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Coaching Management ANNUAL SOFTBALL EDITION 2004 VOL. XI, NO. 7 $5.00 Better Breathing Goal Setting CATCHER’S CALL CATCHER’S CALL Teaching the art of signal-calling Better Breathing Goal Setting

Coaching Management 11.7

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Page 1: Coaching Management 11.7

Coaching ManagementA N N U A L S O F T B A L L E D I T I O N 2 0 0 4

VOL. XI, NO. 7 ■ $5.00

■ Better Breathing■ Goal Setting

CATCHER’S CALLCATCHER’S CALLTeaching the art of

signal-calling

■ Better Breathing■ Goal Setting

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CONTENTS Coaching ManagementSoftball Edition, 2004

Vol. XI, No. 7

COACHING MANAGEMENT 1

LOCKER ROOMBulletin Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2New club tournament in Californiaattracts 56 teams … Softball communityhails Title IX announcement … Buffalohonors Nan Harvey … CSTV airs college softball … Preseason to shrinkin Indiana … NCAA and NFHS ruleschanges.

Q&A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Eleven years ago, Jane Worthingtonwas asked to start a Division I teamwith a couple scholarships. Today,Eastern Kentucky is a perennial OhioValley Conference favorite.

Softball Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Hitting & Pitching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Team Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Uniforms & Apparel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45More New Products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Advertising Sales Associates

Diedra Harkenrider, (607) 257-6970, ext. 24Sheryl Shaffer, (607) 257-6970, ext. 21

Business and Editorial Offices2488 N. Triphammer Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850(607) 257-6970, Fax (607) [email protected]

Mailing lists for Coaching Management Softball are provid-ed by the Clell Wade Coaches Directory.

The Coaching Management softball edition is publishedin October by MAG, Inc. and is distributed free to collegeand high school coaches in the United States and Cana-da. Copyright © 2003 by MAG, Inc. All rights reserved.Text may not be reproduced in any manner, in whole orin part, without the permission of the publisher. Unsolicit-ed materials will not be returned unless accompanied bya self-addressed, stamped envelope. Coaching Manage-ment is printed by Banta Publications Group, KansasCity, MO. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:Coaching Management, P.O. Box 4806, Ithaca, N.Y.14852.

Printed in the U.S.A.

Publisher Mark Goldberg

Circulation Director Mark Shea

Art Director Pamela Crawford

Art AssistantDina Stander

Business ManagerPennie Small

Editor-in-Chief Eleanor Frankel

Associate Editor Guillermo Metz

Assistant Editors RJ AndersonKenny BerkowitzDavid HillDennis ReadLaura Smith

Production Manager Kristin Ayers

Asst. Production ManagerKristi Kempf

Production Assistants Jonni CampbellHildi Gerhart

IT ManagerMark Nye

Prepress ManagerAdam Berenstain

Ad Materials CoordinatorMike Townsend

Special Projects Dave Wohlhueter

Administrative AssistantsSharon Barbell Daniela ReisAmy Walton

COVER STORY

Catcher’s Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18If your athlete behind the plate is more of a translator of signals than a leaderon the field, it may be time to rethink your strategies. This article explains thewhy and how of teaching your catchers to call the day’s pitches.

YOUR CAREER

Goal Climbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25In the coaching profession, continual growth and achievement depends on setting goals. A veteran coach outlines steps for success.

COMPETITIVE EDGE

Stop, Focus, Breathe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Most batters take a deep breath before stepping to the plate. But are theybreathing properly? How can proper breathing technique enhance theirperformance?

ADVERTISERS DIRECTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

COVER PHOTO: NCAA PHOTOS/BRUCE KLUCKHOHN

p. 25 p. 31p. 2

Catalog Showcase & Web Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

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New ClubTourney HasStrong StartCollege recruiters had a newopportunity to see softballplayers in action this summer,as 56 18U and 18U-Goldteams attended the inauguralRush to Gold National Tour-nament July 23-27 in Irvine,Calif. The tournament wassponsored by the newlyformed Elite Fastpitch SoftballAssociation (EFSA), under thedirection of Randy King, for-merly a staff member atSouthern California ASA.

King says he organized theRush to Gold nationals at theurging of West Coast coaches.“When I resigned from theSouthern California ASA, Istarted getting calls fromcoaches who said that theyneeded to cut down on thetravel costs for their teams to

compete at nationals,” hesays. “The bulk of the Goldteams in the country are inCalifornia, and they typicallypay $35,000-$50,000 to travelto the ASA tournament. In-stead of having them travelback East to compete at anational tournament, we de-cided to bring one to theWest Coast.”

Rush to Gold organizers pro-duced a $5 program for col-lege scouts listing everyplayer’s year in high school,SAT score, GPA, and whetheror not they were signed to acollege team, and made ad-mission to games free for allparents. Another drawingpoint of the tournament wasa round of pool play that hadno effect on seedings duringthe subsequent double-elimi-nation play.

“Every team was guaranteedthree pool games, and it was

The softball communitybreathed a collective sigh ofrelief this summer with the July11 announcement that Title IXenforcement will remain essen-tially unchanged in the wakeof an extensive review. Manyfeared the review had thepotential to weaken the 1972statute.

“I think the potential wasthere for a disaster,” saysJacquie Joseph, Head Coachat Michigan State University.“Softball coaches around thecountry are happy—we’vegotten a message that Title IXis here to stay.”

Last year, the 15-memberCommission on Opportunityin Athletics set out to studyTitle IX enforcement andmake any recommendationsneeded to improve it. TheCommission’s creation causedoutcry from Title IX propo-nents, prompting Secretary ofEducation Rod Paige to pro-

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2 COACHING MANAGEMENT

mise to consider only recom-mendations that receivedunanimous approval from thepanel. The Commissionreached consensus on 15 rec-ommendations, and remaineddeeply split on eight others.

Paige considered the unani-mous recommendations, butin the end, announced thatTitle IX will be enforced withthe same guidelines as in thepast. The announcement didcontain two suggestions onhow institutions should com-ply with the law, however. Itdiscouraged the elimination ofmen’s sports in order to passthe Title IX proportionalitytest, and it clarified that allthree of Title IX’s tests can beused to achieve equality. Thatis, demonstrating increasingopportunities for women orshowing that women’s athleticinterests are being met willhold just as much weight asproportionality.

a chance for college coachesto see players who don’t usual-ly get playing time in tourna-ment situations,” says TyroneDavis, whose O.C. Batbusterstook home the Rush to Goldtrophy this summer. “By con-trast, when we go to the ASAnationals, there are only twopool games and they counttoward the seedings in thedouble-elimination bracket.”

However, some coacheshave questioned the need foranother tournament, especial-ly since most teams ended upattending both the ASA andEFSA tourneys. “With teamsattending both national tour-naments, I worry about burn-out,” says Margie Wright,Head Coach at Fresno StateUniversity. “Watching playersin these summer tournaments,it’s obvious that they aredead tired, and they’re notplaying at their potential.There is a limit to how many

times in a row you can com-pete at that intensity.”

Providing college recruiterswith an additional summerscouting opportunity is also amixed blessing, Wright says.“We’re limited to a 50-dayrecruiting calendar, and we’realready inundated in the sum-mer,” she says. “It is gettingto the point where we willhave to give up days of see-ing players in the winter ifwe want to go to all thesetournaments.”

Future plans for the Rush toGold Tournament includedrawing teams from otherareas of the country. “We hadteams from Arizona, Nevada,Oregon, Georgia, and Wash-ington this year, and I thinkthat we’ll see more states rep-resented next year,” Kingsays. “I’d like to see this tour-nament get as big as ASA’s,and I think it can.”

Highlighting ways of comply-ing with Title IX other thanproportionality should helpsilence critics of the law whoclaim increased opportunitiesfor women are costing oppor-tunities for men, Josephbelieves. “Women in athleticsare not unsympathetic whennon-revenue men’s sports getcut,” she says, “but that is nota problem Title IX can solve,and Title IX was an unfair tar-get. With this decision, themessage back to individualinstitutions is, ‘Do not makethe decision to cut men’steams and then blame thatdecision on Title IX.’”

Even with the number of soft-ball teams steadily on the riseand a new decision upholdingTitle IX, there is no room forcomplacency, Joseph believes.“The reason it’s so easy toembrace Title IX is because ofthe countless opportunitiesathletics give women, both onand off the field,” she says.

Prior to this summer’sruling, Title IX was an“unfair target,” says JacquieJoseph, Head Coach atMichigan State University.

Softball Community Hails Title IX Announcement

“The best way we can continueto keep Title IX strong is tobe ambassadors for the posi-tives that athletics bring towomen’s lives.”

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If your player suffersfrom dehydration

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When athletes are dehydrated they lack the ability to perform and may lose focus. So all the hard work during

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with sodium, potassium and carbs to replenish athletes and rehydrate them in a way water can’t.

Risk dehydration and you might as well let athletes coach themselves.

©2003 S-VC, Inc. is it in you?®

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6 COACHING MANAGEMENT

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Buffalo HonorsNan HarveyThe passage of Title IX markedthe start of many athleticcareers for females. One ofthose careers was honoredwhen the University at Buffalonamed its softball field forformer Associate AthleticDirector Nan Harvey, whopassed away in September.

Harvey was 16 when the land-mark legislation was passed,the same year she was askedto join the Buffalo Breskis(later called the Buffalo Sun-birds), an ASA Major SoftballFastpitch team, which con-sisted of mainly college-ageand older players. To helpplayers earn money during theseason, they were taught tobecome umpires and givenassignments that didn’t con-flict with their game schedule.From there, an importantcareer was born.

In 1974, Harvey enrolled inthe University at Buffalo, com-peting in volleyball and bas-ketball, then went on toteach and coach locally beforereturning to UB as the school’sfirst softball coach in 1983.She took on the role of Asso-ciate AD and Senior WomanAdministrator in 1996, all thewhile remaining active in theWestern New York softballscene as both a player and anumpire. She umpired theNCAA Division III NationalChampionships and wasinducted into the National Ind-icator Fraternity of the Ama-teur Softball Hall of Fame in1996.

After battling ovarian cancer,Harvey died in September.This past spring, she made a$200,000 bequest to UB’sathletic department, and theschool renamed its softballfield in her honor during aspecial ceremony on May 3.

Last April, Harvey spoke withUB’s Geoff Nason about hercareer. Below are excerptsfrom the interview.

What were some of the rea-sons you chose to pledgemoney towards the Universityat Buffalo athletic program?

I have had the tremendousgood fortune to have the Uni-versity at Buffalo be a part ofmy life on a daily basis for thepast 29 years. My gift repre-sents my eternal gratitude tothe coaches and professorswho taught me,the administratorswho guided me,and the peers andthe students whosupported me.

My contribution isalso to ensure thatothers who comeafter me may havethe same wonder-ful experience thatI have enjoyed atthis outstandinginstitution. I hopethat when peopledrive by Nan Har-vey Field, theywon’t think of NanHarvey—ratherthey will think ofthe renaming ofthe field as a thankyou to all of theindividuals at UBwho changed my life.

How do your experiences asan umpire help you in yourcurrent administrativeposition?

I believe that umpiring hasplayed a significant role inhelping me develop self-confi-dence. When taken seriously,officiating any sport requires agreat deal of studying therules of the game. When youhave truly prepared to besharp and ready to handle anysituation, you know that you

are ready to face any challengeyou encounter. The sameholds true in every aspect oflife. If you really want to bean authority or an expert, youmust do your homework.

What influenced your decisionto step into your currentadministrative position at UB?

It is the best job in the world.I have been put in a positionto contribute to policy- anddecision-making. I really viewmy job as one that enablesthe coaches to go out to the

court, field, or pool and dotheir job.

My duties include serving asthe sport supervisor of 15 ofthe university’s 20 intercolle-giate varsity sports as well asthe supervisor for the strengthand conditioning staff. In myrole as the Senior WomanAdministrator, I represent thehighest-ranking female emp-loyed by the university work-ing in athletics. My responsibi-lity is to represent the interestsof our female student-athletesand coaches at the campus,

conference, and NCAAlevels.

How essential is it, in youropinion, for Title IX to remainin existence?

Sadly, in my opinion, Title IXneeds to remain in existenceforever. The absence of a lawensuring equality for womenin athletics would result inreactionary results and oppor-tunities for women wouldslowly decrease and disappear.The absence of the law wouldrequire university and athletic

administrators to do themorally right thing. I’m notwilling to trust the moraljudgment of big-time athleticadministrators when it comesto finances and resources.

I believe it is equally impor-tant that the current femalestudent-athletes are welleducated on the history ofTitle IX, as well as the historyof women’s sports. They willnever fully appreciate theneed to protect women’sopportunities without thisknowledge.

Nan Harvey, at right of stone monument, former Associate Athletic Director at theUniversity at Buffalo and longtime softball player, coach, and umpire, is flankedby UB coaches during the dedication of Nan Harvey Field this spring.

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8 COACHING MANAGEMENT

L O C K E R R O O Mbulletin board

Softball’s StockRising on CableNetworksThis past season, NCAA Divi-sion I college softball waswatched by more fans onnational television than everbefore. UCLA’s ninth-inning 1-0victory May 26 over the Univer-sity of California in the CollegeWorld Series championshipgame drew a 1.57 cable rating,the highest ever for collegesoftball on ESPN, accordingto the NCAA. The Seriesaveraged 0.88 on ESPN and0.60 on ESPN2, both the high-est ratings ever since the Divi-sion I championship has beencarried on national cable.

In addition, College SportsTelevision, the nation’s firstall-college sports programming

service, began to cover soft-ball this spring. The fledglingnetwork, which provides con-tent to cable and satellitetelevision systems, carriedseveral Division I match-ups inMay. Among them were threecontests pitting perennialpower Arizona against Pac-10foes, a Tulsa-Hawaii game,and the Conference USAchampionship game.

“We had a really strong soft-ball schedule this past spring,considering we just launchedin April,” says CSTV spokes-person Eric Handler.

There’s no way to say howwidely viewed the CSTV gameswere, however. “To be honestwith you, ratings are nonexis-tent,” says Handler, “becauseright now, we’re just onDirecTV, and we’re just in theinfancy stages.”

More coverage will come nextseason, but Handler can’t sayexactly how much. “We’reputting together the fall-sportspackage now,” he says. “Wewouldn’t be attacking softball2004 until the winter.”

Even with more softball gamestelevised, women’s sportsappear to be getting less cov-erage than in the past on dailysports-news programs. C.A.Tuggle, an associate professorof journalism and mass com-munication at the University ofNorth Carolina, and doctoralstudent Terry Adams record-ed and analyzed 30 days ofESPN SportsCenter programsin May and June 2002 andfound proportionally fewer sto-ries were aired about women’ssports than during a similarperiod in 1995. According toThe NCAA News, the ratio ofstories about men’s sports to

women’s sports was 25 toone in 1995 and 48 to one in2002.

NCAA AdoptsNew ASA BatStandardsThe ongoing debate aboutequipment standards will takeanother turn next season as2004 ushers in a new set ofNCAA rules governing batsand balls. Effective Jan. 1, theNCAA will use the new 2004Amateur Softball Association(ASA) bat standards.

This is the first change in ASAstandards since the 2000standard was established.ASA field and laboratorytests showed that some batsbecame more powerful asthey were used in games andthat some approved batswere exceeding performancestandards, which led to thenew standards, calling for a

Softball scores twice: The Honda Award, given to the woman collegiate athleteof the year in each NCAA division, honored two softball standouts this year.UCLA shortstop Natasha Watley (left) helped lead the Bruins to the DivisionI national championship. Libby Hysell, a pitcher for Division III championCentral College, receives her award from Glada Munt, Director of Athleticsat Southwestern University, above.

For more information on how you can get your games televised on CSTV, Eric Handler canbe e-mailed at [email protected].

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COACHING MANAGEMENT 9

batted-ball speed of less than98 miles per hour under thenew testing protocol.

Bats will have to be listed onthe ASA approved list to beused in NCAA games, al-though they will not berequired to have an ASA seal.The ASA will list approvedand non-approved bats assoon as possible after bats aresubmitted for testing by themanufacturers. It is expectedthat most bats that met the2000 standard will also meetthe 2004 standard and thatonly the highest-performingbats will be affected.

“The ASA Equipment Stan-dards Committee is workingon the details of the transition

to the 2004 standard,” NCAASoftball Rules Secretary-Edi-tor and Northern Illinois Uni-versity Associate AthleticDirector Dee Abrahamsontold The NCAA News. “Iwould advise players, coaches,and institutions to delay pur-chasing bats until the testingis underway and some deter-minations about the highest-end bats can be announced.”

The Rules Committee is alsoasking for $50,000 from theNCAA Championships/Comp-etition Cabinet to conduct astudy to verify the usefulnessof the ASA standard, which isbased on a men’s slow pitchbat swing speed of 85 milesper hour and pitch speed of25 miles per hour. Calcu-

lations show that the swingspeed has a greater impacton ball-exit speed than pitchspeed, but the committeewants a field test to makesure the standards are applic-able to women’s fast pitchsoftball.

The 2004 season also marksthe full implementation of anew coefficient of resolutionstandard for balls. Balls with aCOR of 0.50 are no longerlegal and only balls with aCOR of 0.47 may be used.

In other changes:

■ The 10th player, or DEFO,will now be referred to as theFLEX player, which betterdefines her role and is consis-

tent with the newly adoptedhigh school terminology.

■ Coaches join players in notbeing allowed to intentionallyremove any line markingfrom the field of play, includ-ing the batter’s box.

■ Physical contact by a baserunner with a fielder attem-pting to field a foul ball willbe ruled interference if thefielder had a reasonablechance to get to the ball. Afoul ball will be charged tothe batter and the offendingrunner will be called out. Ifthe foul ball comes on a two-strike bunt attempt, boththe batter and the offendingrunner will be called out.

For a full list of NCAA rules changes, go to www.ncaa.org/news/2003/20030804/awide/4016n09.html.For more information on ASA bat certification, go to www.softball.org/about/certified_equipment.asp.

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Indiana ShortensPreseasonDespite protests from coachesaround the state, the IndianaHigh School Athletic Associa-tion has voted unanimously toreduce preseason practicesessions in winter and springsports. Starting with the 2004-05 school year, all winter andspring teams will begin tryoutsand practice two weeksbefore their first permissiblecontest date.

Under current rules, sportsteams are allowed to practicefor differing lengths of time,with softball given five weeksof preseason. With the newrules, all practices will beginon Mondays and teams willhave between 12 and 16 daysof practice before the firstcontest date, depending on

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the day of the week the seasonstarts.

For athletic directors, thechange means less overlapbetween sports, reducedcompetition for playing facili-ties, and fewer demands onstudent-athletes, especiallythose playing multiple sports.But for coaches, it means los-ing practice time with playersand finding ways to fit fiveweeks’ worth of preparationinto two weeks.

“Softball coaches aren’t veryhappy with the change,” saysPete Iussig, Co-Chair of theIndiana Coaches of Girls SportsAssociation and Head SoftballCoach at Lowell High School.“It will make our jobs a lottougher, because we’re goingto have to squeeze the sameamount of preparation into ashorter period of time.

In Indiana, preseason practice for high school softball teams willbe shortened from five to two weeks, in order to reduce demandson facilities and student-athletes. Above, Center Grove battlesCathedral in a state semi-final matchup last season.

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COACHING MANAGEMENT 11

“Some coaches spend any-where from three days to twoweeks trying to make cuts andfiguring out who’s going tobe on j.v. and varsity teams,”continues Iussig. “If youspend even a week on that,you’ve only got a week left toget ready for the season,which puts you in a bind.”

Blake Ress, Commissioner ofthe IHSAA, explains that therule was put in place to makepreseason training consistentamong sports seasons. “Inthe fall, sports have had twoweeks, and that seems towork fine. We don’t get a lotof complaints about that. Butin the winter and the spring,depending on the sport, theymay have two or three oreven six weeks of preseasonpractice, and the athleticdirectors asked why. If wemake preseason training con-

sistent for everybody, it willalleviate pressure on facilitiesshared by multiple teams.”

NFHS AddsDesignatedPlayer RuleHigh school scorekeepersmay be looking for a raisenext spring as the designatedplayer rule comes to highschool softball. The rule willprovide coaches with extraflexibility in managing theirlineups while also givingscorekeepers and umpiresmore changes to track.

Used in NCAA and ASA soft-ball for many years, thechange was adopted by theNFHS Softball Rules Commit-tee during its annual meetingin July. It expands on the idea

of the designated hitter rule,which it replaces. When fillingout the lineup card before thegame, a coach can list oneplayer in the lineup who willnot take a defensive positionat the beginning of the game.This is the designated player.If using the designated player,the coach must also list a10th player, known as theFLEX player, who will playdefense and have her spot inthe batting order taken bythe designated player.

The differences between thedesignated player rule andthe designated hitter rule startonce the game starts. TheDH was not allowed to playdefense without losing therole of DH, but the DP canplay defense for any player,except the FLEX player listedin the 10th position of thelineup, without the replaced

player leaving the lineup.Thus both the DP and theFLEX can be in the game ondefense at the same time.

If the DP replaces the FLEXplayer on defense, the FLEXplayer is removed from thegame, and the team will con-tinue with a nine-player lineup.The DP can be replaced lateron defense (either by a sub-stitute or through re-entry ofthe original FLEX player) andremain in the lineup as theDP, making 10 players activeagain.

The FLEX player is alsoallowed to bat, but only inplace of the DP. The DPwould then have to use herone re-entry, if available, toget back into the game. Boththe starting DP and FLEXhave the same re-entry rightsas other starters.

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The new rules allow coachesto use more players in a gamefor a couple of reasons. First,taking the DP out of the gamedoes not eliminate it, as hap-pened with the DH rule. Aftertaking the DP out of the game

and playing with only nineplayers, coaches can reinsertsomeone as the DP and con-tinue with a 10-player line up.

Second, the DP can playdefense while serving as theDP. This allows a coach to puta player out on the field in thelate stages of the game with-out giving up DP privileges.Under the DH rule, once aplayer was named the DH,

she could not enter the gameon defense.

Five state high school associa-tions—Arizona, Indiana, Min-nesota, New Mexico, andPennsylvania—used the desig-

nated player last season on anexperimental basis. Their posi-tive feedback led to full imple-mentation of the rule in 2004.

“I was very happy with therule,” says Jennie Herrenbruck,Head Softball Coach at Tecum-seh High School in Lynnville,Ind. “With the number of girlsI have on the team, it presentedmore opportunities to getmore girls some playing time.”

Herrenbruck also used therule to allow players a fewminutes to regroup if theyhad a bad inning in the fieldor at the plate by having theDP take over in the field. “Itcan give them a chance to

step out of the game andrefocus while someone elseplays their position withouthaving to use a substitute andtheir one re-entry,” she says.“Then when you put themback in, they’re ready to play.”

Although the rule seemed alittle confusing at first, Her-renbruck found that mostcoaches caught on after a fewgames. “There’s a lot there in

terms of knowing if this girlcan play in this spot and whocan hit for who and trying toread through all the possibili-ties,” she says. “We talkedabout it during the preseasonrules meeting, and then weused it in our second game.”

The NFHS will also adopt thenew ASA bat standards, whichtake effect Jan. 1, 2004. (See“NCAA Adopts New ASA BatStandards” on page 8.) Anybats used in games will needto meet the 2004 ASA stan-dard, but will not have to carrya 2004 certification sticker.

For a full list of theNFHS rules changes for2004, go to www.nfhs.com/rules-softball.htm.

“There’s a lot there in terms of knowing if this girl can play inthis spot and who can hit for who and trying to read through allthe possibilities … We talked about it during the preseason rulesmeeting, and then we used it in our second game.”

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Jane Worthington Eastern Kentucky UniversityA

14 COACHING MANAGEMENT

As the only Head Coach the EasternKentucky University softball teamhas ever had, Jane Worthington hasbuilt theColonels intoa regular con-tender for theOhio ValleyConferencecrown. EKUhas reachedthe conferencetitle gameeach of thepast three seasons, including 2002when it beat Tennessee Tech towin the program’s first leaguechampionship.

Worthington has posted a 305-280record in her 11 years as headcoach, including a 107-49 markover the past three seasons. Shewas named the 2002 OVC Coach ofthe Year after leading the team toa 41-17 season and its first NCAADivision I tournament appearance.

Worthington came to Eastern Ken-tucky after spending two seasonsas an assistant coach at Miami (Ohio)University. She is a 1983 graduateof Utah State University, where shewas a starting outfielder for the1981 AIAW National Championshipteam. In this interview, Worthing-ton talks about the difficulties inbuilding a new program, theimportance of recruiting, and whyshe enjoys working at camps duringthe summer.

CM: What was the hardest part ofbuilding a program from scratch?JW: The biggest challenge for me wasthe patience it took. I wanted to be greatright away. But we started with just acouple of scholarships, so we did a lot ofteaching and worked with good athleteswho hadn’t developed yet. As time wenton, we got a little more funding, whichimproved the types of players that wecould recruit. In my opinion this job ismore about recruiting than it is aboutcoaching.

What is your basic recruiting philosophy?I want players who want to come here. Iseek talented players, as everybodydoes, but when we bring them in for avisit, we’re as honest and open as we canbe because I want them to be happywhen they get here. We don’t sugar-coatanything. If they’re our number-onerecruit, I tell them that, and if they’re ournumber-five, then I tell them that.

Do you talk with your current playersabout the recruits and how they fit in?I do get feedback from them and listento what they have to say. Sometimes Iwon’t even have to ask. If a recruit comesin and she’s more interested in the nightlife than what the softball program andclasses are like, my players will tell me.

Has the new recruiting calendarchanged the process much?

I don’t think that it’s changed things awhole lot. We’re still hitting the biggertournaments where we’re going to seesome of the top players in the country.

I’ve been coaching a while, so I’m notone of those coaches who has to go outevery single weekend. There are alwaysgoing to be some very good players whowill be missed, but I don’t think that isaffected by whether it’s a year-roundprocess or if we get a month off like wedo now.

How has recruiting changed sinceyou’ve been a coach?The biggest change is that there aremore college teams. Therefore, the com-petition for getting players to come toyour school is tougher. I think that a lot ofthe bigger schools also have more moneythan they have had in the past, and Idon’t foresee that changing.

How do you compete with them? We play to our strength, which is thatwe have a great team work ethic andgood people. And I try to be a player’scoach. We make sure that the kidshave a great experience and win. Whensomeone visits and sees that, it’s a hugestatement in itself. Some kids don’twant the biggest and the most. Someare looking for a place where they willfit in, and those are the kinds of kidsthat we recruit.

Worthington says she’s a “firm believer that you have to coach to your personality. If I was outthere screaming and yelling all the time, it wouldn’t work for me because that’s just not me.”

Q&

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Page 18: Coaching Management 11.7

How do go about finding the rightplayers?By seeing as much as I can. I also ask mypast players if they have seen anybody.We picked up one high school player afew years ago who didn’t play summerball, but I knew about her because a cur-rent player had played high school ballwith her. Had this player played summerball, the competition would have beenmuch stiffer for me to get her.

You play a tough schedule against topteams. How do you keep your team’sconfidence up when you play thoseteams?We try to get players who aren’t afraidof competition and aren’t afraid of thebig-name schools. Our players actuallylook forward to those games. They wantto see how they stack up. Then we comeback, work on some things, and try again.Sometimes it works and sometimes itdoesn’t. The best part is that we’re notintimidated by them.

Last year we lost some of those games bya few runs, but I don’t think the teamever believed we couldn’t win those games.

We certainly don’t think we’re better thanthe top 20 teams that are out there. Butcan we compete with them, and on agiven day, can we beat them? I think so. Ithink a lot of teams can. Can we lose to ateam that isn’t traditionally as good as us?Yes, we can do that too. But I think youget more satisfaction out of competingwith a good team and losing than you dofrom beating somebody that you’re sup-posed to beat.

How do you motivate your players?I’m a firm believer that you have to coachto your personality. If I was out therescreaming and yelling all the time, itwouldn’t work for me because that’s justnot me. My philosophy is you ask playersto do something, and nine times out of10 they’re going to do it. If they don’t,you talk about it, and then they do it.

Do you talk with other sport coachesat your school about coaching?Absolutely. I have a great relationship withall of our coaches and our baseball coachespecially. Even though the two gamesare very different, they are similar enoughthat we have a lot to talk about. And as

coaches in general, we’re all goingthrough the same things. If I end up in asituation I haven’t gone through before,there’s probably someone here who has.

For example, I used to take everythingpersonally. I wanted every single one ofour players to succeed and do the rightthings, and you know what? That’s notalways going to happen. So I talked tothe other coaches and found out howthey got through it.

Why do you host so many camps andclinics at EKU?For a couple of reasons. First, I think it’sreally good for our players to work withthe younger players. I think they learn asmuch as the kids who come in. Second,it’s very good for the high school playersand younger kids to come here and havea chance not only to learn techniques, butalso to talk to our players and see whatcollege is all about. It’s more than justteaching them the mechanics of softball.It’s getting kids excited about the poten-tial of being a college player one day.

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16 COACHING MANAGEMENT

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Q A&

COACHING MANAGEMENT 17

the past seven or eight years, and that’spretty new compared to the rest of thecountry. So we want to share what weknow and what we have with as manyindividuals as possible.

How do you help the players balancetheir studies with softball while onthe road?When I’m scheduling, I do my very bestto make sure that they’re not missing thesame classes over and over again. Orwe’ll try to play a little later in the day athome so they can make it to as manyclasses as possible. We take laptops onthe road so they can get their homeworkdone. We try to stay at places where theycan hook up to the Internet and e-mailhomework back to their professors.

How do you develop leadershipamong your players?You can elect captains, but that doesn’tmean that they’re going to be the leaderson the team. The best-case scenario iswhen somebody steps up. Then you takethose individuals and work with themand encourage them to become betterleaders. But I think that they already haveto be leaders to start with.

What kinds of things do you do to helpthose people become better leaders?They’ll come in and say, “We have thissituation. What do you think we need todo?” I’ll tell them my opinion or I’ll answer,“I don’t know. Why don’t you guys figureit out? Go to the team and get back tome.” If they’re willing to learn, I givethem more to do.

What do you do to continue toeducate yourself about coaching?I go to conventions and attend clinics.We’re always looking for new ideas oreven ideas that have been out there for awhile and are coming back. I’ve heardthat the coaching school the NFCA andSharon Drysdale put on [National FastpitchCoaches College] is very good and that’ssomething I’m going to do as well.

What changes would you like to see insoftball?I would like to see more exposure. Itwould be great to turn on the TV and seesoftball on all the time. I think they did a

wonderful job with the Women’s CollegeWorld Series, and I think we can keepbuilding on that. I think an appreciationfor the game by more than just the puristsis coming. More and more people thanever before are truly understanding thegame of fastpitch.

I also think it’s important to figure out away to get better coaches at all levels.Not just college, but also in high schoolsand middle schools, where coaches don’t

always stay for very long. It’s hard to getgood coaches year in and year out whenyou have high turnover.

At the college level, I think that the gapbetween the top and bottom is closing.When I first started here, there wereteams we played that we could prettymuch count on beating, and those kindof teams aren’t out there anymore. Nowyou really can’t overlook anyone. I wouldlike to see that gap close even more.

To see a previous Coaching Manage-ment article about the NationalFastpitch Coaches College, go toour Web site at www.athleticsearch.com and type “NFCA Classes” inthe search window.

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sk a casual observer how asoftball pitch starts, and theywill most likely point to thewindup. Coaches and play-ers, however, know that theplay actually begins momentsearlier, with a decision thatcombines experience, obser-vation, and instinct: callingthe pitch. But many people

are asking whose experience, observa-tion, and instinct should rule.

At all levels of play, a dwindling num-ber of catchers are learning how to callpitches, as more decisions are made bycoaches in dugouts. In the following,we’ll examine why some coaches believeit’s time to put the responsibility for call-ing pitches back into the catcher’s hands,and we’ll offer ways to break down thiscomplicated skill one step at a time.

A Troubling TrendThe trend toward coaches calling

pitches starts before high school andfuels a cycle: The youngest catchersaren’t learning to call pitches, so by thetime they get to high school, coaches feelthey have no choice but to control thataspect of the game. When players reachcollege, the stakes are even higher andthere’s less time to backtrack and teach amissed skill, so many coaches continue tocall the shots. Then their catchers go onto become coaches who call pitches, andthe trend perpetuates itself.

Many believe the trend is a side effectof the increasingly competitive nature ofsoftball for very young players. “Thefocus at the lowest levels is on winningevery game, not teaching the game,” saysGeorgia College and State UniversityHead Coach Windy Thees, whose teamplaced second at the 2003 NCAA Divi-sion II Championships. “Catchers learn-ing to call pitches are bound to makesome mistakes along the way, so coach-

es call the pitches, hoping to produce awin. Catchers grow up not calling, andover time, we’ve created a generation ofcatchers who largely don’t know how tocall pitches.”

UCLA Head Coach Sue Enquistagrees. “The catchers we see in collegetoday never had the opportunity tolearn to call pitches,” she says. “Whatthey learned was to simply communi-cate a signal from the dugout.”

Teaching players to perform a skillwithout really understanding whatthey’re doing goes against the coach’strue mission of teaching the game,Thees believes. “If we’re not teachingthe catcher how to select pitches—tolook at the batter’s hands, see whereshe’s standing, how the ball is moving,what else is happening in the game—she’s not really doing the job she wasmeant to do,” she says. “She’s simplycatching a ball and throwing it back.”

“We’re doing a real disservice to thecatchers who aren’t being taught to calltheir games,” says Jay Miller, HeadCoach at Mississippi State University.“The game is for the players, and weshould allow them to play the game.That means making their own decisionsabout which pitches to throw, not con-stantly looking over their shoulder for acoach to tell them what to do.”

Along with philosophical and educa-tional arguments for catchers callinggames, there’s a pragmatic one: Manycoaches simply believe that a properlyprepared catcher can do a better job call-ing pitches than the coach. “The catcheris in the best position to call the pitches,”Thees says. “She has the best view of thebatter, the pitcher, and all of the othervariables that go into selecting the pitch.”

“It’s very difficult to call a game fromthe dugout,” Enquist agrees. “You can’treally see how much the pitch is moving,whether the pitcher is missing the spot

or the umpire is missing the call,whether the batter is bailing out. You’rerelying on a line of vision from the side.”

Need another reason? In the longrun, teaching your catcher to call pitch-es can help her career far more thanwinning a game today. “I can find agood pitcher to come and pitch for me.I can find a good infielder,” Thees says.“But the one position that stays on myrecruiting board month after month iscatcher. It’s difficult to find smart,young catchers who have been given thechance to learn to call games. So whena catcher like that gets here, she’s 20steps ahead of the other catchers.”

Knowing The PitcherWhen an experienced catcher calls a

pitch, the number of factors she takesinto account is almost mind-boggling:What are the pitcher’s best pitches?What pitches are working well on thisparticular day? What pitches has shecalled for this batter before, and whatwere the outcomes? What weaknesses inthe batter’s swing can be exploited? Isthis umpire’s strike zone excluding herpitcher’s favorite low-and-inside pitch?Who is on deck? Where are the run-ners? How strong is the infield? What isthe count? The score? The inning?

All this information has to be pro-cessed in seconds and communicated tothe pitcher. Even the best catchers can’tlearn it all at once. “The most successfulway to teach a catcher to call pitches isby introducing one factor at a time,” saysLinda Wells, Head Coach at ArizonaState University. “Let the catcher getcomfortable with one factor, and thenadd the next.”

Most coaches agree the first factorthe catcher needs to become very famil-

18 COACHING MANAGEMENT

Laura Smith is an Assistant Editor atCoaching Management.

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COVER STORY

If your athlete behind the plate is more of a translatorof signals than a leader on the field, it may be time torethink your strategies. This article explains the why andhow of teaching your catchers to call the day’s pitches.

COACHIING MANAGEMENT 19

Call

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iar with is the strengths and weaknessesof her pitchers. “Everything keys offwhat the pitcher has at her disposal toget a particular hitter out,” says Miller.

Time and communication are thebest tools for developing that familiari-ty. “Our catchers catch our pitchersevery day, five days a week, for the entireschool year,” Thees says, “and there isno substitute for that time. As the sea-son progresses, our catchers havecaught our pitchers for so many hoursthat they know exactly what works anddoesn’t work for each one.”

East Paulding (Ga.) High SchoolHead Coach Audra Thomas, a four-timeAll-America catcher at Kennesaw StateUniversity, puts the catcher and thepitcher in the bullpen together every day.“While they’re in there, I tell my catcherthat she needs to be asking the pitcher alot of questions,” Thomas says. “Such as:‘What do you feel comfortable throwing?What do you not like to throw? And inwhat situations?’ Afterwards, I sit downwith both of them and talk about thepitcher’s strengths and weaknesses tomake sure we’re all on the same page.”

At UCLA, Enquist takes the commu-nication process a step further. Eachpitcher is required to fill out a question-naire that profiles her abilities and pref-erences. The questionnaire asks thepitcher to rate how comfortable she iswith each pitch, and then asks a specificset of questions about her strongest pitch.It also asks what she prefers to throwwhen ahead or behind in the count andbreaks down her success throwingchange-ups in various situations.

“Each pitcher completes the ques-tionnaire with the pitching coach,because her perceptions may not matchup with her actual success rate,” Enquistsays. “Once the pitchers have their pro-files on paper, the catchers study thequestionnaires to learn as much as theycan about each pitcher.”

Another strategy? Send the catcher tothe pitchers’ pitching lessons. Watchingthe pitching coach in action can help acatcher understand the strengths andweaknesses of the various pitches she’llbe choosing from in a game, and caneven help her learn to correct problemsas they occur. “The pitcher is going tohave a lot more confidence in her catch-er calling pitches if she knows that catch-er has learned the same things she hasfrom her pitching coach,” Thomas says.

If you have more than one pitcherand catcher on staff, it’s important tomake sure each catcher knows eachpitcher, even when certain pairs worktogether better than others. “As thecatchers get to know the pitchers, you’llfind times when a catcher and a pitcherpair up really well,” Enquist says. “This isgood, because you’re really striving tohave a catcher who knows the pitcherinside out.

“But it’s also important to make surethey know the other pitchers in casethere’s an injury and they can’t pair upwith the pitcher they’re used to,” shecontinues. “Once we get a feel for who’sreally connecting, we run a 2:1 ratio—we let the pairs stay together for two

games, and then we put another catcherin for a game just to make sure that theyknow each other and we won’t miss abeat if there’s an injury.”

Sizing Up The BatterOnce the catcher learns her pitcher’s

arsenal, she can begin to learn to sizeup opposing batters. With so many vari-ables to consider, the key is starting sim-ply and then gradually adding on.

“Start easy,” Wells suggests. “Have the

catcher notice whether the batter is tallor short.” Next, Wells teaches the catch-er to pay attention to the batter’s stance(open or closed) and hand position(high or low).

Observing the batter’s actual swing isthe next step, with special attention onstride. “Sometimes the batter will stridedifferently than their stance,” Wells says.“Maybe they start in an open stance, butthey stride to a closed stance. A catcherwho only knows to look at the stancewill call an outside pitch, but one whoalso pays attention to the stride won’tget fooled—she’ll call them inside.”The catcher can take advantage of theopposing team’s batting practice beforea game to watch batters’ strides, and can

also keep an eye on the on-deck hitterwhile she takes practice swings.

Next, coach the catcher to pay atten-tion to the timing of the batter’s swing.“If the hitter is swinging early, she mightwant to slip in a change-up,” Wells says,“but not if she has really slow hands andshe’s swinging behind the pitch. Know-ing when not to call a change-up is verydifferent from not knowing whether tocall it or not. All of a sudden, the factorsshe knows to consider are adding up,

COVER STORY

n important part of being able tocall pitches is the ability to comm-unicate effectively with the pitcher.“The best catchers are the bestcommunicators,” says Sue Enquist,

Head Coach at UCLA. “So in addition tothe other skills, we make sure we addressthat in practice.

“If the catcher isn’t a talker, she will havewhat we call a talking station in practice,”she continues. “She’ll spend her time at thestation talking, yelling—doing whatever ittakes to get her vocalizing. Once it becomessecond nature in practice, it carries overto games.”

“A catcher needs to be very vocal,” agreesSusie Parra, a three-time national championpitcher for the University of Arizona andformer pitching coach at Cal State Fullerton.“But a lot of times, younger catchers areshy and they don’t talk. We’ve used thesandwich drill to combat that. Each timethe pitcher pitches, the catcher has to giveher a positive, tell her how to fix something,

and then give her some encouragementfor the next pitch.

“So she might say, ‘Good, you hit the cor-ner!’ That’s the positive,” Parra continues.“Then she might say, ‘It was a little slow,so throw it a little harder.’ That’s the fix.Then, she’ll say, ‘Here we go, bring it, kid!’and that’s the encouragement that finishesthe sandwich. If a catcher gets used tocommunicating that way with every pitchin practice, it will really make the commu-nication during the game work better.”

On game day, Parra uses another drill tokeep her catcher communicating. “I takeher off to the side just before the game andI tell her she can’t stop talking for five solidminutes,” she says. “I don’t really even carewhat she’s saying—it can be somethinglike, ‘Here we go now, let’s strike this batterout, let’s go, we can do this.’ The purposeis to bring her out of her shell, cut throughher nerves, and get her talking. If she’s feel-ing frozen vocally, I know she’s feelingfrozen physically and mentally too, so wehave to get her past that.”

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20 COACHING MANAGEMENT

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and she’s begun using the kind of rea-soning she’ll need to get really good atcalling pitches.”

Helping catchers translate what theyknow as hitters can be another powerfullearning tool. “If your catcher knows thatwhen she’s in the box with a runner onsecond, she’s going to want to hit the ballto the right side of the field, it’s a shortstep to encouraging her to reverse thatthinking when she’s calling pitches andcall a pitch to be hit to the left side,” saysDeb Hartwig, former Assistant Coach atSan Diego State University and Cal-StateFullerton and author of a new video onteaching catchers to call pitches.

Teaching ToolsA catcher who is new to calling pitch-

es and gradually adding factors to herskill set probably won’t be ready toselect pitches on her own during theteam’s big games. Yet she still needs tohone her skills. “The best thing a coachcan do is put the catcher through mocksituations in practices so that the coachand catcher can slow down and talkabout what’s happening,” Enquist says.

Thomas helps her players learn torecognize different hitting styles by step-ping up to the plate herself. “Since I’min control, I can do different things withmy swing each time and see if the catch-er picks up on them,” she says. “Forexample, I’ll take a swing and bail outwith my front side to see if she calls anoutside or inside pitch. I’ll let my handsget way ahead of the ball on a swing andsee if she calls a change-up. Afterward, Ialways make sure to give her feedbackabout what I was thinking, and ask whyshe called what she did.”

Thees gets even more specific whenhelping her catcher size up battersthey’ll actually be facing in games. “Wepitch against fictitious lineups from ourconference teams in practice,” she says.“We have a hitter go up to the plate andsay who they are, what team they’refrom, and what they look like. Thecatcher has to call the pitches from thatinformation.”

The next step is often actual scrim-mages during practice. “Let the catchercall the pitches against her own team-mates during a scrimmage,” advises Wells.

The key to making mock situationsprofitable is maintaining a running dia-log with the catcher about what shecalled, why she called it, and what the

result was. “You have to participate withthem,” Hartwig says. “You have to stopand say, ‘Why did you call that pitch?’and let them respond without beingafraid of giving the wrong answer.”

“At the high school level, sometimesit’s harder for players to slow down andanalyze what’s happening, so I spend alot of time coaching my catcherthrough that process using dialog,”Thomas says. “What did we do, andwhat happened as a result? When I start

getting really solid answers to my ques-tions—when she tells me, ‘Coach, I sawher bail out, so I knew the next pitchyou would call,’ or, ‘I remembered wegot her with that pitch the last twotimes’—I know she’s getting close tobeing able to select pitches herself.”

Video can also be a useful resource.“As long as you have access to a videocamera, there are some really basic thingsyou can do,” Enquist says. “Make a videoof the major types of hitters and their

COVER STORY

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swing patterns. Then roll the videotapeand ask your catcher, ‘Okay, what pitchwould you call for this batter?’ You cantell when they’re starting to get the hangof it, because they’ll tell you, ‘Coach, sheswings so up on the ball, I’m going to calla rise ball and she’ll be swinging up on itall day long!’ The reward as a coach is see-ing that light go on.”

Game DayMock games and scrimmages are

one thing, but the transition to havingthe catcher call pitches during a biggame can be nerve-racking for both thecatcher and the coach. One solution isto move the catcher through a progres-sion where the coach starts out calling

the pitches during games, then pro-ceeds to sharing the job before turningit completely over to the catcher.

“I almost always start the season call-ing the pitches myself,” Thees says, “butwhen the catchers come in, I always talkover the pitch selections with them andask them if they know why I called whatI did. That’s the first step.”

At Hillcrest (S.C.) High School,Assistant Coach Larry Wooten relies onthe score to let him know if it’s time forhis novice catcher to call the pitches. “Ialways start out calling,” he says, “but if

we’ve got control of a game, I use that asan ideal opportunity to give her someexperience calling.”

Enquist relies on sensing when hercatcher and pitcher have settled into therhythm of the game, regardless of thescore. “Early in the season, I’ll select thepitches myself for the first inning or twoof each game,” Enquist says. “Once I seethat the team has established itself with-in that game and the pitcher is comfort-able with having the catcher call the restof the game, I turn them loose.”

Even after Enquist’s catcher isturned loose, though, she’s never com-pletely on her own. “In the heat of agame, it’s important for the catcher toknow that she can look to the coach for

assistance,” she says. “I always tell ourplayers, ‘We are your safety net in thedugout, so if you feel a panic coming onor you’re stuck between two pitches,just give a sign, and we’ll be here to giveyou a signal.’”

“During a game, a catcher may needreassurance,” Hartwig agrees. “You cancreate signals that allow you to commu-nicate. If the catcher looks to the coachand puts her hand on her knee, thatcan mean, ‘Do you think a change-up isgood here?’ If you maintain an open,teaching relationship, it won’t be

threatening or belittling for her to askfor help.”

Even with the most experiencedcatchers who start and finish callingmost games on their own, there areselected times when the coach will wantto choose the pitch. “Sometimes, ifthere is a lack of communication goingon between the pitcher and the catcher,or because we have a very strong opin-ion on what to call because of informa-tion we have on the charts in front of us,the call will come from the dugout,”Enquist says. “But you need to prepareyour catcher for that possibility. So as acoach, you have to tell your catchers inadvance that there may be times whenyou’re going to take it out of theirhands temporarily. As long as they’reaware that it may happen, your catcherwon’t skip a beat. But she may panic ifyou pull something that you haven’tprepared her for.”

Just as with the mock situations, everygame is a golden opportunity to learn,from both good decisions and bad. “Mycatchers keep a hitters journal to helpthem review games,” Thomas says. “Theyrecord what hitters they saw, what theypitched them, and what pitches wereand weren’t hit. It’s a great way to helpthem start thinking about what factorswent into their pitch selections andwhether they got the result they wanted.”

Mistakes WelcomeTo build the confidence she needs

to call pitches, the catcher needs toknow that her coach is backing her up.A big part of that is allowing her tomake mistakes along the way.

“As a coach, sometimes you feel likeevery eye is on you and you’re supposedto know it all,” says Thomas. “We’reafraid to let the catcher call the pitch,because what if she calls the wrongpitch, it gets hit over the fence, and itcosts us the game? But you and she bothhave to realize that if someone hits theball, it’s not the end of the world. Goodhitters are going to hit the ball some-times, no matter where you put it. Agood coach develops the ability to sethis or her own ego aside and let thecatcher make the mistakes that aregoing to help her learn.”

“I often remind myself and my catch-er that calling pitches is really a guess-ing game,” Thees says. “Even if I call thepitch, it could get hit for a home run,

COVER STORY

22 COACHING MANAGEMENT

hile calling pitches requires acatcher to consider the actionsof primarily two people (thepitcher and the batter), there’sanother party she must factor

into her deliberations, and that’s the personstanding inches behind her. When she’sbehind the plate, one important considera-tion for the catcher will be the strike zoneof the umpire who’s calling the game.

“The catcher has to adjust for the umpire’sspecific strike zone when she’s selectingpitches,” explains Linda Wells, Head Coachat Arizona State University. “If she’s plannedher calls around the ‘book’ strike zone, andthe umpire isn’t giving her that low strike,or the high, inside strike, she can’t continueto make those selections. If she’s willing toadjust, there are probably places withinthat zone that can work to her advantage.The key is adjusting so that she’s calling asmuch as possible in the pitcher’s strikezone, given what the umpire is calling.”

The catcher may have to do some detec-tive work to determine what pitches aregoing to work based on the umpire’sstrike zone. “It’s perfectly acceptable tocoach your catcher to turn to the umpireand say, ‘Is my pitcher missing on the ver-tical or horizontal line?’” says Sue Enquist,Head Coach at UCLA. “Once she knowsthat, she can adjust her calls accordingly.”

Catchers need to be taught the fine art ofaddressing the umpire, however. “Thefirst thing I tell my catcher is, never, everturn around and say, ‘Hey, what waswrong with that?’” says Audra Thomas,East Paulding (Ga.) High School HeadCoach. “Most umpires like teaching andthey’ll respond positively as long as thecatcher asks questions in a respectful,professional way. Then, once the catcherunderstands the umpire’s strike zone, shecan make sure to select a pitch that’sgoing to be called a strike that day.”

O F F I C I A L A D J U S T M E N T S

W

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and I’ve called many pitches in my daythat have. You have to coach your catch-er that if she guesses wrong, she justneeds to say to herself, ‘I didn’t thinkthat batter could hit a change-up; now Iknow.’ And you and she both have to

move on from there and get ready forthe next pitch.”

At UCLA, Enquist doesn’t justexpect mistakes, she plans for them.“We go through a complete, step-by-step mental-confidence training pro-gram,” she says. “Calling pitches is a lotof responsibility, and the game will kickyour catcher in the stomach if you let it.Our program develops her confidence

so when those mistakes happen, shedoesn’t get derailed.” The programtakes 10 weeks, and players work on itboth during practices and on their own.“The first thing we ask our catchers todo is put into writing what they think

their character strengths are,” Enquistsays. “Then they go on to articulate thestrengths they see in their pitchers.

“The next thing we ask them to do isdescribe how they manage failure andfear,” she continues. “This is usuallywhere the breakdown occurs. Theydon’t have a plan for managing failureand fear, because they haven’t acceptedthat it’s unavoidable.” After the catcher

fills out the questionnaire, she andEnquist go over it together.

Next, Enquist takes her playersthrough what she calls green lights, yel-low lights, and red lights. “This is allabout helping them learn to identifytheir own internal state during a game,”she says. “Green lights is when every-thing is working and you’re in the flowof the game. Then let’s say the catchercalls a change-up, and the batter ropesit. Now maybe she’s entering yellowlights—she’s starting to question herselfand lose her confidence.”

Enquist’s catchers learn what shecalls a “failure routine” to deal withsuch moments. “We teach them to askthemselves, ‘Okay, where am I? I’m inyellow lights, so here’s what I need todo. I need to tell myself that I’m only incontrol of maintaining my mechanicsand my rhythm—I am not in control ofthe result.’ We practice for failure, sothat by the time it happens in a game,it’s nothing new to them. They’ve beenthere before, and they know exactlywhat to do.” ■

COVER STORY

COACHIING MANAGEMENT 23

“My catchers keep a hitters journal to help them review games... They record what hitters they saw, what they pitched them,and what pitches were and weren’t hit. It’s a great way to helpthem start thinking about what factors went into their pitchselections and whether they got the result they wanted.”

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To fuel power workouts, enhance stamina, energy, strengthand quickness, athletes need to eat and drink the properfoods. Use these recommendations to assist the athlete inreaching their goals:

Eat adequate dietary carbohydrates daily to fueltraining and competition

Many athletes need help identifying foods that contain carbohydrates. They may know that pasta is a good sourceof carbohydrates, but they are not aware that fruits, vegetables, dried peas and beans, whole-grain cereals,breads and potatoes also contain carbohydrates.

Choose mostly whole-grain carbs, when possible

Some athletes rely heavily on highly processed foods withrefined ingredients rather than whole-grains. Whole-grainbagels, breads, muffins and cereals contain more nutrientsand less unhealthy fats than highly processed products.

Choose high-quality protein

✓ While protein is not a primary fuel for working muscles,it is a component of muscles, organs, enzymes, andoxygen-carrying hemoglobin. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. High-quality protein foodscontain all the essential amino acids needed to buildand repair body tissues.

✓ Athletes should consume a wide variety of high-qualityprotein foods, such as chicken, turkey, beef, pork, soybeans, milk, eggs, legumes (beans) and nuts.

✓ Fat is needed in the diet. Aside from being a concentrated source of dietary energy, fats form essential tissue-building blocks and hormone-regulatingsubstances.

✓ Athletes should incorporate a variety of natural fats intotheir daily diet, such as nuts, nut butters, oils and seeds,cold water fish, olives and avocados. Large amounts ofsaturated fat (from animal products, such as dairy andmeat), and “trans” fats (from hydrogenated and partiallyhydrogenated oils in many packaged products) should beavoided.

Nutrition practices can have a significantimpact on the overall development of afirst-class athlete. The proper fuel can helpathletes reach their potential.

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piece of fresh fruit

Hamburger on a white bun Salmon, turkey or veggie burger on a whole-grain roll with lettuce and tomato

Cake or cookies Fresh fruit dipped in natural peanut butter

Sausage or pepperoni pizza Vegetable pizza and garden salad

The hours athletes spend in practices, training and competing place large demands on the physical conditioning of players. The peak energy level and power needed to compete in any sport can be maximized with a balanced diet focused on whole-grain carbohydrates, high-quality protein and healthy fats.

Page 27: Coaching Management 11.7

YOUR CAREER

oaching can be an immenselysatisfying profession, particu-larly in today’s world. Withmore extracurricular optionsfor students, increased acade-mic demands, and a greaterneed to channel energy in apositive direction, the impor-tance of coaches in shapingyoung people increases witheach passing year.

But coaching, like a lot of things, is anactivity of love and, over time, the lusterthat drew us to it can wear off. Coaching islike a marriage: It can be the most beauti-ful experience in the world, or it can sourand create a lot of heartache and hurt.

Like a marriage, coaching requires con-tinual hard work and the desire toimprove while maintaining flexibility andadaptability.

This is especially true when thingsbeyond our control build to create a neg-ative situation and force us to ask our-selves why we do it. How do we maintainthe enthusiasm and motivation to keepcoaching?

No matter how long you’ve beencoaching, the best way to maintain yourmotivation is to have goals. Enjoyingcoaching—and being a good coach—requires constant efforts to improve.

This means making a serious, critical,and introspective analysis of your objec-

Lem Elway is the former Head Baseball Coach at Anacortes (Wash.) High School and a memberof the Washington State Coaches Hall of Fame. He has coached and taught at the middle andhigh school levels for over 25 years, and is currently at Rochester (Wash.) Middle School.

COACHING MANAGEMENT 25

CIn the coaching profession,continual growth andachievement depends onsetting goals. A veterancoach outlines steps forsuccess.

BY LEM ELWAY

GOAL CLIMBING

RO

B B

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tives. What areas need improvement,and what is your plan of action tostrengthen those areas? You must decidewhere you’re going, where you want tobe, and how you are going to get there.

The Big Picture At the center of this self-inventory

process are your goals. Goals are likethe rudder on a boat in that they keepyou moving in the right direction. Evenif your athletic director does notrequire you to submit yearly goals, youshould develop some yourself.

It is imperative that the goals arewritten down on paper, expressed inpositive terms, and defined in measur-able ways. They can involve your profes-sional or personal goals as a coach, or acombination of both. For example,does your coaching style need to beadjusted? Does your approach to select-ing a roster need to be revised?

It’s also imperative to evaluatewhether you are reaching your goals.For some coaches, this means asking amentor or administrator to sit down atspecified dates to review the goals.Others do this by themselves, sometimessimply by closing the door to their officeand taking the afternoon to reflect.

To start the evaluation process, askyourself the following four basic questions:

Why do I coach? To keep ourselves motivated, we

need to keep reminding ourselves whywe are in coaching. The answer to “whydo I coach?” will be a very personal one,of course, but it’s important to knowwhat parts of the job satisfy us. Somepossible reasons include:

■ Giving back to the game that gaveyou so much.

■ There are not too many experi-ences in life where you can spend timewith so many people focused on a com-mon goal.

■ Camaraderie with people youmight not otherwise get to know.

■ The emotions of competition. ■ Getting to know kids out of class

and watching them grow and mature. ■ Being able to make a difference in

people’s lives—seeing your players turninto productive members of societywhen they leave.

■ Building a successful programthrough hard work.

How do I define success?Success is a relative term depending

on your situation and expectations. It willmean different things to different people.

For some, success can mean taking agroup of diverse students and teachingthem how to be a team. For others, it’swinning the league championship everyyear.

For most coaches, though, success is ablend of teaching the lessons of sport andwinning on the field. The key is figuringout what is most important to you. Oneway to think about this is to ask yourself,“When I’m gone from the game, how doI want to be remembered?”

What is my coaching philosophy? It may seem easy at initial glance, but

one of the hardest things to first estab-lish and then revise on a regular basis isyour coaching philosophy. The depthof your philosophical search can go asfar as you want. But it must take youbeyond coaching “in the moment” andidentify those long-range benefits youexpect your players to take with theminto the world.

Start by looking at how you answeredthe first two questions. Your philosophyneeds to be personal to you, and it mustbe an honest and true reflection of whyyou coach and how you define success.As an example, my philosophy goessomething like this: I want to be able totake our players where they would notbe able to take themselves. At the sametime, I want to teach them how to devel-op successful attitudes, build teamchemistry, establish character values,deal with adversity, and set goals.

Your philosophy can, and probablyshould, change as you grow andchange—I know mine certainly has. As Ihave become more experienced, my phi-

losophy has leaned more toward teachinglong-term lessons. I still love to win (andhate to lose!), but I’ve found that biggerlessons and values need to be paramountas you journey to the end goal.

What is my commitment?From the outside, coaching looks

like an easy thing to do. And for thosewho don’t do a very good job, that maybe correct. But the commitment todoing this job the right way can be over-whelming at times. It’s a commitmentof time, energy, and emotion. In addi-tion, the continual development in theareas of coaching techniques andknowledge of the game is endless.

In a lot of cases, coaching the“game”—teaching the sport and man-aging a team during competition—isthe most refreshing part of the job. Theperipheral issues such as logistics andplayers’ personal issues are time-con-suming, but these aspects of coachingwill help define your success and can’tbe thought of as asides. When you eval-uate yourself and your future, it’s criti-cal to think about your commitment tothe energy and time it takes to cover allthe bases of coaching.

After answering these four ques-tions, take some time to determine ifyour answers mesh with where you arenow and where you are progressing inyour career. For example, if you definesuccess differently than the student-ath-letes on your team, you may be headingdown the wrong road. At the highschool level, most boys and girls say thereasons they go out for sports are: 1) forfun; 2) to improve skills; and 3) to stayin shape. Is that something you canaccept and incorporate into your objec-

YOUR CAREER

26 COACHING MANAGEMENT

All successful coaches need to evaluate themselves and their programs,but sometimes that isn’t easy to do. Remember these positives if goal-setting seems overwhelming:■ When goals are achieved, they give us personal satisfaction.■ They give direction and purpose and help us grow.■ They help us win at things we can control.■ Goals give us the courage to try new things.■ They allow us a mechanism to be open to criticism and help us see our

short-comings.■ They help us realize it is okay to fail because we can learn from the

experience.

WHY SET GOALS?

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28 COACHING MANAGEMENT

YOUR CAREER

tives? If you’re working at a college oruniversity, do your ideas about athleticsmesh with the institution’s objectives forits sports programs?

Another example: does your timecommitment match the expectations ofthe athletes and parents? If you don’thave time to chat with one of your ath-letes’ parents on the phone in theevening, maybe you shouldn’t be a headcoach. Maybe it’s best to be an assistantcoach until you have more time. Ormaybe coaching at a school with lesserexpectations is the right choice.

The Smaller Picture If you find that, overall, you are head-

ing in the right direction—you candefine your big-picture goals and they fityour current situation—the next step isto think about evaluating yourself morespecifically. What are the small thingsyou need to work on? Here are someareas to think about:

Organizational Skills: This criticalarea leads to success or failure andrequires maximum effort. The key toorganizational success is planning andscheduling. All possible tasks involvedwith the program must be written downand put into a timeline.

In- and out-of-season activities associ-ated with the program must be plannedand those plans must be communicatedto all involved. This includes practicesbeing organized for skill developmentand a schedule that allows players’improvement to occur in a logical, posi-tive direction.

The little things—bus schedules, aca-demic concerns, equipment ordering—must also receive the necessaryattention. You will develop trust and afollowing much more quickly if your ath-letes, their parents, and school adminis-trators have the perception that all thedetails are being taken care of.

Instructional Skills: This is a multi-faceted task that requires learning thecomplexities of the game you coach,keeping abreast of new ideas within thegame, taking a look at new and differentteaching techniques, and perfecting yourmotivational skills. You need to continual-ly analyze whether your athletes are learn-ing the skills of the game in the mosteffective and efficient way possible.

Leadership: In general, being aleader means having self confidence,lofty yet attainable goals, good habits,

and a positive outlook. It also requiresmaking decisions that are best for every-one rather than just a few. Morethoughts on being a good leader:

■ Do whatever it takes to do thingsright.

■ Always strive to improve. ■ You need to give respect to get

respect. ■ Stress the positive and eliminate the

negative. ■ Be optimistic. ■ Understand the feelings of others. ■ Have emotional control in all situa-

tions. Being a leader also means being

open to a changing culture. You need torealize that players come to your pro-gram with different attitudes, goals, andobjectives than they did five or 10 yearsago. The ability to listen, to be under-standing and caring, and to change withthe times is imperative when dealingwith the young people of today.

I believe that rules must be made andexpectations spelled out, but each situa-tion that arises with a student-athleteneeds to be resolved on its own facts.One point to remember: Being compas-sionate doesn’t mean lowering yourexpectations of players. It means thelines of communication are open andyou are approachable.

Gametime Skills: As simple as itsounds, the key to success in competi-tion is planning. In sports, if anythinggood is going to happen, preparationmust come first. It’s amazing how“lucky” a team is when it is prepared.

A good coach will focus on skill andmental development during practices,then at gametime will let the athletesperform. This involves making sure yourteam isn’t surprised by anything theother team might do, which will allowyour athletes to play relaxed and to thebest of their ability.

And you should prepare yourself forthe game in the same way. In your mind,put each player in every possible game sit-uation and anticipate what you are goingto do—then you are mentally ready tomake the best decision because you’veanticipated that situation. Your ability tomake these quick decisions will be the dif-ference in the outcome of big games.

The most important role of thecoach on game day, though, is to be theleader. The coach reflects the team’sstate of mind and must remain under

control in both negative and positiveconditions.

A Role Model: Every day you mustmake difficult decisions. Many of thesedecisions can affect everyone on yourteam for years to come, so they need to bemade with the utmost professionalismand deliberation. Players might not figureout the importance of these decisionsuntil five or six years later, but that doesn’tmean you should stop teaching thelessons.

Communication Skills: Have you everthought about why we were given two earsand only one mouth? We need to use theears more than the mouth. As a coach,the ability to know when to talk and whento listen can be critical. It isn’t always easyto be a good listener, but it’s a skill thatneeds to be developed. Some valuablelessons to become an effective listener:

■ Give eye contact to the person whois talking.

■ Don’t interrupt. ■ Don’t change the subject. ■ Ask questions. ■ Be responsive verbally and nonver-

bally. People Skills: From public relations

to communication with parents to fund-raising activities, more and more ofcoaching involves interacting with peo-ple other than players. People skills canbe a very big asset when trying to incor-porate many different opportunitiesinto your program.

Having these skills is an importantpart of being seen as a leader. Thus, it isimportant to understand people, pos-sess program creativity, stand firm ontough decisions, and realize you need tocontinue to change and improve.

Getting There After thinking about your organiza-

tional, instructional, leadership, game-time, communication, and people skills,you’ll need to formulate goals and devel-op a plan for achieving them. To startthe process, sometimes it helps to getfeedback from others involved in theprogram. Ideally, your athletic directorwill be giving you an annual review, butyou can go further. Some coaches asktheir assistant or j.v. coaches and seniorathletes to fill out a questionnaire aboutthe head coach’s performance.

To formulate goals, have a gameplan. Be aggressive in your thinking andnever strive to stay the same, but don’t

Page 31: Coaching Management 11.7

try to take on too much at once. Just asyou wouldn’t ask a team to master a newbunt defense in one day of practice,don’t try to perfect all your people skillsin one season.

It often works well to have long-termgoals and short-term goals. For exam-ple, you may want to develop better

communication skills with parents.Because this is a leadership goal, it can-not happen overnight. Changing one’sstyle is a slower process than changingan organizational skill.

You might want to break down thatlong-term goal into smaller targets,such as:

■ Revamping your preseason parents’meeting to make it more effective.

■ Working harder on being a patientlistener to parents.

■ Taking the time to send an e-mail toall parents about the team once a week.

Other ways to achieve your goalsinclude learning about coaching andteaching techniques, becoming moreknowledgeable about your sport, anddeveloping yourself personally to bemore effective during practice andgames. It also helps to research whatother successful people have done.

Developing coaching goals is not asimple or easy process, but I believe it iscritical to staying motivated and givingour students the best experience possible.Before the next season starts, take thetime to think about how you define long-term success and analyze what you needto do to get there. Coaching is a time-con-suming endeavor, but its rewards arematched by few other professions. ■

Similar versions of this article have appearedin other editions of Coaching Management.

YOUR CAREER

■ Form a partnership with the athleticdirector.

■ Set up lines of communication withparents throughout the year.

■ Show compassion, patience, andunderstanding with players.

■ Provide leadership and motivationfor players.

■ Teach decision-making skills and thevalue of athletics.

■ Develop lines of communicationbetween teams at your school andsolicit other coaches’ input.

■ Be cooperative with other schoolsand their coaches.

■ Cooperate with groups related toathletic programs.

■ Be receptive to suggestions.

■ Exhibit enthusiasm about coaching.

C O M M U N I C AT I O N B A S I C SAmong all our duties as coaches, our communication skills are often the mostimportant. The following is my checklist for communicating well as a coach:

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Page 33: Coaching Management 11.7

“When you’re breathing deeply, youare focused—it’s a physiological fact,”says Dr. Jeffrey Migdow, holistic medi-cine practitioner at the Kripalu Centerfor Yoga and Health, in Lenox, Mass.

Breathing techniques can also helppressured athletes remain focused byenabling them to create a psychologicalrefuge. “Athletes need to be able to gofrom a pressure-filled situation to a quietplace and breathe,” says Alan Jaeger,founder of Jaeger Sports Academy in

Woodland Hills, Calif., and author ofGetting Focused, Staying Focused.

“For example, a softball pitcher canbenefit from taking a deep breath aftereach pitch, which cleans the slate, relax-es the body and mind, and puts her intoa focused state,” continues Jaeger. “For ahitter, breathing before getting into thebox allows her to release the pressure,ignore the distractions around her, andtune into the constant of her breath. Itreminds her to focus on hitting the ball

hard instead of all the consequences cre-ated by distracted thoughts.”

Optimal OxygenationYou’d think that proper breathing

techniques would come naturally toeveryone. After all, breathing is some-thing that we do as soon as we are born.Yet, in many cases, even top athletes donot breathe efficiently. And when ath-letes fail to breathe efficiently, their bloodis not fully oxygenated, which means theycan’t reach their full energy potential.

“People just take breathing for grant-ed and don’t realize they’re not using all

COACHING MANAGEMENT 31

COMPETITIVE EDGE

Jim Catalano is a former Associate Editor atCoaching Management.

BY JIM CATALANO

JAM

IE S

AB

AU

STOP, FOCUS,BREATHESTOP, FOCUS,BREATHE

OFTBALL IS A GAME THAT DEPENDS ON FOCUS. Whether it’s abatter coming to the plate in a clutch situation or a pitcher trying towork her way out of a jam while protecting a one-run lead, the abilityto concentrate on the task at hand is key to a positive outcome. Andone important factor in maintaining that focus is breathing properly.

Most batters take a deep breath before stepping to the plate.But are they breathing properly? How can proper breathingtechnique enhance their performance?

S

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COMPETITIVE EDGE

32 COACHING MANAGEMENT

their lung capacity,” says Migdow. “Asbabies, we breathe naturally and proper-ly from the diaphragm. But as we growolder, our culture induces stress, whichcauses us to tighten our diaphragms andrib cage muscles. We hold our breath alot more and breathe shallowly.”

Experts such as Migdow, who co-authored the book Breathe In, Breathe Out,contend that shallow breathing causesabout a third of the lungs to go unused.“The result is more carbon dioxidebuilds up in the system, which can make

the blood more acidic and cause stressand muscle tension.”

Ronni Diamond, a kripalu yoga inst-ructor and founder of Whole in OneYoga for Golfers, in Media, Pa., agrees.“Because athletes are not getting fully oxy-genated, they have all this stale air at theunused base of the lungs, and they can’treally utilize all the energy that’s availableto them,” she says. “So part of the chal-lenge is getting rid of stale air so you canget a nice lungful, and then use that ener-gy and direct it the way you want to.”

Migdow and Diamond are among agrowing number of experts who advo-cate that athletes strive for properbreathing techniques with the samededication that they work on weight

training. They say that the first steptoward achieving proper breathingtechnique in a sport is to understandthe problem of shallow breathing.

“Shallow breathing also occurs whenthe diaphragm becomes locked if you’restressed and have any kind of performanceanxiety,” Diamond says. “When peopleare anxious, they take a breath and holdit. Then everything breaks down becausethe body is looking for the oxygen.”

Another factor contributing to shal-low breathing is posture. “Most sports

put athletes in a bent-forward posturewith severe flexion,” Migdow says.“What flexion does is restrict the depthand ease of the breath. Posture is indis-pensable to optimal breathing, so any-thing that you’re doing to compromisethat posture of standing straight up alsocompromises the ease of the volume ofthe breath.”

Getting a LungfulMany of the breathing techniques

being adopted by competitive athletesare based on Eastern practices such asyoga and tai chi, and they can be easilylearned on their own with just a littleguidance and consistent practice. “I rec-ommend consistently dedicating 15 to

20 minutes a day to being quiet and justbreathing,” says Jaeger. “There are sim-ple exercises you can start with. Here’sone example where you count witheach breath: when you inhale the firsttime, count to ‘one’; when you exhale,count to ‘two’; then count up to 10,twice. That might take two or three min-utes to do, but if you can go all the wayto 10 without losing concentration,you’ll see the mental connection, andgain discipline and the ability to focus.”

When doing the breathing exercises,Jaeger notes athletes should feel theirbreath has an evenness and balance to itand that it is coming from the stomachor diaphragm region as opposed to thechest. “It shouldn’t be stressed, tense,short, or choppy,” he says. “Rather, itshould be relatively calm and fluid,almost deliberate—unless they’re run-ning. A way to check that would be tostop and be quiet for 30 seconds. If theyare breathing correctly, they will noticethat their breath has an even flow, andis pretty slow and calm.”

Michael Grant White, a breathingdevelopment specialist in Waynesville,N.C., recommends a similar exercise forboosting athletes’ performance andfocus. It is the “squeeze and breathe”technique, which is also useful for alle-viating panic, excess energy, stress, ner-vousness, and trauma.

“Sit on a chair, and put a pillow inthe low back area. That creates a ful-crum allowing the rib cage to rise,” heexplains. “If the rib cage can rise, thediaphragm can rise. Then, stick yourthumbs into your kidney areas and wrapyour hands around toward the belly but-ton. That brings an awareness to thearea while you deep breathe.

“The squeeze and breathe is proba-bly the most generic and beneficialexercise across the board, but it has to bedone with proper posture,” continuesWhite. “Position yourself correctly on thechair, or if you’re standing, do so with anarch to the back, like a swan dive.”

Learning to access all of the air inthe lungs will also, over time, increasethe volume of the breath. “A good dealof volume is in your back above the kid-neys and below the scapula,” White says.“A simple exercise for developing theback breath is sitting in a chair, widen-ing the legs, and bending forward untilyou are hanging limp like a rag doll.

Before teaching your athletes howto improve their breathing tech-niques, it’s important to assessthe current state of their breath-ing. This assessment establishes abaseline, which they’ll be able to

use to note improvements from subse-quent practice of breathing techniques.

Alan Jaeger, founder of Jaeger SportsAcademy in Woodland Hills, Calif., andauthor of Getting Focused, StayingFocused, suggests that athletes start theirassessment by being quiet for a minutewhile paying attention to their breath.“Sixty seconds would be more of a men-tal test to see if they can do it,” he says.“Then they should try being quiet for fiveminutes just to follow their inhaling andexhaling. If you make it a challenge,which athletes like, then what will happenin those five minutes is that they’ll start

G E T T I N G S TA R T E D

realizing there’s a wonder to their breath.That’s usually when they need moreinformation or guidance, but that fiveminutes will turn on a light for them.”

Michael Grant White, a breathing devel-opment specialist in Waynesville, N.C.,recommends one basic volume assess-ment that involves a number count:“Stand up, take as big a deep breath asyou can, then count aloud quietly, quickly,cleanly, and clearly up to as high a numberas you can get to on one exhale. Don’tmiss any numbers. Count them fully,don’t slow down, maintain the speed. Ifyou miss any, start over. You’ll find your-self pushing the breath out to where youhave absolutely nothing left. If you getto 100, start over. Try to replicate it, sowhen you do it again, you know you’vemade some progress.”

White has posted some simple breathing assessment tests on his Web site atwww.breathing.com/tests.htm. He also has illustrated examples of otherbreathing techniques at www.breathing.com/tips-sports.htm.

Continued on page 35

Page 35: Coaching Management 11.7

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Page 37: Coaching Management 11.7

COACHING MANAGEMENT 35

Then breathe into the low back 20 or 30times. You should notice a differencewhen you get up, a fuller feeling withmore space. If you don’t, you’re tootight, and you need to stretch more.”

Like White, Diamond has some spe-cific recommendations for increasingbreath volume. The first is called thecleansing breath. “Inhale deeplythrough the nose, and when you exhale,do so with a sigh. The sound that comesout should be like making fog on a mir-ror—don’t tighten the throat muscles,”she explains. “When you expel throughthe mouth, you’re expelling a lot moreoxygen than you can just through thenose. So you breathe in with long, slowinhalation, and then exhale to cleanse.”

Another way to practice increasingbreath volume is by doing the three-part breath, which should be practicedlying down at first. “It’s easier becauseit’s the way your belly moves whenyou’re sleeping,” Diamond says. “Inhaleso the belly expands like a balloon; then

exhale so the belly contracts toward thespine. You want to squeeze the breathout to increase the length of your exha-lation. Start at belly expanding and asyou get more relaxed you’ll notice thatthe breath will rise from the belly intothe mid chest, then into the upperchest. Then you’re really filling yourlungs from the base to the top.”

Practice Makes PerfectOnce an athlete understands breath-

ing techniques, breathing experts stressthe importance of practicing them wellbefore they’re applied in a competitivesituation. “You can’t do it once thegame is there,” Migdow says. “That’swhy it’s called breathing practice. Youdo it aside from your everyday life, sowhen you need it, you’ll remember tobreathe right automatically. Otherwise,you won’t remember to do it, much lessknow how to do it, under pressure.”

“If you don’t do any training, andyou don’t have the breathing alreadycircuited, grooved, or flowing, when

you’re in a pressure situation, you can’texpect to take a deep breath and get toan ideal place,” Jaeger says. “That idealplace has to be created already, and youhave to be able to maintain thatthrough the performance—if a situa-tion gets pressure filled, you’re able torecall your breathing to react to what’shappening. But don’t expect yourbreath to come out of your belly calmlyand smoothly if you haven’t done yourbreathing exercises.”

Being able to draw on the power ofthe breath can give any athlete an edge.“Your breath is so powerful,” Jaegersays. “It gives you something you canapply to almost any situation. It’s likeputting money into the bank so you canmake a withdrawal later. But you haveto invest beforehand and do the workprior to competition.” ■

A version of this article previously appearedin our sister publications, Coaching Man-agement-Baseball and Training & Con-ditioning.

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Page 38: Coaching Management 11.7

Softball Facilities

BEACON BALLFIELDS(800) 747-5985, www.ballfields.com

The Beacon Softball Pitcher’s Screen isconstructed with a frame made fromgalvanized 1 5/8" diameter steel tubing.

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Circle No. 45 on Reader Inquiry Card

DIAMOND PRO(800) 228-2987,www.diamondpro.com

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Circle No. 46 on Reader Inquiry Card

M.A.S.A., INC.(800) 264-4519, www.MASA.com

Poly Cap® from M.A.S.A. has beendesigned with both the players and thefans in mind. When applied to the topof chain-link fences, Poly Cap covers the

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Circle No. 47 on Reader Inquiry Card

PARTAC/BEAM CLAY®(800) 247-BEAM, www.beamclay.com

Partac/Beam Clay® makes mixes forinfields, pitcher’s mounds, home plateareas, and red warning tracks that areused by more than 100 professionalteams (including eight of the last 10

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Circle No. 48 on Reader Inquiry Card

PROMATS(970) 484-2500, www.promats.com

Promats, the leader in stadium fieldwall padding with more than 350 majorinstallations worldwide, introduces a

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Promats, Inc. has supplied protectivepadding for teams or stadiums withaffiliations in Major League Baseball,Minor League Baseball, NationalBasketball Association, National

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PRO’S CHOICE(800) 648-1166, www.oildri.com

Pro Mound® packing clay, from Pro’sChoice®, is the choice of professionalteams, universities, municipalities, and

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For premium performance and a colorthat will set your field apart, choose theSoilmaster Select Series from Pro'sChoice. Scientifically engineered to

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tinct colors (red, green, brown, andcharcoal), the uniform granules inSoilmaster Select manage moisture andalleviate compaction to keep your fieldin top playing condition. Pro's Choicedelivers a full line of sportsfield prod-ucts for conditioning soil and infieldmix, topdressing infields, quickly dryingpuddles, and revitalizing turf.

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SIGNATURE FENCING SYSTEMS(800) 569-2751, www.signaturefencing.com

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Circle No. 53 on Reader Inquiry Card

36 COACHING MANAGEMENT

Page 39: Coaching Management 11.7

Softball Facilities

COACHING MANAGEMENT 37

Signature Fencing’s EventDeckPortable Flooring is a rollable tempo-rary flooring and pathway system,

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WEATHERBEATER® BY COLORADOLINING INTERNATIONAL

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Sometimes getting muddy is what it is allabout, and the only cover needed is oneto mark the sideline and coach’s box.Colorado Lining International has just

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VANTAGE PRODUCTSINTERNATIONAL

(800) 244-4457, www.vpisports.com VPI now offers the Big BubbaProfessional Portable Batting Cage. TheBig Bubba is the premium choice for

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heavy-duty aluminum construction, easyportability and collapsible design makeit the perfect backstop for any level. It is18’ W x 22’ D x 12’ H and collapses toonly 5’ high to limit storage spacerequirements. Sixteen-inch pneumaticwheels make relocation simple. Forty-two feet of ricochet cushion minimizesball rebound. Use the coaches’ observa-tion bar for safe elevated viewing.

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FinchWindmill.com (714) 523-5659

visit: www.jenniefinch27.com

W 5 time ASA Nat’l Softball ChampionW Perfect 32-0 Season - NCAA RecordW 60-0 Consecutive Wins - NCAA RecordW 2 time NCAA Nat’l Player of the YearW Espy Award NomineeW 2002 & 2003 member USA World TeamW 2003 Pan Am Gold MedalistW 2004 USA Olympic Team member

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Circle No. 33Circle No. 34

Page 40: Coaching Management 11.7

Hitting & Pitching

ATEC(800) 998-2832,www.atecsports.com

The Hitting Streak® is the ideal train-ing tool for every level of performance.It delivers risers and drops up to 55

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Circle No. 58 on Reader Inquiry Card

FINCH WINDMILL(714) 523-5659, www.finchwindmill.com

Jennie Finch’s father, Doug, who is apitching/hitting instructor, inventedthis training device when she was 10

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motion, left & right side. An indepen-dent eight-week study resulted in anaverage increase of 3.25 MPH. All ages,young and old, from Little League toNational Champions, have reaped therewards.

Circle No. 59 on Reader Inquiry Card

FUNTASTIC SPORTS(877) 375-0315, www.funtasticsports.com

The Rotor Twin, from Funtastic Sports,is a swing trainer/hitting station thatplayers enjoy using because it provides

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spins like a top. Poor swing or contact

produces an erratic spin. Use it indoorsor outdoors, and take it anywhere. Theheight is adjustable. It’s durable, safe,and affordable. Find out why manycoaches agree that it’s the best swingtrainer they have used.

Circle No. 60 on Reader Inquiry Card

MUHL TECH(888) 766-8772, www.muhltech.com

The Advanced Skills Tee, from MuhlTech, is quickly being recognized as themost versatile teaching tee available.Molded of durable polyurethane, the

forward armand outside bar-rier enforces atight compactswing, eliminat-ing “dipping”and “casting”.The uniquebrush cup ballholder (replace-able) has been

proven to last two or more years underheavy use by high schools and colleges,making the AST their choice as aneveryday tee.

Circle No. 61 on Reader Inquiry Card

“The Muhl Kicker was a great teachingtool for our national championshipteam, Central Missouri State (NCAADiv. II), this past season. The instantfeedback for our kids in regards to

‘good swing/badswing’ enabledthem to teachthemselvesproper swingmechanics. Acommon goal ofall coaches is fortheir hitters to

become their own best hitting coach,and the Muhl Kicker allows players todo just that. I strongly recommend thisteaching tool for all ages, as my 10-year-old son, and the Kansas StateUniversity baseball team will definitelybe using this product.”—Brad Hill, newhead coach at Kansas State University

Circle No. 62 on Reader Inquiry Card

QHI SPORTS(888) 784-5448, www.qhisports.com

Hit like a pro. The Quick-T automatedbatting tee, from QHI Sports, will bet-ter develop the “muscle memory” socritical in the development of a bat-ter’s proper hitting techniques. Theconsistency of the automatic ball-feed-ing system will enable the player to

38 COACHING MANAGEMENT

Mr. John Sidlowski,

“All four Nevco LED’s are nowinstalled at our Davis Field and went intooperation last weekend for league play. Ayouth league representative reported thismorning that all the boards/remotes workgreat and the coaches, spectators, and par-ticipants love them.

“I want to thank you John for all yourhelp from start to finish regarding place-ment and delivery of the order. Never haveI received better service from a sales repre-sentative or an organization in my overtwenty years of purchasing.

“Thank you John! Please extend mythanks also to Debbie at Nevco for herassistance too throughout the process!”

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“Just dropping a line to let you knowhow pleased I was to speak to Bruce inyour Service Department. I would like youto know how helpful and knowledgeablehe was. In these days of automation, pushthree to get someone that doesn’t knowanything or push four and someone willtransfer you back to three because theyknow even less. It’s a positive for yourbusiness to get someone like him on theline.”

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Nevco Scoreboard Company301 E. Harris Ave.

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Page 41: Coaching Management 11.7

Hitting & Pitching

enjoy a morefocused practicesession by main-taining his orher battingstance, concen-tration, andrhythm. Eachball feeds on

demand as the previous ball is hit offthe tee with the 12-volt battery systemsupporting more than 3,000 hits beforeneeding recharging. At a light 25pounds, the Quick-T is very portable,yet stable enough to handle thetoughest of practice drills. Maximizeyour practice time while improvingyour hitting technique.

Circle No. 63 on Reader Inquiry Card

SWIFT STIK(877) 845-STIK, www.swiftstik.net

Swift Stik is the fastest way to improveyour swing. This simple-to-use light-

weight training bat is great for softballand baseball, and gives you hundredsof extra swings per day. You get results

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Circle No. 64 on Reader Inquiry Card

ZINGBAT(866) Zingbat (946-4228),www.zingbat.com

Zingbat™ has recently introduced the

new “16 oz.” one-hand isolation train-er. The batter can now practice leadarm and top hand drills to isolate prop-er arm path and hand action. Witheach swing, the isolation trainer forces

the arm totake the cor-rect path keep-ing the handinside the ball.The wrist mustsnap the barrelat the correctinstant, or thepatentedZingbat™

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Circle No. 65 on Reader Inquiry Card

COACHING MANAGEMENT 39

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Page 42: Coaching Management 11.7

40 COACHING MANAGEMENT

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79. . . . Power Systems (Hitting Cordz). . . . . . 43

80. . . . Power Systems (Power Throw Balls). . . 43

101 . . . . PowerLung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

92. . . . Pro Look Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

91. . . . Pro Look Sports (uniforms) . . . . . . . . 45

51. . . . Pro’s Choice (Pro Mound) . . . . . . . . . 36

52. . . . Pro’s Choice (Soilmaster Select) . . . . . 36

50. . . . Promats (protective padding) . . . . . . . 36

49. . . . Promats (SKYDEX) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

63. . . . QHI Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

81. . . . Ringor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

82. . . . Schutt Sports (Batter’s Helmet). . . . . . 44

83. . . . Schutt Sports (Stacey Newman Series) . 44

54. . . . Signature Fencing (EventDeck) . . . . . 37

53. . . . Signature Fencing (SportPanel) . . . . . 36

64. . . . Swift Stik (PIK Products). . . . . . . . . . . 39

84. . . . Swing Speed Radar . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

85. . . . Talent Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

56. . . . Vantage Products Int’l. . . . . . . . . . 37

55. . . . WeatherBeater (Colorado Lining) . . . . 37

65. . . . Zingbat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Dual Action Knee StrapDual Action Knee StrapStrengthens and tightens kneecapmechanism byapplying pressureupon the tendonabove and belowthe kneecap andlessens the devel-opment of iliotibialband and overusesyndromes.Sizes: Sm - XL

(Now Patented)

Achilles Tendon StrapAchilles Tendon StrapThis patenteddevice will reducestress upon theAchilles Tendonand provide effec-tive relief frompain and discom-fort associatedwith AchillesTendonitis.Sizes: S, M, L

I.T.B. StrapI.T.B. StrapApplies compres-sion at the area ofdiscomfort, usual-ly above the kneejoint or upperthigh, to preventthe snapping orfriction of the iliotibial band.

NEW

Sizes: XS - XL

Cho-Pat® Knee StrapCho-Pat® Knee StrapCho-Pat’s OriginalKnee Strap isdesigned to allevi-ate certain kneediscomforts due tooveruse syndromes,arthritis, and otherforms of degenera-tion. Nearly twomillion sold!Sizes: XS - XXL

Call 800-221-1601 (toll free) or 609-261-1336 or

visit www.cho-pat.com to learnmore about Cho-Pat’s innovative

sports/medicine devices.

Cho-Pat®

PRODUCTS FOR ACTIVE LIFESTYLES

All Products Made in the U.S.A.

Circle No. 28

10 . . . . Adams USA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

26 . . . . Akadema Fastpitch . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

12 . . . . ATEC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

6 . . . . Beacon Ballfields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

14 . . . . ChartMine (Competitive Edge) . . . . . . 17

28 . . . . Cho-Pat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

19 . . . . Diamond Pro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

20 . . . . Dynamic Team Sports . . . . . . . . . . 27

4 . . . . Easton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

36 . . . . eFundraising.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

34 . . . . FinchWindmill.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

37 . . . . Gameface Products Group . . . . . . 47

2 . . . . Gatorade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

8 . . . . Gebauer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

5 . . . . Glove Radar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

32 . . . . Jump Stretch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

11 . . . . Kid’s Choice Cookie Dough. . . . . . 15

39 . . . . Louisville Slugger . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC

13 . . . . M.A.S.A. Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

1 . . . . Miken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC

40 . . . . Mizuno . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC

24 . . . . Moyer Sports U.S.A. . . . . . . . . . . . 35

25 . . . . Muhl Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

23 . . . . NFCA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

35 . . . . Partac/Beam Clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

33 . . . . PowerLung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

3 . . . . Pro Look Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5

21 . . . . Pro’s Choice Field Products. . . . . . 29

9 . . . . Promats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

16 . . . . QHI Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

29 . . . . Ringor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

30 . . . . Rotor Twin (Funtastic Sports) . . . . . . . 42

22 . . . . Schutt Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

7 . . . . Signature Fencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

31 . . . . Swift Stik (PIK Products). . . . . . . . . . . 42

17 . . . . Vantage Products Int’l. . . . . . . . . . 21

27 . . . . WeatherBeater (Colorado Lining) . . . . 39

15 . . . . ZingBat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

For Quicker Response, Request InformationFrom Advertisers On-Line at

MomentumMedia.com

Page 43: Coaching Management 11.7

Team Equipment

41 COACHING MANAGEMENT

ADAMS USA(800) 251-6857,www.adamsusa.com

The 47000 and 48000 TraceSoftball/Baseball Knee Guards, fromAdams USA, offer high-quality protec-

tion and exceptionallylong wear. The kneeguards feature an openback to reduce bulki-ness and built-in wingsfor optimum knee pro-tection. They also havea patented side "key-hole" design for superi-or flexibility. They areavailable in long andshort styles and come in

the following sizes: Adult – XS, S, M, L,XL, 2XL. Available colors: gold, tanger-ine, scarlet, royal blue, green, maroon,navy blue, purple, black, and white.

Circle No. 67 on Reader Inquiry Card

ADAMS USA also offers BH65 andBH65-OS Batting Helmets. These mod-els feature advanced fit enhancing

cloth cov-ered foamliners. TheOS (OneSize) stylehas a pony-tail channel.The under-side of thebill is tex-

tured to reduce glare and the oval earhole reduces risk of ear implosion. Thehelmets also have permanently drilledholes for facemask, snap post for chinstrap hook-up, and five-point ventila-tion. They are recommended for allyouth leagues. BH65 Sizes: XS, S, M, L,XL, 2XL; BH65-OS – One Size Fits All.Available colors: gold, scarlet, royal

blue, dark green, maroon, navy blue,purple, black, and teal.

Circle No. 68 on Reader Inquiry Card

AKADEMA(973) 772-7669,www.akademapro.com

Akadema’s patented FastpitchReptilian glove has been one of thisyear’s hottest selling gloves in the

Fastpitchindustry.TheFastpitchReptilianwas

unveiled at last year’s NFCA conven-tion. “We were pleased by the conven-tion attendees’ reaction,” commentsDave Winder, Vice President ofAkadema. The glove features small fin-gers and a natural air pocket that helpsinfielders scoop grounders. USA StarsJulie Smith and Crystl Bustos endorseAkadema. Akadema also sponsors col-lege Fastpitch teams includingWinthrop University.

Circle No. 69 on Reader Inquiry Card

EASTON SPORTS, INC.(818) 782-6445,

www.eastonsports.comThe world’s best performing compositesoftball bat, the Easton Synergy™ fea-tures patent pending IMX™ Integrated

MatriX technology, which optimizes therelationship between materials, design,and the manufacturing process to cre-ate a durability and consistency that noother composite bat can match.Composed of high-strength, light-weight, maximum-elongation aerospacegrade fibers and dynamic performanceresins, the Synergy bat is created using

high-temperature, high-pressure inter-nal molding which locks and bonds thematerials together for maximumstrength, performance and consistency.

Circle No. 70 on Reader Inquiry Card

Featuring Skinz™ moisture manage-ment technology with Bio-Dri™ fabricsto wick away moisture, the half-mock

T, from Easton,also includes 4-way compres-sion, long sleevetwo tone perfor-mance construc-tion and the ulti-mate in comfortand compressionfor maximum

performance. Available in youth andadults sizes and comes in black, navy,red and royal.

Circle No. 71 on Reader Inquiry Card

GAMEFACE(800) GameFace (426-3322),www.gameface.com

The Sports Safety mask, fromGameFace, is an ultra-light (4.7 oz.)facial protector with a unique design

that providessuperior strengthand ventilationwith visibility. Itspolycarbonatematerial with-stands high-veloci-ty impacts and

reduces the risk of injury. The maskfeatures high-impact adjustable foampads that enhance comfort and pro-vide protection for players with glasses,braces, or previous injuries. It isapproved by ASA, NSA, and ISA, and isavailable in both clear and white. Themask can be used for softball, baseball,

www.ringor.com

800-746-4670Add the power of Ringor to your rotation Est. 1983

GROUND BREAKING POWER

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Page 44: Coaching Management 11.7

Team Equipment

girl’s lacrosse, in-line hockey, rollerhockey, floor hockey, field hockey, soc-cer, and cricket.

Circle No. 72 on Reader Inquiry Card

JUMP STRETCH, INC.(800) 344-3539,www.jumpstretch.com

Jump Stretch, Inc., offers six sizes ofheavy-duty continuous-loop rubber-bands (Flex Bands®) for strength train-

ing, flexibili-ty work,rehab, andeven power-lifting. Bycombiningthe bands

with the company’s customized pipearrangements (for resistedwalking/running and weighted abdom-inal exercises) and patented tubularsteel bases (for squats and squatthrusts), Jump Stretch can help youmake the most of any available spacein your workout area.

Circle No. 73 on Reader Inquiry Card

LOUISVILLE SLUGGER(502) 588-7350, www.slugger.com

The TPS XXL (model FP004) features aDouble Wall design with GEN1X withScandium alloy inner and outer shell. It

has a balanced swing weight. TheGEN1X with Scandium combines theultra strong GEN1X with Scandium, thebest alloy-strengthening additive avail-able for aluminum bat development.The result is an alloy with unprece-dented levels of strength and tough-ness. It is available in three lengths:31”, 32”, and 34”. It weighs 9 oz.

Circle No. 74 on Reader Inquiry Card

The TPS Bionic catcher’s mitt (modelFP204S), also from Louisville Slugger, is

aFastpitchcatcher’smitt witha doublepostopen

web, closed back with Velcro strap andpatented Bionic technology. TheLouisville Slugger line of Bioniccatcher’s mitts has orthopedically con-figured pads located in the interiorportion of the glove. Placement of thepads behind the existing pad in theglove allows for an additional layer tohelp absorb more of the ball’s force.

Circle No. 75 on Reader Inquiry Card

MIKEN(877) 807-5291,www.mikensports.com

The M-Pulse, technically a simple con-cept: “The more the bat flexes—theless the ball has to.” With this thought

in mind, Miken has created a fastpitchbat with maximum performance and amaximum sweetspot. The M-Pulse,“the successor to the Intensit-E,” uti-lizes a Carbon X Shell to provideextreme durability while maintainingits trampoline effect. Advanced tech-nology increases the batter’s consisten-

42 COACHING MANAGEMENT

Serious About Hitting?

Includes Free Video: Fundamentals of Hitting“My softball team began using the Rotor Twin as soonas I purchased it at the coaches clinic. The girls loveit! It has given them many, many more quality repsthan a regular batting tee.” Brett Burroughs, HighSchool Softball Coach, Whiteville, North Carolina.

Toll-free 877-375-0315www.funtasticsports.com

Satisfaction Guaranteed!

♦ Instant feedback on every swing♦ Realistic hitting sensation♦ Use indoors or outdoors♦ Height easily adjustable♦ Lightweight and portable♦ Durable and safe♦ Only $129

Softball’s best swing trainer!

Circle No. 30 Circle No. 31

Page 45: Coaching Management 11.7

Team Equipment

cy, distance and power. M-Pulse… thedriving force you’re looking for in yourfast pitch game.

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MIZUNO USA(800) 966-1234,www.mizunousa.com

Innovative composite technology com-bines Fiber Reinforced Plastic and C405Aluminum for outstanding feel, superi-

or durability, and unsurpassed perfor-mance. This bat provides explosivepower for players of all abilities. A newcushioned grip has also been added forbetter feel and comfort. It comes in33”/24 oz., 32”/23 oz., and 31”/22 oz.sizes.

Circle No. 77 on Reader Inquiry Card

The Jennie Finch Signature Series offastpitch gloves, bats, batting gloves,and cleats are designed specifically forthe female fastpitch athlete. Each newMizuno Fastpitch glove was designedwith input from the three-time All-

Americanherself andfeaturesMizuno’sexclusiveSure Fit™Foam for

outstanding fit and comfort and aParaShock palm pad that adds protec-tion and greater shock absorption.

Circle No. 78 on Reader Inquiry Card

POWER SYSTEMS, INC.(800) 321-6975, www.power-systems.com

Hitting Cordz will bring progressiveresistance trainingto your swingmotion. Increasedresistance pro-motes greaterpower, whichresults in superiordistance whenstriking the ball. Itis great forincreasingstrength in the

shoulder, arms, and hands. This uniqueproduct from Power Systems, Inc. isreversible to provide resistance against,or assistance through the swing move-ment. Designed to be used with bats,rackets, and golf clubs, it is made ofsturdy nylon and strong rubber tubing.The padded shoulder strap can adjustfrom 42” long for smaller athletes to63” for larger athletes.

Circle No. 79 on Reader Inquiry Card

Power Throw Balls from PowerSystems are durable, small weightedballs that are great for developing

dynamicstrength inthe throw-ingmotion.Availablein threesizes (7 oz.,14 oz., and

21 oz.) they can also be used for upperbody rehabilitation exercises. As yourexercise program progresses, graduallyincrease the weight of the ball. It is

COACHING MANAGEMENT 43

What can you really DOwith giant rubber bands?!What can you really DO

with giant rubber bands?!Run Faster Jump Higher Play Lower

Reduce Injuries Add Resistance to Machine Lifts

Improve Endurance Increase Flexibility

The Best-Kept Secret in Pro SportsUsed by the Patriots, Cowboys, Yankees, Indians, Red Sox,

Mariners, Hornets, Heat and many more!

Flex Bands have been improving athletic performance since 1980.

Jump Stretch, Inc.1230 N. Meridian Rd. Youngstown, OH 44509www.jumpstretch.com 1-800-344-3539 Fax: 1-330-793-8719

Stay Ahead of Your Competitionwith Flex Bands!

Stay Ahead of Your Competitionwith Flex Bands!

The Best-Kept Secret in Pro Sports

Circle No. 32

Page 46: Coaching Management 11.7

Team Equipment

offered in baseball and softball sizes(standard baseball and softball size is 5oz.). It is made of a rugged vinyl shellwith filling. Power Throw Balls arecolor coded by weight and an instruc-tional manual and video are also avail-able.

Circle No. 80 on Reader Inquiry Card

RINGOR(800) 746-4670, www.ringor.com

The Play Maker Cleat with Pro-Tec-Toe™ now comes in seven colors withprotective toes on both shoes. In addi-tion to matching the color of the shoe,

the Pro-Tec-Toe™is madeof highdensity,light-weightrubber

that flexes with the player’s foot. Theprotective toe is installed during theconstruction of the shoe, which createsa strong and durable bond, maximiz-ing protection. This protection is idealfor pitchers, catchers, and players whotend to wear the toe of the shoe. ThePro-Tec-Toe by Ringor gives players thesame great comfort and performancein a shoe with added protectionagainst wear.

Circle No. 81 on Reader Inquiry Card

SCHUTT SPORTS(866) 4SCHUTT,www.schuttsports.com

Schutt Sports’ 2800 Elite Batter’sHelmet for high school, collegiate, andprofessional play offers quality with a

two-year war-ranty. It com-bines elementsof Schutt’sFootballHelmet Systemto provide for

the ultimate in comfort and fit.Available in an unlimited number ofPro Gloss® paint finishes, includingGold and Silver Metallic Flake and newKandy™ finishes. The helmet is alsoavailable with custom bill and shellpainting.

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UCLA’s Stacey Nuveman, hailed as thegreatest slugger in College Women’sFastpitch Softball history, is debutingan exclusive catcher’s gear line withSchutt Sports. The Stacey NuvemanSignature Series will include Schutt’snew Model #2963 Hockey-Style

Catcher’s Helmet,Comfort Lite™Chest Protectors,and Leg Guards.In addition tothe line,

Newman will represent Schutt Sports insoftball clinics and camps, specializingin hitting instruction and catcher’straining. She will also make publicappearances and speaking engage-ments for the company. Nuvemanended her college career in this year’sNCAA Women’s College World Seriesin Oklahoma City, Okla., where she hither 90th career home run, all-time topsin the women’s game.

Circle No. 83 on Reader Inquiry Card

SWING SPEED RADAR™(800) 589-3805,www.swingspeedradar.com

The new Swing Speed Radar™, fromSports Sensors, Inc., is a small, inexpen-sive microwave Doppler radar velocitysensor that measures the swing speed

of baseball andsoftball players.The Swing SpeedRadar aids base-ball and softballplayers in develop-ing their optimumbat speed for dis-tance, quickness,and bat control

for consistent ball contact. The SwingSpeed Radar provides real time velocityfeedback that assists players, coaches,or instructors in measuring perfor-mance improvement and in trouble-shooting swing mechanics. Also worksgreat for golfers.

Circle No. 84 on Reader Inquiry Card

TALENT SPORT(405) 360-5733, www.talentsportinc.com

Talent Sport offers WORTH ALLSPORTAll-Weather Xtra-Dri® POWER SHIRTS.The long sleeve, mock turtle neck mois-

ture man-agementfabric trans-fers allmoistureaway fromthe bodypreservingenergy for

better performance. The Xtra-DriPower Shirts are available in style:W1515.

Circle No. 85 on Reader Inquiry Card

When Easton athlete Sheila Doutysustained a C4/5 and C5/6 disc her-niation, she continued to play—injured—securing an Olympic goldmedal with a game winning homerun against China in 1996.

In 2001 Sheila discovered Total Gymat the ARCO Olympic TrainingCenter in California. She saw alltypes of athletes training on TotalGym for a variety of reasons, andvery creatively.

“I immediately liked the machine. Itallows for back stabilization, necksafety and core strength building.Plus, its exercise positions eliminatethe possibility of excessive stress onthe body. My neck injury worsenedwhen I started to lift weights, but Iexperienced great results when Istarted to rehab on Total Gym.”

Sheila Douty, PTTwo-time Olympic Gold Medalist

Softball for 1996, 2002Four-time World Champion

Four-time Pan American Gold Medalist

Sheila collected another Olympicgold in 2002 and now uses TotalGym at home for continued rehaband strength training without fear ofrecurring injury.

efi Sports Medicine7755 Arjons Drive

San Diego, CA 92126-4366 800.541.4900

www.efisportsmedicine.com

CUSTOMERTESTIMONIAL

CUSTOMERTESTIMONIAL�

44 COACHING MANAGEMENT

Page 47: Coaching Management 11.7

Uniforms & ApparelDYNAMIC TEAM SPORTS

(800) 437-6223, www.dynamicteamsports.com

Dynamic’s Elite Series is a revolutionaryline of custom uniforms, sure to make

your team stand above thecompetition. And getthis—all the artwork, logos,and numbers are sublimat-ed into the garments’ light-weight, breathable fabric.This eliminates the heavy,sticky silkscreen that couldpeel, crack, or fade. Youpick the colors for yourown unique look.

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Dynamic Team Sports’ Shasta jersey isexploding with popularity. The Shasta is

made of our 75 percentpolyester 25 percent cot-ton Aerofibre, featuring atwo-button placket andstriped sides. The Shasta isoffered in 10 colors and isavailable in youth largethrough adult XXL. CallDynamic Team Sports for afull product catalog.

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MOYER SPORTS USA(800) 255-5299, ext. 3, www.moyersports.com

Moyer Sports USA offers a complete lineof custom uniforms in 100-percent MicroweavePolyester Dyna-Dry orPolyester Dazzle.Sublimation printing allowsyou to choose any color com-bination, guaranteed tonever peel or crack and isnever discontinued. Many

colorful designs are available. Circle No. 89 on Reader Inquiry Card

Moyer Sports also offers a full line of stockand custom jackets, warm-ups, bags, and

visors. Custom tack-le-twill and swissembroidery servicesare availablethrough Moyer’sstate-of-the-art let-tering facility.

Circle No. 90 onReader Inquiry Card

PRO LOOK SPORTS (800) PRO-LOOK, www.prolooksports.com

“Just wanted to let you know that we

received our uniforms today. They lookfantastic. Thanks for every-thing. The kids are extreme-ly excited. I will be in touchregarding my summerteam.”-Keith Williams, HeadCoach, Rutgers-Camden. Ifyou want to feel the sameway about your team’s uni-forms, call Pro Look Sports.Go Pro.

Circle No. 91 on Reader Inquiry Card

Pro Look Sports has become the fastestgrowing team sportswear company in sixyears for one reason: fully custom, quality

uniforms. Most companieslimit your choices to a fewstyles made from sub parmaterials. Pro Look’s uni-forms are made of the finestmaterials available; cut,trimmed and sewn to yourexact specifications. Thereare no additional costs for

embroidered logos or for soft tackle-twillnames and numbers. Additionally, allwork is backed by an unprecedented two-year guarantee. If you can think it, we willdo it for one inexpensive price. Go Pro.

Circle No. 92 on Reader Inquiry Card

COACHING MANAGEMENT 45

Making Players into Winners.

Teams into Champions.

Advanced Skills TeeUnique forward arm and outside

barrier reinforces a tight compact

swing. Eliminate “dipping” and

“casting” with this highly durable

polyurethane daily use tee. The

best, most portable teaching tee

available!

Tru-TossThe non-electric soft toss/pitch

simulator that rebounds the ball

from the ground up like a coach.

Adjustable toss angle, speed and

height allow the user to pitch the

ball from front, side or back

angles. The most versatile toss

unit available. Use softballs,

baseballs even plastic balls.

Great for college and high school

hitting stations.

Muhl Tech

1-888-766-8772

www.muhltech.com

Muhl KickerEndorsed by Leah O’Brien-Amico.

The only training bat available to

be used with live pitching, that has

an audible clicking device for

teaching a short compact swing,

while developing strength and batspeed as well as improving contact.

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Page 48: Coaching Management 11.7

More New Products

COMPETITIVE EDGE DECISIONSYSTEMS

(888) 329-0722,www.chartmine.net

Electronic pitch/hit charting.Developed in conjunction with DeanStotz (Associate Head Coach, StanfordBaseball) and Jay Miller (Head Coach,

Mississippi StateSoftball),ChartMine is themost advancedpitch/hit chart-ing programavailable. Chartthe game on thefield and trans-fer the data to

your computer. Standard statisticsand unbelievable pitching/hittingstats. If you want a Competitive Edge,you have to go beyond paper chart-ing and simple electronic score keep-ing. You need to mine the wealth ofinformation that is hidden in yourpitching/hitting charts. Currently usedby over 30% of D1 programs includ-ing UCLA (National Champs), U. ofArizona and USA Softball. ChartMinehas been named a “best product” byCollegiate Baseball Newspaper thelast three straight years!

Circle No. 95 on Reader Inquiry Card

GATORADE(800) 88GATOR,www.gatorade.com

Gatorade Thirst Quencher’s optimal for-mula contains electrolytes and carbohy-drates. It is based on more than 30 yearsof scientific research and testing.

Nothing rehy-drates, replen-ishes and refu-els better thanGatorade®ThirstQuencher—

not even water. REHYDRATE—Gatoradehas the flavor to keep your athletesdrinking—and a six- percent carbohy-drate solution that’s optimal for speed-ing fluids back into their systems. Nofluid is absorbed faster than Gatorade.REPLENISH—If your athletes don’treplace the electrolytes they lose whenthey sweat, they risk becoming dehy-drated, which can take them out of thegame. By putting electrolytes back,Gatorade helps athletes drink more,retain fluids and maintain fluid balance.REFUEL—Unlike water, Gatorade hasthe right amount of carbohydrates (14grams per eight ounces) to give your

athlete’s working muscles more energy,help athletes fight fatigue and keeptheir mental edge.

Circle No. 96 on Reader Inquiry Card

THE GEBAUER COMPANY(800) 321-9348,www.gebauerco.com

Gebauer’s Ethyl Chloride® is nowavailable in two easy-to-carry spray

can delivery systems:Pain-Ease® StreamSpray and Pain-Ease®Mist Spray. Athletictrainers can choosethe spray can thatworks best for themto relieve minor sportsinjuries such as bruis-ing, contusions,swelling and minorsprains. It works asfast as ice without the

mess—in seconds—so athletes can getback in the game faster.

Circle No. 97 on Reader Inquiry Card

From the most trusted name in skinrefrigerants for over 100 years comesa new, non-prescription topical skinrefrigerant, Gebauer's Instant Ice™.

Use it like ice for thetemporary relief ofminor pain andswelling fromsprains and strains,minor sports injuries,bruising and contu-sions. Now insteadof using ice to treaton-the-scene minor

sports injuries, high school and recre-ational league coaches, high schoolathletic trainers, and others will nowbe able to use what professional ath-letic trainers use. In fact, Jim Ramsay,head athletic trainer for the NewYork Rangers, has been usingGebauer topical skin refrigerants foryears. "Instant Ice is great for on-the-scene care," said Ramsay. "If a playergets hit on the wrist or takes a puckoff the shin, I can easily anesthetizethe area with Instant Ice to reducethe pain, allowing the player to getback in the game quickly.

Circle No. 98 on Reader Inquiry Card

KID’S CHOICE(800) 774-4474, www.kids-choice.com

Hey Team—If you are looking for afund-raiser that will make the mostamount of money in the shortest

to comefromBanta

46 COACHING MANAGEMENT

Circle No. 35

Page 49: Coaching Management 11.7

More New Products

period of time,Kid’s ChoiceCookie Dough isyour onlychoice. Kid’sChoice workswith small AAUtravel teams tototal P.E.Departments.

We help you before, during and afteryour sale to insure that your fund-rais-er is a successful venture. Kid’sChoice—your only choice, when freshreally counts.

Circle No. 99 on Reader Inquiry Card

New From The Kid’s Choice FamilyKitchen–Are you ready for a real“Down Home” Tasty Fund-Raiser? If so,Kid’s Choice’s new farmhousefavorites, featuring Country Ham at itsfinest as well as cheese, sausage andtwo country classic “sweet snacks” arethe perfect complement to its already

famouscookiedough. Calltoday forsamples andsales kits.Finally some-thing differ-

ent as a fund-raiser. Did anyone saycheese? Cheesecakes that is….Its new“The Ultimate Dessert Collections” fea-tures a great sampling of pies, cakesand gourmet coffees.

Circle No. 100 on Reader Inquiry Card

POWERLUNG®(800) 903-3087,www.powerlung.com

PowerLung® is the original and onlyintegrated exhale and inhale isolated,progressive resistance respiratorystrength training machine for all ath-letes. It is based on 80 years of medicalresearch, and is proven to increase res-

piratory muscle strength—inhalationand exhalation. Tidal Volume is greaterthan 25 percent and Peak Exhalation is

greaterthan 20percent.InhaleMusclePower is

greater than 40 percent; Exhale MusclePower is greater than 150 percent.Studies show asthma sufferers maybenefit from respiratory muscle train-ing. A player’s body is only as strong asthe weakest muscles—the respiratorymuscles. Your team is only as strong asthe weakest player—everyone needsPowerLung Training for increasedOxygen. Use PowerLung for staminaand endurance, stronger core bodymuscles, reduced heart and respiratoryrates. Oxygen is the limiting factor insports!

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www.AthleticBid.comCheck out www.AthleticBid.com to contact these companies.

COACHING MANAGEMENT 47

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Web Connections

AIRBORNE ATHLETICS, INC.WWW.AIRCATVOLLEYBALL.COM,WWW.DRDISHBASKETBALL.COM Airborne Athletics, Inc. brings you theUSAV endorsed AirCAT TEAM, SOLOand NetworKs volleyball training systems.Recently introduced for basketball, Dr.Dish is the ball return system that alsodelivers game-like passes for game-liketraining. Request a free video on theirWeb sites today.

CLARIN SEATINGWWW.CLARINSEATING.COMOver 70 years ago, Clarin produced thefirst all-steel folding chair in America.From that visionary design, Clarin hasbecome the world’s most innovativeprovider of seating solutions.

DIAMOND PROWWW.DIAMONDPRO.COMOn this site, Diamond Pro features a sec-tion called “Ask the Pros,” which is aninteractive forum with professionalgroundskeepers. The site also has an on-line “How-To Workshop.”

EFI SPORTS MEDICINEWWW.EFISPORTSMEDICINE.COMAfter more than a quarter century at theforefront of innovation in athletic training,

physical therapy and home fitness, efiSports Medicine, originator of the com-mercial grade Total Gym and developerof the GRAVITYSystem™, has becomethe leading manufacturer of functionalrehabilitation and sports conditioningequipment.

NEVCO SCOREBOARD COMPANYWWW.NEVCOSCOREBOARDS.COMNevco Scoreboard Company has beenmanufacturing scoreboards for sportsevents for 70 years. Nevco’s desire toproduce equipment that meets rigidquality and safety standards is indicatedby our UL Listing and CSA Certification.Nevco’s Web site showcases its products.

PRO LOOK SPORTSWWW.PROLOOKSPORTS.COM Pro Look Sports makes fully custom,quality uniforms. Their uniforms are madeof the finest materials; constructed toyour exact specifications. There are noadditional costs for embroidery or softtackle-twill lettering.

SIGNATURE FENCING SYSTEMSWWW.SIGNATUREFENCING.COMSignature Fencing offers a wide range ofportable fencing systems that are ideallysuited for any type of facility.

48 COACHING MANAGEMENT

POWER SYSTEMS, INC.(800) 321-6975, www.power-systems.com

Since 1986 PowerSystems has been aleading supplier ofsport training,health and fitnessproducts. The com-pany prides itselfin being the oneresource for all ofyour trainingneeds. Its new

2004 catalog has a new look with bettergraphics and photos. Included areas arecore strength, medicine balls, speed, ply-ometrics, agility, strength equipment,strength accessories and flooring. Youwill find the catalog full of hundreds ofnew products and dozens of productsavailable exclusively from PowerSystems. The company has also loweredsome prices to enable the customer toget premium products at great prices.Go online or call Power Systems torequest a free 2004 catalog today.

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CatalogShowcase

More articles, more product information, and moreresources are just a mouse click away, at...

Coaching Management has teamed up with its two sister publications, Athletic

Management and Training & Conditioning, to produce a Web site chock full of

great ideas and advice.

Check out the Bonus Editorial section:Should Men Coach Women?Working with ParentsSportsmanship Resources

Use our search engine to access previously published articles:“Saner Selections” New ideas for tryouts“George Wares” Q&A with Central College’s Head Coach“Slugging A Slump” Helping batters bust out

Coaching Management

V O L L E Y B A L L P R E S E A S O N E D I T I O N 2 0 0 3VOL. XI, NO. 4 ■ $5.00

■ Pregame Speeches

■ Understanding AmenorrheaON THE SAME COURT

Communicating

with club coachesON THE SAME COURTCommunicating

with club coaches

■ Pregame Speeches

■ Understanding Amenorrhea

CM 114pC1-

1 4/11/03

10:35 AM

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Coaching ManagementA N N U A L S O F T B A L L E D I T O N 2 0 0 3

VOL. X, NO. 7 ■ $5.00

PRSR

T STDU

.S. POSTA

GE PA

IDLib

erty, MO

Permit N

o. 738

■ StoppingSlumps■ StrengthTraining Tips

GIRLS OF SUMMERA look at club softball

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©2003 Hillerich and Bradsby Co., Louisville, KY. All rights reserved.

www.slugger.com

The official bat of America’s pastime.SM

READY TO TAKE ON THE WORLD.

WHEN AMERICA’S BEST TAKES ON THE WORLD’S BEST, three Louisville Slugger TPS

bats will be right there with them – the XXLTM, the ResponseTM and the Scandium XS.

Louisville Slugger has helped the world’s greatest players achieve their goals since

1884. And with the technology and performance of today’s TPS bats, we can help you

achieve yours, too.

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Y O U R P A S S I O N I S O U R O B S E S S I O N. How do you prepare yourself for the big game? At Mizuno, we test

the absolute limits of performance by combining our Fastpitch-specific technology with the extraordinary skills of Team USA

superstar Jennie Finch. Our exclusive Banzai AluminumTM in the new Jennie Finch Signature SeriesTM bat delivers the extra

power and durability to take your team all the way to the championship. So experience for yourself the benefits of Mizuno Fastpitch

Technology, and get ready to put on your game face.

©2003 Mizuno USA, Inc. , Mizuno, and Serious Performance are registered trademarks of Mizuno Corporation.

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