Softball Flaws and Fixes - Poor Timing

Suzy Willemssen: Hi! I am Suzy Willemssen and I am the Head Coach of the Blue Jays Gold. It's an 18 under girls Junior Olympic Fast Pitch Softball Team. We are talking about common softball hitting flaws and some fixes for your players and right now we are going to discuss Right Now; that is the name of this hitting drill. Hitting is all about timing, so you need some things to help your players learn to gauge their timings so they are making contact, solid contact, hitting that ball square, consistently. So again, they are more productive; you are happy, she is happy.

So with Right Now, I am going to be behind the screen and when I release the ball, Megan is going to say right and when she thinks it's time for her to make contact she is going to say now. This is also another great way for your players to be timing the pitcher when they are on deck and when they are in the dugout. A faster pitcher they would go right now, a slower pitcher they would go right now.

So again, they are measuring the time when the ball leaves my hand to when they think they should make contact. I like to use a short bat, you can use a normal sized bat, choke up a little bit. Sometimes if the girls aren't strong enough they find that it gives them a little problems, fatigue sets in. So we are using a little tee ball bats. We are going to be using our top hands; another thing to look for when you are doing the Right Now drill with your players is as -- they want to be starting their motion. Again, we have talked about we don't want to be statue, so they are going starting their motion before I release the ball. So they are not going to be saying right now as I am gathering; they are going to be saying right now when I release the ball. But they need to make sure they get started in time and then when they make contact, ideally the right foot is going to come up, the back foot is going to come up and release almost at the same time as the wrist and corks making good hard, solid contact.

So the Right Now drill, a super marvelous way to help your players gauge their timing and again hitting is all about timing. So I strongly encourage you to incorporate this drill in your practices. Incidentally Megan will be saying right mow; it's a good thing to start with your players so you know that they are doing their drill correctly and as they get on, you can trust that they are doing it. But Megan will be saying right when it leaves my hand, now when she makes contact.

Megan: Right now, right now, right now.

Suzy Willemssen: Again, I tell my players if they have a mishit to analyze that, make an adjustment; with their job to do just that, to hit me.

Megan: Right now, right now.

Suzy Willemssen: There we go, same time I will also talk to my players then I ask them what their tension level is. There we go and keep everything in nice five, six. Then I also play a game with my players with right now once they get accustomed to it. I tell them now they have just brought in a slow girl. So now I am going to pitch slower. Again, give the players a tool; all we are trying to do with their drill is to give players tools to reach in to help them to take it to the game.

You are not in their batter's box with them. So, on this drill with the Right Now, now I am going to slow it down and I am going to tell Megan okay they just brought in slow girl. So use your Right Now tool to help you make the adjustments.

Megan: Right now.

Suzy Willemssen: Good and then I will take the players level, now we just brought in fast girl. You just brought in fast girl; you just now slow call; so they are bringing in some heat. Again, a tool in their bag that they can take on the fields to help them be more successful during the game because that's where it all counts, during the game it's the result. So now they brought in fast girl. So Megan now will use her softball tool of Right Now and we will see how she adjusts.

Megan: Right now.

Suzy Willemssen: Again, super job, alright Megan way to go.