Michigan Loses in Super Regional

Wow! Michigan will not defend their national title. In fact, they will not even be in the College World Series next week. Tennessee eliminated Michigan from post season play in the best-of-three NCAA Knoxville Super Regional. Tennessee won the first game of the series. Michigan took the second and Tennessee won the rubber match 1-0.

Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, Northwestern, Oregon State, and Texas also won their Super Regional Series for a spot in next week's College World Series.

See results and scores at ESPN.

Also, read more about the Michigan elimination by clicking here.

Did anyone notice the Tennessee short-stop? I believe she was wearing orange Pre-Wrap in her hair (1st game of series)! At least it sure looked like pre-wrap. See, even college players have fun with that!

Technorati Tags: Entertainment, Sports, softball

FREE Hitting DVD

I just found out about an offer for a free hitting DVD. Learn from Dave Hudgens who's coached hitting in the Major Leagues for years. Pay only the shipping and handling on this DVD which is just $6.95. I don't know of too many places where you can get a DVD on hitting for under $7.00. If you'd like to learn more about the offer, click on the link or image below.

Click here now to get your DVD




Technorati Tags: Sports, softball, free, DVD

The King and His Court in Wisconsin

Wow - The King and His Court will play on Friday in HINGHAM. This four-man softball team will take on the Dykstra Engineering Traveling Team at 8:00pm.

The King, Eddie Feigner, no longer pitches, but is traveling with the team on their farewell tour. Feigner's team is like the Harlem Globetrotters of softball so it should be a fun game. If you're in the area, go check it out. I'm sure it'll be an event to remember. The cost of the tickets is $5.00.

If you're interested in having this 4-man team come to your area, you can submit a request online by visiting http://www.kingandhiscourt.com/index_home.html.

Technorati Tags: Entertainment, Sports, softball

Inspiration!

Seasons are winding down and sometimes it's tough to stay inspired toward the end of a season or during the off season. Don't forget, we have a special section dedicated to inspirational quotes.

http://www.allaboutfastpitch.com/inspirationalquote/index.html

We also have a page of Team Building Quotes which are great to read to your team every so often or have your team read to each other.

So if you need a little inspiration today, go ahead and spend some time with our Inspirational Quotes.

Have a great week!

Technorati Tags: softball, quotes, motivation

Don't forget these softball articles

For those of you who've just recently found out about www.AllAboutFastpitch.com, we just wanted to point out a couple of our older articles that have dropped down toward the bottom of our Articles page due to new articles being added.

If you haven't had a chance yet, don't forget to check out these articles:

Hitting Tips - Improve production at the plate

Team Building Quotes - This isn't exatly an article, but it still makes good reading material

So You're the New Baseball Coach - a few things to keep in mind for those just beginning their coaching career

Build Incredible Bat Speed for Baseball/Softball

Enjoy the articles and enjoy the game ~ Have a wonderful week!

Fun Softball Pictures

Today was a beautiful day in Hawaii for softball.


Before the game - we help with equipment



Sometimes we miss the ball - oops


But it's all good, because my sister hit the ball without a tee today! See clip below



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Distance training, yes or no?

There seems to be some debate on whether or not baseball/softball players should do distance running as part of their training. Some say yes, others say baseball players and softball players do not to distance running in the sport so why do it in training? Some say that distance running has absolutely nothing to do with baseball and softball and is completely unnecessary in a players training.

Here's my stance on this topic - you can agree with it or not, but here's why I feel cardio training is important. Not necessarily distance running, but some kind of cardiovascular training is beneficial to just about any athlete. I know a number of track sprinters who do distance/cardio training at one point or another.

What does cardio exercise do? Why is it important?
Basically cardio is great for both your heart and your lungs. During cardio exercise, your heart is trained to pump more blood in fewer beats. Your heart is trained to become more efficient at it's job. It is trained to accomplish more while working less. In addition your lungs become better at moving more oxygen with less effort. As you may or may not know, blood carries oxygen to your muscles. Your lungs oxygenate blood before it's pumped throughout your body. When your heart and lungs become more efficient at what they do and can better provide oxygen to your muscles, doesn't it make sense that your muscles will perform better longer?

Fatigue and muscle tightness set in when muscles are trying to work without the oxygen they need to perform at their optimal level. If cardio work trains your heart and lungs to become as efficient as possible in providing blood and oxygen to the body, doesn't it make sense that athletes will fatigue less, that their muscles will be able to endure whatever they are trying to do a bit longer? Whether it's running, batting, pitching, fielding, etc - to me it seems that if your heart and lungs become better and better at providing your muscles with oxygen, you will not fatigue as quickly as some other player who's heart and lungs have not been trained and conditioned as yours have been.

So for me, however you get your cardio in, whether it's distance running, riding an exercise biking, jumping on an elliptical machine or what have you, you are not only improving effectiveness of your heart and lungs, but you are also giving yourself a better shot at improved health overall. Cardio is also known to burn fat, rev up your metabolism, reduce stress, and improve your immune system. If you ask me, an athlete that does not have excess fat, is less stressed, and is more resistant to getting sick is "better" than an athlete who does not possess these attributes because they don't make cardio a part of their training routine. That's my two cents.

Note: some softball coaches to incorporate cardio in practice. If there is a drill or exercise in which the players are just about constantly in motion for an extended period of time (at least 12 minutes) - then players are getting a cardio workout there. But not all coaches do this which is why some players utilize distance running, cycling, jumping rope, or aerobics to get the cardio they need.

Technorati Tags: Health, Health and wellness, Sports, softball

NCAA Div I Championship Brackets

Well, the NCAA has finalized the 64 teams that will compete for the 2006 NCAA Div I softball championship. The Women's College World Series is scheduled for June 1-7 and will take place at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma. I can't wait to watch! Last year's tournament was awesome and I'm sure this year will be just as great.

Good luck to all the teams in post season. For more information visit NCAASports.com - If you'd like to take a look at how the brackets shake down - click here.

Technorati Tags: Sports, News

Sharing 8U video

I was trying out the video capturing feature on my new digital camera for the first time. Of course, I had to choose the at bat where she needed the tee and also the at bat where she didn't make it to 1st safely. Oh well - you'll see she was so anxious to hit the ball that she almost didn't wait for the coach to get out of the way. I think it's just because the coach took so long "trying" to set her up to hit the ball toward 3B to give her the most chance at making it to first....didn't exactly work.

Here's the video :



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Lasting friendship formed through softball

I read a story recently which reminded me of my favorite thing about playing softball - my teammates! Being part of a team and making friends with people you have something in common with is such a cool bonus of playing fastpitch softball. Going through challenges and experiences together that you will remember for a long, long time is special and gives you something to talk about even if you haven't seen each other in a while.

Anyway, this news article was about a softball player who moved into a new town, made some friends, and will go on to college later this year.

Click Here to read the story

High School Softball Wrapping Up

It's about that time of year when many high school softball seasons are wrapping up and there are a number of news stories you can read about high school softball in different areas of the country. Here are just a few:

Oak Grove Lady Warriors win Championship (with a football coach?)

Bartow High School attempting to win 5th STRAIGHT State Title

Seattle Times Prep Stars of the Week feature fastpitch softball players

Has your high school team been in the paper recently? Share it with us by posting a comment including the link to your team's story. (click on the pencil below)