In field protection

43 Feet

Pitchers at our camps pitch from 43 feet and unless we make a big deal about it, they do not seem affected. However, it is not uncommon for college coaches to tell me that there is an adjustment period when high school players have to throw every day from 43.

The answer may rest with a combination of proposals lumped into one rule designed to ensure safety. Face guard for pitchers, 43 feet rubber distance and greater restrictions on the composite bats would collectively help make the sport safer.

As for stats on softball related accidents, go to the insurers of the different softball associations. They are notorious for having statistics on everything and they might share those numbers with somebody with some pull in that industry (hint, hint).

 

Safety is improving

I had the honor of starting a 12U fastpitch team back in the fall of 1999 and coached that team all the way to 18U. (10 of the original 13 players were with the team as 18U) With fastpitch being relatively new to NC in the late '90's, the coaching and talent in the game was nowhere near as good as what the boys had in baseball or what fastpitch has today.

The fastpitch game in NC was exploding in the late 90's and there just wasn't enough experienced coaches available to teach the game correctly. With improper fundamentals being taught to many of the players, IMO that has led to some of the injuries we are seeing today with some of the older players.

Fast foward to 2005. This summer I had the pleasure of starting a 10U team. With our very first tournament, I was completely amazed at how talented our competition was and also how well coached these young teams were. These young teams were doing things well that many 16U teams could not do correctly. These teams were coached by men and women who you could see had a passion for the game and also knew the correct fundamentals and how to teach the game to these young athletes. Our little team of former Little League All stars were no match for the young ladies who had only played travel ball and many had never set foot on a little league or rec. field.

My point to all this is that as fastpitch continues to grow in NC, the coaching will continue to imrove and then so will the talent. Back in 1999 you very rarely could find many girls taking pitching or hitting lessons or just even working out on their own. But today, all the pitching coaches I know have full schedules and I also again have a busy calender of hitting lessons scheduled for the fall and winter.

IMO, the result of all this improvement in coaching and talent will result in less injuries because the proper fundamentals are being taught at a lower age. So when these girls are older, the game will be safer. I'm like blues, I'm all for making the game safe, but let's not over react and over protect these players when as the talent improves, so will safety. By the way, after only winning 3 games in 7 tournaments this summer, our 10U team played 12U this fall and out of 4 tournaments,finished 3rd twice. We are going to work hard over the winter and we can't wait for spring!!!

 

great post and so correct, BMac!!

not enough hours in the day to handle the kids wanting more instruction in all phases of the game!!

wonderful news about those young players of yours....keep up the work! I know you are proud of them......sidebar note: how did your youngest DD do this particular "season"?

 

Good post BMac and fine tuning skills in a lot of areas of the game can definitely contribute to a reduction in injuries across the board. However, I don't really think that better fundamentals will significantly help a kid bring her glove up to ward off a 75 MPH ball bearing down on her face. All of us have seen some great athletes with otherwise excellent skills and reaction times hammered by hard hit balls. The genuine concern expressed on this thread is, I think, based on the probability that "it" will happen one day and that people don't want their worst fears realized. For that reason alone, I don't believe we are over reacting.

 

Point well taken, but not only will players physical skills improve, but so will the mental skills. Sometimes just knowing the game situation (is this a likely bunting situation? what's the score?), the player at bat (is she the 3 or 4 hitter, is there anyone on base) are just a couple things how proper mental ability could help to reduce the risk of injury.

I also know many college coaches are beginning to spend more time on reaction and quickness type drills. It won't long before that will also be part of the HS and travel teams practices.

A girl could have the reactions of a rabbit, but in the wrong situation, anyone could get hit by a ball. However for now, short of playing the game with wiffle balls and plastic bats, there will always the risk of injury. (I've been hit with a wiffle, so that may not be the best example, but you get my point!)

 

Thanks for asking CF. She did well and decided she didn't want to be a pitcher. (too stressful for the parent) Maybe another catcher in the family, we'll see. But so far she has really enjoyed her time at 2nd. As for her hitting, her swing is pretty good, but she sometimes waits too long to decide to swing and hits a lot hard foul balls to the right side. I asked why she waited so long to swing and she said she didn't want to swing at a bad pitch but they all looked good! That to me sounds like she's been a little over-coached!!!

 

As long as every wall, rail, or fence around the field is padded, then I'm fine iwth anything else.

 

Last comment I promise

We worked hard on reaction time this fall with our young 18U Blues. It was tough, some took shots off shins etc. but got better and better and asked to work the drills as the season went on. I understand all the worries about the girls but if they play this game, we have to give them a little credit for all the hard work and time spent getting their skills the best they can be, preparing mentally to be ready for any situation. Hey, I am just glad I know they are on the field playing ball and not running around in cars, with boys, or riding four wheelers, or getting into other scarier things. I as a parent will assume the risk of the softball related items to avoid as many of the unknown and known dangers of the teenage years. Softball related injuries for the most part are treatable compared to auto crashes, drugs, knife wounds, battered by boyfriends, and many other psycological issues each of the fore mentioned problems bring. Yea, I know many of the things I mentioned can happened even if they play softball, but the time they have to pursue the other things are limited. Also, most of the girls I have been fortunate enough to coach have been awesome citizens and great students. Go Blues!

 

Protection

Facemask for the batters helmets are a great thing.The Cobras did it on all helmets 1st yr before it was mandatory.My DD didn't like it at 1st until she fouled off a ball that hit the ground & bounced up right into her facemask.She had no problem with it ever since.Probably would not wear a helmet without a mask now.One thing that would help the pitchers out would be umpires calling a proper strike zone.So many umps make you throw the ball either down the middle or close to the middle.Giving those corners would help so much.But like you say,players are so much better now when it comes to hitting,if you throw it down the ole pike you're gonna get hammered!This is why alot of pitchers get injured.The protective gear should be up to the individual,we as parents should be concerned about safety,but there is risk in any sport.

 

That is so true about the umpires. My daughter is a pitcher and 9 out of 10 umpires will not call the corners. That is so dangerous.