Coaching Management 18.9

Coaching Management VOL. XVIII NO. 9

S O F T B A L L ■ ■

P O S T S E A S O N

Strength Through Sleep Facing Your Critics

Making Strides

How to rebuild a struggling program

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CONTENTS

Coaching Management Softball Edition Postseason 2010 Vol. XVIII, No. 9

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2

LOCKER ROOM

Bulletin Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 NCAA institutes mandatory bat testing … The lessons of Title IX … NFCA plans recruiting tournaments … Winning on the road … An ace up her sleeve.

Q&A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Jen Fisher, Head Coach at Colorado State University, talks about taking over an NCAA Division I program, the changes the sport has undergone, and the lessons of parenthood.

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COVER STORY

Making Strides

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

How do you begin to turn around a struggling program? By demonstrating your commitment, setting high expectations, and building relationships with all the people around you.

LEADERSHIP

Quelling the Critics

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nowadays, coaches get bombarded with criticism from every angle. Learning how to handle it with composure is key to success (and staying sane).

OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE

Eyes Wide Open

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

NOW PLAYING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 On the cover: After finishing the 2009 season 15-42, the Texas Tech Red Raiders rebounded in 2010 with 38 wins and their first appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament since 2001.

Story begins on page 12.

Photo: Michael Strong/Texas Tech Athletics.

Recent research shows there is one easy way for athletes to enhance their workouts and performance: by getting a full night of uninterrupted sleep.

Hitting & Pitching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Softball Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Team Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

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Copyright © 2010 by MAG, Inc. All rights reserved.

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LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD Testing for Hot Bats Since softball bat standards were introduced 10 years ago, NCAA enforcement efforts have largely amounted to closing the barn door after the horses have already escaped.

With testing conducted only after the season was finished, there was little way to keep illegal bats from being used.

Last season, however, the NCAA began limited testing of bats before games.

Although the number of illegal bats identified was small, the voluntary pilot pre-competition testing program went so well that it will be expanded and become mandatory at playoff events in all three divisions in 2011.

“Our goal all along has been to do pre-competition testing so

we can be more confident that all equipment is within specifications,” says Dee Abrahamson, Associate Athletic Director at Northern Illinois University and NCAA Softball SecretaryRules Editor. “Barrel compression testing is portable, quick, and doesn’t damage the bats.

We think it can helph keep illegal bats out of the game.”

Pre-competition testing is done using a small, lightweight machine that measures a bat’s stiffness. The barrel is squeezed in a vise, and a reading indicates whether the bat meets specifications. Bats that exceed pre-set standards can create a trampoline effect that can propel balls faster than allowed under the Amateur Softball Association bat specifications used by the NCAA. A study comparing the precompetition testing method to laboratory tests, where

balls are fired at bats and their speed leaving the bat is measured, showed that all the bats identified as illegal by the portable machine also failed the laboratory test. Some bats that slightly exceeded limits in laboratory testing were cleared by the portable machine.

Thus, some bats with slightly increased performance levels may get through the pre-competition testing process, but there’s little chance that a legal bat will be improperly flagged.

Although final details of next year’s testing program are still being ironed out, pre-competition testing will occur at selected regional, super-regional, and championship sites for all three divisions. All bats from competing teams will be tested and those that fail will be confiscated. Schools will not be compensated for the loss of the bats. No further penalties

have been prescribed by the NCAA, although the NCAA Softball Committee may consider adding additional penalties in the future.

According to Abrahamson, testing will typically occur before a team’s first practice session. Should a team not use its practice session, testing will likely occur before the pretournament coaches meetings.

“Our goal is to get the testing done early so players have an opportunity to choose new bats if needed and practice with them before the games begin,” Abrahamson says.

“Another option is to do it before the coaches meeting, which would at least give players the opportunity to do a little short toss into a net with a new bat.”

Postseason testing in 2007 showed that 40 percent of the bats tested (10 of 25) exceeded the batted-ball exit speed standard of 98 miles per hour, some by more than five miles per hour. That number fell to 12 percent (three of 25) in 2008, then rose again to 43 percent (12 of 28) in 2009.

Non-conforming bats were found in all three divisions and more than a third of the teams (14 of 37) in the tests over the three years had at least one bat that was not in compliance.

Complete results from the 2010 postseason tests were not available at press time, but the pre-competition testing resulted in only two disqualified bats out of 189 submitted by 33 teams. This testing was voluntary, however, and coaches were allowed to decide which bats they wanted to have tested, which may have affected the results.

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Coaching Management

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BRAD MCCLENNY/AP photo

After running a successful pilot program to test bats at the end of last season, the NCAA announced plans to begin mandatory testing of all bats at selected 2011 postseason games in all three divisions.

Above, University of Florida outfielder Kelsey Bruder hits a two-run homer to guide the Gators to a 5-2 victory over Arizona State University in the 2010 NCAA Super Regional.

Abrahamson says the 2010 pilot program exposed some of the challenges involved in trying to cover so many games with limited quantities of testing equipment. “We had nine machines last season, and if

we get a couple of more, we might be able to cover about a third of the sites in 2011,” she says. “But there’s a lot of work in getting machines to the right locations at the right times, marking and logging tested bats, and deciding who can administer the tests if members of the NCAA Softball Rules Committee are not available.”

Depending on the number of machines and testers available, testing may spread to conference tournaments and regular season games. Abrahamson says that several teams have bought their own machines to ensure their bats are legal.

“Some coaches want to have the peace of mind of knowing their bats are in compliance,’ she says. “They don’t want to get to a playoff site and suddenly find that half of their bats can’t be used.”

NFCA Proposes New Tournaments Starting in 2011, there will be a new player on the summer tournament circuit. The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) is initiating a series of regional tournaments with the goal of providing a better recruiting experience for both college coaches and high school players.

Jen Goodwin, NFCA Assistant Executive Director, says a major aim is to give coaches increased opportunities to look at potential recruits. To achieve that, the NFCA events will be smaller than many current tournaments. Goodwin estimates 50 teams would participate in each tournament, although that number may change.

“If there are five games going

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at once, coaches can walk around to all the fields and see people in the outfield, people at bat, and people warming up,” she says. “You can get a good look at all the teams.”

ers so they know how a kid will perform with her back against the wall. The frustration with time limits is that there’s never a two-outs, bases-loaded, bottom-of-the-seventh at-bat

“With time limits, you don’t see the kids compete. College coaches want to make sure there’s pres­sure on players so they know how a kid will perform with her back against the wall.”

There is a chance the games may not have time limits, which would allow coaches to get a better idea of the players they’re scouting in a more realistic setting. “With time limits, you don’t see the kids compete,” Goodwin says. “College coaches want to make sure there’s pressure on play-

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where someone has to make it happen. The pressure isn’t really there.”

Additionally, Goodwin is tinkering with a pre-game evaluation process where coaches could watch players fielding ground balls, shagging flies, and swinging the bat to bet-

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LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD ter assess players who may not get a lot of action during a game. “If a player is in right field and doesn’t get a single ball hit to her, the coach can’t evaluate her defensive skills,” she says. “If we’re able to do something before each game, coaches can quickly see an athlete’s abilities.”

With countless exposure tournaments dotting the landscape, how will the NFCA attract the high-profile travel teams and elite college programs? “There are so many options, but if something is being run by the NFCA, coaches know what they’ll get out of it,” Goodwin says. “All our tournaments are going to be formatted and run the same, and because these events are being backed by the NFCA, we hope they’ll be heavily supported by college coaches.”

Goodwin is also asking college coaches which teams they’d like to see participate— something she hopes will be a major enticement. “When we invite teams, telling them that Alabama and Florida or any top team wants them to come, that will get them excited about attending,” she says.

The NFCA hopes to generate revenue from the tournaments. “Depending on how big the tournaments get, they definitely could be a source of income,” Goodwin says. “The revenue could be used to fund more tournaments or benefit other parts of the organization, from increasing publications to helping with coaching courses.”

Learning from Title IX As more coaches, athletes, and parents are learning, when the baseball field is superior to the softball team’s facilities, there may be grounds for a Title IX lawsuit. But the good news is school officials have become more receptive to acting on

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Coaching Management

At Richmond Senior High School in Rockingham, N.C., a parent’s telephone call prompted a Title IX investigation by the Office for Civil Rights. In response, the softball team will see its home field receive new bleachers, dugouts, a backstop, a fence, and an improved irrigation system, with a second set of renovations scheduled for next year. complaints, rather than letting an inequity concern turn into a crisis.

At Richmond Senior High School in Rockingham, N.C., a call from a softball player’s parent to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) last year prompted an investigation. “We knew we had some inequities in our facilities, and we’d had numerous conversations over time about fixing them,” says then-Athletic Director Hal Shuler, who is now Assistant Principal at neighboring Rockingham (N.C.) Middle School. “But no concrete plans had been made, and with finances getting tighter, things had stalled.”

About five months after two investigators visited campus to tour the facilities and interview coaches and athletes, the OCR sent a report outlining steps Richmond administrators needed to take to comply with Title IX. After the report was presented to Richmond’s board of education, $105,000 in improvements to girls’ facilities was approved.

This year, the softball field will be given new bleachers, as well as a fence, backstop, and dugouts. The infield and warning track will be regraded, and the irrigation system will be improved. Lights are scheduled to be added in a second phase, set for next year.

“I never saw it as a negative that a parent went to the OCR,” Shuler says. “We knew we needed to make some changes, and the parent’s concerns were valid. His complaint got things moving in the right direction, and the end result is what matters.”

A complaint filed with the OCR in Nov. 2009 by former Lincoln Land Community College Head Coach Jim Davis also prompted an on-campus investigation. Fast-forward to June, when school officials sprang into action after receiving the OCR’s report.

Based on the OCR’s findings, within the next year, the Loggers will have a newly-constructed, regulation-size practice field,

and see improvements to their game day field, including two bullpens with pitching lanes, a relocated scoreboard, and an improved press area. The team was immediately granted equal access to the school’s batting cages and equal opportunity to operate the outdoor concession stand at home games.

It isn’t just inequity in facilities that draws attention, however.

The location of a field can be part of a Title IX complaint, too.

At Baldwin High School in Wailuku, Hawai’i, Head Coach Joe Duran and the families of three players filed a Title IX lawsuit against the state Department of Education and Maui County in federal court in March. Duran and the players claimed the squad was forced to move its practices to a lesser-quality field located about a mile away so local Little League teams could hold practices and games on a field closer to school.

Officials maintained the switch was necessary because the softball season was recently

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changed to overlap with baseball, and that the field the softball team was moved to was of good quality. (Baldwin High School uses the county’s fields because it doesn’t have fields of its own on campus.)

ect. After years of the softball team traveling a mile away to practice and play—at a field with no restrooms—it was mandated that the softball and baseball teams have equal facilities.

Days after the filing, a federal district court judge ruled that the state and county must either allow the team to return to its original field or make immediate improvements to the condition of the field the squad was moved to. Less than a month later, the governor’s office agreed to release more than $1 million for the construction of a new softball field on Baldwin’s campus as part of the settlement.

With a tight budget hovering, parents, administrators, community members, coaches, and players are spending months volunteering their time and services to move a wetlands area at the high school and convert the space into a new softball field. Though the finishing date is more than a year away, the softball community is excited about the improvement.

At Warrenton (Ore.) High School, a similar situation has resulted in the community coming together on a new field construction proj-

“I can’t wait to see it done,” Athletic Director and former Head Coach Heidi Lent told The Daily Astorian. “I think the girls should have as nice a facility as the boys have. It’s time.”

Tricks of the Trade

fielder to chase the fake ball— and she dutifully obliged.

Heading into the bottom of the 10th inning of the Utah Class 2A title game with a 3-2 lead, Grand County High School Head Coach Stephanie Cluff saw an oppportunity to play an ace she had up her sleeve. Competing under an international tiebreaker format that called for a runner to be placed at second base at the start of the inning, Cluff relayed positioning instructions as her defense took the field—and they were ready.

With her teammates urging her to run, South Summit High School’s runner broke for third.

She wasn’t the only one fooled.

“The third base coach yelled for the runner to take the next base,” recalls Cluff. “The first base coach, who saw that the ball was still in the pitcher’s glove, realized what was happening and called for the runner to get back to second—but in all the chaos, she didn’t hear and kept going.”

After taking the ball, pitcher Shelby Dalton motioned as though she was making a pickoff throw to second base.

Playing along, the shortstop and second baseman dove in an attempt to corral what appeared to be a wayward throw. Meanwhile, the rest of the team yelled for the center-

When the runner reached the midway point between second and third, Dalton—with the real ball tucked away in her glove—sprinted toward the runner and applied the tag for the first out of the inning.

Then, with the bases empty, Dalton struck out the next batter and induced a fly ball

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LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD to put the finishing touches on Grand County’s first state championship since 2000.

Having learned the play as a member of the 2000 titlewinning team, Cluff has taught it to her players ever since she began coaching. “We started practicing it three weeks before the state championship game,” says Cluff. “We ran it a couple of times during practices—usually to see who we could catch napping.

“For the play to work, it really has to be the perfect moment in the game,” she adds. “Having an inexperienced baserunner also helps. In the championship game, I noticed the opposing manager decided to pinch run with a younger girl who looked a little nervous, so I decided to take advantage.”

After the game, some commenters on a local message board questioned the play, but Cluff heard no protest from the South Summit coaches or fans. “There were some who said the play tainted the championship,” says Cluff.

“But there were just as many who called us a smart, headsup team that was prepared for a particular situation. The negative comments didn’t bother us because we felt we used a well thought out play to seal the deal.”

After running the play to perfection in such a high-profile moment, Cluff realizes she’ll have to shelve it for a while. “I doubt we’ll be able to fool anybody with it for a long time,” she says. “We’re always plotting, and we still have a few more cards up our sleeve.”

Road Warriors Winning is nothing new for Eastern Connecticut State University, a school with five national championships on its resume. But the success of the 2010 campaign—a 39-6-1 mark, which tied the program record for wins, the team’s first regional title in 18 years, and a third place finish in the NCAA Division III national tournament—came with a unique wrinkle: The Warriors achieved all that while playing the entire season on the road.

Eastern Connecticut State was homeless because a parking garage is being built on the former site of Spector Field, the school’s softball facility. A new field has been planned, but the school can’t begin construction until the governor releases the necessary funds.

Ninth-year Head Coach Diana Pepin knew her team would be without a home field all season, so she called a team meeting in the fall to discuss the situation. “I told them, ‘We can use this as an excuse, or we can do everything possible to perform our best and meet our goals,’” Pepin says. “Everybody was on board. It didn’t matter where we were going to play. We were playing together and for each other. Everyone accepted that from day one.”

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Coaching Management

To help deal with the difficult schedule, Pepin tapped into her team leadership to gauge players’ attitudes from day to

“If I or the captains felt the team was struggling or needed to take a day off, I didn’t hesitate to give it to them,” Pepin says. “I had to do that to make sure they stayed fresh and on task. My philosophy is that we get done what we need to get done and then we get out of there. We’re not going to practice for three hours just for the sake of practicing, and a day off isn’t going to kill us.”

Despite the lack of a home field, the Warriors did play three conference doubleheaders at the University of Connecticut, a 20-minute drive from campus. “It was nice not having to travel so far and the kids really enjoyed playing at a Division I facility,” Pepin says.

“It enabled us to play close enough for our families and students to come and watch.”

In addition to the rough schedule, Eastern Connecticut State was also forced to practice at a local middle school.

There, they had no access to a pitching machine or batting tunnel. But the Warriors made the most of the situation.

“My assistant or I would pitch with a screen in front of us when we needed it,” Pepin says. “This experience really taught us you don’t need all these machines and everything else to be successful.

It’s more about the heart and determination players have in going after their goals.”

Off the field, the hectic travel routine also made life difficult in the classroom. Pepin instructed her players to schedule classes before 12:30 p.m., so they wouldn’t miss lectures when the team was on the road, but losing some time proved inevitable.

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JEFF RICHARDS

Thanks to a 10th inning fake pickoff attempt by Grand County High School ace Shelby Dalton (above), the Lady Devils held their 3-2 lead and defeated South Summit High School to win the Utah Class 2A Championship.

Pepin believes that approach was necessary for getting her team in the proper mindset to attack a grueling and tiring schedule. “It’s all in how you present it,” she explains. “If you tell the team they’re still playing a game they love and don’t let them make excuses, you’ll be successful. If you say, ‘Poor us,’ then the kids are going to feel whatever the coaching staff feels. We had to make the most out of the situation.”

day. The Warriors endured one week during the regular season when they played five away games, and by the end of the stretch, players were mentally and physically drained.

“They weren’t able to study in the library, and studying on a bus isn’t exactly ideal,” Pepin says. “They did the best they could, and our team ended up with a cumulative 3.12 GPA.” Next season, Eastern Connecticut State will likely play without a home field yet again, though the team is hoping to at least get an oncampus practice field. While the lack of a facility has not yet affected the squad’s onfield performance, Pepin acknowledges that a program without a field cannot maintain this level of success forever.

“Because we are successful, players still want to come here,” she says. “Right now, it hasn’t hurt us, but in the long term, I can’t imagine sustaining what we’ve done in the past without a field.”

Playing the entire season on the road, Eastern Connecticut State University closed the 2010 campaign with a 39-6-1 record, the team’s first regional title in 18 years, and a third place finish at the NCAA Division III national tournament.

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Q&A

Jen Fisher

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In three years at Metropolitan State College of Denver, Head Coach Jen Fisher consistently exceeded expectations. In 2010, the Roadrunners started the season ranked 16th in the nation before advancing to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II World Series, finishing 536. Two years earlier, Fisher took a squad in its first year of competition since 1990 to a 32-18 record.

Her success did not go unnoticed. In August, Fisher was named Head Coach at Colorado State University, her alma mater.

A three-sport athlete at Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins, Fisher played softball at Creighton

CM: This spring, Metro State won the NFCA Central Region Coaching Staff of the Year award. What did that honor mean to you?

Fisher: I love that the NFCA gives its award to the whole coaching staff. I wouldn’t be anywhere without my assistants. I love that they received some well-deserved recognition.

University, the Colorado School of Mines, and Colorado State, where she earned a bachelor’s degree while coaching local club and high school teams. She developed her head coaching skills at Otero Junior College, where she won 355 games in eight years and was named NJCAA Region IX Coach of the Year seven consecutive seasons.

In this interview, Fisher talks about taking over an NCAA Division I program, the changes her sport has undergone, and the lessons of parenthood.

What was it like to revive the Metro State program after 18 years?

It was really exciting. Most people there didn’t remember having a team, so it was like starting a brand-new program. Softball fans and even people who had never seen women’s fastpitch before were very impressed with our program.

How will you adjust to coaching at an NCAA Division I school?

I have to prove myself just like I did when I went from Otero to Metro State.

I’m not going to reinvent the wheel—I’ll do what made me successful in the past.

There are three parts to having a successful program and winning is only one of the pieces. You need to involve the community in your program, and you need to excel academically. If you have winners in the classroom and community, on-field success will take care of itself.

What is the biggest difference between coaching at a community college and a four-year school?

At Otero, it was really hard to have players for only two years. Once I got them where I wanted them to be, they graduated. In addition, at the community college level, sometimes you have to be a jack-ofall-trades and take on academic advising and athletic training roles. At a four-year college, you have more resources.

How do you develop strong hitters?

You start by defining what a successful at-bat is. That can be different for everyone, but often starts with just swinging at good pitches and battling if you fall behind in the count. Eventually, that will progress to making good contact and hitting the ball hard. I don’t put pressure on players to hit home runs. If the effort is there and they can hit the ball hard, I’m happy.

Third baseman/catcher Tara Mickelson helped take Metro State to the NCAA Division II World Series with a .370 batting average, .867 slugging percentage, 25 home runs, and 78 runs batted in.

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Q&A What’s your coaching philosophy?

I’m a mother, and when you have children, you have to focus on who they are as people and help them have the best experience in life. That translates to coaching because as a coach you can’t be selfish and expect student-athletes

exercises with public high school students. One was a First Impressions Sheet where students would sit with our players, who would share their first impression of the student, like “You have great energy,” or “You’re a team player.” By the end, each student would have 20 things to give her confidence. If we can help a girl develop self-confidence, we’ve made progress. itself.

“Confidence doesn’t manifest It comes from quality practices.

You have to start with the basics of whatever skill they’re learning and work with them step by step.” to perform for you. You want them to learn life skills and draw a great experience from their sport. When you take the approach of caring for your players and helping them improve on and off the field, they’ll want to learn and get better.

What went into your NCAA award-winning mentoring program at Metro?

We did a number of confidence-building

Mentoring these students helped our players realize that they are in the public eye and can be positive role models to young women. It also gave them some real-life perspective. Many college student-athletes today have issues that are difficult to deal with, but some of these public school students have situations far worse than our players could have ever imagined.

How do you help players build confidence?

Confidence doesn’t manifest itself. It comes from quality practices. You have to start with the basics of whatever skill

they’re learning and work with them step by step. If they do that basic skill well, you move to something more challenging.

You also need to remain positive. You tell them, “You’ve practiced this skill many times. It’s something in your toolbox that you know how to do and you can use it in this game.” That helps their confidence.

How does being a former player help you as a coach?

I was born in 1972, so I reaped the benefits of Title IX. A lot of these players don’t understand what life was like then for a young woman who wanted to play sports. Through talking about what that experience was like with my players, I hope they won’t take their opportunities for granted.

How has the sport evolved over the years?

Offensively, it has come a long way. A lot of people say it’s the bats, but I think we have better coaches now than ever before. I see a big difference in the number of solid hitters now compared to when I played. Players are better athletes, and their strength and conditioning has really improved.

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Coaching Management

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MAKING STRIDES

BY JIM FORNACIARI

How do you begin to turn around a struggling program?

The keys are demonstrating your commitment, setting high expectations, and building relationships with all the people around you.

After finishing the 2009 season 15-42, the Texas Tech Red Raiders rebounded in 2010 with 38 wins and their first appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament since 2001.

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Michael Strong/Texas Tech Athletics

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ixing a broken softball PROGRam is not for the faint of heart. To turn around a struggling team, you’ll have to make a tremendous commitment of time and energy, formulate a solid game plan, and work closely with your athletic director, coaches, student-athletes, parents, and community. Most of all, you’ll need to test yourself like never before.

After serving 11 years as an assistant baseball coach at Naperville (Ill.) Central High School, I had the opportunity to rebuild the baseball program at neighboring Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn, Ill., from 1999 to 2005. That experience, along with watching other successful coaches, has helped me put together a blueprint for turning a failing program into a successful one.

What do struggling teams have in common? In most, there’s a history of disappointment, a lack of student participation, an abundance of unhappy parents, and dwindling community involvement.

The coaching staff is demoralized, practices are too relaxed to provide any real Jim Fornaciari recently retired as Head Baseball Coach at Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn, Ill., where he continues to serve as a history teacher. His team went to the state finals in 2002 and 2003 and his program produced a number of college and professional players. He can be reached at: James_Fornaciari@glenbard.org.

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improvement, and facilities are in need of a makeover.

Luckily, none of that is beyond repair.

I believe the keys to turning around a struggling program are commitment, expectations, and relationships.

The rebuilding process will be much easier if you’re able to foster positive relationships with your athletic director, fellow coaches, assistants, parents, students, and community members. Think of them as your constituents, and as you institute changes in your program, make sure to get their support every step of the way.

The Right Start The best place to begin building relationships is at the top. Asking your athletic director for input will give him or her a sense of ownership in your program.

The support of an athletic director who is committed to your initiatives will go a long way toward helping you reach your goals—especially if people begin questioning your decisions.

In raising expectations, you can expect to meet resistance, and some of your demands of student-athletes may come as a shock to a program that has historically required (and received) little from its players. Having a strong athletic director to publicly back you up can make the difference in overcoming those hurdles.

During the interview process, you made your vision clear to the school’s administration and athletic director. Now, having successfully sold that big picture, you need to take the opportunity to talk

about it again as you begin your job.

Working with your athletic director, develop a list of short-term and long-term goals. For example, a short-term goal might be adding a lower level pitching coach or purchasing protective screens to improve batting practice. Long-term goals could include building dugouts or winning conference titles.

In developing and presenting your list, your athletic director will help gauge how realistic your goals are, especially with regards to funding. As a new coach, you could lose the confidence of people around you if your goals are too lofty, so it’s important to establish benchmarks that are attainable.

As you set your goals, keep in mind all your other responsibilities inside and outside school, making sure not to ignore the rest of your life as you attack the challenge of rebuilding your program. Although you have a great deal of work to do, it’s important to remember that not everything can take place during the first year. In setting priorities, keep your primary focus on teaching the fundamentals of the game.

After talking with the athletic director, start making connections with the other head coaches, who should ultimately become some of your closest supporters.

These relationships may initially be difficult to develop, but don’t give up—the more time you spend sharing ideas with other coaches at the school, the stronger these relationships will grow.

The trust between head coaches can improve through working in one anoth-

A

s you begin your new job, you may be inundated by parents, coaches, alumni, or even faculty members who want to share a laundry list of problems. Although it’s important to understand why past seasons have gone poorly, it’s best to avoid the discussion as gracefully as possible. You—and the complainers—will be better served by keeping the discussion in the present.

Be careful not to overanalyze what has gone wrong in the past. Over time, through your own observations and discussions, you’ll be able to judge those issues for yourself.

Is it important to know the soccer coach has historically

er’s programs. As head softball coach, you might offer to serve as an assistant on the volleyball staff, and although it will take time away from your team, the relationship could go a long way toward developing a unified, coordinated athletic program.

As a new coach trying to inject energy into your program, you also need to prove your commitment to multi-sport participation. Early in the rebuilding process, you might find yourself in conflict with another coach over practice schedules, workouts, or overlapping seasons. If you are a true advocate for your student-athletes, this is the time to work closely with coaches from other sports, resolving issues that arise and demonstrating your commitment to the entire athletics program.

Hiring Line Along with having a strong vision, successful coaches need to recruit assistants who share their goals. Whenever possible, hire assistant coaches from within the school, building your staff with people who can talk up the program during the day and act as magnets to draw students to your team. If your program is having difficulty with participation, selecting high-energy, enthusiastic coaches will help address that weakness.

Be very clear with potential assistants, especially those who worked under the previous coach, about the time commitment involved in your program. Clarify your expectations for their participation, which might include summer workouts,

discouraged her athletes from playing softball? Yes. But if you have confidence your softball program will offer enough excitement to engage multi-sport athletes, you can let the problem take care of itself.

If you have a clear game plan for success, many of the problems that plagued the program in the past will no longer be worth discussing. You still have a lot of hard work that needs to be done, and if you spend too much time dwelling on the mistakes of your predecessor, you’re going to find yourself in an even bigger hole. By putting your attention on past failures, you’re building excuses for why your program might fail again and compromising your rebuilding effort before it even gets off the ground.

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off-season conditioning, and attendance at clinics—even if it results in losing a knowledgeable member of the staff.

It is also critical to hire assistants who are committed to fundamentals and strong work habits. For example, I often assigned one of my best coaches to work with freshmen. By assigning a strong teacher to the freshmen, you ensure a smoother path as student-athletes move up the ranks.

Be wary of assistants who think they “belong” at the varsity level. If coaches aren’t willing to work at the lower levels, they haven’t yet learned the importance of seeing all your teams as a single program with a shared vocabulary, attitude, set of techniques, and focus on fundamentals.

The varsity head coach needs to make sure coaches at each level are using a common approach, and if the varsity uses a specific bunt defense, that same defense should be used by all lower level teams.

This will help players improve as they move from level to level, avoiding the confusion of being taught different ways to run the same play.

Sense of Ownership Of all the relationships you need to build as you turn around an underperforming program, the most important ones are with your athletes. To build them into a successful team, start with high expectations.

If student-athletes are allowed to simply exist as they have in the past, they’ll never develop the pride they need to turn their program around. But if expectations are high and players work together to meet the goals you’ve set, they’ll develop a sense of ownership in everything they do.

Chances are, you’ll encounter old habits left over from the previous regime.

Work quickly to correct them and move on. It is natural that some athletes might be afraid or overwhelmed by the changes that you have brought about. But with time and a growing confidence in your knowledge and teaching ability, those apprehensions will diminish.

The student-athletes you need to turn your program around aren’t the ones who are interested in wearing a cool new uniform. They’re the ones who are committed to the challenge of becoming a winning team. Those are the players who are going to do the heavy lifting your CoachesNetwork.com

program needs, and those are the kind of players you need to draw.

It’s more important to attract the right attitude than it is to focus on the sheer number of players on your roster.

Improvement in participation may take some time, but if you set high expectations from the start, the right kind of athletes will jump on board.

The best way to set a tone at tryouts and team meetings is by being prepared.

If the coaching staff approaches practices and meetings with a clear, detail-oriented teaching plan, the players will follow.

We made a great many changes in the practices our first year at Glenbard West.

We started by practicing all pitchers and catchers at 5 a.m. This helped us isolate the most important part of the game and give pitchers the time and attention they needed to be successful. These early practices were also used to determine which athletes were truly invested in getting better.

We were not disappointed. The kids welcomed the challenge of intense workouts early in the morning, and the commitment that our players and families made to our three weeks of early morning workouts went a long way toward our success.

Another facet we emphasized from the beginning was the importance of playing summer baseball. In Illinois, coaches run a league in June and July to prepare players for the next season. We made it very clear to the players that a commitment to summer baseball was a requirement.

We were very guarded about allowing kids to play with travel programs during the summer. We had a great deal of teaching to do and felt our kids would develop best with the coaching staff we had in place. However, if an athlete wanted to play with travel teams that went above and beyond our schedule, it did not usually create a problem.

The summer program helped give the team and the coaching staff more confidence that we were on the right track. We were able to schedule games with many of the Chicago area’s top programs.

I had another motive in developing such a difficult schedule. I wanted my players’ parents to see what top-level facilities and programs looked like, so when the time came to discuss raisng money for a better facility or an additional coach, they were able to see first-hand how we stacked up against our competition.

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Implementing change with young people also takes perseverance. Until players buy into your vision, asking for more will be met with resistance. My players struggled with the concept of 5 a.m. workouts the first three weeks of the season. But as they became accustomed to hard work, they began to feel

ing pitcher? Will you take a Sunday to help with the construction of a new dugout? Your athletes, their families, and coaches will have an easier time investing in your program if you demonstrate the same level of dedication you ask of them—or higher.

Coaches who ask more of their play-

around. This kind of pedestrian, lowenergy approach made its way into the game mentality of the players and helped lead to the program’s downfall.

The new coach decided a complete change in attitude was needed, starting with improved practice habits. The girls began to sprint from station to station, drill to drill, and field to dugout. Opposing teams, coaches, parents, and umpires took notice, and the program became known regionally for playing quality, passionate softball with a trademark hustle and a close bond among its players.

An activity my teams enjoyed frequently after road games was stopping on the way back to school to eat a meal.

Of all the team bonding experiences we shared over the years, meals at a local hot dog joint paid the highest dividends.

They gave the team a chance to unwind after an intense, pressure-filled couple of hours.

Your athletes, their families, and coaches will have an easier time investing in your program if you demonstrate the same level of dedication you ask of them—or higher. a camaraderie they hadn’t before—and cherished it.

To develop real buy-in, athletes must see that you are as committed to the program as you demand them to be. Are you willing to stay after practice to help the shortstop with her swing? Are you going to make telephone calls to find recruiting opportunities for your start-

ers need student-athletes to buy into an entirely new culture. One idea that works well is to develop an on-field trademark your program can call its own. Years ago, I observed a softball coach working to bring about a significant change to his program. His athletes were accustomed to a slow-moving style of practice with a great deal of time spent standing

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Coaches can also create a new culture by leading their team through off-field activities. To develop an appreciation of baseball traditions, our team read David Halberstam’s The Teammates, which is about two former Boston Red Sox who drove 1,300 miles to see their old teammate, Ted Williams, who was dying of heart disease. Our players enjoyed talking about the bonds among the Red Sox players, and the story resonated with their own experiences as part of a team.

To develop pride in the program, make sure to connect with alumni during your first season on the job. Several years ago, my athletic director fostered our team’s involvement in an alumni weekend to welcome back Don Burns, who had served as the head baseball coach at Glenbard West for 30 years. Many of Don’s former players traveled across the country to be part of this special day. By

spending the day together, my players understood the lifelong significance of making the most of their playing career, and our alumni saw how much they still meant to our program.

Family Ties When rebuilding a program, you’ll

conveyed the message that the goals for our program came before their goals for their children as individuals. If a sophomore shortstop was going to give our team a better chance of winning games, then our senior shortstop had to find another way to contribute. If you consistently relate that message, parents will

When rebuilding a program, you’ll need a lot of support from parents. To get these relationships off to a postive start, I held a program-wide potluck dinner to open each season. need a lot of support from parents. To get these relationships off to a positive start, I held a program-wide potluck dinner to open each season. This allowed me to chat individually with parents, introduce the team and its coaches, and outline our plans for the season.

To clarify parents’ role, emphasize your expectations. Time and again, I

come to respect it, even if their daughters aren’t in the starting lineup.

In building relationships with parents, communication is key. To start, every program should have an accurate and up-to-date Web site. Several times during the school year, I found it useful to send newsletters and e-newsletters to players, parents, and youth league athletes. Play-

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COVER STORY

ers and parents appreciated being recognized for their work, and the newsletters became a great way to highlight accomplishments both on and off the field. To provide opportunities for our players, I made a point of also sending newsletters to college coaches in our area.

Be sure to use the energy of your parents to help reach your goals. If your facilities have to be renovated or your equipment needs to be replaced, the booster club may be your best hope. By encouraging parents to become involved in fundraising, you tap into a very talented and eager group of people. Working on off-field projects with parents offers a great way to foster relationships—as long as they understand there will be no favoritism shown to student-athletes whose parents lend a hand.

When working with the booster club, assume the members are glad to help your program. Early on, share a wish list of your priorities. You might not receive everything you ask for, but don’t give up hope. Sometimes boosters are hesitant to provide a lot of financial assistance until

the program starts making real progress.

If you don’t get all your requests, edit your list and meet with the boosters again. These groups typically meet every few weeks, and as the members get to know you, there’s ample opportunity to develop strong relationships.

Reaching Out Another group to get on board is local youth programs. Consider offering to host a clinic where your staff and players can demonstrate key fundamentals to youth teams. This is a great opportunity for coaches to connect with members of the community, build passion for the sport at the lower levels, and spread the good word about your program.

At Glenbard West, we held summertime father and son baseball clinics, which was a great way to sell our product to future players. We also organized a fundraiser with the Chicago White Sox, who hosted a Glenbard West night at the ballpark and donated half of the money from Glenbard West ticket sales back to our program. It took a lot of effort, but

we all had a great feeling walking around U.S. Cellular Field and seeing people dressed in their Glenbard West gear!

If all this sounds like a lot of work, it is. Throughout the process, be sure to make teaching the game your highest priority. Coaches who do will often be rewarded for their efforts. Not only will they enjoy a personal sense of accomplishment, they’ll also create opportunities to advance their careers. Schools and athletic administrators who are looking to hire a new coach will take note of these accomplishments, and more prestigious, higher-paying positions will be open to coaches with a proven track record.

Knowing all the difficulties of rebuilding a program, why would any of us take on the challenge? To me, the answer is simple: We see the potential in everyone and everything. Looking beyond the problems of the past, we relish the challenges that others avoid, clearly communicating our vision, developing a strong base of athletes, parents, coaches, and community members, and leading our programs to future success. n

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leadership

Quelling the Critics

Nowadays, coaches get bombarded with criticism from every angle.

Learning how to handle it with composure is key to success (and staying sane).

MICHAEL KLEIN

T

hinking back over his 20-plus years as a coach, Jim Long can recall only a couple of instances when someone really got under his skin. But one in particular stands out to the Brenham (Texas) High School Head Baseball Coach.

No matter what Long did, a parent of one of his athletes took issue with his decisions. The parent constantly approached Long with complaints after games and eventually went to the athletic director

CoachesNetwork.com

BY MIKE PHELPS and school board to air his criticisms.

Long even had to defend himself in front of school board members. Fortunately, the board sided with Long, but the whole process made him aware of an emerging reality: effectively handling negative feedback is part of a coach’s job.

“For whatever reason, I’ve found that fans today, especially parents, think they have a right to do or say whatever they want when it comes to coaches and athletics,” Long says. “We’re not going to

stop them, so it’s up to each coach to understand the best way to deal with that criticism and not let it affect your team.”

Just Ignore It? In the middle of a busy season with practices and games consuming all your time, it can be tempting to ignore critiMike Phelps is an Assistant Editor at Coaching Management. He can be reached at: mp@MomentumMedia.com.

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cism that comes your way and hope it will eventually disappear. But that tactic can easily backfire.

Chuck Wilcoxen, Head Men’s and Women’s Cross Country and Track and Field Coach at Principia College, says

are justified, you have to let the person be heard.”

That’s why many coaches suggest developing a philosophy and strategy for dealing with negative feedback. And the number-one item of a good strategy is to always stay calm, even if the other person is not.

“Getting mad is not produc“My goal is to be as positive as tive whatsoever,” Long explains.

I can be when talking about “That can make you look worse players in public. But when we than the person complaining, which you never want. You go into my office, you’re asking need to remember you’re dealme to be brutally honest and I ing with people who, because of their emotions, are makwill be. If you’re going to ing ignorant decisions. When challenge or question me, you I think of it that way, these situations are a lot easier to better be ready for the real deal with.” answer.”

For Karen Kunka, Head Volleyball Coach at North it’s important to engage with anyone Central College, staying calm requires who is delivering criticism or negative taking a step back. Rather than respondfeedback. “If someone is upset about ing immediately, she schedules a meeting something, sooner or later they have to to discuss the complaint. “If you let a disget it out,” he says. “If they sit on it, it’s cussion go on in the heat of the moment, going to simmer longer, and that just you can get backed into a corner with makes them more upset, which isn’t someone screaming at you,” she says. good for you and isn’t good for the proInstead, Kunka likes to gain perspecgram. Even if it’s the same parent again tive on the situation and think through and again with things you don’t think her solution, rather than being forced

While it’s important to have a great plan in place to deal with unsolicited feedback, you can also work on nipping any potential criticism in the bud through up-front communication. Keeping parents in the loop is a great place to start.

“We always have a parent meeting before the season begins to go over what’s going to take place, who’s going to play, and how we’ll make our decisions,” says Jim Long, Head Baseball Coach at Brenham (Texas) High School. “You’ll always have people who disagree with you, but a meeting like that can help stop a lot of the complaints.

“I talk a lot about playing time at this meeting, since that generates most of the complaints,” he continues. “I explain that while I wish I could play everyone, I just can’t.”

In addition to a preseason parents meeting, Ed Terwilliger, Head Football Coach at Olentangy High School in Lewis

into a snap decision or appearing defensive. “You have to allow yourself to pull back from a situation a little bit,” she says. “I also like to have someone I can run things past, like an assistant coach, before I react.”

Meanwhile, Wilcoxen tries to learn from all feedback. “What may at first seem to be a petty complaint can actually be very valuable information,” he says.

“For example, parents know things about their kids that coaches don’t. The first couple of years I coached I was probably a little defensive, but the more open I was to others’ opinions, the more I learned.

If a kid tells me they’re feeling great, and I find out from the parents that they’re not, that’s good information.”

The Parent Trap For most coaches, the largest source of complaints is parents. That’s why many coaches have developed formal policies on how parents should voice their concerns.

One standard and effective rule is to never talk to a parent about anything significant immediately following a contest.

Whenever Long is confronted by a parent after a game, he’ll tell the parent that he’d be happy to address the problem with them later.

Center, Ohio, has a meeting with the parents of his team captains at the conclusion of each season, where he lays the groundwork for the upcoming off-season and discusses what parents and players can expect.

“If someone comes to me with a complaint, my first question to them is, ‘Were you at my parent meeting?’ and usually they weren’t,” Terwilliger says. “At that time, I’ll pull out the handouts and catch them up on what we talked about.”

Terwilliger is also proactive in dealing with any criticisms that may arise from game-to-game during the regular season. He hosts a weekly meeting with his players’ parents on Monday nights during the season where he shows game film from the previous week and discusses the upcoming opponent.

“That’s a very positive thing,” he says, “because it allows me to go through the game, narrate, and have an opportunity to discuss and explain the good, the bad, and the ugly.”

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“I’ll ask them if we can set up a time the next day to discuss it,” he says. “It gives me and the parent a little time to relax and think about the situation.

People usually make dumb decisions when they’re really upset.”

Kunka uses a similar policy, but with a twist. She insists the player herself be involved in the discussion. For example, North Central’s 2008 squad included 18 freshmen among nearly 30 players, and playing time was limited. One freshman’s parent e-mailed to voice her displeasure over her daughter’s playing time.

“In my reply, I said that I would be happy to discuss this matter—with the parent and the child present at the same time,” Kunka says. “Nine times out of 10, the player doesn’t even know the parent sent the e-mail or called. I’m happy to talk with parents, but not without their child knowing about it.”

The question of whether to discuss playing time at all with parents can be a tricky one. Long is one coach who does not. He explains to parents that playing time is based on what he feels is best for

the team and that his decisions must be respected. “Parents will often criticize and say their child doesn’t have a fair chance, but they don’t see what happens in practice every day,” he says.

Ed Terwilliger, Head Football Coach at Olentangy High School in Lewis Center, Ohio, doesn’t shy away from discussing a player’s place within the team, but he always makes sure the parent understands one very important ground rule. “I explain up front that my goal is to be as positive as I can be when talking about players in public,” he says. “But when we go into my office, you’re asking me to be brutally honest and I will be.

If you’re going to challenge or question me, you better be ready for the real answer. Also, we’re only going to talk about your son and no one else.”

At Southwest DeKalb High School in Decatur, Ga., Head Girls’ Basketball Coach Kathy Richey-Walton has found it effective to have one parent serve as a liaison between her and the rest of the parent group. “This parent is very good at finding out what the problem is, then

telling the parents he’ll talk to me and make sure I’m aware of their concerns,” she says. “From there, I’ll decide how the situation needs to be handled.”

Managing Media Of course, unsolicited feedback isn’t limited to parents of players, and can easily be found on television, over the radio, in the newspaper, or on the Internet.

However, criticism by the media should be handled very differently than that from parents. When parents complain, there is a lot of emotion involved that will remain until the situation is dealt with. Criticism from the media is part of what sells newspapers and will often be quickly forgotten.

Terwilliger’s football team gets a good deal of media coverage, and he says the key with reporters is to take a professional approach. Understand that their job is to analyze your team’s performance and that their criticism is not personal.

When there is controversy, explain your decisions and then let it go.

“I embrace the media,” Terwilliger

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Circle No. 113 Coaching Management

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says. “I’m not the kind of coach who will get upset over an article and then refuse to return their calls. I understand the media has a job to do, and I tell my players the same thing.”

At Brenham, a local radio station broadcasts the school’s baseball games, and several newspapers regularly cover the team. Following each game, Long does a postgame interview with the radio crew, who can be critical of decisions Long makes during the contest.

“I like to let people know where I’m coming from,” Long says. “They may disagree with me, but at least they know the reason I did it. If a parent comes at you after a game, they don’t really deserve a response, but it’s nice to explain yourself in the newspaper or on the radio so your side can be heard.”

Administrative Support When complaints rise above garden-variety venting, there is one more strategy to employ: Keep school administrators informed. “Administrators have so many things to do, the last

thing they want is to be out in public and hear about how the football coach is an idiot,” Terwilliger says. “Any information I give to parents, I also give to my athletic director and principal.

It’s documentation that they can read at their leisure and say, ‘This is what Coach Terwilliger is doing.’”

Keeping your administrators in the loop means little, however, if you’re not open and honest with them. “You head off a lot of problems just by being completely honest from the get-go,” Wilcoxen says. “Most misunderstandings are compounded by people at either end feeling they have to hide something.

If you’re withholding any information or misrepresenting anything, your anxiety is just going to spiral.”

Also remember that administrators can be your allies. “One of the things I’ve learned is to always have someone else in on the conversation if I foresee a problem,” Kunka says. “There have been times when someone has been really upset about something and didn’t get the response they wanted from me. So

I’ve brought to the meeting an assistant athletic director or our senior woman administrator. It’s important to have a third party present so there can’t be any ‘he said, she said,’ afterwards.”

Wilcoxen believes that the support he receives from administrators also makes him more confident when dealing with criticism. “If you feel you’re supported, you’re much more comfortable acknowledging you might have made a mistake,” he says. “I’ve always had unconditional support from my athletic directors. So I can say, ‘Well, maybe I screwed up,’ and not worry about losing my job.

“But, even more important, that feeling of confidence then comes across to the people you’re speaking with,” he continues. “That allows a productive conversation where no one feels threatened—and really great things can happen.” n A version of this article appeared in other sport-specific editions of Coaching Management.

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OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE

Eyes Wide Open RICHARD ORR SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

Recent research shows there is one easy way for athletes to enhance their workouts and performance: by getting a full night of uninterrupted sleep.

I

n the past decade, recovery has become one of the hottest buzzwords in the athletic performance world. Athletes today go to great lengths to ensure that their post-workout habits help them recover optimally after practices, weightroom sessions, and competitions—whether that means following CoachesNetwork.com

BY Art Horne a special nutrition program, performing a carefully planned cooldown routine, or using a modality such as hydrotherapy.

With so much time and money spent on recovery aids, it’s ironic that many athletes overlook the most easily accessible, affordable, and time-tested recovery booster of all: sleep. And the value of sleep isn’t limited to recovery. Study after

study show that a good night’s sleep is critical to putting forth a strong practice or gameday performance.

Yet how many athletes on your team truly take advantage of this information?

Art Horne is Associate Director of Sports Medicine at Northeastern University. He can be reached at: a.horne@neu.edu.

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OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE

If you’ve ever looked around your team bus and seen heads bobbing up and down as players doze off during even short trips, it means they are probably sleep deprived.

By educating your athletes on the topic, you can help them realize that better sleep habits—or “sleep hygiene,” as our team physician, Dr. Gian Corrado, has called it—can be a secret weapon to improve performance and recovery. The latest research on how sleep affects mental and physical ability suggests that the time athletes spend on the pillow can be just as important as the time they spend on the field and in the weightroom.

Sleep 101 Let’s begin with a short primer on exactly how sleep works. Every human brain has a built-in clock called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which regulates our circadian rhythm. The SCN is located in the brain’s hypothalamus, just above where the optic nerves

It’s the opportunity of a lifetime: Your team has been invited to a tournament in Hawai’i, or is finally taking that trip to Europe you’ve been dreaming about.

After months of planning, anticipation, and excitement, the plane touches down and your athletes can’t wait to get on the field. But when they meet for an early morning workout, they’re groggy, out of sync, and tiring much more quickly than usual. Jet lag has set in.

Adjusting to a new time zone can be a major challenge for teams that travel long distances, and unless there’s some advance planning, a dream trip can turn into a performance nightmare.

Here are some pointers on making a smooth transition: n

Whenever possible, adjust workout times to accommodate athletes’ internal clocks. For instance, if you usually practice at 3 p.m. in Boston and you’re traveling to Rome (which is six hours ahead), try holding your first practice at 9 p.m. As your schedule allows, gradually move practices

is the dreaming stage, and in most cases it occurs only after we have passed through the first four stages. During a typical night of undisturbed sleep, we complete the five stages of sleep roughly every 90 minutes.

Each stage has its own function, and stages three and four—deep sleep—are of particular importance to athletes.

This is when the natural physical and mental processes of restoration are at their peak, and when growth hormone secretion occurs. Growth hormone is essential for building and rebuilding muscle and other body tissue, so when athletes don’t sleep long enough to complete several cycles of deep sleep, they deprive themselves of key physiological benefits.

cross—and that’s important, because light exposure is one factor that can greatly affect circadian rhythms and feelings of sleepiness or alertness.

If you could remove all the external elements of daily life that affect sleep patterns, including stress, schedule demands, alarm clocks, and next-door neighbors’ barking dogs, research indicates that most adults would sleep for about eight hours a night (slightly more according to some studies), and high school and college students would sleep for approximately nine hours. This amount of time produces optimal physical and mental health, and in an ideal world, it’s the goal everyone should strive for.

What exactly goes on during those hours? Analysis of brain activity during sleep reveals that it can be broken into five stages. Stages one and two comprise what is commonly referred to as light sleep, and stages three and four constitute deep sleep. The fifth stage, rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep,

In Debt Anyone who has pulled an all-nighter is familiar with the concept of “sleep debt.” When the body fails to get an adequate amount of shut-eye, everything

Departure and arrival times can play a major role in jet lag, so try to schedule flights that will allow players to get a full night’s sleep their first night in the new time zone.

n

n

Tell athletes to avoid caffeinated foods and beverages on the plane if the team is arriving at its destination in the evening. Caffeine affects individuals differently, but for many, it can make falling asleep difficult for several hours after consumption.

n

Remember that jet lag is worst when flying eastward, so a trip to Europe will require greater adjustment than a trip to Hawai’i, even if the actual difference in hours is the same. That’s because you “lose” hours when you travel east, winding the clock forward instead of backward. A westward trip may even afford an opportunity for players to resolve minor sleep debts by using the “gained” hours to get a great night’s sleep upon arrival.

“backward” to ease players into the new time zone and minimize circadian rhythm disruption.

Athletes may be tempted to take long naps the first few days after arriving if they’re tired out by jet lag, but this should be discouraged. It will only delay adaptation to the new time zone, as the body attempts to stick to the sleep schedule it’s used to back home. If an athlete must nap, a short doze of around 10 minutes can have some restorative effects without delaying time zone adaptation.

n

TIME TRAVEL 24

Coaching Management

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OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE

much they actually do sleep” are different enough that The mental effects of sleep physical and mental effects are noticable. debt, meanwhile, are much For athletic performance, more pronounced. Research has both the physical and mental dimensions are imporshown that reaction time, stress tant. On the physical side, level, alertness, irritability, and sleep-deprivation studies have shown that the primary negaoverall energy level or vigor are tive effect of sleep debt is a all negatively affected by sleep decrease in time to exhausdeprivation. tion during activity. In prolonged performance tests, subjects who have gotten less from mood to cognitive function to sleep consistently tire more quickly than motor skills can suffer. But what about those who have gotten more. athletic performance in particular?

Other key physical parameters, such as From a clinical perspective, the actual power output and aerobic and anaerobic definition of sleep debt is still up for performance, are not usually impacted by debate. Several researchers have attempt- mild to moderate lack of sleep. However, ed to set parameters for it and quantify ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) are its effects, while others have questioned almost always affected when a significant whether the concept is scientifically valid sleep debt is present: Athletes feel they at all. For this discussion, we’ll define are working harder when sleep deprived, sleep debt as what happens when “how even if performance metrics say othermuch a person should sleep” and “how wise. Some study authors have attributed

this to a self-fulfilling prophecy, since tired athletes expect physical activity to be more strenuous and difficult due to their tiredness.

The mental effects of sleep debt, meanwhile, are much more pronounced.

Research has shown that reaction time, stress level, alertness, irritability, and overall energy level or vigor are all negatively affected by sleep deprivation.

One study found that chronically sleepdeprived people were outperformed on a reaction time test by well-rested people who were above the legal alcohol intoxication limit for driving at the time.

Sleep debt can also wreak havoc on another key process for athletes: motor learning. It’s well known that practicing a given skill leads to improved proficiency, and that the passage of time after practicing further enhances the gains—this is one of the concepts behind “muscle memory.” But a recent landmark study suggests it’s not the passage of time itself that makes the difference, but rather time spent asleep that causes additional proficiency gains to occur.

Because, the pitching motion is a critical timing trigger for hitting and slapping . . .

The Fastpitch Arm Simulator Attach it to your pitching machine or ours!

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Featuring a motorized ball feeder, variable speed control and a 3600 ball track, the arm simulator fires the ball around the track and seamlessly injects it into the pitching machine to realistically offer both the motion and tempo of a live-arm pitcher, with every pitch. www.fastball-sports.com 1-800-398-3672 Circle No. 115 CoachesNetwork.com

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OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE

Project2

In the study, two groups were tested in a specific motor skill, and then retested in the same skill 12 hours later. Members of the first group were initially tested at 10 p.m. and went to sleep shortly afterward. Members of the second group were initially tested at 10 a.m. and did not sleep afterward.

When the groups were re-tested, those who had slept showed a statistically sig1/28/08 3:39 PM Page 1 nificant improvement in performance, while those who had not slept showed

no improvement. However, it’s interesting to note that after 24 hours, once members of the second group had gotten a good night’s sleep, their performance at the skill improved significantly as well.

Perhaps most notable of all, several studies have shown that test subjects who suffer cognitive and motor impairment due to sleep debt are often unaware of their decreased ability. This might help explain why athletes don’t

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take sleep habits as seriously as they should. They don’t realize how much a lack of sleep may be hampering their alertness, mental processing speed, reaction time, and other skills essential to athletic success.

Better Nights Ahead If you could improve athletes’ sleep habits simply by summarizing the research described in this article and then telling them to hit the hay, I could stop here. But in reality, most sleepdeprived athletes get that way because they don’t know exactly what they’re doing wrong.

The first priority to address is time devoted to sleep. The goal of nine hours per night for teens and college students will seem unrealistic to many, but the closer they can come to that number, the better they’ll feel and the more they’ll enjoy the health, recovery, and performance benefits of sleep.

Consistency in sleep time is valuable as well. Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day takes maximum advantage of the body’s natural circadian rhythm, while having different bedtimes and wake-up times every day can throw off the internal clock. Once a routine is established, athletes will find they are able to fall asleep more quickly and sleep more soundly through the night.

Remember how the suprachiasmatic nucleus is located near the optic nerves? Even small amounts of light can affect levels of melatonin, the major hormone that regulates sleepiness, and that’s just one example of why creating the right sleeping environment must be a priority as well. This can be difficult for student-athletes, particularly college students living in dorms, so here are some helpful tips to pass along: n Eliminate as many light sources as possible when going to bed. This means turning off computer monitors, putting dark curtains over dorm windows, and even using a rolled-up towel at the base of the door to block light from the hallway. If these steps are not possible, use a sleeping mask to cover your eyes. n Try wearing soft foam earplugs to eliminate nighttime noises that might interrupt your sleep. Or, if you’re used to some ambient noise at night, use a fan, humidifier, or other appliance that creates “white noise” to make you more comfortable.

1/30/09 2:04:52 PM

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OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE

n Turn off the ringer on your phone(s) before going to bed. Remember that interrupted sleep can deprive you of the deeper stages of the sleep cycle,

n Set the room at a comfortable temperature for sleep. Some people prefer warmer sleep environments than others, so when your team travels, try

Luckily, research suggests that a moderate sleep debt can be cured with just a few consecutive nights of prolonged sleep. And once athletes develop better sleep habits, the performance advantages should show themselves fairly quickly. Wellrested athletes may soon find they’re recovering faster after workouts, performing sport skills with greater accuracy and proficiency, enjoying improved cognitive and motor function, and feeling better all day long. n

Several studies have shown that test subjects who suffer cognitive and motor impairment due to sleep debt are often unaware of their decreased ability. This might help explain why athletes don’t take sleep habits as seriously as they should. They don’t realize how much a lack of sleep may be hampering skills essential to their athletic success. which have crucial benefits. n Engage in progressive relaxation activities as you prepare to go to sleep.

Being very physically active late at night, exposure to bright light right before bed (for instance from a computer monitor or television), or eating less than two hours before bedtime can delay “sleep latency,” making it harder to fall asleep and robbing you of total sleep time.

to find a roommate with a similar temperature preference.

Much To Gain Serious athletes will do whatever they can to get better at their sport.

It’s your job to help them realize that devoting time to sleep isn’t being lazy or slacking off—it’s enlightened selfinterest.

A version of this article appeared in Training & Conditioning, a sister publication to Coaching Management, and other sportspecific editions of Coaching Management.

For more articles from T&C go to: www.Training-Conditioning.com.

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Learning from Peers Looking to gain a coaching edge in the off season?

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262 Pages

Tim Walton, University of Florida Head Coach, presents his team’s extensive practice schedule. The practice kicks off with a 20-minute set of stretches and agility drills, followed by Walton’s throw-and-catch isolation drills.

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209 minutes (2 DVDs). 2009.

Have you encountered that self-doubting, high stress, self-battering athlete who feels that whatever they do never seems to be good enough? In this DVD, Greg Dale, Ph.D., a Mental Training Coach at Duke, provides five specific coaching strategies that will bring positives, versus negatives, to the forefront of the perfectionist athlete’s mind. He also discusses the importance of teaching the perfectionist athlete how to relax.

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Slap Hitting 101 Coach Linda Wells, with over 900 career wins, has successfully utilized the slap-hitter as an offensive threat. In this video, Coach Wells and a former slap hitting specialist demonstrate and discuss the process of converting and developing a slap hitter, advantages of slap hitting, and bat selection for slap hitters. Next, they discuss and demonstrate the sequencing of slap hitting by walking through the box positions, footwork, hand motion, and body movement.

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This 312 page book offers a rare opportunity to learn and apply a career full of knowledge from the best. World-renowned strength and conditioning coach Vern Gambetta condenses the wisdom he’s gained through more than 40 years of experience of working with athletes across sports, age groups, and levels of competition, including members of the Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, and U.S. men’s 1998 World Cup soccer team.

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184 pages. 2008.

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Hitting & Pitching

Upgrade What You Have

More Than Speed

Fastball Sports • 800-398-3672 www.fastball-sports.com

RevFire Corp. • 866-414-3040 www.revfire.com

Would you like to add a live-arm throwing motion to your current Jugs pitching machine? Fastball Sports offers the J-Mo Jugs fastpitch motion attachment. It mounts on a standard Jugs machine in just a few minutes, and using a variable speed control drive, seamlessly delivers a realistic windmill motion with every pitch. The J-Mo converts an ordinary Jugs pitching machine into a full-blown fastpitch motion machine.

Circle No. 508

Instant Feedback

Why is the Advanced Skills Tee used by more than 2,000 high school and college programs? You get instant feedback with every swing. Its unique forward arm and outside barrier help develop a nice swing path and keep the hands inside the ball.

The tough polyurethane construction will give you years of worry-free use. Try one this season, and if you don’t like it, the company will buy it back.

Muhl Tech • 888-766-8772 www.muhltech.com

Circle No. 509

Widely accepted as one of the best bunt trainers available today, the Bunt Zone features an on-field color-coded target system that teaches bunting skills by visualization. Made with durable vinyl-polyester mesh, it is easy to install, remove, and clean. Yellow, green, and red areas clearly show where to bunt—and where not to bunt—for a hit or sacrifice. Lightweight and easy to store, the BuntZone is used by many college teams, and ships immediately.

Circle No. 502

Ball Movement

The Hack Attack Softball Pitching Machine’s three-wheel design provides significantly more spin, allowing users to change the breaking pitch plane by simply adjusting wheel speed dials. There are no time-consuming, awkward, throwing head adjustments between pitches—with a quick turn of the dials, you can effortlessly throw fastballs, risers, drops, right- and left-handed screwballs up and into the hitters, delivering every pitch with power and accuracy.

Sports Attack • 800-717-4251 www.sportsattack.com

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Coaching Management

Circle No. 512

Shoulder Strength

Warm-up, strengthen, or rehabilitate shoulders for throwing or other related movements with the Shoulder Cuff Builder.

Designed to withstand sport-specific or rehabilitation drills, it is excellent for internal and external rotation exercises to strengthen the shoulder rotator cuff. The Shoulder Cuff Builder comes with a three-foot long latex tube, padded handle, and strap to attach to a fixed object.

Power Systems, Inc. • 800-321-6975 www.powersystems.com

Circle No. 513

Push-Button Convenience

Bunt Here, Not There

Aer-Flo, Inc. • 800-823-7356 www.aerflo.com

Easier to use than a radar gun, the RevFire measures the spin of pitches as well as the speed. It’s been adopted by college teams and clinics across the country, and coaches report dramatic results—pitchers throw a more effective breaking ball when they receive spin rate feedback. The RevFire is quickly becoming standard equipment among high school programs, private instructors, and serious pitchers. Visit RevFire online to learn more.

Circle No. 511

Batting practice just got easier. With the TriplePlay Pro Softball Pitching Machine, you simply push a button to choose the type of pitch you want, including risers, sinkers, curves, drop curves, screwballs, and drop screwballs. The pitch speed is adjustable from 35 to 70 miles per hour, and the softball is visible from the time it leaves the feeder’s hand until it is pitched, allowing hitters to more naturally time the pitches. TriplePlay Pro uses a three-wheel pitching mechanism for greater accuracy, and two large transport wheels make it simple to move to and from the field.

Sports Tutor • 800-448-8867 www.sportsmachines.com

Circle No. 510

Perfect Pitch

The Louisville Slugger UPM55 Red Fire Pitching Machine is completely mechanical and does not use electricity.

It is the only pitching machine that releases a softball using an underhand motion. Easy to move and reasonably priced, the UPM55 throws any type of softball at speeds from 40 to 55 miles per hour, with accurate pitches every time anywhere in the strike zone.

GameMaster • 800-646-4225 www.sluggerupm.com

Circle No. 505

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Hitting & Pitching

Program Your Pitches

The HomePlate Softball programmable pitching machine can simulate any pitch that batters are likely to face. It can automatically throw a 70-mph riser, a 50-mph drop pitch, a curve, and a slider with only seven seconds between pitches. Coaches can store up to eight different pitches in each of the eight programs. Programmed pitches can be thrown sequentially for specific hitting drills, or randomly to simulate game conditions. HomePlate comes with an auto-feed system and a 40-ball capacity.

Sports Tutor • 800-448-8867 www.sportsmachines.com

Circle No. 504

Go “Skill-Specific”

Muhl Tech Baseball & Softball offers equipment to make your practice time more productive. Since 2001, the company has been developing a line of “skill-specific” training equipment that gives hitters instant feedback with every swing. The products are designed to withstand heavy use during high school and college team practices. The company also offers its own line of batting cages and screens, sold direct to save you money.

Muhl Tech • 888-766-8772 www.muhltech.com

Circle No. 501

Watch the Arm

To help hitters and slap hitters develop and hone their mechanics and timing, Fastball Sports has added an important new feature to the pitching machine: a simulated live-arm throwing motion.

Like other machines, the Motion Pitching Machine delivers a variety of pitches, but it also does more. With every throw, the hitter sees a fastpitch motion, realistically timed with the speed of the pitch. It allows hitters to train with a pitching machine yet benefit from the all-important timing trigger of a live-arm throwing motion.

Fastball Sports • 800-398-3672 www.fastball-sports.com

Circle No. 500

Clear Vision

The Junior Hack Attack Softball Pitching Machine’s three wheel design allows you to see the ball clearly all the way through the feeding motion, acceleration, and release, just like a live pitcher. The softball hitter sees the angle of release, giving an actual live-arm sense of timing and location and teaching her when to stride.

Sports Attack • 800-717-4251 www.sportsattack.com

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Circle No. 503

Dynamic Strength

Power Throw-Balls are durable, small, weighted balls that help develop dynamic strength through the throwing motion, and can also be used for shoulder joint rehabilitation exercises. Made of a rugged vinyl shell with filler, these non-bouncing balls are available in baseball and softball sizes and offered in three color-coded weights: seven, 14, or 21 ounces.

Power Systems, Inc. • 800-321-6975 www.powersystems.com

Circle No. 506

Realistic Release

The Jugs Super Softball Pitching Machine is portable, simple to operate, and easily installed in minutes. It features a realistic underhand release point for both fastand slowpitch. The pneumatic wheel throws fastballs from 20 to 70 miles per hour, as well as risers and drops. With a full 360-degree rotation and angle adjustment, this is a great machine for all levels and ages.

M.A.S.A., Inc. • 800-264-4519 www.sportsadvantage.com

Circle No. 507

Tuff Enough

The TurfCordz Cuff Tuff can strengthen your shoulder rotator cuff through internal and external rotation exercises. Whatever you’re training for, from softball to golf, this single four-foot (1.2-meter) rubber tube with handle and combination mounting loop will help you achieve the ultimate workout. The Cuff Tuff is available in five resistance levels, from three to 34 pounds. For more on the full line of TurfCordz resistance products, all designed to meet the extreme demands of high-level athletic training, contact the company today.

NZ Manufacturing • 800.866.6621 turfcordz.com

Circle No. 532

Swing for the Fences

Adjustable for height, the Louisville Slugger UPM SwingRep is the perfect hitting station for players of any age or skill level. Its unique guideline system provides instant feedback to batters, making it an effective tool for individual- or coach-driven practices. Lightweight and portable, UPM SwingRep can be used indoors or outside, and there’s never a need to retrieve balls.

GameMaster • 800-646-4225 www.sluggerupm.com

Circle No. 533

Coaching Management

31

Softball Field

On the Line

Louisville Slugger Game Time White Stripe Field Marking Powder is perfect for all your softball field marking needs, as well as baseball, football, and soccer. White Stripe is non-toxic and bright white in appearance.

Game Time Sports Systems • 800-520-0512 www.gametimesportssystems.com Circle No. 518

Keeping Score

In softball, scores and stats are everything—and The Donkey puts your people at the perfect level to keep tabs on all the action. It features all-aluminum construction with a main four-foot high platform and features a sliding bench allowing easy access to scorer’s table. A vinyl canopy, and optional drop-down side weather screens provide protection from the elements. The Donkey is available with lockable wheels to make it portable or mounting leg supports for a permanent location. Visit the company’s Web site or call toll-free for more details and options.

Aluminum Athletic Equipment • 800-523-5471 www.myaaeworld.com Circle No. 519

Many Satisfied Customers

Beam Clay has supplied products to every Major League Baseball team, more than 150 minor league teams, more than 700 colleges, and thousands of towns and schools from all 50 states and worldwide.

Beam Clay supplies special mixes for infields, pitcher’s mounds, home plate areas, red warning tracks, infield conditioners, and drying agents, plus more than 200 other infield products, including regional infield mixes blended for every state and climate from bulk plants nationwide.

Beam Clay • 800-247-BEAM www.beamclay.com

Circle No. 520

Built for the Long Haul

Made of Vipol matrix mesh, Tuffy is one of the world’s toughest windscreens.

With over 50 percent more microfibers than its competitors, it is virtually tear- and puncture-proof. It is the only windscreen with lock-stitched ends and corners, eliminating the unraveling problem of conventional chainstitched competitive products. Available in 15 colors with chroma-bond multi-color imprinting, Tuffy will upgrade the longevity and appearance of any softball, baseball, or tennis fencing. It’s protected by a four-year factory warranty.

Aer-Flo, Inc. • 800-823-7356 www.aerflo.com

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Coaching Management

Circle No. 521

Net Gains

SPI Nets’ full-service net building facility offers top-quality nets at unbeatable prices. The company stocks and custom-builds a wide variety of nylon and poly batting cage nets, protective screens, and deflective barrier netting products. All custom nets are guaranteed to be of the highest quality, and are built in the U.S.A. to meet all your needs. Call the company toll-free or go online to learn more.

SPI Nets, Inc. • 866-243-6387 www.spinets.net

Circle No. 522

All the Right Tools

Restore your diamond’s luster in 20 minutes or less. Bannerman manufactures groomers that can level and provide maintenance care for baseball and softball diamonds, warning tracks, and walking trails.

The B-DM-6 Diamond Master has five grooming tools: a ripper blade, a rake, a leveler, a roller, and a finishing brush. Available options include an extension wing brush kit, a hydraulic tractor top link, a 50-gallon water tank with a spray nozzle, a long-tine “fluffing” rake, and the new highway transport kit.

Bannerman Ltd. • 800-665-2696 www.sportsturfmagic.com

Circle No. 535

No Water Needed

Not enough time to maintain your mound properly? Common mound clays require saturation, overnight drying, and screening before they can be used.

They also require constant water and maintenance for play. Hilltopper Mound Clay is the first mound clay that does not need water or screening. The polymer coating makes it ready to pack right out of the bag, saving time and material.

Stabilizer Solutions • 800-336-2468 www.stabilizersolutions.com

Circle No. 517

Behind the Screen

Available in single or double netting, the OIP Softball Pitching Screen cutout allows pitchers to stay completely protected. The screen is heightadjustable and features telescoping swivel legs, which allow for convenient transport and compact flat storage. The frame is constructed of heavy-gauge Flo-Coat galvanized steel, and the netting is made of #72 braided nylon, ensuring maximum safety.

M.A.S.A., Inc. • 800-264-4519 www.SportsAdvantage.com

Circle No. 516

CoachesNetwork.com

Softball Field

For Better Fields

Diamond Pro offers a complete line of professional groundskeeping products: infield conditioners, calcined clay, mound and home plate clay, bricks, marking dust, and infield and warning track mixes. The company offers fast and convenient delivery. Diamond Pro’s vitrified red clay infield conditioner is available in bulk nationwide, and is easy to handle and apply. Truckloads are available in 10-, 15-, and 24-ton loads that save you both time and money.

TXI/Diamond Pro • 800-228-2987 www.diamondpro.com Circle No. 514

Resource Management

As a premier resource for softball equipment, GameTime Athletics has your team covered. Find hundreds of softball equipment items and accessories on the company’s Web site, and call toll-free for a free estimate. Mention the ad in this issue and receive a free Double First Base with the purchase of one truckload of Redfield warning track mix and/or infield conditioner.

GameTime Athletics • 877-891-2476 www.gametimeathletics.com Circle No. 515

State of the Art

The Botetourt Sports Complex is a state-of-the-art facility located just minutes from downtown Roanoke, Va. The complex features four championship level softball fields, all with beautiful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The fields are arranged around a central, three-story tower with space for tournament operations, scorekeeping, concessions, and restrooms. In 2008, Botetourt Sports Complex was voted Best New Facility by the Virginia Recreation and Park Society. Visit the company’s Web site for tournament details.

Botetourt Sports Complex • 540-992-0011 www.botetourt.org

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For a Diamond that Sparkles When player safety comes first, look to Bannerman. The company manufactures groomers that shape, level, and provide maintenance care for baseball diamonds and softball fields. The B-BP-4 Ballpark-4 (shown) and the B-BP-6 Ballpark-6 models each have five tools: a ripper blade, a rake, a leveler, a roller, and a brush. Available accessories include a wing brush kit, a top link kit, a 50-gallon water tank kit with a spray nozzle, and the new highway transport kit.

Bannerman Ltd. • 800-665-2696 www.sportsturfmagic.com

Circle No. 534

Topdressing Saves the Day

What do you do if you’re hosting a regional baseball tournament, it has been raining all morning, and four of your five infields are mud? You move the tournament to the field that has the Game-On product applied. This scenario actually played out at a recent baseball tournament in Stark County, Ohio. When the rain stopped, the only playable field was the one that had been treated with Game-On Red topdressing.

Using that field, the tournament was completed as scheduled.

DiGeronimo Aggregates, LLC • 888-593-0395 www.hayditegame-on.com

Circle No. 526

Prevent Sliding Injuries

Soft Touch “progressive release” bases are designed to flex and absorb energy as a player slides into the base. In the case of uncontrolled slides, the “progressive release” action allows the base to flex until enough force is applied to “pop” the base free from its mount, unlike a stationary base.

Soft Touch Bases • 866-544-2077 www.softtouchbases.com Circle No. 527 Circle No. 121 Coaching Management

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.com who are we? Aluminum Athletic Equipment Co. wanna stop by? 1000 Enterprise Drive • Royersford, PA 19468 phone ? 800-523-5471 • 610.825.6565 fax? really? 610.825.2378 what’re our games? Track & Field • Football • Soccer Lacrosse Field Hockey • Baseball • Softball

Circle #. Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page #

Circle #. Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page #

122. .AAE (myAAEworld.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

127. .Gatorade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC

105. .Aer-Flo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

104. .M.A.S.A. Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

117. .Bannerman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

111. .Muhl Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

121. .Beam Clay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

126. .NFHS Coach Certification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC

120. .Botetourt Sports Complex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

107. .Pro Look Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

101. .California University of Pennsylvania. . . . . . . . 3

112. .RevFire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

116. .CoachesNetwork. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

102. .Ringor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

108. .Diamond Pro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

110. .Soft Touch Bases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

115. .Fastball Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

109. .SPI Nets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

123. .Game Time Sports Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

100. .Sports Attack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC

106. .Game-On Field Conditioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

103. .Sports Tutor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

119. .GameMaster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

113. .Stabilizer Solutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

114. .GameTime Athletics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Product Directory

Circle No. 122 Athletic Management

A DD THE B IGGEST 1/6-Page Vertical 2.125 NAME INxB4.8125 ASEBALL A ND SOFTBALL TO YOUR FIELDS...

Ballfield Maintenance Materials

www.gametimesportssystems.com

800-520-0512

Circle #. Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page #

Circle #. Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page #

502. .Aer-Flo (Bunt Zone). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

507. .M.A.S.A. (Jugs Pitching Machine) . . . . . . . . . 31

521. .Aer-Flo (Tuffy Windscreen). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

516. .M.A.S.A. (OIP Softball Pitching Screen) . . . . . 32

519. .Aluminum Athletic Equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . 32

509. .Muhl Tech (Advanced Skills Tee) . . . . . . . . . . 30

534. .Bannerman (B-BP Ballpark). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

501. .Muhl Tech (skill-specific). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

535. .Bannerman (B-DM-6 Diamond Master). . . . . 32

506. .Power Systems (Power Throw-Balls). . . . . . . 31

520. .Beam Clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

513. .Power Systems (Shoulder Cuff Builder). . . . . 30

531. .Botetourt Sports Complex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

528. .Pro Look Sports (“soft” tackle twill). . . . . . . . 35

524. .California University of Pennsylvania. . . . . . . 35

529. .Pro Look Sports (Pro Look Softball). . . . . . . . 35

514. .Diamond Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

512. .RevFire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

508 . . Fastball (J-Mo Jugs fastpitch motion attachment). .30

530. .Ringor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

500. .Fastball (simulated live-arm throwing motion).31

527. .Soft Touch Bases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

518. .Game Time Sports Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

522. .SPI Nets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

526. .Game-On (DiGeronimo Aggregates). . . . . . . . 33

511. .Sports Attack (Hack Attack). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

505. .GameMaster (Red Fire Pitching Machine) . . . 30

503. .Sports Attack (Junior Hack Attack). . . . . . . . . 31

533. .GameMaster (UPM SwingRep). . . . . . . . . . . . 31

504. .Sports Tutor (HomePlate). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

515. .GameTime Athletics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

510. .Sports Tutor (TriplePlay Pro). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

525. .Gatorade (Prime 01) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

517. .Stabilizer Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

523. .Gatorade (Recover 03). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

532. .TurfCordz/NZ Manufacturing. . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Louisville Slugger® is a registered trademark of Hillerich and Bradsby Co.

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Coaching Management

CoachesNetwork.com

Testimonial

Designed to Protect Softball Pitchers

Team Equipment Strength & Longevity

Since 1996, Pro Look has developed award-winning uniforms for title-chasing athletes. Its garments work with athletes when they need it most. Pro Look fabrics and construction methods stand up to abuse, season after season. The patented “soft” tackle twill technology creates fabric that is soft to the touch, while maintaining traditional strength and longevity. Combine soft tackle twill with innovative jersey fabrics and make your next set of uniforms virtually unstoppable.

Pro Look Sports • 800-PRO-LOOK www.prolook.com

Circle No. 528

Game Changers Osborne Innovative Products Softball Pitching Screens were developed specifically for the needs of softball coaches and players. They offer either center or side cut-outs, which allow pitchers to stay completely protected, and are shipped fully assembled. The screens are available in two sizes, 7’ x 6’6” and 7’ x 8’, and offer heightadjustable, telescoping swivel legs, #72 braided nylon netting, a heavygauge Flo-Coat galvanized steel frame, and single or double netting.

Here are some programs that have used Osborne screens: All Star Baseball Academy Bentworth School District Central Methodist University Dublin High School Fennimore Community Schools George Mason University Harnett Central High School Holland Christian High School Iowa State University Lindenwood University Mansfield University Nevada Community School Ohio Power Softball Pasco High School Tennessee State University Texarkana College University of Alabama University School of Jackson Vision Sports Club Warsaw Community High School

Ringor focuses solely on women’s fastpitch, and offers the only cleated footwear to be awarded the American Podiatric Medical Association Seal of Acceptance. The company has done it again with the new Diamond Fit sock, which features a fitted PolyPro material that wicks away moisture, stays in place, and reduces odor retention.

Ringor • 877-274-6467 www.ringor.com

Circle No. 530

Just What You Want

Pro Look Softball is where tradition meets innovation. Combine the latest in materials technology with the unique ability to create any style uniform for one low price, and you get an unmatched uniform ordering experience.

Pro Look uniforms are so good that they are backed with a two-year manufacturing warranty.

Pro Look Sports • 800-PRO-LOOK www.prolook.com

Circle No. 529

More Products Hydration & Recovery

Gatorade Recover 03™, part of the G Series, is the first protein and carbohydrate beverage formulated with the consistency of a thirst quencher to provide hydration and muscle recovery benefits after exercise. In addition to the 16 grams of protein, Gatorade Recover 03™ has 14 grams of carbohydrates and electrolytes like sodium and potassium to help you replace nutrients after a tough practice or game.

Gatorade • 800-884-2867 www.gatorade.com

Circle No. 523

Never Stop Learning

California University of Pennsylvania’s Global Online programs offer an exceptional 100-percent online learning experience with the convenience of an asynchronous format. Complete your coursework anywhere, at any time that’s convenient for you--all you need is a computer and Internet access.

California University of Pennsylvania • 866-595-6348 www.cup.edu/go

Circle No. 524

Prime Choice

M.A.S.A. Inc. 1413 South Meridian Road Jasper, IN 47546 800-264-4519 Fax: 812-634-2036 www.sportsadvantage.com CoachesNetwork.com

Gatorade Prime 01, part of the G Series, is a pre-workout or pre-game fuel in a convenient and functional four-ounce pouch. With 25 grams of carbohydrates, it is designed to be used within the 15 minutes before a workout or competition to provide energy by maximizing the availability of carbohydrate energy to muscles. Gatorade Prime 01 also contains three B vitamins to help with energy metabolism as part of a daily diet.

Gatorade • 800-884-2867 www.gatorade.com

Circle No. 525 Coaching Management

35

Watch It Learn It Teach It

Mike Candrea walks through a groundball fielding progression.

Help your slap hitters with this drill from Linda Wells.

Coaches Network offers an array of educational resources, including instructional videos from some of the top coaches in the country. You can now comment on videos you like and share them with your coaching friends. We also have articles that can help with the off-field side of the job, including nutrition, working with parents, and developing leaders.

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National Federation of State High School Associations

NFHS Coach Certification www.nfhslearn.com NFHS Certification Program Designed to deliver the highest-quality professional development online at an affordable cost, this certification will: • Help coaches minimize the inherent risks faced by participating students • Improve the sport experience of participating students • Recognize coaches nationally • Develop a sense of personal and professional accomplishment • Enable coaches to increase liability insurance coverage through membership in the NFHS Coaches Association Level 1 – Accredited Interscholastic Coach

Get Certified!

� The coach must complete the following courses: �

NFHS Fundamentals of Coaching

� NFHS First Aid for Coaches (American Red Cross) or its equivalent

� Fundamentals of Coaching (Sport-specific) or Teaching Sport Skills Level 2 – Certified Interscholastic Coach

� Level 1 Completion + (Core Courses and Elective Courses)

Level 3 – Master Interscholastic Coach

� Level 2 Completion + (Core Courses and Elective Courses)

Elective Courses: • Engaging Effectively with Parents • Teaching and Modeling Behavior • Teaching Sport Skills

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Circle No. 127