Resident Experts Column Updated

It must have been a crazy summer because I just took a look at the Resident Experts page and saw that it hadn't been updated in a while! So the page has been updated with a few new Expert Columns and I do have a few more submissions coming in so there should be new articles there for you to read in the upcoming months as well.

The columns that were added include:

Remember to Rest by Brandon Marcello
Having a Hard Time Hitting Slow Pitches? The Art of Pitch Selection and Judgement by Cindy Bristow

Hope you enjoy them!

PFX Tour Will Be in Central Florida

PRESS RELEASE

Softball players and fans are excited about the PFX Tour coming to central Florida October 19 – 21. The PFX Tour combines tournament games for all age groups and a college showcase but the bonus attraction is the PFX Tour players and their exhibition game.

The PFX Tour players include current, former, and future Olympic gold medal winners along with college All Americans. Participants at the PFX Tour interact with softball legends – Lisa Fernandez, Laura Berg, Dr. Dot Richardson, Stacey Nuveman, Jessica Mendoza, Jennie Ritter and more. The PFX Tour players exhibition game is equivalent to a mini-Olympic event!

For serious fans, the PFX Tour offers an opportunity to spend a day with a PFX player at the Softball Dream golf tournament on October 19. Participants in the golf event are paired with a PFX Tour player or coach for a day of golf and fun. For more info visit www.pfxtour.com or email golfer32818@yahoo.com or phone the golf event coordinator at (407) 222-6032.

Mattingly Offers Discount to Teams

I just received word from Cheryl Beck over at Mattingly Baseball that they are offering a very nice discount on fastpitch aluminum bats to all softball teams. They are clearing out their stock of the MVP line of bats and your team can benefit from this clearance sale! All these bats DO feature the very unique, very comfortable, patented V-Grip handle. There is a minimum order of at least a dozen bats, but I happen to know that these bats are being offered at an unbelievable discount.

To find out exact pricing and further details about this offer, please contact Cheryl Beck at cheryl.beck [at] mattinglybaseball.com (replace [at] with the @ symbol, remove all spaces).

Glory Wins, Abbott Named Series MVP

The Washington Glory defeated the Rockford Thunder 3-1 in Sunday's National Pro Fastpitch Championship game. This is only Washington's first year in the league as an expansion team and they are the champs! An expansion team taking the title is not something you see happen too often in football or in other "mainstream" pro sports for that matter.

Congratulations to the Washington Glory on a great season and congratulations to Monica Abbott for being named the series MVP. She may not have won an NCAA title this year, but she is now a NPF champion.

For more details on the game, visit the NPF Website.

Are You in the Inner Circle?

In this month's newsletter sent out to AAF Members, I mentioned that many AAF members and visitors were taking advantage of the great resources over at Softball Performance. I was curious to see what resource seemed to be most popular so I took at look at exactly which resources our visitors and members where taking advantage of. The most popular choice this month is the Inner Circle Membership.

If you are a SERIOUS and COMMITTED softball player, coach, or parent, the Inner Circle may be just what you are looking for.

As an Inner Circle member you will...

~ have access to softball experts who are happy to answer your questions as well as encourage you and support your drive toward becoming a huge softball success story.

~ have access to an ELITE and private membership site and discussion forum

~ receive monthly MP3 audio recordings which reveal performance tips, breakthroughs, techniques, and strategies to help you achieve your softball performance goals

~ Free access to teleclasses and webcasts

~ call-in days for personal one-on-one attention to address your specific questions

~ and much more....

The founder of Softball Performance, Marc Dagenais, is a peak performance softball coach and will personally help guide you to improved performance with the interactive membership of the Inner Circle. At his website you can find testimonials from the likes of Doug Finch, Lauren Bay, Ernie Parker, and other softball greats.

For more information on what the Inner Circle can do for you, visit Softball Performance and click on the Inner Circle link at the top of the page.

New Article - Getting in "The Zone"

Hi, just dropping in really quick to let you know that I've put up a new article. This article talks about a way to help yourself get in "The Zone" for better softball performance. Click the link below to read this article...

Help Yourself Get in "The Zone"

If you haven't been to our Articles page in a while, go check it out. I've finally got a few new things up.

Weather Delays Championship Series

Ackkk!!! The first day of the National Pro Fastpitch Championship Competition was postponed due to inclement weather. Games will now start at 10:00 am CDT on Saturday. Don't forget, these games are supposed to be available to watch via live streaming video online. I'm not sure how the change in schedule affects that, but check out the post below for the website where the games should be viewable.

I can only imagine what it must be like for the teams to get all prepared for a Championship Series then have the games delayed! Growing up in a state where the softball season ran through the winter, I definitely have experience with the disappointment of cancellations. Postponements and cancellations due to weather sure do make you wish there was a softball dome in the area!

For more information on the revised Championship Schedule, visit the NPF Website.

NPF Championship Series Games Available Online

The NPF Championship Series begins today and you can watch games online! Everything kicks of tonight at 6:00 pm CST. Tomorrow's games begin at 3pm CST and Sunday games will start at 12pm CST.

To check out the games plus interviews with coaches and players go to fdl.podcasting.com and click on the LIVE button during the times mentioned above. Even if you miss the live streaming video of the game, you can still go back later to fdl.podcasting.com and watch the games at a later time.

For more information, visit the National Pro Fastpitch Website.

DePaul Hires Cat Osterman

I've finally had a chance to sit down and catch up on softball news and of course, one of the stories that caught my eye was Cat Osterman being hired as the new pitching coach at DePaul University. Hmmm....now I have another reason to visit Chicago.

The season hasn't even started and already Osterman's presence is having an impact on DePaul's softball program. Head coach Eugene Lenti has noticed a spike in interest from the top pitching prospects in the nation. Pitchers on DePaul's pitching staff were in disbelief when they heard the news of Osterman becoming a part of the DePaul program.

Read the full story at SI.com.

Time Flies!

Whew - summer has been soooo busy and I'm not even coaching! As you can see I'm even having trouble keeping up with this blog. It's already past mid-August and this is my first August post! School has started, some teams who have fall seasons are beginning AND the college softball schedules have already been released for 2008!

Apparently the Lady Vols of Tennessee have a tough one ahead of them. In addition to their regular season games they also have a special exhibition planned in April when they will host the US Olympic Softball Team as part of the Olympic team's pre-Olympic tour. This contest will be televised live on ESPN.

For more information on the Tennessee schedule visit WBIR.com.