball and the bellybutton is in front of the pitcher when the bat hits the ball.

For the follow-through the hips and the waist will continue their natural rotation as the body moves slow down. It is also important to consider the movement of the eyes and the head, why? Because, these are the important body parts that helps you to remain focused on the pitcher’s release point of the ball and stay alert and active.

But, how are you going to use your eyes and head in a softball game? Here are some easy steps you can do. For “stance” both eyes must be focused on the pitcher’s cap. For “swing” the eyes needs to follow the ball into the head of a bat. For a “follow-through” the head moves only after the chin touches the back shoulder. For a “weight Shift” the eyes moves in the direction of the pitcher’s release point.

Furthermore, an effective softball coaching also considers the effective softball pitching mechanics. So what are the important factors to be considered in a pitching mechanics? The gait or stride dictates the pitch’s path and velocity. A glove hand extends in front of the pitcher. Stride the lower half of the left and comes forward with a slight bend as the stride foot makes get in touch with the ground.

The upper body must be standing tall and the foot lands slightly closed at around 1 o’clock positions a direct line with the target. The stride knee rises up with the glove reaching forward. An arm action must be considered in a soft ball game as wells. Picture the arm as a weight on the end of a string rotating around the shoulder.

The arm throughout the pitching motion must be relaxed relatively straight for the throwing hand in order to reach its maximum radius. The pitching arm shoulder at the top of the windmill action, the shoulder moves rearward as the body opens.

The arms at release brush very close to the hip with a whipping action to the arm at the release. The hand must be “cocked” behind the wrist prior to release. The upper arm must decelerate while the lower arm keeps moving. Lower arm should be straightened. Wrist snaps at the release. Elbow is unlocked, bending slightly during the release with a considerably bend after the release.

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In the sport of softball, the outfield is the last line of defense. They are the pitcher’s last hope to record an out and possibly save a win for the team. Therefore, it’s very important that a team is able to put together a solid outfield and that they have the necessary skills to play a position that can be really difficult at times. Putting the outfielders through various drills, can help them acquire these skills and keep the skills they already have as sharp as possible. Here then are five drills for softball outfielders to practice.
Here then are five drills for softball outfielders to practice.

Drill 1-Grapevine

Purpose: To improve the footwork, concentration, and catching ability of all fielders while they move in both directions.

Procedure: The coach stands about 10 feet in front of a line of players facing her and takes the ball from the first player in line. The coach points to the right. Player turns shoulder and hips to that side and runs perpendicular away from the coach. After about three or four steps, coach points in the other direction. Player, using the crossover step, turns the other direction, still running in a straight line away from the coach, never losing sight of the ball. After another three or four steps, coach points in original direction. Player then repeats previous crossover step and turns in original direction. Coach then throws a fly ball in the direction of the original point forcing the player to catch the ball by stretching over that side’s shoulder. Player makes the catch and brings the ball back to the end of the line. It is important that the drill be executed full speed in a dead sprint, and that the player changes direction only when the coach makes the signal. Also, the player should never lose sight of the ball. The flys should be challenging and require a great deal of effort to make the catch. By the time the fielder has caught the ball, the next player in line has already set herself in the ready position.

Drill 2-Outfield Loop

Purpose: To field an assortment of batted balls and to field with different footwork positions. To throw to different bases and to condition.

Procedure: This drill uses 5-9 players. Players are in left field and at second (with a ball) and third base, with a player catching and a fungo hitter at the plate. One player works through all the defensive plays that follow.

1. A ground ball is hit to the left fielder who throws it home.

2. The left fielder runs into center field where the second baseman throws a fly ball. The player catches the fly and throws it to second base.

3, Then the player runs into right field where the second baseman throws a ground ball toward the foul line. The player fields the ball and throws to third base.

4. Lastly, the player runs to left field where the batter hits her a ground ball which is thrown home.

After the player completes the circuit, the outfielder becomes the catcher at home, the catcher rotates to third base, third base rotates to second base, and second base rotates to left field. Additional players are waiting their turns at the outfield position.

Drill 3-Shoestring Catch

Purpose: To practice making diving and shoestring catches.

Procedure: This drill uses 2-10 players. The players form three lines, standing about 60 feet from the coach. The lines are positioned about 20 feet apart. The coach has all the softballs. The first player in line A runs toward the coach. When she is about halfway to the coach, a soft underhand toss is made to the player’s left, right, or straight ahead. If the player makes the diving catch, she should hold the ball up so the coach can see it. This will help the player remember to hold the ball up in games so the umpire can see that she caught the ball. The player attempts to make the catch, tosses the ball to the coach, and runs to the end of her line. The first player in line B then runs toward the coach and then the first player in line C.

Drill 4-Bump Out

Purpose: To put game-like pressure on the infielder or outfielder.

Procedure: Set up for any of the defensive drills listed above. An additional player waits off to the side of the drill. When a fielder makes a throwing or fielding error, she leaves the drill and the player who is waiting replaces her. Every time an error is made the fielder steps out and the waiting player steps in.

Drill 5-Full Field in Between With Tennis Balls

Purpose: To practice communication among all outfielders handling in-between batted balls.

Procedure: All outfielders and infielders are at their positions. A fungo hitter is at the plate with a tennis racket and tennis balls. The fungo hitter hits balls into all sections of the field. Tennis balls are caught and thrown off to the sides of the field. All fielders need to stay focused on the hitter, as the hitter alternates hits to the left and right side of the field.

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As every softball player knows, proper softball conditioning involves intense physical and mental preparation as well as utmost dedication and love for softball.