Every weekends and most week nights are busy with softball either playing, traveling, or practicing a little.

The question is…

At this time of the year, what should you be practicing?

I will start by answering what you should absolutely positively NOT do…

The ONE thing you need to AVOID doing is to implement any  significant technical changes.

Learning takes time to integrate and doing technical changes at this time of the year will HURT your game, not help it.

Resist (even if it is really tempting when things aren't going well) doing significant technical changes and keep for until after the season.

Keep the technical changes for after the season.

At the current moment, you've got to go to war with what you've got!

The focus of practices at this time of year should be on:

1) maintaing your skills sharp
2) finding your timing / rythmn / flow
3) making some tweaking or very minor technical adjustments to
optimize execution (like last minute adjustments on a race car)
4) perfect defensive and offensive strategies / tactics
5) work on deficiencies (what has not worked well in games lately)
6) prepare for a specific opponents

You have limited time to practice so you need to focus on the most important things and make sure you keep your game sharp to be at your best in game.

Also, another very important point about in-season practices is that the focus should be on quality, not quantity.  The last thing you want is for your practices to affect your recovery. Keep things short but intense.

Who loves ya?

Coach Marc
"Your softball Peak Performance Coach"

You think it's just a bunch of BS older folks are talking about to make them feel important because they are older and
have lived a little.

I certainly didn't believe much in it.

Well.. I have been coaching 20 years now and every year I realized I couldn't be more wrong.

Read this carefully:

You don't know what experience is until you have it.

You cannot buy or train experience; you have to live it.

Experience is important to be the best you can be.

What is experience?

According to Wikipedia, experience as a general concept  comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of some
thing or some event gained through involvement in or exposure  to that thing or event.

Bottom line, you have to gain experience through participation at various things.

Learn to appreciate everything you go through (good and bad), learn from it and realize that you're now a more experienced person and will do better in a similar situation next time.

Who loves you?

Coach Marc
"Your Softball Peak Performance Coach"

It would be easy (yet not very safe) to have the exact same login name and password for every site and account that you own. The problem is that in most cases, you are required to use a variation of different number of letters and numbers

How do you keep track and manage all of those passwords?  There are many options… notebooks, excel files, word documents, etc.

The other pain in the a** is that you have to type your login name and password every time your want to access your info, account, email, etc.  This ends up taking a lot of time.

For the past year, I have used a little software that has been literally a huge time-saver in my life.  It's actually the best small investment I have made in the last year.  They have a free version (limits of 10 passwords). The PRO version is something like $30 but it is totally worth it - trust me.

Super Easy Password Management

Watch the video to see a demo…

You can get more information here:
Super Easy Password Management

In my opinion, this is a much better indication of your overall performance at the plate.  Reaching a base on an error or a walk is a good as getting a hit.

I received an interesting reply from Coach Andy Collins who commented by saying:

"I just wanted to add a point of clarification.  Getting on with an error does not raise your on base percentage.  It doesn't mean you shouldn't be trying to hit it hard to create an error, if it doesn't go through the gaps and it doesn't negate your point about getting on is more important than being concerned with batting average, but it just doesn't raise the OBA.  Another important thing to focus on is taking the extra base, raising the slugging percentage, which is why many people feel the OPS (OBA + Slugging Pct) is the most accurate indicator of the value of a hitter (at least for simple formulas)".

I actually thought of it that way but it does make sense to me. I thought this was very interesting and wanted to share it with you.

Core Power for Baseball

This sport-specific core training program was created by my good friend Barry Lovelace who's also known as the  "King of Core" in the sports conditioning circles for his  extensive expertise in core training.

I just spoke with my him and he told me that he after receiving a ton of request to put his program on a hard copy DVD that he finally did it and it is now available.

If you have not checked this product yet, you definitely should. As you probably know by now, the core is your  center of power and this DVD shows you exactly how to train
it using very sport-specific exercises.

Barry knows our game and not too many trainers do. He has  worked with a lot of softball players over the last few years  including the players of the Philadelphia Force of the National Pro Fastpitch League.

The best thing is that for next 2 days, you get the DVD at no cost for the next 30 days to try it.

Don't like it or don't get results? Just return it.

It's that simple.

Core Power for Baseball

Who loves ya?

Coach Marc
"Your Softball Peak Performance Coach"

"Marc,

Quick question please:

Have you noticed an excess number of shoulder injuries and shoulder surgeries?

I was in OKC to watch the WCWS (4th year attending)  and talked with another coach from Mississippi that  told me he sees the same thing.  An awful lot of  players with shoulder injuries.

If so, what do you attribute to this?   50+ weeks a year work and overuse?? Improper stretching along with improper throwing mechanics?

One thing is for sure,  this needs to be addressed at  a national level and coaches need to be educated to  ensure our young female athletes are not damaging  their shoulders and requiring surgery as an expected  part of playing softball!

I did like the note ref Jaeger's Long Toss, Arm Circles  and J Bands warmups before throwing.  I'll have to get  quite a few coaches to tell me they are already using
this type warmup before throwing, as I'm sure my coaches will be reluctant to change unless its well known  in the community.

Jim"

Here is my answer:

Yes, there is an increase in the number of shoulder injuries in our sport.

It is due to many factors:

1) Uni-dimensional athlete

The modern day softball player isn't an athlete anymore;  she is just a good softball player. By that I mean that  nowadays, kids specializes in one sport (softball) too
early and don't participate in other sports. This results in poor overall athletic development, muscular imbalances and overuse of certain muscles (throwing) because of
repetitive use.

2) Improper throwing mechanics

We don't spend enough time reinforcing proper throwing mechanics and many kids end up overcompensating with other muscles which create problems over time.

3) Improper conditioning

Lack of stability, flexibility, and strength in certain muscles will cause problems and lead to overuse injuries. The shoulder is an especially complex and fragile joint.

4) Improper warm-up

A simple small tear one time because of a poor or rushed warm-up is enough to lead to a major should overuse injury that will last months and even longer. The warm-up is
absolutely crucial.

5) Overuse

If you do too much softball without ever giving your body a break, eventually it will break down.

So, what do you need to do to prevent shoulder injuries?

1) Ensure proper overall athletic development
2) Give your break a rest
3) Always warm-up thoroughly, especially the shoulder
4) Fix and optimize throwing mechanics
5) Use shoulder injury prevention exercises
6) Pay attention to any sign or symptoms of shoulder
injuries and seek medical attention early
7) Never ever play through shoulder pain

Looking after your shoulder is one of the most important thing you can do to ensure a long career in this sport.

Who loves ya?

Coach Marc
"Your Softball Peak Performance Coach"

My good friend Barry Lovelace is known as the "King of Core" because of his unbelievable knowledge of core training and how innovative he is with it. He is the creator of Core Power for Baseball system (yes, it's good for softball too! I have checked it and I love it!).

As a softball peak performance coach, I get asked training questions all the time and many of them are about core training.  So, I thought I would asked the most frequently asked questions about core training to Barry so you could hear from someone else who know a lot of that topic.

Barry kindly took the time to answer my questions. Here are his answer to the most F.A.Q. about core training:

Barry also decided to give all of you a special deal on his best-seller Core Power for Baseball.  Just click on the link and you'll get a great deal!  However, the deal is only good until Sunday May 17th!

A friend of mine, Doug Parry, just sent me a link to a great video that shows a great drill on how to improve lateral agility for softball. This is one of my favorite drills to teach players lateral agility, quick change of directions, and quick feet.

We went 1-2 for the day.

There was a fair bit of nervousness, rust, and lack of cohesion on the field during the first two games.

We certainly didn't play up to our potential in the first two games making several mental, baserunning, and defensive
errors.

But, you know what, that's alright with me and you will read why below.

We did finish with a strong showing during our last game, had a decisive win against a pretty solid team and I saw
more of what I consider to be my "real team".

In the mean time, each game allowed me to remind the girls of important lessons on their path to excellence.

Here are the three lessons of the day:

Lesson #1 - Every loss, bad performance, or mistake is an opportunity to learn and get better.

You have to analyse what you did, ask yourself how you can do things differently, and improve for next time.

That's how elite athletes get better. They get a little better each day.

You often learn a lot more by making mistakes and losing  than you do when you win. It's very easy to "forget" about
your errors when you win.

Lesson #2 - A softball season is a marathon, not a sprint

Just like in many endurance events like long-distance running or cycling races, the winner is usually not  who led the race most of the way. Smart runners pace themselves and perform their best in the last part of the race.

Softball is no different. You've got to use the first few competitions of the season to gain experience, learn from
your mistakes and get better, and get ready for the key competitions later in the season.

Lesson #3 - Warmin-up the mind is a important as warming-up the body to perform well.

Following our first 2 losses and feeling the frustration  of my athletes over how they played, I felt they needed
to regroup, refocus and learn to have fun again.

So, before our third game (we had about 2 hours between each game today), instead of doing a traditional physical
warm-up, I sent them to do a "mental warm-up".

More specifically, I sent away to play 2 little fun games as a group. The purpose was for them to get together, have
fun, refocus, and regroup for the next game.

We did NOT do any physical warm-up whatsoever besides playing  catch with each other 3 minutes before the start of the game.

And you know what?

They came ready to play. The were focused, relaxed, united, and definitely wanting to play great.

That "mental" warm-up did more for us than any physical warm-up we could have done.

They played their best game of the day because they were mentally ready or "warmed up".

These are 3 important lessons that they will remember and that any team should reminder.

Overall, this is was a good and productive day for my team.

Why?

They gained experience.

They learned from their errors and mistakes.

They got better.

They were able to bounce back.

I saw very positive things on the field in the two games we lost despite the numerous errors we made.

Who loves ya?

Marc
"Your Softball Peak Performance Coach"