Everything Fastpitch - The Podcast
Everything Fastpitch is a podcast hosted by Coach Tory Acheson and Coach Don McKinlay. Tory and Don are former college coaches that are now full time instructors and travel ball coaches. Since retiring form active collegiate coaching they have committed themselves to providing educational materials to the fastpitch community. This podcast is one of the resources they are providing. Their website has 500+ blog posts and they have a YouTube channel. All of these cover fastpitch softball from coaching and training beginner athletes up through college athletes. It is a great resource for players, parents and coaches. Whether it be training tips, mental aspects, coaching methods, recruiting etc. it is all covered, hence the name Everything Fastpitch.
Episodes
In today's environment in the travel ball world, it is imperative that a coach have a strategy/plan on handling their lineup. And it needs to be communicated to the players and parents and be adhered to if you want to have to a better experience.
This week's Lineup
- Warmup Segment
- Listener Question: Fallout from trying out for next year's team already this year (@16:04)
- Stanford playing in football stadium (@27:57)
- Eating better at tournaments (@38:30)
- Communicating with language, phrases and vocabulary that matches your player's level (@44:39)
Coaches - You must have a player to player communication system, practice it and make sure it is implemented.
This week's Lineup
- Warmup Segment
- Listener Question: Taking a called first strike? (@12:58)
- Cool development in college softball (@24:08)
- Observations at the ball park and glove care (@39:03)
- Teaching pitchers to attack the zone (@41:41)
We teach our players to wipe off/forget a mistake and not let it affect our performance in the game. But we don't really want them to forget it, because mistakes are how we learn and identify what we need to practice. The discussion today is how to handle this dilemma.
This week's Lineup
- Warmup Segment
- Listener Question: Could the SEC have all 8 teams at the CWS? (@13:27)
- Reaction to the question Does any player chose to be a pitcher only? (@21:15)
- Helping catchers to improve their throwing (@30:12)
- Art of patience (@38:01)
Especially early in the season our pitchers need practice against hitters and hitters need to see some live pitching. The coaches discuss the need and some options to make this happen.
This week's Lineup
- Warmup Segment
- Listener Question: Feedback from "praise loudly, criticize quietly" (@17:11)
- Pitcher's are hitting (@28:56)
- Follow up to reverse daddy ball (@29:58)
- What is a bracket ready pitcher? (@46:57)
- Compete with yourself (@56:23)
All fields have to be maintained. A lot of players think that it just happens and don't understand the things that have to be done to keep the field playable. By teaching and having them perform some field maintenance they will have more respect for the facilities and lessen the impact of damage during play. And a lot of school ball settings require them to do field work.
This week's Lineup
- Warmup Segment
- Listener Question: Are 2 different pro leagues good or bad? (@8:30)
- How to win the right way (@14:02)
- Make use of limited practice time (@20:39)
- Create environment where it's save to make a mistake (@29:24)
There are many different ways to be ready to play a defensive position. We have to teach our players how to move to ready so they are not stationary. A lot of players, especially younger players do not understand this concept.
This week's Lineup
- Warmup Segment
- Listener Question: Unusual situation with player handling the pressure of playing for dad coach(@8:20)
- Recruiting Questions (@16:05)
- Kickoff to the college season (@21:47)
- Learning by watching (@28:13)
Where does working on pickoff and trick plays fit into practice? Coaches need to evaluate the skill level of their players and make a determination how much time they should devote to these type of drills.
This week's lineup
- Warmup Segment
- Listener Question: What is most important in college recruiting?(@12:04)
- School ball team has no pitchers, advice on forcing a player to be a pitcher. (@21:08)
- General hitting advice (@30:00)
- Coaching check list (@40:45)
Coaches need to always be working on improving themselves. Clinics are are great way to meet other coaches and share knowledge.
This week's lineup:
- Warmup Segment
- Listener Question: Do any women's sports actually make any money for their school? (@14:50)
- Correlation between team rankings and player recognition (@23:09)
- Feedback from listeners on the issue of not enough pitchers (@31:24)
- Know the rules if you are going to argue (@53:43)
How a coach is going to use stats in making game decisions is unique for each coach. But how important they are and the impact on decision making must be communicated to your players. Otherwise discontent and questioning will occur.
This week's Lineup
- Warmup Segment
- Listener Question: Saw top 25 list, what do you think about the SEC dominating the list? (@11:42)
- Interview with Valerie Alston, mental coach, speaker, author and podcaster (@19:29)
- Pitch calling guidance (@49:07)
The more efficient we are the less likely we get picked off a base and more likely to be able to advance a base. Baserunning practice has to drill down to the small details of footwork to be the more efficient. It's not just take your lead and turn around to come back, but how.
This week's Lineup
- Warmup Segment
- Listener Question: What's more important, what my team does well or what my opponent might do? (@15:31)
- Sorting out the process of trying out for a team (@20:40)
- Most unhittable pitcher in softball (@30:53)
- Importance of coaching at a young age (@38:13)
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