When I first started coaching softball, slap hitting wasn’t even on my radar. I suppose I understood the concept, but it wasn’t something I felt I needed to spend a lot of time racking my brain about. After all, it only really applies to a small segment of softball players, and it’s rarely ever executed…
Call me old school, but I keep my teams’ balls in buckets. And, occasionally, one of my softball players will reach in grab a ball, not realizing it’s too big (I coach 10U) until I say something. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens enough that a post highlighting the different softball sizes is probably…
I’m at a baseball or softball tournament almost every weekend. My baseball teams are older and used to the real rules, but my softball team is young and only now getting exposed to the real rules that govern softball from 10U through college. A tournament we recently competed in threw us for a loop when…
Most parents have no idea that there are two main options for youth baseball (and actually softball, too) in the US. That’s because one is age-old and the name is synonymous with baseball, and the other is only about 20 years old, and is named after one of the most famous names in baseball. We’re…
It’s been a brutal spring in the Northeast this year, and as a result, there have been a lot of rainy, wet baseball and softball practices. My older guys typically know what to do with their wet gear. But, my softball team is relatively young and is just starting to get used to rough conditions,…
Bunting should never go out of fashion. Bunts are effective plays that are often difficult to defend, and they can catch a defense sleeping. In both baseball and softball, a good bunt can be a major difference-maker in a close game. Sacrifice bunts, squeeze bunts, and bunting for a hit can change the face of…
One of the biggest differences I’ve seen in my transition from baseball to softball is the importance of bunting. In baseball, bunts are used sparingly, with many coaches not seeing their true value. In softball, however, bunting is a critical part of the game, important to learn, and even more important to learn to defend…
There’s nothing that gets a dugout fired up like a well-executed bunt. But if your bunt defense isn’t tight? It can unravel a whole inning, and a ton of damage can occur. Over the years, I’ve coached a lot of teams, including those that can bunt and those that can’t, and those that can defend…
If you’ve ever watched a baseball game and heard an umpire shout, “Balk!”—followed by confusion and runners jogging to the next base—you’re not alone. Balks are one of the trickiest and least understood parts of the sport, even among hardcore fans and coaches. So, whats a balk in baseball, and why does it happen? Let’s…
If you’ve spent any time around a baseball or softball field, you’ve probably heard someone yell, “That’s a foul ball!” But what does that actually mean? When is a ball foul, when is it fair, and when does a foul ball still matter? Umpires, players, and fans alike sometimes get these calls wrong, and it…