Girls Softball Training Tips Focus the muscle groups

[uhuruto2]

[FONT=&quot]Training for extended periods can burn you out easily, especially if you're doing the same things repeatedly without the advice of your Coach. And that fact is made even worse if you're doing just any type of training that doesn't add anything to your game.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Softball training tips:[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Train several muscle groups at one time[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Teaching a particular muscle group is good if you want to focus on developing just that for the game. But the truth is that you don't have that much time to do that. Also, you also have other muscle groups to focus on to give you a total body workout.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]So what do you do then?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Combine several muscle groups at one time and train them! This saves you a lot of time while ensuring that you don't neglect any of the muscle groups you need to play softball.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Line out specific training goals[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]You need to come up with training goals if you want to save time in your training as a teach of the game. This is because having specific training goals tells you immediately what you need to do even before you hit the gym or step on the field. Aside from that, having these goals makes it easier for you to track your progress, which also prevents you from doing any other unnecessary forms of training for the game.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Perform Softball-Specific Training[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Nothing wastes your time in training than performing stuff that you just picked up on a fitness magazine. While these exercises help you become fitter and healthier, they don't necessarily add anything to your softball game in your endeavor to hit your target.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]What you should aim for then, is do softball-specific training. This is the type of training that focuses on the actual things you do on the field, and develop the muscles that you need to perform them.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Some examples of softball-specific training include lifting weights that develop muscles on your wrist and shoulders. Another one is core training which helps a lot in enabling you to throw the ball harder, spin more quickly, and fastpitch the ball faster.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]All in all, these time-saving softball training tips are just about knowing what to do. That's because if you know what to do, you don't waste any of your time fumbling around about what to do next. Aside from that, you'll just do things that will benefit your softball game. And even if you perform other types of training, you don't allow them to eat up your softball-specific training time.[/FONT]

 

[CARDS]

I see too many times (especially; at the HS level) where training is not softball related. Too many coaches spending a tone of time in areas that do not improve their team. Sometimes as I watch I wonder if the coach is preparing the ladies for a track team or a softball team.

One area I see that could improve play is proper stretching. Amazing to watch pitchers, catchers and position players that cannot properly stretch out.
This is the single most effective area to improve your game. If you are loose you will run faster, throw harder, hit further / harder and get to more balls on D.

When you see a pitcher or catcher that should be training longer and harder than most position players that cannot lead their team in dynamic or static stretches such as: karaokes, lunge knee drops,hurdler stretches, butterflies or, core drills like planks or leg lifts generally this is a quick way to see the effort put into their position...

 

[tjsmize3]

One area I see that could improve play is proper stretching. Amazing to watch pitchers, catchers and position players that cannot properly stretch out.
This is the single most effective area to improve your game. If you are loose you will run faster, throw harder, hit further / harder and get to more balls on D.

When you see a pitcher or catcher that should be training longer and harder than most position players that cannot lead their team in dynamic or static stretches such as: karaokes, lunge knee drops,hurdler stretches, butterflies or, core drills like planks or leg lifts generally this is a quick way to see the effort put into their position...

I know many of us have our team stretch as a part of their pre-practice and pre-game routines, but in reality there is little to no evidence that static stretching before athletic activity provides any benefit either in terms of improved performance or decrease in injury. There is however, quite a bit of evidence to suggest that pre-performance STATIC stretching can decrease athletic performance and possibly increase strain injuries during performance. In terms of dynamic stretching there is some conflicting evidence, but the consensus seems to be that pre-game DYNAMIC stretches are possibly beneficial and long-term dynamic stretching programs are probably beneficial in terms of athletic performance. In either case I think the take away is DO NOT do static stretching pre-game (or pre-practice) and keep the stretching portion of pre-game warmups short and using dynamic stretches only. Below are 2 excerpts from journal articles.

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Patients and other health care professionals often ask sport medicine physicians to comment on the value of a diagnostic test or treatment. In controversial areas, most of us would respond cautiously. When there is no apparent controversy, we often repeat current recommendations without hesitation or reservations. This simple practice may perpetuate inaccurate dogma (?a point of view or tenet put forth as authoritative without adequate grounds?1) in clinical practice. Dogma unchallenged over the last 30 years dictated that stretching before exercise improves performance. In reality, there are no studies showing this practice is beneficial and 22 studies showing that it either has no effect or is in fact detrimental.
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Watching the Olympic Games and other international sports venues demonstrates the global use of pre-competition warm-up and stretching exercises by athletes. Athletic trainers often assist athletes in their stretching routines. The expected benefits of stretching include increased flexibility and injury prevention. Often common beliefs and practices conflict with the scientific evidence and this is true to some extent with stretching. Although the use of stretching does provide some temporary increase in flexibility, the literature suggests that overall it does not help prevent sports injuries. As stated in a 2008 systematic review of the literature, ?There is moderate to strong evidence that routine application of static stretching does not reduce overall injury rates.?
Furthermore, if stretching is used, it should be used consistently because ?There is an abundance of literature demonstrating that a single bout of stretching acutely impairs muscle strength, with a lesser effect on power.? There is also a concern over how much stretching is necessary and at what point it may be harmful.
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[CARDS]

Nothing personal tjsmize3 however; if what you posted above was the feeling of most higher level sports teams/coaches you would not see College or Pro athletes doing static and dynamic stretches in which they both do....

Most of the issues I see is "not a result of stretching" but coaches that do not understand how to properly warm up their players including the use of Dynamic and Static stretches.
As the article states, I am not a big fan of player to player stretching or assisting. This is where most of the issues found in the article happen outside of bad technique...

As far as team warm up activities, You would not believe the amount of coaches that try to have players stretch a cold muscle or, start off a practice with a sprint... Most of these coaches tend to experience player injury issues or performance issues the article posted describes.

These coaches generally cannot perform any of the the warm up task they are asking their ladies to do and, they struggle with just modeling instruction. (Heck, I see many coaches that struggle hitting, fielding or throwing let alone; jog,run or stretch... These are also the coaches that warm up their players while hitting infield (because many struggle or cannot throw up a ball and hit it or place it)...In "youth sports" the coach has got to be able to have someone or themselves model proper technique in all instructional areas including warm up activities.

Having played several high level sports for over a decade as well as coaching youth sports for close to two decades I can tell you this, there are "many" benefits for a good routine for warming up and stretching out.

Over the years with Fastpitch softball we were blessed to have a lot of success with our ladies at all levels of play and it continued on for them at the next level where guess what...There was an emphasis on proper warm up and stretching along with hydration and nutrition...

When we were 8U to 18U we did concentrate on proper warm ups that included a series of stretching. While we did have some injuries I do not recall any muscle related or soft tissue injuries with our ladies over the past 15 years from just play.

When we played 23U the ladies understood the value of proper warm up and took the lead themselves incorporating the various pregame routines they learned from their club and college teams and yes, this included a series of stretching.

From 8U to 18U as a coach and in our organization we asked a little more of our ladies than most clubs/teams.
We actually practiced diving for balls on the infield/outfield and going all out to get to fly balls that most may think were out of reach, learning how to run low to a ball, first base and catchers having quick reflexes/adjustments to a pitched or thrown ball etc.

As a coach that "watched closely" the progress of the ladies I could see improvement in the players as they also developed better warm up and stretching habits. As you do agility drills with cones or ladders you can see the development in the player as they start to perform the task quicker and sharper. The ladies that struggle in drills usually struggle in warmup activities as well. Correct those warm up / stretching issues and you will see improvement when performing drills.
Ladies that struggled with throwing velocity/accuracy, hitting with authority, fielding fearlessly learned how to improve their game by watching those stronger ladies and the routines and discipline they had before, during and after a contest/practice.
This was especially true on the High School team I helped with where most ladies only played in their local recreational league one or two games a week over the summer and had little to no instruction over basic instruction outside of HS.

Once we were able to get buy in from these ladies and families it resulted in some decent D1 tournament runs 2009 through 2013 as the ladies started to understand what it meant to "play fast" and how they; as players, could improve their game outside of hitting fielding and throwing...

To address what the original poster stated about strength / sport specific training... it is a must in today's competitive sports...To get the most out of strength training programs it should be matched with a nutrition and hydration program, Plyo. and stretching to get more elasticity and fire from a muscle group.

Those that understand the relationship of sport specific strength and core training with proper warm up, cool down that will include both Dynamic and Static stretching, nutrition, hydration generally are the ones the see the most benefit...

 

[tjsmize3]

Nothing personal taken CARDS and definitely not trying to refute anything you said, but rather just posting what the research shows. If we don't at least take that into account when we work with our players then it is an incredible disservice to them. I am very familiar with what many college programs have their players doing for both pre-game, practice and post-game stretching/training and wouldn't say all of them are setting the gold standard for the rest of us to follow... many are. We all understand the limitations of studies and certainly no one can find studies that show tying your shoes before playing leads to better performance, yet we all have our players do that anyway. To your point in the last paragraph, I have seen coaches do crazy things with my kids over the years. Many of the things you listed are a part of developing an elite level athlete and achieving elite level performance. On the other hand, before someone started offering my kids or my players advice on things like pre and post game nutrition, plyometrics training and stretching programs I would hope they at least did their homework. Just telling kids to do what we think is right based on what others are doing vs. what we know is right through educating ourselves often times leads to injury and sub-par performances. Sounds like you have always been one to do a great job with that for your girls!

Here is an article that I think discusses both sides of this topic very well:

http://lermagazine.com/article/acute-stretching-debate-approaches-a-consensus

 

[CARDS]

True, just because a coach has made it to a high level does not necessarily mean that coach is proficient in every aspect of the game.

I am a big believer that learning is a lifelong endeavor. Coaches should strive to improve their abilities to coach/instruct and seek to gain additional coaching credentialing just as much as they want their players to grow their game.

Coaching credentialing may not be an indicator as you mentioned of competency but it at least shows the person has invested in their coaching delivery and education. Coaches should learn from mistakes just like most players but there is a higher level of accountability for the coach.

Some coaches participate in coaching networks like NFCA, Coach book or social media sites like this one. Doing so can help provide resources to enhance ones ability to deliver instruction or properly plan activities. Getting information from a variety of sources matched up with experience will allow coaches to make informed decisions as it relates to their coaching and players.

Youth fitness training programs or strength and conditioning credentialing are available from a variety of sources. I am partial to "hands on and classroom instruction" as opposed to online programs but I understand time demands or ability to pay for the more expensive classroom training programs can be an issue some some. Especially; for the volunteer coach... Many of these programs require prerequisites that could include First Aid, CPR, AED and may require additional CEUs to maintain the credential but in the end it all helps the coach.

I agree with you Tom one should be leery of a coach that cannot explain "why" they want a player to do any activity.

Communication is critical in all aspects of coaching. One of the biggest ways to communicate with parents and players in the discussed areas can be done by stating "what I would like to see is__________", ___________or this is why I want to see __________, Doing _________this will improve___________ etc. When a coach can also model the instruction it helps with the connection and buy in from the player and parent...

The link you provided is a good example of getting information from a variety of sources, I liked how they looked at several scenarios before rendering a position.
Here are a couple good books on the subject as well that hits hyper-tonic conditions and the alignment for good posture that is part of the foundation to a proper workout or activity...
Assessment and Treatment of Muscle imbalance The Janda Aproach
Muscle Testing and Function Posture and Pain


http://nfhslearn.com/users/sign_up
https://www.acefitness.org/fitness-certifications/specialty-certifications/youth-fitness.aspx

 

[Maxx]

tjsmize3 is spot on with his information. A little static stretching is ok, too much can be detrimental. Most of the time when you see college or pro athletes performing a static stretch it is because that's something they personally add because they feel it is beneficial. Most high level S&C coaches aren't including a single static stretch in their warm-up.

 

[DoubleTheFun]

I've observed a lot of teams doing dynamic stretching prior to their position specific offensive and defensive pregame warm up routines. Thanks CARDS, tlsmize3, and others for emphasizing the importance of this.

Even though most teams seems to have a pre-game routine, what are some recommended postgame cool-down routines? (especially for travel teams if they need to vacate the dugout right away for the next game and then usually have a post-game talk with the coaches). Honestly the most I have observed may be just a lap or two around the outfield. It seems most just pack up, clear the dugout, talk to coaches, and leave. What are the best practices here and why aren't a lot of teams doing them? Is it really that important?

 

[CARDS]

Post activity cool down routines will vary depending on activity, During practices athletes exert more energy and are more physically challenged for longer periods of time than during game day.
Most teams practice 2-4 hours (some, practice 6 to 8hours during winter workouts) so, dedicating an hour or two to pre and post warm up/cool down activities should be part of the practice plan.

Some post practice or game cool down activities can include walking, jogging, breathing exercises, light stretching, drinking water, eating fruit or a sports trail mix to refuel / re-hydrate. The focus on the cool down is to reduce muscle soreness/stiffness increase blood flow to remove acids/waste help heart rate get back to a pre activity level.

Our HS team would do a jog around the softball stadium during home games then rake field put away equipment after post game talk, During away games a jog to center field and the ladies got a bottle of water and a fruit bar during the post game talk. Some of the teams in our league jogged bases or would jog the infield several times.
It was amazing that during our home games the ladies (even those that may have only pinch hit or ran) was in line for the trainer. Seemed like he went through 40lbs of ice, wraps, tens, tape etc. 6 or 7 looked like they were leaving a football game.

In college my DDs team seemed to leave it up to the players. Generally pitchers and catchers went off did their thing other players had their own post game/talk activities.
At 16/18U we were fortunate enough with a couple other travel teams to be invited to play in the Vernon Bibb fall college tournament. In the games vs. the college squads some teams had a player lead pre and post game routine that involved some stretching, jogging. Some teams just shook hands and left the field.