Having grown up immersed within the baseball neighborhood—collaborating each as a participant and a coach—I gained a profound appreciation for the importance of complete coaching strategies geared toward optimizing athletic efficiency. In my early teaching days, I initially perceived baseball and softball as intently intertwined sports activities. Nonetheless, my perspective has barely shifted as I’ve labored nearer with softball athletes. This has pushed me to additional refine my coaching framework and method.
Upon analyzing and reverse-engineering the sports activities of each baseball and softball, I acknowledged quite a few apparent parallels between the 2. Nonetheless, a important but typically disregarded distinction lies within the positional facet, notably within the contrasting qualities required of the pitchers.
A critical yet often disregarded difference between baseball and softball lies in the positional aspect. Click To Tweet
As I put together to strategize and practice the Simon Fraser College (SFU) softball group for the upcoming season, I’ve structured their developmental method into 4 views through a position-based evaluation:
- Positional Reverse Engineering
- Key Efficiency Indicators
- Energy and Conditioning (S&C) Efficiency Monitoring
- Stress Administration
1. Reverse Engineering Sport
In dissecting the game of softball, I recognized areas essential for growth. These particular areas of focus encompassed:
- Arm Angle: That is outlined as the place the ball is launched in respect to the place. From a pitcher’s perspective, the arm angle is beneath and could have a excessive stress level on the elbow, compared to fielders who’ve an arm angle which releases the ball excessive and locations the next quantity of stress on the rotator cuff.
- Hip Motion: From a pitching perspective, with the unilateral motion concerned, there’s extra extension that locations the next demand on the joint. From a fielder’s perspective, the most important focus then shifts to the hitting aspect, which can nonetheless contain extension however considers a bigger quantity of rotation within the motion.
- Sling Side: That is in reference to the indirect slings (core), that are used otherwise relying on the place of the athlete: for stabilization to safe the pelvis in pitchers vs. being extra ballistic and requiring extra of a rotational part for fielders.
- Velocity: This space differentiates between coaching in additional of an acceleration part for pitchers compared to fielders, who’re required to the touch on most velocity coaching extra regularly.
- Output: Pitchers are required to supply the next quantity of energy at a repeated degree compared to fielders, who require extra maximal power manufacturing.
All through the season, my intent is to judge and refine these features to propel efficiency ahead.
Having established these key focal factors, I proceeded to dive deeper into the distinction between fielders and pitchers. To realize this, I launched into a extra detailed breakdown to find how these recognized areas differ of their vital between the positions. The examination, offered in figures 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3, describe how these features might be distinctly emphasised and focused for coaching all through the whole lot of the season.
Furthermore, this complete evaluation not solely seeks to optimize particular person participant efficiency, but additionally goals to tailor coaching methodologies to swimsuit the precise calls for related to
The major point where we see a difference is in the pitching position with the arm angle, hips, and sling involvement. Click To Tweet
As talked about beforehand, baseball and softball have all the time been considered fairly equally. The key level the place we see a distinction is within the pitching place with the arm angle, hips, and sling involvement. As described above, as we discover with a softball participant, the definitions of arm angle, hip motion, and sling facet for a pitcher within the sport of baseball are nearly flipped and extra reflective of that of a fielder within the sport. Arm angle and hip motion might be extra rotator cuff targeted and from the next launch level, with the hips requiring a bigger quantity of dissociation and rotation to generate energy.
2. Key Efficiency Indicators
An integral facet for any sports activities efficiency division to think about revolves round figuring out and analyzing key efficiency indicators (KPIs) particular to the group and the game. Tailoring them to align with the positional necessities inside the sport is important. As I established each KPIs and Efficiency Monitoring (mentioned beneath), I emphasised the worth of simplicity and advocated for a streamlined method with out further complexity.
Through the choice of KPIs, I targeted on pinpointing the first areas that exert a big affect on softball video games. Notably, I singled out velocity and arm power, notably emphasizing velocity. Velocity in softball is a sport changer, notably because of the base paths being 60 toes (20 yards). For almost all of group sport athletes, that is now cracking into the space the place most velocity is reached. By having velocity as a KPI, you may alter the sport by merely making your athletes turn into higher by acceleration (batter’s field to first base).
Arm power (and thus throwing velocity) can counteract velocity from the angle of group protection. The sooner you may throw the ball throughout the diamond could play a job in getting an out or extending an inning, with athletes solely needing to cowl 20 yards of distance to be secure from base to base. These parts provide easy evaluation and lend themselves to constant monitoring that may be recurrently executed all through the course of the sport.
Determine 2.1 describes the totally different KPIs between pitchers and fielders, highlighting their direct correlation to the essence of the sport itself. This graphic illustration serves to showcase the distinct but interconnected efficiency metrics very important for each positions in softball, emphasizing their relevance inside the sport.
KPIs may be fairly troublesome to completely combine in case your sport and power coaches will not be on the identical web page. Having a deliberate and structured timeline on when to take KPIs is important. In my program, KPIs and monitoring might be taken on a biweekly foundation and velocity KPIs might be taken on Sport Day-1, as this permits coaches to make sure velocity coaching residuals will not be misplaced all through the season. With regards to velocity monitoring, this may be completed on Sport Day-2 or throughout a pitcher’s scheduled bullpen session.
3. S&C Efficiency Monitoring
Just like the method taken with KPIs, simplicity underlies the institution of efficiency monitoring protocols. I’ve chosen to categorize parts into seven distinct classes:
- Energy
- Neuromuscular
- Vertical Displacement
- Horizontal Displacement
- Max Energy
- Reactive Energy
- Anthropometrics
Avoiding fixation on a singular metric and embracing a variety of easy information factors permits a extra complete evaluation when implementing a peaking protocol.
Avoiding fixation on a singular metric and embracing a range of straightforward data points enables a more comprehensive assessment when implementing a peaking protocol. Click To Tweet
The precise metrics slated for monitoring all through the season with the SFU softball group are illustrated in Determine 3.1. The first goal entails gathering info frequently over the yr. Whereas the goal is to see development throughout all classes, the info, whether or not indicating progress or setbacks, will illustrate an image that signifies the place an athlete ought to focus their consideration by way of coaching. The purpose is to progress in all areas, and the info collected performs a significant position as an evaluation software and route for programming, whether or not it displays development or challenges.
4. Stress Administration
The position of the power and conditioning coach transcends that of simply making athletes greater, sooner, and stronger. Upon utilization of periodization, superior methodologies, and strategies, it turns into evident that an S&C coach should possess a profound understanding of stress and cargo administration. I’ve all the time considered my coaching and periodization system as a big puzzle piece, providing a visible framework to simply construction weekly plans. To additional improve this method, I’ve meshed my system with Daniel Bove’s quadrant system to include stress administration—on this case, particularly tailor-made in direction of softball athletes.
The role of the strength and conditioning coach transcends that of just making athletes bigger, faster, and stronger. Click To Tweet
Stress evaluation is simplified by breaking it down into 4 quadrants: Quadrant 1 denotes low tissue stress at the side of low neural stress, Quadrant 2 signifies excessive tissue stress with low neural stress, Quadrant 3 represents low tissue stress paired with excessive neural stress, and Quadrant 4 signifies excessive tissue stress coupled with excessive neural stress. Overlaying these quadrants with my very own coaching system turned obvious as an efficient method.
Determine 4.1 illustrates the correlation between my coaching system and stress administration represented inside every quadrant. The following step concerned dissecting the equal stress inside the sport itself.
Determine 4.2 describes how I segmented the sport of softball by gameplay, practices, and particular person coaching, factoring within the distinct roles of pitchers and fielders. This newly built-in system goals to research weekly stress totals to differentiate between “excessive” and “low” stress weeks. By monitoring hundreds not solely within the weight room but additionally throughout practices, this method fosters improved communication amongst gamers, teaching employees, sports activities medication personnel, and efficiency employees, finally fostering holistic athlete growth.
Last Ideas
The holistic method, centered on coaching methodologies tailor-made to the distinctive calls for of softball and particularly structured round totally different participant positions, serves not solely to optimize particular person efficiency, but additionally fosters improved communication. This multifaceted technique, intricately woven into the developmental plan for the SFU Softball Staff, represents a step towards understanding and enhancing athlete efficiency.
By deconstructing the game primarily based on its particular wants and positional necessities, this method contributes considerably to advancing the sphere of power and conditioning, paving the best way for extra focused and efficient coaching methodologies within the realm of softball and doubtlessly different sports activities as effectively.
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References
Bove, D. (2022). The quadrant system: Navigating stress in group sport. Athlete Framework.
Bove, D. (2023). Takeoff: A Visible Information to Coaching and Monitoring Decrease Physique Energy. Athlete Framework.
Robertson, Okay. (2022). Athlete Monitoring. Lecture.
Care, T. (2023). Holistic Efficiency Administration Concurrent Mannequin. Lecture.