Athlete of the Week

This week's feature athlete is 9th grader, K.Williams. This pitcher has earned her right to stand on the mound, boasting a fastball, sneaky drop, mighty curveball, and wicked changeup.


Wiliams has worked hard throughout the past year working on strength training and conditioning and development of her off-speed pitches.

This work paid off Memorial Day weekend as Williams earned 2 MVP awards and pitched a Perfect Game during the ASA Lady Patriots Invitational.

What an accomplishment! Keep up the good work!

Insight for Batters

Follow this link for Texax Longhorn advice and interviews with the pro's on what you should be thinking about as you...

• step into the on-deck circle
• step into the batter's box
• see the pitch
• and more...

Athlete of the Week

This week's athlete of the week is a 12u player who has realized that she has POWER. I have noticed many young pitchers who focus on the mechanics, but are afraid to "get some grit" as we say here at My Softball Training.

This pitcher has found her "grit" and has developed a great amount of speed and control over the winter. She has a fastball, 2-seam fastball and circle change-up and is using all beautifully this year!

Way to go Fire-Bird!

Throwing a Circle Change

How to throw a change-up? One of the easiest change-ups to throw is what's known as a "Circle Change". But how do you really make it work? What are the finer points of making this pitch consistent?

Setting up the change:

1. Pick up the softball so all fingers are on the ball
2. Spread out your thumb and pointer finger so they are following the biggest stretch of seam to create a backwards "C"
   
3. Palm this pitch; really dig in the middle joint on your thumb and pointer finger.
4. As you release this change-up, just release with the palm facing the target, without snap or spin.
   

How to make this pitch really work...... Pointers:

• Watch the video :-)
• As you enter the point of release, squeeze your butt cheeks and quad muscles, at the same time, almost paralyze your fingers as you release the ball.
• If you need to take more speed off the ball, try tucking in your first finger or your middle finger
• A common misconception is to lean far down to throw this pitch - MISCONCEPTION!! MISTAKE!! Stand straight up as you release this pitch, because you want it to come from your hip and float in... so it is even more important to finish "tall" for your Circle Change.
• You should fall backwards with the release of this pitch, rather than forwards (like your fastball).

(9th grader throwing a Circle Change indoors at B2B)

Adding Speed During Your Warmup.. The "Walk-Through"

One important aspect of pitching, at any age, is to continually strive to pitch harder + faster. This is one drill that can be done while warming up during practice and pre-game. This is one example of adding intensity and a little challenge to gain more speed. By training your body to throw further than 40 feet, you are building arm speed and strength. And my #1 reason in pushing this drill is that it forces the athlete to take long strides and really use the legs.

The "Walk-Through"....... How to do this drill?

1. Begin warming up as normal, and when you reach the pitcher's mound, take 3 long strides further, past the mound and turn to your catcher.
2. For a Right handed pitcher, you would start by facing your target and take one step with your right foot towards that target,
3. Followed by one step with your left leg (a nice long stride) while bringing your hands together pointing at the target.
   
4. As you take another step with your right leg, bring your hands down, separated, and lean slightly towards your target.
5. Now initiate your pitch while striding up and forward with your left foot towards your target.
   
6. Repeat, each time starting further away until you cannot throw a strike.
   

Pointers:

• Watch the video :-)
• I always say the motions while performing this drill the first few times "step right, left, down and out" which takes the athlete through the motion.
• Strive to take longer strides and pitch further each time you do this drill
• Do not continue to back up if the ark of the pitch is higher than 4 feet.
• If you are pitching mostly inside, this means you are probably not getting your arm all the way through...So, lift that left leg a little higher during your pitch as you drive forward and speed up the rotation of your hips to get your body aligned for release.
  
• Points of reference: 6th grader = 60 feet, 7th grader = 70 feet.. and continue on. High school pitchers should be able to throw from second base to home.
  

(8th grader doing this drill indoors at B2B)

Athlete of the Week

Summer ball is well under way and another competitor has proved to be well worth Athlete of the Week!
From the mound (yes, I realize this is not a great picture, my fault, the blackberry is nothing compared to the Kodak) to the batter's box, this week's Athlete of the Week is an all-around gladiator!









Father and Daughter prepare for the at -bat...





The set-up before she puts a solid hit in the field.

Spring Game Response

How is your pitching this May? Take one game, and provide an HONEST response. You may have pitched ok, poor, or excellent. No matter what the result, lets take a look at these four questions so we can best prepare you for the upcoming summer season!

1. Did I warm up enough pitches? Were my snaps as explosive as I possible?
2. How did I pitch my first inning? (did it take me a few batters to get into the groove, or did I come out throwing my "A+ Game" to the first batter).
3. What pitch did I struggle the most with? (location? inside? outside? high? low? high-inside? (etc), or pitch? fastball? curveball? (etc)).
4. What pitch did I throw the best?

Please write your response in comment to this post

When to throw my pitches?

Many of my pitchers have learned new pitches during winter training. Whether armed with a 2-seam, changeup, or a host of curve/drop/rise/screw balls... only the question is...

Q: When do I throw these pitches?

Answer: When you are ready.

Q: But how do I know if I am ready? Answer: If you already have at least one strikeout in the game, and can get an 0-2 on another batter, now it's time to start experimenting. When it comes to game time, throw only the pitches you have practiced and can throw well during practice.

See Saturday, April 11th's post "Effective Pitching" for a pitching gameplan.


Now go out and start trying the pitches you have worked so hard on developing! You will never know until you try them! So what if you throw a ball? If it doesn't work, try it another inning. If it still doesn't work, stick to those pitches that do work.

Athlete of the Week

My 7th Grade "Flame-Thrower," shown here in last weekend's tournament... we have been working together for 2 years now and she has a powerful fastball, deceptive curve ball and a pretty sick (circle) change up.