Too much softball

Wow - I never thought I'd have that thought, but after a weekend of helping with a tournament, I was glad it was over early yesterday. Don't get me wrong, I love being in softball tournaments that last all week, but helping run them is hard work! I've never been on that end of things before. I've always only played or coached in tournaments, which can be tiring in itself, but I enjoy it nonetheless. However, being at the park all day from sunrise to past sunset working fields, working the concession, filling up water jugs, etc, etc, etc for days on end is tough. I now have a greater respect and thanks for those who run tournaments that I get to be a part of.

The tournament we ran this weekend was the last of the pre-season and this Wednesday begin our regular season games. I'm looking forward to it! The team we are supposed to play on Wednesday pulled out of this tournament due to grades though, so I hope they have a team that can play us on Wednesday. Our second game of the season on Saturday is against one of the best teams in our conference. It's one we have yet to beat in regular season play.

Fastpitch Talk Radio - Episode 4

For those of you who are interested in listening to talk about Fastpitch Softball, Episode 4 of Fastpitch Talk Radio is now up and ready to listen to. This Episode is an interview with Coach Mike of KidzNSports.com. I saw his website a while back and something caught my eye. It was the saying "Teach First, Win Later" - I love that! So, I decided to ask Coach Mike to be a guest on the show and he agreed.

On this show I talk to Coach Mike about that saying as well as other sports issues. I'll warn you now, this show is about an hour long. So pull up a chair, get comfy, and listen in at www.FastpitchTalkRadio.com.

College Softball - Do you have what it takes

During this time of year, many Juniors and Seniors are thinking about their future in softball. But please don't wait until you are a Junior or Senior to think about what you want to do after high school. Parents - talk to your children early about the future. Don't forget that we have our page of College Tips.

Many of my players ask me, "But am I good enough?" Many families and players don't have a good idea of whether or not playing softball in college is even possible. If you're in that situation (and are in high school) take a few minutes to fill out this Student Athlete Evaluation and find out if you (or your child) has what it takes to take this game to the next level.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hey - I know it's a bit early, but this is going to be a busy week for me. Thanksgiving is always a big deal and we also have a softball tournament Wed, Fri, and Sat that we're running. Plus, I have two new puppies coming home today. So I know the rest of the week is going to be hectic and I don't want to forget to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving so I'm taking care of it right now! Hope you don't mind. I don't know about you, but I'm already thinking of all the wonderful food I'm going to eat in a few days! Can't wait.

Wishing you a great Thanksgiving weekend. Have a great one.

If you need a little bit of help getting or staying fit this holiday season or if you just want to look fabulous for the upcoming New Year, check out this link. I'll be looking into it too.

Cool Defensive Softball Play

The weekend is upon us and that means yet another weekend of preseason softball games! Yesterday we played a team we lost to in last week's tournament. This time we won 9-2. We had more of our starters playing and obviously it made a difference. The bats were working well and that's always fun to watch. But I think even more fun for me is seeing good defense.

Yesterday, our pitching coach brought a video camera to the game to video tape the pitchers. Well, there was one defensive play that was very cool and would be great to see again. It was one of those situations where the ball was hit into right field. The right fielder came up with the ball and fired home to keep the runner, who started off at 2nd, from scoring. Since the runner wasn't going, the pitcher cut the ball off. The batter/runner had rounded first on the throw and was between 1st and 2nd. Our pitcher threw the ball to the short stop who was at 2nd to keep the batter/runner from advancing. Our SS caught the ball and started running the batter/runner back toward 1st. Of course, the runner that had gone back to 3rd now broke home. So our SS turns and fires to the catcher who is able to tag that runner out. During that time, the batter runner had gone to 2nd and rounded 2nd and gone almost half way to 3rd. Our catcher sees this and fires toward 2nd. I was thinking, "No don't throw to 2nd she's going to get to 3rd." Just as I finish that thought I see the ball, not go to 2nd, but to the glove of our CF who was about 1/3 of the way between 2nd and 3rd and not far from the runner. She cut off the throw and chased the runner a bit toward 3rd before throwing to our 3b. That stopped the runner who tried to go back to 2nd. Our 3b then threw the ball to our 2b who tagged that runner out. Those were the 2nd and 3rd outs of the inning. So cool! Everyone (except the pitcher who should have been covering home after the hit but got the cut from RF instead) was in the right place at the right time and all the throws were accurate. After that, I see the pitching coach come over to the dugout from his position with the video camera behind the backstop. I ask him, "Did you get that play?"

He answers, "No, my battery died." Ahhhh, wouldn't you know it? LOL

NFCC at 2006 Convention in Tuscon

The NFCA's National Convention will feature 3 National Fastpitch Coaches College courses.

The 3 courses being offered are:

Course 403: Position Play and Practice
Course 406: Team Management/Game-Day Coaching
Course 402: Advanced Analysis of Fundamental Individual Skills

For additional information on these courses as well as times, dates, and location, please visit
http://www.nfca.org/news/?id=2586

The point of pre-season

We had a pre-season tournament over the weekend. The thing I love about pre-season is the chance to see what everyone on your team can do. During season, you're already concerned with your record so you basically just put the best on the field all the time.

With pre-season I really believe that it's your chance to play different people, see what they can do, give them a chance to show you what their made of in game situations, and also (maybe most important) give your players a chance to see what they can do. More often than not in the past few years I find that, as coaches, we often have more confidence in our players than they do. We believe they can play, we believe they can be the best, but sometimes they don't quite believe. As coaches, it's our job to get them to that point.

It's the first time I've ever seen pre-season as an opportunity for the players to really know what they can do. We're carrying 17 on our roster this year. Obviously everyone isn't going to get to play all the time come season. But there are always situations that arise in which you need to call on those who aren't regular starters. When they get called on, I want them to know that they can get the job done. If they are never, ever given a chance, not even in pre-season, they will probably not have that confidence. Some might, but most won't. So before our second pool play game in this tournament, I did let the girls know that this is as much for them as it is for us. Because even if they don't earn a starting role through all of this, we will need them at one point or another, so I asked them to use this opportunity during pre-season to gain some confidence at this level. We have only 3 returning starters so many of the girls don't have a lot of playing experience at this level. Whatever game time they get before the season starts, I'd like to see them jump into the mix and just "get dirty" - just do their thing and realize that they can hang with everyone else. They wouldn't be on the team otherwise, but sometimes they need to see it to believe it. They need to be thrown into the fire to know they can handle it and we will give them that chance. Hopefully, they make the most of it.

Choosing a bat to use

Why do people seek help for choosing a bat online? I mean, I can understand the, "Which bat do you like better" question, but some people want others to tell them which bat their daughter should use or they should use. It's almost impossible to give a great answer. To me, which bat you use is such a personal choice. Some people love the Rocket Tech, but I personally can't stand it. It can be the same length and weight as another bat I do like and other players can swear by it, but I, personally, would never use it. It just doesn't "feel" right to me when I swing it and when I hit with it.

I much prefer the Synergy (light blue) or the Catalyst 2 or that other light blue Catalyst that I talked about in this post. Even from one Syngery to another, for me, one just feels better than another when I hit with it. I'm talking different models, not two of the same model. In general, I too, like to know what other people think. But that information is only used to narrow down my choices. From there, I have to swingthe bat myself to really know if it's going to work for me or not.

Some people like short bats, others are not comfortable with it. Some players love end loaded bats, others just don't. I don't see how you can expect someone in another state, who's never met you, who has no clue as to what kind of hitter you are, to "expertly" tell you which bat you should use.

I say, use the whichever bat gives you the most confidence when you step into the box. The one you know you can pound the ball with and have pounded the ball with. No one but you can figure out which bat that is. You could have the "best" bat in the world, but if you aren't comfortable with it and it prevents you from going into the box in the best possible frame of mind, it isn't going to do you any good. So yes, go ahead an get other people's opinions. However, when it comes down to it, the bottom line is, the bat you use is a personal choice, make it your choice.

Want to play softball in Hawaii?

I'm sure there are many teams out there that would love to come to Hawaii to play some softball. Well, just for you, there are a few tournaments already being planned for next summer. We'd love to have you join us in this lovely Hawaiian softball weather. So check out the following tournaments and get your team registered!

15th Annual Hawaii ASA Open Tournament - July, mostly 18U, maybe 16U. 4 Game minimum.

5th Annual ASA Paradise Invitational - In August, from 10U-14U. This is a fun one! Lots of softball all day long. 4 Game minimum.

Kauai Fantasy Softball Tournament - 12U - 18U. 5 Game guarantee. Kauai is a beautiful, green, and quiet island. Not as crowded as O'ahu - very relaxing.

I probably won't be at the Kauai tournament (but you never know), but I'll probably be around at the other two - hope to see you there!

My Stuff in Fastpitch Forever Magazine

While the internet is very cool, there's still something about seeing your name, picture, and/or article in a print publication. I just received the most recent issue of Fastpitch Forever magazine. I love the pictures in the magazine and even though I had a submission that would be printed, it was cool to see it.

There was a full page in there about Fastpitch Talk Radio and they published an article I wrote, complete with www.allaboutfastpitch.com website address and photo of me. Also on the back cover they had a little section that talked about what to expect in future issues. Toward the bottom portion of the column it said something like, "...and more from Bill Hillhouse, Stacie Mahoe, and Marc Dagenais."

Whoa! That was cool. It's strange to see my name in the same sentence (between them no less) with Bill Hillhouse AND Marc Dagenais as they are well respected in the softball world.

Here's the Fastpitch Talk Radio page:

Click to enlarge - in IE when you place your cursor over the bottom right corner (ager clicking to enlarge) there is a little icon that pops up that allows you to "expand to regular size"

Pre-Season Tournament This Weekend

Due to heavy rains last week, the pre-season tournament we were scheduled to be in was cancelled. But we were still able to squeeze in a scrimmage on Saturday as the rains let up. (Warm up picture below)



This is a new week with a new pre-season tournament. In fact it begins today. We have 5 pool play games then elimination play that starts on Saturday. I'm so thankful to live in an area where we can be playing softball at this time of year.

But today is also election day so please don't forget to go out and vote!

Light Blue Catalyst and Red Synergy

So I had the chance to swing both the light blue Louisville Catalyst (2007 TPS Catalyst - FP71C) and also the red Synergy. I don't know what the model number was for the red Synergy. I just remember that it was red and probably longer than a bat I would normally use, but after swinging it and hitting with it, I much prefer the light blue Easton Synergy (SCN1B). That one feels pretty good.

As far as the Louisville Catalyst, I love the colors and the look, but I still prefer my blue one (-8, FP72C) Catalyst 2. As a friend of mine so quickly pointed out, you can't choose a bat based on how "pretty" it looks. While that may be true, it almost works for the Light Blue Catalyst - I was actually instantly drawn to it because of the look and if I hadn't known what the Catalyst 2 was like, I would have said it was my favorite. It really is a pretty good bat.

While Bill was here he asked me if I ever had the chance to swing the yellow Catalyst. Now how the heck am I supposed to do that? No one here owns one because it's illegal in just about every league run here. I sure wasn't going to spend hundreds of dollars on it just to try it knowing that no one would be able to use it in a game anywhere. Anyway, he said it's a great bat (way better than my Catalyst 2) and he can see why it's illegal. I'll just have to take his word for it, but I'm sure those of you out there who have had experience with it would probably agree. Don't think I'll ever get to try one, but I sure am curious now. LOL

No softball today

I seriously doubt there will be any softball today. Today was supposed to be the first day of our first pre-season tournament and it is pouring! There was some rain on Halloween and some rain yesterday. Last night it began raining more and continued on through the night. Today it has been non-stop. *sigh* - I'll have to rely on the internet for my daily dose of softball today. :)

We even have a flash flood wather in effect through the afternoon.

Here's what one weather website reports:

According to http://www.prh.noaa.gov/data/HFO/FFAHFO.0611021402
* LOCALLY HEAVY SHOWERS REMAIN POSSIBLE OVER THE ISLANDS TODAY AS THE ATMOSPHERE CONTINUES TO BE MOIST AND UNSTABLE...AND AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE PASSES BY JUST TO OUR NORTH. IN SOME PLACES... THE GROUND IS SATURATED FROM RECENT HEAVY RAINS...SO ANY ADDITIONAL SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL COULD RESULT IN FLASH FLOODING.

* THE CONTINUED HEAVY RAIN HAS INCREASED THE THREAT OF LANDSLIDES. BE ALERT FOR ROAD CLOSURES.

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE. TAKE PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. TAKE QUICK ACTION IF A WARNING IS ISSUED OR YOU OBSERVE HEAVY RAIN.

Man - I could really use some softball tournament action right now - LOL.