Even though I consider myself very knowleable in the area of speed, agility and quickness (probably more than 98% of people in the softball world), I took my team to see a top speed and agility coach. The guy who own that facility is considered by many in the sports conditioning and fitness field to … Read more
Today, I was in NY State with my good friend Sean Cotter. Sean is the Head Softball Coach at Plattsburgh State University, one of the best NCAA Division III softball program in the country. Sean is very well-known for driving his opponents crazy with a very aggressive style of play. And I mean really aggressive. … Read more
Most softball players are now in the off-season. What should you with that time? 1) You recover and regenerate for a few weeks; heal all injuries and recharge the batteries (mentally and physically). Don’t jump right away into heavy training if at all possible. Give yourself some time off. 2) Work on the fundamentals – … Read more
This weekend, I spent part of it at the ballpark watching games since it was the playoffs of the local elite girls fastpitch league. There’s a coach that I’ve known quite a few years who reads my emails that came up to me to tell me that all the hype around all that “dynamic stuff” … Read more
Last year, I went to see the Phillys play in Philadelphia. Since the Expos left Montreal for Washington, I haven’t had the chance to watch a lot of pro baseball games live. I got there early. I wanted to obverse. Have you ever watched major league players prepare for a game? It’s a beauty to … Read more
This morning, I was giving a lecture to a group of young college students on how to work out. I started by talking about warm-ups. I asked them: “Why do you need to warm-up?” I got answers like… “Not to get injured” “To make your body warm” and many of the variations of both answers … Read more
You see it everywhere. It’s been done for years thinking it was good for them. It’s still being thought by many to be what the thing to do despite all of evidence pointing to the contrary. Softball is an “old-school” sport. It’s a very conservative sport. Things change slowwwwwwwwwwwly unlike other sports like track and … Read more
Do you “still” run around forever or do hours and hours of “slow-go” cardio on treadmills or stationary bikes? May I tell you something… we are in the 21st century! These practices are out of date for softball. They are what we call “old school” stuff that has since been replaced by much better practices. … Read more
ABDOMINAL TRAINING (aka core training)! We know that the trunk plays an important role in softball. More specifically, the trunk and the muscles of the abdominal region are responsible for (1) generating rotational power and (2) stabilizing the trunk which necessary to transfer a maximum amount of power from the lower body muscles to the … Read more
I have worked with and observed a lot of softball players over the years. I have come two main conclusions about most players: 1) They love the game and want to get better 2) They have serious deficiencies in their conditioning which hurts their game big time. A lot players will try to workout and … Read more