Admittedly, I have been a little slow with blogging post Kickoff To Pride Tournament and Pride itself. Mea culpa for the neglect. If an effort to atone, here are two key How To videos on key offensive aspects to softball.
1 – Swinging for power
Who doesn’t want to step up to the plate and pwn the ball? Do you feel like you are putting everything into your swing, but not seeing the results? This is one of the best (albeit rather technical) videos on breaking down swinging for power.
Let’s recap:
1 – Channel your inner Shakira – The hips don’t lie, so use ‘em and you just brought your game to the next level.
2 – Plant your front foot like you own the joint!
3 – Engage your core. How do you do this? Here’s my go to exercise for core strength. If you can’t hit the ball farther after 3 months of these bad boys, I’ll buy you a beer!
4 – Grip the bat low in order to snap the bat at the end of your swing
5 – I can’t believe they overlooked this in the video. Perfect your bat flip
2 – Running the bases
When is the last time you heard anybody say; “I hit the sh*t out of that ball, but I was good with stopping at 2nd”? Come on! How can you be happy with 1st when 2nd is so tantalizingly close I say? And look! Just beyond that, 3rd is taunting you! Calling your name and asking why you don’t call anymore? Huh! I thought this blog was supposed to about softball. Moving on…
Two key lessons when running the bases:
1 – UNLESS rounding for second, ALWAYS, ALWAYS OVERRUN 1st base. Let’s go the video for an explanation…
Note: If running through 1st base, aim for the orange part of the bag (not shown in video). It’s a safety thing and the 1st basemen will like you a little more!
2 – Don’t run harder, run smarter – How to Round the Bases Effectively and Safely
Note: If you round wide and round into someone playing 2nd, short, or 3rd, this will most likely NOT go over well. Round the bases is like driving, stay in your lane until you get to your destination.
So, in a little under 300 words, I have you swinging your stick more effectively and rounding the bases at blazing speeds. Who knew at the start of the season that I would be helping so many of you score?
We are back at The Pit next week, so let’s hope the rain let’s up by Friday!
Bring a big stick and swing for the fences my friends!
Abby (just for you Rob)
