Everything Fastpitch - The Podcast

Tory Acheson & Don McKinlay

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. read less

SportsSports

Start Here

Fields in bad shape / No cut policy makes rosters huge / What to do with limited options to play

Fields in bad shape / No cut policy makes rosters huge / What to do with limited options to play

This week's lineup:Warmup SegmentListener Question: Why are fields that school ball and travel ball use in such bad condition? (@11:15)Paige's Power Play: Failure Recovery (@18:19)In some areas the school ball teams have a no-cut policy and the roster size is too large. What do we think? (@20:43)Traveling long distances to play when there isn't high level options available locally. (@28:09)Communication and clear directions (@34:12)Support the Show.

Episodes

Fields in bad shape / No cut policy makes rosters huge / What to do with limited options to play

Fields in bad shape / No cut policy makes rosters huge / What to do with limited options to play

This week's lineup:Warmup SegmentListener Question: Why are fields that school ball and travel ball use in such bad condition? (@11:15)Paige's Power Play: Failure Recovery (@18:19)In some areas the school ball teams have a no-cut policy and the roster size is too large. What do we think? (@20:43)Traveling long distances to play when there isn't high level options available locally. (@28:09)Communication and clear directions (@34:12)Support the Show.

Don't confuse the player because the adults have different opinions

Don't confuse the player because the adults have different opinions

Coaches, Instructors and Parents need to be consistent in the message they are sending to the players. A confused player is an inconsistent player. For the benefit of the player, everybody has to work together. The coaches discuss the relationship between players and coaches and instructors and parents.Support the Show.

Catchers - Backup First Base / Don't Lose Games / Correct it, don't apologize

Catchers - Backup First Base / Don't Lose Games / Correct it, don't apologize

This week's LineupCatchers must back up first base (@0:39)More games are lost than won (@13:49)Quit saying "My Bad" (@26:39)Support the Show.

The Comfort Zone, Stretch Zone and Panic Zone

The Comfort Zone, Stretch Zone and Panic Zone

Players need to advance their skills by practicing skills that are out of their comfort zone but not into their panic zone. In this episode we discuss the three zones that people fall into when performing tasks. The comfort zone where we are totally comfortable. The stretch zone where we are being pushed beyond what we are comfortable with. And finally the panic zone where we are asked to perform a task that we are incapable of performing. The coaches give you advice on how to use this knowledge to make it easier to develop your players.Support the Show.

How to manage bullying / Reaction time for hitters

How to manage bullying / Reaction time for hitters

A listener asks for some advice for bullying on a team whether this be physical, mental or isolating some players. This is a topic that all coaches should be on the watch for,Training hitters for fast pitchers. Hitting is reaction time and there are some drills that we can do to help them.Support the Show.

Teaching hitting through the ball

Teaching hitting through the ball

Hitting through the ball is a concept that a lot of players have trouble grasping. The coaches discuss what it means and some tips on how to improve your players hitting.Support the Show.

Coaches who yell / Too many travel teams / Look Good, Play Good

Coaches who yell / Too many travel teams / Look Good, Play Good

This weeks lineup:Coaches who yell. Some advice to coaches and parents who scream and yell during games and practices. Too many travel teams. There are more players than ever and that is great, but we don't have enough pitchers to support the number of teams. Changes need to be made and the people putting these teams together need to be more realistic of how far up the food chain they can go. Look Good, Play GoodSupport the Show.

Why communication is more critical for softball than baseball

Why communication is more critical for softball than baseball

This week we help coaches whose primary experience is in the baseball world understand the difference between communication required in softball as opposed to baseball.Support the show

Batting entire lineup vs. nine / Mental work helps confidence / Moving young players vs. specializing / College Softball observations / Slumps

Batting entire lineup vs. nine / Mental work helps confidence / Moving young players vs. specializing / College Softball observations / Slumps

This week's lineup:Warmup SegmentListener Question: Strengths of batting the entire lineup or nine hitters (@12:09)Paige's Power Play: Mental work helps confidence (@22:36)Moving players around at a young age (@25:28)College Softball observations (@33:17)Slumps (@44:54)Support the Show.

Basic skills have to come first

Basic skills have to come first

We have all seen it, players cannot execute the very basics of playing catch but they are practicing run downs, relays, etc. No matter what level you coach at, but especially those with inexperienced players, you have to be able to throw and catch. It may be boring, you might have to divide your players into groups but you have to work on throwing and catching until the players are competent, before moving onto anything else involving throwing and catching.Support the Show.

Hitting stations for practice / Getting Past Perfection / Advertising national, premier, gold, etc teams / Lack of respect for stars in women's sports

Hitting stations for practice / Getting Past Perfection / Advertising national, premier, gold, etc teams / Lack of respect for stars in women's sports

This week's LineupWarmup SegmentListener Question: What are ways to set up hitting stations for practices? (@12:00)Paige's Power Play: Getting Past Perfection (@15:58)Why do organizations advertise having national, premier or gold level teams.(@18:51)Lack of respect for stars in women's sports? (@27:34)Support the Show.

Practice with the same effort as in the game

Practice with the same effort as in the game

We see this too often. In a game we are hitting with 100% effort, but in our training we don't practice at 100%. It doesn't make since to practice at a different level of effort than how we want to perform in a game. Make adjustments.Support the Show.

Superstitions - good or bad / What visualization is like / Non-softball training / Slow pitching - not an excuse / Be x Do = Have

Superstitions - good or bad / What visualization is like / Non-softball training / Slow pitching - not an excuse / Be x Do = Have

This week's lineupWarmup SegmentListener Question: Are softball superstitions good or bad? (@13:24)Paige's Power Play: What visualization is like (@18:37)Importance of non-softball training (@25:47)Slow Pitching is not an excuse for hitting problems (@38:14)Be x Do = Have (@48:49)Support the Show.

It is our responsibility to help athletes from hurting themselves

It is our responsibility to help athletes from hurting themselves

Our game has many different ways that a player can injure themselves. As coaches we can't prevent the freak accidents. Even professional athletes get hurt and they have expert coaching staffs. But we can be aware enough to help our players do things correctly and understand any current issues they have that must be taken into consideration with our plans.Support the Show.

Footwork for right handed first basemen / We can be too humble / Why have we gotten so combative / Helping catchers adapt to different pitchers / Learn from your peers

Footwork for right handed first basemen / We can be too humble / Why have we gotten so combative / Helping catchers adapt to different pitchers / Learn from your peers

This week's lineupWarmup SegmentListener Question: Footwork for right handed first basemen (@14:05)Paige's Power Play: We can be too humble (@20:12)Why have we gotten so combative in games lately? (@23:29)Helping catcher's adapt to different pitchers (@31:43)Learn from your peers (@39:53)Support the Show.

Defensive Ready Steps

Defensive Ready Steps

Newton's first law of motion states that “an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion". This applies to softball and the coaches discuss how players should be moving into a ready state instead of reacting from a stationary position. Support the Show.

Obligations of Runner and Catcher on a dropped 3rd strike / Why taking a break is bad is a myth / Message from a recruiting service / Please call the strike zone / Work your A's off

Obligations of Runner and Catcher on a dropped 3rd strike / Why taking a break is bad is a myth / Message from a recruiting service / Please call the strike zone / Work your A's off

This week's lineupWarmup SegmentListener Question: Batter/Runner and Catcher's obligation on a dropped 3rd strike? (@13:15)Paige's Power Play: Why taking a break is bad is a myth (@19:00)Interview with EAS recruiting service (@22:31)Please call the strike zone (@39:46)Work your A's off (@53:53)Support the Show.

Has new equipment changed the game?

Has new equipment changed the game?

The coaches discuss the impact of equipment on the game of softball. Their decades of experience give them a unique perspective to the changes.Support the Show.

How much warm up for a pitcher / Part 2 of interview with Justin McLeod of D1Softball / Observations from early season games / Apply a quote from Usain Bolt

How much warm up for a pitcher / Part 2 of interview with Justin McLeod of D1Softball / Observations from early season games / Apply a quote from Usain Bolt

This week's lineupWarmup SegmentListener Question: How much should my daughter warm up before each game? (@12:21)Paige's power Play: Free Parent Training (@19:05)Part 2 of Interview with Justin McLeod of D1Softball (@21:38)Observations from games I've seen at the beginning of the season (@42:25)Quote from Usain Bolt and how it applies today (@54:55)Support the Show.

Rethink any set philosophy you have for all players to follow

Rethink any set philosophy you have for all players to follow

We often hear from students and former students that their coach wants everyone on the team to do something the same way. In this episode we discuss that all players are not physically and athletically the same and maximizing their performance may mean that having a set philosophy is not the best thing.Support the Show.