Illegal Pitches: Either Call Every One or None At All
By BTP Coaches The illegal pitching problem in college softball seems to be masked during the regular season and then postseason hits. As soon as regional weekend comes around, it suddenly becomes an out-of-control problem. Last weekend in Athens, Northwestern was called for about 40 or more illegal pitches in four games. The problem, according to umpires, was that the [...]
Coach Sue Enquist: Memories of a Three-Peat
Editor's Note: The University of California Los Angeles softball program won three consecutive National Championships from 1988 to 1990. Sue Enquist was an assistant coach at the time. Since then, the NCAA has seen teams like Arizona, Florida and now, Oklahoma win back-to-back titles but no other team has won three in a row. Enquist told BTP her side of [...]
Early Recruiting Legislation For NCAA D1 Softball Passes
From Staff Reports On Wednesday, April 18, 2018, the NCAA Division I Council announced that it passed legislation establishing September 1 of a prospective student-athlete’s (“PSA’s”) junior year as the start date for all softball recruiting contact, effective immediately, pending NCAA Board of Directors approval. This means that all recruiting communications between Division I softball coaches and PSAs and their [...]
UT’s Karen Weekly Pleas To NCAA Regarding Early Recruiting Vote
EDITORS NOTE: The NCAA meeting regarding college softball and the push to end early recruiting began on Monday. More than 12,500 members of the softball community signed the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s petition in hopes that the NCAA will adopt a piece of legislation, similar to lacrosse, that will push recruiting to September 1 of the junior year. NFCA President [...]
Well … That’s The Way We’ve Always Done It
By BTP Coaches For years, wrist flick drills have been around the game of softball. Coaches teach their players and then those players become coaches and teach the same thing. But does anyone really know why it is taught? According to Austin Wasserman of High Level Throwing, the drills taught to “strengthen the wrist and create backspin” don’t have a [...]
Facemasks May Be Stunting Youth Players Growth
By BTP Coaches For the first time in a long time, the coaches at BTP decided to attend a youth tournament instead of going to an NCAA game last weekend and did we learn a lot! Let’s set the scene for you. The tournament had one field for four 8U teams and two fields for nine 10U teams. So, what [...]
Respect The Game: Social Media Captures Everything
By BTP Coaches Steadily over the years, we’ve seen social media take over our children’s lives. Most of the time we use it as a way to stay connected to teammates, parents and coaches but we have also seen it used negatively. Well, a customer who was sitting across from the team decided to take to the town’s social media [...]
IT’S TIME TO TALK
ADOLESCENT SUICIDE, DEPRESSION, AND WHAT WE CAN DO TO HELP By Melanie Rushing Our softball world was rocked recently when a viral social media thread searching for a 13-year old softball player turned up terrible news. She had gone missing and was reported to be “an at-risk teen.” A few days later, she was found: a victim of suicide. This [...]
Cover And Conquer Is Last Line Of Defense
By RT Taylor Cantillo Last Line Defense/Outfield Instructor Cover and Conquer is preparing as many students (athletes, coaches, parents) wanting to know more about the outfield and to go about it. Photo courtesy: Dina Kwit/NPF In high school, I had this coach who told me, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” It has stuck with me [...]
ASU Grads Give The Warehouse A Facelift
By Maren Angus Publisher Amber Freeman had a standout career as a catcher at Arizona State University from 2012 to 2015. She was drafted 11th overall in the 2015 National Pro Fastpitch College draft by the USSSA Pride and now the athlete who has forever been associated with home has returned to home in a different way. Before becoming a [...]
Coaches Respond To Early Recuiting
By Maren Angus Publisher The National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced that its NCAA Division I membership submitted a response to the NCAA about early recruiting. DI coaches asked that all recruiting contact begin on Sept. 1 of a student-athlete’s junior year. “It’s been a hot topic,” said NFCA Executive Director Carol Bruggeman at the NFCA Convention last month. “ I [...]
2018 Rules Committee: Staying In The Batter’s Box
By Maren Angus Publisher The NCAA Softball Rules Committee had a busy offseason. It approved rule changes for several areas of the game including obstruction, runner’s lane, media format, technology, pace and flow. One of the most interesting changes has to do with staying in the batter’s box. According to NCAA.com, “The panel approved a rule prohibiting batters from [...]
Has Coaching At Youth Levels Lost Focus?
By Kaitlin Cochran-Johnson Guest Columnist Is fastpitch at the youth level too much fun or too little fun? I think it’s quite interesting to see where women’s fastpitch is going. While I certainly am grateful for the opportunities and advances our sport has made, it seems like coaching at the youth level has shifted its focus almost too much on [...]
Veteran Coach Vail Joins BTP Roster
By Maren Angus Publisher Behind the Plate Softball is excited to announce the addition of Aaron Vail to its roster. Aaron Vail "I couldn't be more excited to be joining the team at Behind The Plate Softball,” said Vail. “In doing so, I have the opportunity to share my passion for this wonderful game with the softball community. [...]
Pitches: Pick Three, Then Perfect Those
By Lacey Waldrop Pitching Coach, Duke University Some of the best advice I give young pitchers is to figure out your best three pitches and perfect those. One of those pitches has to be an off-speed pitch. When I was giving lessons, I would have 12-year-olds coming in and asking me to guess how many pitches they had. They might [...]
Quick Fix Is No Substitute For The Fundamentals
By Amanda Scarborough, Pitching Coach, The Packaged Deal Amanda Scarborough There is no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to pitching. I get that question a lot when it comes to athletes these days. They seem to think a certain drill will correct the inconsistency immediately. I think it’s because there is less of [...]