Watch as Coach Bonnie Tholl explains this 90-second hybrid drill and emphasizes that the time of the drill can be changed to fit your personnel. This is a 5-station drill covering 3rd, 2nd, and 1st […]
Selecting an Assistant Coach with Ricci Woodard – Texas State Univ.
Watch as Coach Ricci Woodard explains that the biggest thing in hiring a new assistant coach is for them to understand what the program is about and what it takes to be successful. Loyalty, how […]
Infield: Sacrifice Bunt with Megan Smith Lyon – Marshall Univ.
Watch as Coach Megan Smith explains and a corner demonstrates the proper positioning and responsibilities for fielding a sacrifice bunt. When a batter squares to bunt, the corners yell “bunt” and slowly creep toward the […]
Small Plate Pitching Day with Paige Cassady – Texas Tech Univ.
Watch as Coach Paige Cassady explains, and pitchers demonstrate small plate day which means there is a tight strike zone. Pitchers want to throw competitive pitches that put pressure on both the hitter and the […]
Leadership: What Type of Team Do You Want to Be? with Robert Grasso – La Jolla Country Day School (CA)
Robert Grasso discusses how coaches must determine with their players what type of standards and values they must set that define their teams. It is important to ask questions so that players understand why they […]
Developing a Culture
By: Jen Welter Originally Published in: Winning Ways of Women Coaches Provided by: Human Kinetics You must give players a voice in shaping the identity and setting the tone. With the most powerful teams I […]
Hula Hoop Slapping Drill with Jessica Bracamonte – Univ. of Toledo
Watch as Coach Jessica Bracamonte explains, and batters demonstrate the Hula Hoop Slapping Drill. The focus of the drill is on barrel path and direction. The batter should be in the middle of the hoop […]
Developing Routines for Handling Pressure with Bob Ligouri – Des Moines Area CC
Watch as Coach Bob Ligouri asks three of his players if they have developed any routines or tricks for dealing with pressure. Player #1 looks in the mirror as she is doing her hair and […]
5 Ways Champions Keep Their Heads in the Game
By: Cindy Bristow Provided by: Softball Excellence The biggest difference between champion softball players and everyone else who plays softball is that champions control their minds – they don’t let their minds control them. Discover […]
Why I Don’t Yell at Players with Matt Blackburn – Lake Belton High School (TX)
Watch as Coach Matt Blackburn explains why he does not believe in yelling at his players. Players emotionally respond to their coaches during a game and when a coach is mad or angry the players […]
Hitting: Ball Under the Back Knee Drill with Mary Jo Firnbach – Southern Illinois Univ. Carbondale
Watch as Coach Mary Jo Firnbach explains, and a hitter demonstrates this ball under the back knee drill. The hitter is in a ready stance and the back knee is over the ball. Emphasis is […]
Changeup: Flips and Grips with Jennifer Williams – Dartmouth College
Watch as Coach Jennifer Williams discusses changeup flips and grips. The variety of flips are the classic flip change (flip and pull back, flip up and pull back, or flip and reach), and the horseshoe. […]
Incline Beam Pitching with Sahvanna Jaquish – Colorado State Univ.
Watch as Coach Sahvanna Jaquish explains, and a pitcher demonstrates the use of an incline board that helps keep them on their power line and works on driving the backside into the front side. Coach […]
Are You Building a Better You? with Chet Scott – Built to Lead
Watch as Chet Scott explains why it’s necessary to build a “better you” to be an effective leader. The way coaches regulate or react to a room influences the type of team they have. He […]
6 Steps to Better Bunting
By: Cindy Bristow Provided by: Softball Excellence Bunting isn’t glamorous or exciting but doing it successfully can be the difference between winning or losing a close game. Like free throws in basketball, bunting seems almost […]
Catcher’s F-R-T Drill with Leah Campbell – Rockwall High School (TX)
Watch as Coach Leah Campbell explains, and catchers demonstrate the F-R-T Drill (framing, receiving, and throwing). They change out the catchers after every 3 pitches and work on throwing to 1st base with the runner […]
Challenging Athletes Without Destroying Their Confidence with Dr. Greg Dale – Duke Univ.
Dr. Greg Dale explains that it is key to hold athletes accountable but do so without destroying their confidence or undermining their dignity. He talks about the difference between being intense and being emotional as […]
Safety in Sports Includes Mental Health Care
Medical professionals agree that about 20% of high school athletes and 30% of college athletes have or will have a serious anxiety or diagnosable mental health disorder that causes some degree of impairment in their […]
Teaching Defensive Skills with Larissa Anderson – Univ. of Missouri
Watch as Coach Larissa Anderson explains that she wants to teach everybody everything and make her players great athletes and her athletes great softball players. It is important that all the players practice defensive skills.
Team Culture Is Everything with Scott Whitlock – (Retired) Kennesaw State Univ.
Watch as Coach Scott Whitlock discusses team culture and how you must create a culture that does not compromise your core values and at the same time is a culture that allows the team to […]
Resistive Swings Slapping Drill with Donna J. Papa – Univ. of North Carolina
Watch as Coach Donna J. Papa explains, and a slapper demonstrates this resistive swings drill. The drill works on getting stronger through contact and strengthening the hand path. The batter should only take five swings […]
Med Ball Pitching Exercises with Marissa Young – Duke Univ.
Watch as Coach Marissa Young explains, and pitchers demonstrate these med ball exercises. The goal is to strengthen the muscles and movements that are needed for good pitching mechanics. Coach will cover, in detail, the […]
Tire Slam Drill with Caitlin Blanchard – Lourdes Univ.
Watch as Coach Caitlin Blanchard explains and demonstrates this tire slam hitting drill. The batter should hit the tire as hard a possible, as this allows them to feel the connection and power in the […]
Duties and Personalities on a Team
By: Kelly Inouye-Perez Originally Published in: Winning Ways of Women Coaches Provided by: Human Kinetics All the best teams in every sport have strong leadership among team members. But not every team member is going […]
Pitcher’s Load and Posture Drills with Stephanie VanBrakle Prothro – Univ. of Memphis
Watch as Coach Stephanie VanBrakle Prothro explains and shows video examples of these four drills to help load and posture. These are great drills for working on pitching movements without pitching. The Standing Glute Activation […]
Building Bat Speed Using Hand Weights with Ralph Weekly – (Retired) Univ. of Tennessee
Watch as Coach Ralph Weekly explains and shows a practice clip of a batter using hand weights to help build bat speed. This is a great exercise when your student-athletes are working circuit hitting and […]
Setting Goals
By: Dan Gould & Cliff Mallett Originally Published in: Sport Coaches Handbook Provided by: Human Kinetics Setting clear goals helps coaches and athletes achieve success. Goals offer direction and purpose for our day-to-day activities; in […]
Slapping: Baserunning Keys with Karen Weekly – Univ. of Tennessee
Watch as Coach Karen Weekly explains how baserunners and slappers need to work together. As the infield adjusts positioning when a slapper is at bat, the baserunner can influence the infielder as a potential threat.
Less Instruction, More Coaching and Teaching with Scott Whitlock – (Retired) Kennesaw State Univ.
Watch as Coach Scott Whitlock discusses the importance of using practice to put athletes into situations where they are going to improve and develop skills that they will have success using in games.
Recognize, Respond, Refer with Dr. Lee Dorpfeld – Univ. of South Florida
Watch as Dr. Dorpfeld explains the necessity that all coaches on a staff understand the recognize, respond, and refer guidelines. It is important to recognize at-risk athletes and the symptoms of mental health problems that […]