Product Description
Unlike other softball instruction books, Coaching Softball Technical and Tactical Skills goes beyond teaching the technical basics and focuses on skills such as in-game decision making and detecting the strengths and weaknesses of opponents--the tactical skills--to prepare players for game day.

This text is written by the American Sport Education Program (ASEP), the nation's leading sport education provider, in conjunction with content experts Kirk Walker and Mona Stevens and endorsement from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), the premier national organization for fastpitch softball.

Coaching Softball Technical and Tactical Skills features cues to help you teach your athletes the fundamental technical and tactical skills, over 175 photos depicting the appropriate techniques, and examples of season and practice plans to help you prepare for games. Skills are organized and cross-referenced so you can see how they relate to each other.

Coaching Softball Technical and Tactical Skills covers virtually all facets of softball: evaluating techniques, situational tactical skills, and season, practice, and game planning guides. Softball coaches and players alike will reap the benefits from this easy-to-use resource. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A must for read Softball SUCCESS!!
I was looking for a book that would teach me all about Softball and this is it!! This book looks at every point that a parent or coach would need to teach their child the game.What I really like about the book is that each topic it covers is very specific and to the point. I have coached sports for years--Softball for the last 3 years and I learned a lot--very well written. No coach should be without this book!!

Great book to help you improve your coaching skills
I coach high school fastpitch and younger kids in travel ball.I see many coaches who have enthusiasm and commitment but lack a basic understanding of fastpitch ranging from teaching old school technique to not using strategy effectively to inadequate planning for practices and the season.This book can help in all those areas.

As a reasonably experienced coach I have found this to be stimulating in both reviewing the technical aspects of the game as well as strategic tactics.Yet the book is written in a very easy to read manner so that novice coaches can begin learning in the first few minutes without having to plow through lengthy and often confusing descriptions that I find in many other books.

For example if you look up squeeze bunting in the index, it refers you to a section on the technique, a different section on defending the squeeze and another section on playing the short game.In the technique section it suggests glancing at other parts of the book dealing with sacrifice bunting, hard bunts, slap hitting, protecting a runner and situational hitting.

The book has many pictures and little inset boxes that have lists for the key points in the section, referrals to other parts of the book and lists of common errors the players make (and corrections).

In addition to the sections on technique and tactics, there are sections on practice plans, planning for a season and coaching in games.The skills taught are very current based on what I learned at NFCA and NSC clinics this winter.

I'm not prepared to lock the rest of my books on fastpitch in a closet, but this will certainly be the one at my fingertips both in my office and at practice. ... Read more

Product Description
Updated completely for 1997, this book includes rulings on the playing field, equipment, pitching regulations, scoring, umpires, fast pitch, slow pitch, and sixteen inch rules. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

came in handy
During a scoreless game in a Sunday-morning softball league, a rules dispute arose concerning two men occupying the same base (which had occurred recently in a Mets game).The matter was successfully concluded thanks to a handy copy of The Official Rules of Softball (once the relevant rule was located in the book and read to the unpire and opposing team).Clutch.(A better index/TOC would have been helpful, though.) ... Read more

Product Description
Coaching Fastpitch Softball: Championship Drills, Tips, and Insights is a comprehensive guide for building, maintaining, and improving programs. Take an inside look at how more than a dozen of the nation’s top fastpitch coaches have established successful programs. At the heart of the book is the step by step process for how-to build a championship program through the eyes of Jerrad Hardin, a two-time state championship coach and the 2002-2003 NCA Softball Coach of the Year. Coach Hardin is known for building successful softball programs that have set many state records and sent numerous players on to play in college. Hardin has developed a blueprint for success that includes developmental drills for each position and proven mental strategies for pitchers and hitters. This thought-provoking book will provide you with the necessary tools to take your program to the next level. ... Read more

Product Description
Make sure you’re in the right place at the right time to make the right call. Based on National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) rules, Officiating Softball covers officiating procedures and responsibilities, plate and field umpire mechanics for both fast-pitch and slow-pitch softball, and rules application. You’ll learn what’s expected of you as an umpire, pre- and postgame duties, and equipment and safety regulations.

The book contains three chapters detailing basic umpiring positions and descriptions; plate umpire mechanics; field umpire mechanics; and one-, two-, and three-umpire systems. Also included are real-life cases that demonstrate correct rulings, point out common umpiring errors and how to avoid them, and challenge you to make the right call in game situations. Officiating Softball is not a rules book--it’s a practical resource on applying the rules and umpiring mechanics developed and approved by the NFHS.

Officiating Softball was written by the American Sport Education Program (ASEP) in cooperation with the NFHS. It serves as the text for the NFHS Officiating Softball Methods Online Course, offered through the NFHS Officials Education Program. ... Read more

Product Description
Provides a brief introduction to the game of softball as intended to be played by children. Includes a diagram of a softball field. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Encouraging Book
"Batter Up! You Can Play Softball" by Nick Fauchald.Illustrated by Ronnie Rooney.Picture Window Books, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2006.

This is another book in the encouraging "You Can Do It" series by Nick Fauchald.The premise of each book is that you can play ... whatever the game is...
You can play volley ball.You can play hockey.You can play softball.
The author has chosen words that tell young readers that they can play whichever sport that is the subject of the book.The softball book is some 24 pages long, but concisely contains a wealth of information about the basics of softball. The book is some 10 inches wide by some 10 inches tall...a hard bound square book that is nicely illustrated, with brightly colored drawings.The red uniforms of the "Cardinals" nicely offset the blue uniforms of the "Muskrats".Who picked the name "Muskrats", (and how many children know what a muskrat is?)

A summary of softball (pages 22 and 23) gives the game basics and there are summary little "windows" of remarks, on every other page, providing pertinent information for the little drama being played out.For example, on page 16, the "window" box explains that a foul ball counts as a strike but fouls can only add up to two strikes on the batter.Little Hannah, at bat, knows what the count is.

I particularly liked the supporting words the author has used, along with heartening drawings by the illustrator.For example, some fifty-odd years ago, when I was a young boy trying to learn the game, I had to use eye glasses.The illustrator has portrayed one young "Cardinals" player with eye glasses, which, of course, encourages today's young eye glass wearers. This book promotes young children to become actively involved in sports, and provides much information about softball.
For example, did you know that the National Softball Hall of Fame is in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma? Both the writer and the illustrator have done a great job on this book.
... Read more

Product Description
A close-up look at America's first Olympic gold medal-winning softball team profiles the individual members of the team, their long, hard road to Atlanta, their struggle to balance their personal lives with their sports careers, and their extraordinary teamwork. 20,000 first printing. IP. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent Reading for Women's Softball
Any person interested in or pursuing a career in softball should read this book.It shows the determination of one man to make this an Olympic sport as well as the determination of the women players.A must read!!

Reallly Good!
This book is a really good book! ... Read more

Product Description
A resource-packed, comprehensive handbook that covers much more than just the X’s and O’s of the sport. Includes chapters on planning the season (assessment, schedules, position assignment, timelines); planning a practice; fundamental skill strategies (hitting, bunting, fielding, throwing, base running, and sliding); offensive strategy (batting order, bunting and hitting strategies, special situations); defensive strategy (general rules of defense, player responsibilities). Also covers scouting, game day considerations, season-ending responsibilities, off-season training, and even tournament planning, field maintenance, and fundraising! Contains dozens of photographs and illustrations. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
The best fastpitch softball pitching strategy book around!Sneaky Softball Pitching contains the most sought after pieces of pitching advice in the game today.Learn how to pitch faster within seconds.Get the secret of how to stun a batter into not swinging at all.Find out what every great pitcher needs to know about the mental game, and get detailed information about the foundation for building not only top speed, but most accuracy as well!From the author: I am a self-taught pitcher. I learned to pitch by watching hundreds of adult male pitchers starting when I was 5-years-old. I saw the ones that won most of their games and the ones that weren't as good. Most of the teams I played on were championship teams that won nearly all tourneys entered. We were champions because we did things in practice and in the games that the other teams did not do, did not do as well, or did not do nearly as often as we did. The things we did that others didn't is included in my book.Unless your instructor was a champion pitcher at a high level, they cannot teach you most of what is in my book because they don't have the knowledge I have.They have not "been there and done that."As a pitcher, I learned very early on how to win. I pitched differently and used strategies other pitchers did not . I used pitching tactics and was very good at it.There are a lot of pitching books and DVDs out there. But I know this book is different because I made sure to include what was NOT in others. Many of the chapters in this book were featured as editorials or instructional articles in Softball Magazine and/or the NFCA's Fastpitch Delivery newspaper.What I did, what my teams did, and what my coaches did that set us apart from the rest and made us champions...all that is included for you right here in this book! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

slow-pitch softball players of the world unite!
I loved reading Prof. Amenta's composite long summer of '05 of playing softball in multiple leagues in NYC.The cast of characters ("players") could have been Anywhere U.S.A., where adult slow-pitch softball is played---personality conflicts, tough decisions, other life events intruding, winning vs. popularity, sabermetrics vs. tradition, etc.
I am experiencing the same angst right now, trying to play both senior slow-pitch softball as a rookie & still keep up with the "youngsters" in the church league version.Prof. Amenta is able to keep it all straight somehow, in an obsessive-compulsive way.I mean, how did he ever have time for his "regular job" as a sociology professor while playing in 4-5 leagues per week for months on end?
In the end (finally!), it is the relationships experienced, the mano-a-mano camaraderie that linger in one's memory (which the author confirms).The game itself is simply a framework, a structure for such interaction. Ahh, but what a game!

Professor Baseball:An Intriguing Prospect
I couldn't resist reading this book, captured by its wonderful title.Hats off, and three cheers, to the publisher for agreeing to issue this title.

Professor Amenta is a bi-coastal university sociologist, trained at the University of Chicago.And this book is framed -- to his great credit with some subtlety -- in the century-plus scholarship of the so-called "Chicago School."Scratch beneath the surface and you'll surely discover that many a professor -- sociologist or otherwise -- enthralled with baseball aspired to write such a book.

This is an ethnography, written in the tradition of the participant-observer (e.g., Herbert J. Gans, or more recently, Mitchell Dunier), associated with Chicago sociology).

Professor Amenta, a failed Little League player from suburban Chicago, pursued redemption by playing in organized recreational soft-ball leagues in Manhattan.I won't reveal the outcome.Read it for yourself!

We learn a great deal about the author's softball career ("Eddy ball"), academic career, and private life (the latter including a considerable amount of detail about infertility).Perhaps some will deem this overboiled, although mostly I found the whole thing tasteful, insightful, and even inspired.

I especially appreciated the author's concluding observations about the real meaning of life -- professional as well as personal -- as well as his rich experiences on the field of softball dreams.Professor Amenta provides readers with a great deal to contemplate about what happens when culture and society reach an intersection.

Professor Baseball may not be for every armchair baseball reader.But I certainly found it memorable and suspect that many others will subscribe to this sentiment. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was written expressly for you who are coaching children in softball. We stress how to teach children this fun game and to have fun doing it. The book covers all facets of the game from “how to” throw a ball to strategies and tactics. When coaching children it should be a fun experience for everyone, for you, for the parents, and for the children. As a coach, we cover the teaching attitude and methods. We always keep in mind that the game is for the children and not for the adults. Winning isn't everything, but learning to play well and wanting to win is.

We take the children from kindergarten through the eighth grades and break them into four categories. In each category we discuss the players needs and abilities, what they are capable of in both the physical and emotional sense, and their limitations. We have also defined the coach’s role, the parent’s role and the player’s role.

Product Description
Softcover.220 pagesAmateur Softball Association ... Read more

Product Description
How would you like to get your hands on 21 proven “killer” fastpitch softball game strategies that will give you the ultimate unfair advantage over your competition, guaranteeing you a ton more victories? Well now you can with this new 76 page eBook from southern California Master Coach John Michael Kelly, aka "Coach K."

How many times you’ve lost a really close, really tough, really gut wrenching game that you lay awake in bed re-hashing in your mind about how if you’d only done this or that you’d have been victorious? In this eBook Coach K willgive you the secret weapons cache that will guarantee you’ll start sleeping like a baby because you’ll be winning all those close games. How great would that feel to you and your girls?! Your competition won’t know what hit them when you push all the right buttons again and again, game after game!

In this new eBook "21 Killer Fastpitch Softball Game Winning Strategies" Coach K has literally unloaded every trick and proven fastpitch strategy he hasever used or observed from coaching and watching 1,000s of fast pitch softball games over the years. These are little known tips, and full blow game and mental strategies that have personally won him a ton of tournament games over his coaching career.

Coach K's latest fast pitch team just finished a record season as they breezed through Districts, States and Nationals with a combined 17-4 record against the absolute best competition anywhere, and an overall 45-14 for the season.

This fast pitch softball eBook is chocked full of fresh game strategies and insights that Coach K has proven on the field in the competitive softball arena of southern California, home to some of the best softball in the world.

Here’s a partial list of game changing situations you’ll come out on top most every time with help from "21 Killer Fastpitch Softball Game Winning Strategies:"

--Create super hitters with just one simple mental strategy that will leave pitchers defenseless and create massive on base percentages!

--Spin your opponent’s defense in circles with this small ball strategy…it will blow your mind and blow your competition out of the water—even the toughest pitchers won’t stand a chance against you!

--Use the running game to your fullest advantage with this game changing strategy.

--Make your pitchers absolutely DOMINANT in any game situation against even the most feared hitters with this “old school” slam-dunk strategy!

--Use this simple but potent game strategy guaranteed to win you the close and tie breaker games. You’ll shut down your opponents while manufacturing that key run or two to come out on top EVERY TIME!

--Six proven 1st and 3rd defensive strategies designed to neutralize or cut down that runner at third base.

--Game saving clock management strategies that will win you a ton of close games and make you look like a genius!

--Killer base running strategies to get you the extra base…that even most Major Leaguers don’t use.

--How to guarantee your players will have laser focus during the game virtually eliminating those game-costing errors!

--How to build a championship team filled with confident & competent players who absolutely love to play the game!

--Learn my proven ATTACK strategy you can apply to your hitting, base running, pitching, defense…and even your bench to DOMINATE your opponents every time!

Coach K had this to say, "Let me tell you, winning on a consistent basis in SoCal is TOUGH!It is sink or swim…survival of the fittest when every team you play is filled with future Division 1 collegiate talent.Well, after coaching over 400 games I have figured out what it takes to win those close games, and give any team the ultimate “winner’s edge.”

Don't go into another season without reading "21 Killer Fastpitch Softball Game Winning Strategies."Prepare your team to play like champions, and look like a genius coach in the process.
... Read more