Should young pitchers pitch every day?

This is a very common question that gets asked quite a bit. This question is the focus of the new Fastpitch Talk Radio show that will be ready on Monday, March 26, 2007. Here my opinion as well as the opinion of 4 other softball experts. Simply go to FastpitchTalkRadio.com and click on the Listen Now button for Episode 12!

Let me know what you think. Also - if you have a softball question that you would like us to discuss, please send the question to info @ fastpitchtalkradio.com.

FREE Coaches Special Report

It's been a while since I talked about this report, but it's that time of year when softball is in full swing and coaches are looking for ways to make this season a great one. So far 252 coaches have taken advantage of this FREE Special Report for Coaches. If you haven't done so yet, head over to http://www.allaboutfastpitch.com/SpecialReport.html and pick it up today. No strings attached, it's 100% free.

• Why You Coach and Why It Matters
  
  
• Words from Cindy Bristow and Mike Candrea
  
  
• 4 Steps to Creating Your Own Coaching Plan
  
  
• Attracting Quality Coaches for Your Coaching Staff
  
  
• Simple Tips for Reducing Unwanted Parent Confrontation
  
  
• and more...

Pick up your copy at http://www.allaboutfastpitch.com/SpecialReport.html

Have a great week and a wonderful season!

Coaching E-course Feedback

I just received an e-mail about the Coaching E-Course that comes as a FREE Bonus with the Keeping Softball Fun e-book. The message came from Dan M. who just completed the e-course and here is what he had to say:

"I think the e-course is great. I think you are right on the money with all of the messages sent in one week instead of over the course of 4 weeks. It is easy to save and get to it when you get a chance rather than wait........You have a lot of good information for me to tell the parents and the players. Your coaching style is what I like best during the e-course. Very valuable on how to assess players, parents, and, of course, myself. Thanks for all the good info and I can't wait to read your e-book!"

Thanks so much Dan. I'm glad you enjoyed the Coaching E-Course!

Right now this e-course is only available when you purchase Keeping Softball Fun, so if you're a new coach and you've been thinking about getting it, don't forget that this e-course comes as a FREE bonus. Have a wonderful week!

Nation's Only Undefeated Team #2

The Alabama Crimson Tide achieved the program's highest rating ever at #2. Tennessee is still ahead of them in the polls, but Alabama is the only undefeated team left in the country (DI).

Congratulations to Alabama! It will be interesting to see what happens if they continue to win. Will they be able to unseat Tennessee?

Read the story in the Tuscaloosa News.

Updates to the Site

I've been working on the site recently and have been doing a few updates. It seems that in the server crash, something happen to my Fastpitch Interview page. That link wasn't working so I re-did the whole page and it is now back up and running.

Also, we have secured our final Resident Expert. He was actually our Guest Expert for February's Column, but has accepted the final spot we had left to become a permanent feature on our column. The new Resident Expert is Coach Jerrad Hardin of ChampionshipFastpitch.com. Welcome Coach Hardin!

One more thing, if you haven't noticed yet, there is a new article up: 5 Things Coaches Don't Want to Hear. Go check it out on our Articles Page.

There are a few more updates to come and I will announce them in our newsletter. If you haven't signed up as a Fastpitch Member yet to receive the newsletter, but would like to receive updates and additional tips, please CLICK HERE to sign up.

I hope you had a great weekend ~ wishing you a wonderful week this week.

Confessions from a Parent

One of our team parents had a conversation with my husband the other day at practice. This parent told my husband that their daughter did not want to play softball this year. She had such a bad experience last year with her coaches that she was crying and fighting her parents the whole way this year.

I was glad when she came out and I'm certainly glad to have her. This girl is not bad at softball. There are things we need to work on, but overall she's a kid that can play this game.

I was so happy when my husband told me that this player told her parents that she is happy she's playing this year. After the very first practice she went to her parents and said that her coaches are awesome. She's glad her parents brought her out to play this season. I'll be honest, a bad experience last year does explain a lot of what I see from her on the field as far as how she handles things, how she approaches different situations, and her reactions to some things the coaches say. But, I am just so happy to know that we were able help turn her experience with this game around for her. To take it from something she absolutely not want to do and help make it something she's glad she's a part of now. That's what it's all about (especially at 10U)! That made my week and that is a huge part of why I coach ~ to show young ladies how awesome this game can be and how great they can be at it.

If you're a newer coach and you want to help keep the game fun for your young players, don't forget to check out Keeping Softball Fun.

Hawaii beats Oregon State

Hawaii shuts out #14 Oregon State 3-0 in the Hawaiian Airlines Spring Fling Tournament. Yeah ~ Go Bows! Sophomore pitcher Justine Smethurst was the winning pitcher, throwing a complete game, two-hit, shut-out. Tonight, UH will face #5 seed, Boston College at 7pm.

Full story on the win over Oregon State can be read here.

Upcoming Interview

Some of you have received my e-mail about the upcoming interview I'm going to do with my daughter for Fastpitch Talk Radio. I've gotten a lot of great questions to ask her and will still take more 'till the end of the day today. Just send me an e-mail with your question for the interview. We've actually received quite a few already, but the more the merrier.

I think it's going to be a lot of fun and I got a small preview of some answers. Some were surprising, and all interesting. You see, before I interview people, I usually give them a heads up on some of the questions so that they can think of some good, intelligent, thought out answers and really make sure they answer the question as completely as they'd like. Well, I did the same thing for my daughter. Some of the questions that were sent in were thought provoking and I wanted her to give them some thought and really be able to tell us how she feels.

Tonight, I had her write the questions down so that she could review them before we actually do the interview. Some of them she already had a bit of an answer for. There were a few that I didn't think she'd really know how to answer, but those were the ones she immediately had thoughts on and responses for. So, like I said, I was it was interesting and that was just a taste of what the full interview will be like.

The full interview should be up at Fastpitch Talk Radio on Monday. I'll let you know for sure when it's up and ready to listen to. Don't forget, you still have time to ask questions. Remember, she's only 10.

A Mother's Fear

My daughter loves playing the one position I never intended for her to play...pitcher. Why did I not intend for her to play there? Because I had to play there when no one else could and was never very good at it and never really liked it or looked forward to it. So I assumed the same would be true for her. However, my daughter loves it and she seems to be better at it than I was. So, she does get to pitch. This past Saturday, in 3 innings, she had 5 balls hit right back at her. Luckily, they were all weak grounders. But my biggest fear is that line shot back at her head or right at her chest. With the bats and balls nowadays it's such a scary thought. I've thought about having her wear a gameface mask. I don't think it's that big a deal right now, but when she gets older and girls actually hit those line shots up the middle, I may very well get one. I think the trick, though, will be getting her to wear it. I haven't seen anyone in Hawaii wear one so she may think I'm crazy to ask her to put it on. Plus, she's never seen a pitcher get knocked in the head before, so it's not something she's worried about.

The Youth Synergy Is In

The Youth Synergy I talked about in my last post came in last Tuesday. My daughter got to practice with it all week and used it in our first game this weekend. I have to say, I like what I see so far. The bat isn't very heavy which concerned me at first, but the ball still pops off the bat well. In fact, my daughter hit her first homerun ever with it this weekend. Granted if there was a better left fielder in the outfield, she would have probably been held to a double, but the fact remains that she hit it hard enough so that it kept rolling far enough to allow her to get all the way around the bases before the ball ever got back to the pitcher.

Needless to say, my daughter likes the bat and so do I. I'm glad I picked it up. Plus I like the colors. I know, men always say you shouldn't judge a bat by how "pretty" it looks, but I do like the look of the Synergy so that's a bonus. :)