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Why It’s Important to Celebrate Progress, Not Just Achievement | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Everyone loves to celebrate the big achievements in softball - winning a tournament or conference championship, tossing a no-hitter, hitting the game-winning home run, and so on. Those are definitely highlight in a player's career and should be lauded whenever they occur. Yet celebrations of a player's performance don't always have to wait for some…
Buying Tools v Learning to Use Them | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Photo by Ono Kosuki on Pexels.com Like many guys, at one time in my life I thought woodworking would be a great, fun hobby to learn. Clearly that was before my kids started playing sports. So I started becoming a regular at Sears, Ace Hardware, Home Depot, Menards, Lowes, and other stores that sold woodworking…
Help for Pitchers Who Are Banging Their Elbows Into Their Hips | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
It's more common than you might think: pitchers, especially those who are trying to keep their pitching arms in close to their bodies (as they should) suddenly start feeling slight to intense pain as they go into release. Once it catches their attention, they realize their elbows are hitting their hips. HARD. Well-meaning coaches, other…
Fastpitch Players: Adopt the Confidence of a Cat | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Anyone who has a cat, or who hangs out at the home of someone who has a cat, knows this scenario: The cat is walking along a precarious path, such as the back of a couch or a very thing shelf. Suddenly, the cat loses its footing and lands on the next surface below. No…
Fall Ball Is a Great Time to See What You Have | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
It seems like only yesterday that the summer travel ball season was getting started - and teams were already promoting open workouts and private tryouts for the next season. Well, next season is now officially upon us, and with that comes fall ball games. Back when I was coaching teams, fall ball usually meant one…
A Softball Lesson from General George S. Patton | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
When I was still working in the business world, I used to have this quote from WWII General George S. Patton hanging in every cubicle and office I worked in: "A good plan, violently executed today, is better than a perfect plan executed next week." I would also copy the paper I had it on…
Hitters, Math, and Being Prepared | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Since a lot of the U.S. has either gone back to school or is about to, I thought it would be a good time to talk about math. Specifically, the math of hitting in a game and why letting a good pitch go by early may not be such a good idea. At its most…
It’s OK To Go After the Lead Runner. At Least Sometimes. | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
With my heavy lesson schedule I don't often get a chance to go out and watch actual youth softball games. But over the last couple of weeks - thanks to the miracle of modern streaming technology - I've been able to watch several games online. While I was mostly watching some of my students as…
Where Have All the Pitchers Gone? 2025 Edition | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Two years ago almost to the day I wrote the post below. Sad to say things don't seem to have gotten any better so I thought it would be worthwhile to re-post it. I still believe one of the biggest problems is coaches who are so averse to losing that they won't give their less…
Giving Players the Chance to Work Through Adversity | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
One of the most common phrases you will hear in all of sports is "player development." Whether it's a 10U girls fastpitch softball team coached by volunteers or a multi-billion dollar NFL franchise, everyone likes to talk about how important player development is for the short- and long-term success of the team and the organization.…
Understanding Why Athletes Quit Playing | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com As another softball season heads into the final stretch run, many softball players are making the tough decision whether to stay with their current team or make a switch. For some, though, the decision is a little different: they are deciding whether to play at all anymore. There are lots…
When Old Ways Become My Way or the Highway | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
I recently received a rather exasperating note from the mother of one of my catching students. She told me her daughter's team coach is now insisting that their catchers rip off their hockey-style masks when going after foul balls and making other types of plays. Neither her daughter or the other catcher is happy about…
A Couple of Common Recruiting Myths Busted | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
As I write this we are heading into one of the most important periods for softball players looking to get recruited to play in college - especially at a Power 4 or other Division i school. Because we are right in front of the major tournaments in Colorado, as well as a few other events…
Coaches, Stop Putting Pitchers in Games without Warming Them Up | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Today's post was a suggestion from several of my pitching coach colleagues who all shared similar horror stories. As you can probably tell from the title, it comes from their pitching students being put into game situations (usually very difficult ones) without the opportunity for a proper warm-up. If you've been seeing this rest assured…
Making Sure You’re Prepared for the Storm | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
June 1 marked the beginning of the hurricane season on the Atlantic coast of the US according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service. So far so good, as there haven't been any hurricanes yet, but you know they're coming - even if you don't know when. I bring up this…
7 Lessons from the 2025 WCWS | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Like many coaches I'm sure, over the last couple of weeks I've been telling my students that they should watch the Women's College World Series games. See what they do and how they do it, because in most cases it's a master class in how to play the game. Students aren't the only ones who…
Parent Catchers: Please Take a Seat | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Let's get this out of the way right away: I'm not trying to tell you not to catch for your daughters. That time behind the plate as your daughter is learning to pitch is some of the best time you'll ever spend with her. No, I'm talking about the position you're in as you take…
Product Review: Cimmaron Safety Net and Frame Makes BP Safer | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Whenever I see a coach doing front toss at practice from 15 feet away without a net to hide behind, my first thought is always "That coach must not have much faith in him/herself as a hitting coach." But the reality is (most of the time anyway) that they would use a screen if they…
Two Quick Tips to Help with Pitching Accuracy | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
One of the biggest deterrents to developing quality pitchers for the long haul is emphasizing accuracy over good mechanics in the early years. Yes, it's tough to watch a young pitcher struggle with control, and it's really tempting to tell her to just do whatever to get the ball over the plate so she isn't…
Welcome to the 2025-2026 Season – Wait, What? | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
A couple of weeks ago as I was busy wasting time scrolling through Facebook I came across something that made me think I must have fallen asleep in front of the TV and not woken up for three months. It was an announcement from a couple of teams about "open workouts" (translation: tryouts) for the…
Take One More Look Around the Dugout | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
I'm not sure if it's just human nature or perhaps a cultural thing, but it certainly seems like it's common for most people to be always looking ahead to the future. As graduation approaches, high school seniors look forward to starting a new era of freedom in college or their careers; college seniors look forward…
The Power of a Kind Word (or Two) | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
A couple of nights ago one of my hitting students, we'll call her Persephone (for no reason other than it amuses me), came in for her first lesson in a few weeks. She is playing high school ball right now and has been tearing it up for the most part, but Persephone has had a…
6 Benefits of Playing Under Sandlot Rules | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Let me start by acknowledging that today's ballplayers are far more technically skilled and athletically knowledgeable than they were when I was young lad, and even when I started coaching more than 25 years ago. If you go out to a ballpark this weekend, even to a local B-level or C-level 10U tournament, you're likely…
A Quick Primer on Fastpitch Pitching Rules | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
When you go to a game it often seems there are two kinds of people when it comes to the rules of fastpitch softball in general. One group feels like they know absolutely nothing and are often confused about why umpires made the call they made. The other group is absolutely certain that they know…
Checkmate! Why Fastpitch Hitting Is Like a Chess Match | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Ok, before we begin I am going to flat-out admit I am not much of a chess player. I never liked it as a kid - too slow and boring for me - and can't remember the last time I played a full game. Probably when I was in high school, which was a very…
The Path to Improvement Is Rarely Linear | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
So you decided to start taking your daughter to private lessons, or to buy an online package, or do a bunch of research and teach her yourself. That's terrific - way to step up and help your daughter get better at the sport she loves. Now it's time to set some realistic expectations. In my…
A Tribute to the Parents Who Show Up Just in Case their Daughter Plays | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
You see them at every high school (and sometimes college) ballfield. In cold weather climes they are bundled up in parkas, blankets, quilts, wool hats, mittens, and whatever else they can find to keep them warm, sitting in their camp chairs either alone or maybe in pairs, steeling themselves against March and early April winds…
Easing Young Arms Into the Season | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
On our From the Coach's Mouth podcast yesterday, Jay Bolden (St. Xavier University, BeBold Fastpitch) and I discussed several topics related to the start of the high school and outdoor travel season. During that conversation Jay brought up a topic that I believe is critical to both the health of the athletes and the success…
A Quick Guide to Working With the Littles | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Congratulations! You missed your rec league's organizational meeting and somehow got volunteered to coach an 8-10 year old team. Or maybe you were once a player and thought it was important to give back to the game you loved so much growing up so you volunteered yourself. Or you've started doing private lessons and were…
The Best Tryout Advice You’ll Ever Receive | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Tryouts are beginning soon for high school fastpitch softball in many parts of the U.S., and with them comes all the anticipation, hopes, dreams, and yes, anxiety typically associated with trying to earn a spot on a team. Plenty has been written about things you can do to improve your chances of making the team…
Preparing for the Inevitble Storms | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
On this week's episode of the From the Coach's Mouth podcast, Jay Bolden and I spoke with Shawnee Harle, 2X Olympian with the Canadian Basketball National Team and now a Mental Toughness Coach with her own business called Winning Matters. While Shawnee had a lot of great insights into the mental game, there was one…
A $500 Bat Won’t Fix a $5 Swing | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Softball bat technology has certainly come a long way from the days when an $80 Louisville Slugger burgundy bottle bat was what every fastpitch hitter dreamed of owning. (Linda Lensch I'm looking at you.) The materials and construction of today's bats are designed to maximize distance and power, turning even so-so contact into a potential…
How Practice Helps Shorten the Trip to Softball Success | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
At the end of the first lesson with a new student I will often ask her if she knows where New York City and Los Angeles are on a map. I know that's a gamble given how famously bad we Americans are at geography, but even if she doesn't know she will usually have an…
Debunking the “One Size Fits All” Myth | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Take a look at fastpitch softball discussion groups on Facebook or other corners of the Internet for any length of time and you'll find parents and coaches looking for the magical drill that will yield faster speeds with greater accuracy for pitchers, longer distances and higher batting averages for hitters, more sure-handedness for fielders, or…
Energy Creation: The Rolling Snowballs Corollary | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
This seems like an apt analogy since as I write this much of the USA is still dealing with a fair amount of snow, including many places that rarely get any. Welcome to my world, although we actually haven't gotten much all winter. Anyway, the other day I was trying to explain the concept of…
Be the River, Not the Rock | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Here's a simple question for you today: which is strong, the river or the rock that sits in the middle of it? The answer is it depends on your point of view. Taken at a glance, a snapshot in time if you will, it appears the rock is stronger. After all, the rock stands steadfast,…
Compete Against Yourself First | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
The desire/urge to compete is pretty much baked into our DNA. Where originally it was a survival mechanism - those who were best at finding resources (or taking them from others) were the most likely to live - that drive lives on today in many forms, including the desire/urge to score more runs than an…
Vlog: Absolutes v Core Principles in Fastpitch Pitching | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Today we're starting the new year with something a little different. Recently Rick Pauly of Pauly Girl Fastpitch and the High Performance Pitching certification program and I got together for a video discussion about several topics related to fastpitch pitching. The driving topic behind it was the difference between absolutes and core principles in athletic…
6 Suggestions for Your Softball New Year’s Resolutions | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Yes, it's a little cliche; ok a lot cliche. But still, the end of one year and the beginning of the next is a good time to re-think your behaviors and resolve to become a better version of you over the next 12 months. Or at least the next 12 days, which is the length…
Weather Outside Frightful? You Can Still Practice Part 2 | Life in the Fastpitch Lane
Last week we talked about how even though the weather outside may be bad it doesn't mean you can't practice your pitching. Well, I must have called out the softball gods because wouldn't you know it we got hit with a couple of rounds of snow. Nothing major, but enough for a potential white Christmas…