Here's the Pitch | training-conditioning.com

http://www.stack.com/a/fastpitch-softball-pitch-count

JACKSONVILLE - Pitch Counts are coming to a softball field near you. Perhaps. Based on the Stack.com article linked above, they will resemble what goes on in baseball in name only.

The limit for maximum-effort pitches during a week should be around 400. Do not include any drills that mimic the pitching motion but are not maximum effort. 

But it's a start. Now at least we have evolved into Equal Opportunity Arm Abusers.

Hurray for us!!


from training-conditioning.com
http://training-conditioning.com/content/heres-pitch

Here's the Pitch

Although there are pitch counts for baseball players at many levels, the standard thought has been that the underhand toss utilized by softball players is safer than the overhand form used in baseball. However, new research says the potential for overuse injuries in softball pitchers is a factor that may be overlooked.

A news release from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis reports that research findings suggest softball pitchers show progressive pain, fatigue, and weakness relating to two- and three-day tournaments. This research was published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine.

"The dogma involving throwing athletes is that the underhand pitch is thought to be safer, but there have been biomechanical studies in recent years indicating that the stresses on the shoulder are very similar, regardless of whether one is pitching overhand or underhand," said Matthew Smith, MD, Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University and one of the study's authors. "The idea that we should protect these softball pitchers hasn't really caught on.

"Because there aren't as many pitchers on most softball teams as there are on baseball teams, coaches tend to 'ride' the ones who are successful," he continued. "Most don't realize they're putting the pitcher at risk, but it turns out that the windmill style of pitching that girls use isn't as safe as some might think."

In the study, Dr. Smith and his colleagues recruited 100 athletes who were between 14 and 18 years old. They were each about to participate in a two- and three-day tournaments and scheduled to pitch each day of the tournaments.

In order to gauge fatigue, which relates to overuse injuries, the researchers measured the pitchers' strength. These assessments were correlated with the pitchers' reports of how they felt.

"We used a device called a dynamometer that allows us to test strength," said Dr. Smith. "They push against it, and it gives us an objective measurement of strength. We also asked them how they felt, how tired they were and how much pain they were in.
'We can correlate objective measures of strength and associate those with how the athletes say they feel," he continued. "Usually during a tournament, we compare these things at the beginning of a day playing to these same measurements at the end of the day. Then we ascertain their strength levels at the start of the next day and determine whether they recover their strength,"

The research team found that as pitchers continue playing, they don't get enough rest to recover. On top of that, most injuries were sustained during the first six weeks of the season. This could indicate that throwing a lot in a short amount of time (with little or no training beforehand) may contribute to the issue.

"On a fast-pitch softball team, the pitcher is the player doing most of the throwing," said Dr. Smith. "She's throwing 70 or 100 or 125 pitches in a game. Meanwhile, the center fielder may only throw at peak effort four or five times in a game. Our study focused on pitchers because they are the ones who most commonly come to the doctor's office with injuries. There is some data suggesting that fatigue is a precursor to injury. If we limit pitches, get them more rest and give them more time to recover, it's logical to think the injury risk will decline."

However, there hasn't been enough research on softball pitchers to have an estimate for how much rest pitchers may need to recover between games.

"Two and three-day tournaments are commonplace in youth fast-pitch softball with teams often using the same pitcher throughout the tournament," the authors write. "Our data clearly show that shoulder and elbow strength decline after a single day of competitive windmill pitching and continue to decline over consecutive days of pitching.

We also show that there are significant increases in subjective measures of shoulder fatigue and pain coinciding with this decline in strength. Importantly, pitchers did not recover to their baseline many of the tested muscle groups by the day following pitching indicating that there was an inadequate period of rest."

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Rob Manfred joins RBI WS softball roundtable | MLB.com

Good for MLB and kudos to Rob Manfred for picking up the ball on this issue. I have been calling for more of a partnership between MLB and softball for many years. It seems as if Manfred also sees the opportunity for a woman to break through the minors and into MLB baseball, another issue I have written about before. There are plenty of examples of girls who have competed versus the boys at the HS level. It shouldn't have taken Monee Davis doing something at the LL level to open the Commissioners eyes. But we'll take whatever progress we can get.

I do hope the focus on the Monee Davis' of the world does not leave women's softball out in the cold. Here is one area where baseball can take the lead over the other major sports. There is no comparable league to the NFL for women, period. Nor is there one comparable to the NHL, although there could be. The NBA and the WNBA do coexist and there could eventually be a woman who could break through and play in the NBA before MLB breaks the barrier. 

I would like to see MLB beat them to the punch and I think the way to do it is to encourage participation by raising the bar for women's softball by subsidizing a professional women's softball league. I know they subsidize RBI and there are calls for them to subsidize college scholarships, here there will be a wash to expenses since presumably their minor league affiliated costs will decrease somewhat. They need to start thinking of these cash outlays more as investments in the future of the game rather than as pure expenses. 

from mlb.com  

http://m.reds.mlb.com/news/article/247390390/rob-manfred-joins-rbi-ws-softball-roundtable/?partnerId=ed-11797296-1010698173

Manfred committed to raising softball's profile

Commissioner talks to youth players during RBI World Series roundtable

By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | @m_sheldon | August 9th, 2017

CINCINNATI -- It was not a scheduling coincidence that Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred visited the RBI World Series on a day when girls softball participants were playing their semifinal games on Wednesday. Manfred came to Cincinnati specifically to talk softball and to engage with young women who play.

Manfred was part of a roundtable discussion at the Kingsgate Marriott Hotel at the University Of Cincinnati that included Reds chief operating officer Phil Castellini, Reds senior vice president of business operations Karen Forgus and Northern Kentucky University softball head coach Kathryn Gleason.

"It gave me an opportunity to put a special focus on softball," Manfred said. "Youth participation is a huge priority for Major League Baseball. I think historically we have given inadequate focus to softball in addition to baseball. We want to make sure that our efforts capture the entire population, male and female. We love the idea of making our softball programs every bit as high profile as our baseball programs."

Cincinnati, the Reds and the MLB Urban Youth Academy are hosting the 25th annual Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) World Series baseball and softball tournaments. The semifinals were scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, and the finals are slated for Friday.

During the roundtable discussion, it was the softball players who got to ask the questions.

"What opportunities do you have for women who want to play professional baseball?" one player asked the Commissioner.

In his reply, Manfred brought up visiting the Little League World Series shortly after his 2014 election as Commissioner and meeting Mo'ne Davis, a pitcher out of Philadelphia who became the superstar of the tournament, and who helped her team from Philly win the RBI World Series Junior Championship, throwing five sold innings in the semifinals.

"She changed my view of the prospects of a woman playing professional baseball," Manfred said. "When she looked at me and I looked at the look on her face, and she told me she thought she was going to be able to be good enough to play professional baseball. ... There was a look of determination in her eye that was really inspiring to me. One of the reasons that we started the women's baseball part of our [youth] program was to recognize that some young women out there would prefer to play the same game the boys play for a longer period of time."

Mark Sheldon has covered the Reds for MLB.com since 2006, and previously covered the Twins from 2001-05. Follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon and Facebook and listen to his podcast. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Extra Baggs: A questionable delivery, etc. - Giants Extra (ya' think?)

I agree that Lincecum in his heyday was out in front but not as blatant as this "quasi crow-hop/leap". Since we're batting around girls softball terms, isn't it appropriate that the answer comes from the softball standard for illegal pitches (as shown below)?

I'm not sure the Lincecum comparison is valid, all power pitcher push off the rubber somewhat and anyway lately Lincecum's problem has been not slipping and falling off the rubber, so there you go.

from thecompletepitcher.com
http://www.thecompletepitcher.com/images/clip_image020_0001.jpg

" It's all right, It's OK. You're going to get hit by a come-backer some day. "  Then it will be a safety issue instead.

Capps confused them by being a bit of a hybrid between the two illegal pitches. It's that initial hop / leap? forward that probably shouldn't be allowed. Umpires should have employed the Supreme Court definition of pornography standard "Can't define it, but you know it when you see it" rather than the girls softball standard "It's OK as long as you drag the toe".  We can all learn from each other. They are just so precious at this age. Capps isn't really dragging his toe until the first landing after the first leap, but WDIK?


from Mercurynews.com
Extra Baggs: Giants survive a rough June, McGehee's exit interview, a questionable delivery, etc. - Giants Extra:

Marlins right-hander Carter Capps has as unorthodox delivery as you’ll see in the major leagues. It’s plenty deceptive, too. But is it legal?

Bochy said he and the coaches looked into it and there was nothing to challenge. Capps isn’t the only pitcher who leaps off the rubber and grounds his back foot before releasing the ball. Jordan Walden does something similar.

A Triple-A umpire called two automatic balls on Capps in April, and after that, the Marlins sought clarification from Major League Baseball. Officials told Capps that he couldn’t leap so high and had to try to drag his toe a little more. I guess he’s complying now, since he is pitching without any interference.

If you look back at early Tim Lincecum starts, his back foot often was way in front of the rubber when he released the ball. It was less noticeable because he was dragging a toe.

So apparently, the neighborhood play works when it comes to pitching, too. Not that hitters will agree that it’s fair.

“I mean, he’s throwing a foot and a half closer than most people,” said Buster Posey, who joined Matt Duffy and Brandon Belt in striking out against Capps. “It’s a timing thing. You’re used to (seeing pitchers) push off and release the ball, and there’s a hesitation in between for him. From what everybody was saying, they ruled it legal. So you’ve got to go up and do your best against it.”

'via Blog this'



http://www.pitchsoftball.com/page3.html

In their rulebooks, the USSSA, ASA, etc. offer essentially the same definitions for "crow hopping":

          ASA - "A crow hop is defined as the act of a pitcher who steps, hops, or drags off the
          Front of the pitcher's plate, replants the pivot foot, establishing a second impetus
          (or starting point), pushes off from the newly-established starting point and
          and completes the delivery."

           And the ASA rulebook also states:

          "Pushing off with the pivot foot from a place other than the pitcher's plate is illegal."

          USSSA -  "A crow hop is the replanting of the pivot foot prior to delivery of the pitch." 

           Additionally, under USSSA Pitching Rules: 

         "Pushing off with the pivot foot from a place other than the pitcher's plate is illegal. 
          NOTE 1: It is not a step if the pitcher slides (her) foot in any direction on the pitcher's plate,
          provided contact is maintained.
          NOTE 2: Techniques such as the "crow hop" and "the leap" are illegal."

WAIT..WHAT?!? | All in a name: Madison Bumgarner rules the (softball) mound | Yahoo Sports

C'mon man!?!? Are we getting a weird glimpse of a parallel universe?

The one where the Cubs are the preeminent dynasty in baseball and the Yankees are the sad-sacks?

from Yahoo Sports:
All in a name: Madison Bumgarner rules the (softball) mound | Prep Rally - Yahoo Sports:

How many Madison Bumgarner's are there? Apparently, at least three. They all hail from the same small town in South Carolina. One is the 2014 World Series MVP. Another once dated that MVP. And now NBC Charlotte reports a third is emerging as a star on the softball mound.  It gets confusing, following all of the Bumgarners in South Caldwell, a.k.a. "Bumtown." The high school softball pitcher says she is a sixth cousin of the San Francisco Giants pitcher. They must have inherited at least a few of the same genes, as the younger Bumgarner is tearing up the competition this season. 

'via Blog this'

That would mean the Giants really finished last three of the last five years, wouldn't it?

It was creepy enough to hear Madison Bumgarner ( the Giant ) actually dated a girl named Madison Bumgarner, now this. And I'm not a prude, for the most part, but c'mon. Where does it all end?

I think I can tell them apart though.

His off-season workout seems to revolve around activities that drive away "sissy hands". I'm sure the distaff Madison Bumgarner's workout does not address such concerns.

She likely refers to her defense the way most people refer to belly-buttons, i.e.: "innies" ( for infielders ) and "outies ( for outfielders ).  I hear this on the softball field all the time, and there it seems perfectly appropriate and acceptable, but I swear if I hear this on a baseball field -- like with the songs thingy -- I will stop the game and lodge some form of protest. That would be a first.

I'm going to go out on a limb and venture a guess that Madison Bumgarner ( the Giant ) has never referred to his infielders as "innies" or his outfielders as "outies". At least, I hope he hasn't.

Maybe I'm the weird one. Or perhaps, I got sent to the wrong universe by accident.

Pitch it where they ain't - Hit 'em where they ain't | Good advice!!

Wee Willy Keeler, one of the best hitters at the turn of the century and a Hall of Famer once said his advice to hitter's was "Keep your eye clear, and hit 'em where they ain't".  Now, Perry Husband perhaps borrows from that in this article to explain how Jennie Finch vexes major league hitters by "Pitching it where they ain't". 

from SBNation.com

The Essence of Velocity: The pitching theory that could revolutionize baseball, if only the sport would embrace it

				The Essence of Velocity: The pitching theory that could ... The pitching theory that could revolutionize baseball, if only the sport would embrace it.
				View on www.sbnation.com	Preview by Yahoo

PITCH IT WHERE THEY AIN’T

Perry Husband once asked Brent Strom to name his ideal closer. Without hesitation, Strom said, "Jennie Finch, the softball pitcher."

Strom is on to something. There’s a reason that big league hitters won’t step into the box against a softball hurler: Their underhand delivery is so foreign to them as to appear unhittable.

Finch actually did face big leaguers, at the 2004 Pepsi All-Star Softball Game — where she struck out Albert Pujols, Brian Giles and Mike Piazza. Barry Bonds looked on in amusement, but when he faced her several months later, he was able to muster nothing more than a softly tapped foul.

"Her ball comes in on a different path," said Strom. "It’s why [former Mets starter] Sid Fernandez had success. Everybody wants a 6'5 guy, but hitters have been conditioned for ages for a ball to be in a certain spot, from a downward plane. Fernandez sat really deep on his back leg and had a low release point. Hitters couldn’t adjust."

They would, of course, if they faced Fernandez … or Finch … every day. It’s not like collegiate softball players are better hitters than their big league counterparts.

It does, however, illustrate the power of putting a pitch where the hitter does not expect it to be.

'via Blog this'

If pitchers can incorporate the kind of deceptiveness that Finch possesses, they are well on their way to demolishing the front half of Keeler's advice, "Keep your eye clear..." You can't hit what you can't see, so therefore you can't hit well, that which you can't see well. Good article and Perry Husband throws out some good wisdom on his website "Hitting is a Guess" ( http://www.hittingisaguess.com/index.html ). Perry's stuff is useful for both hitters and pitchers.

P.S. - I did not not know this:

Keeler had the ability to bunt practically any ball sent his way. He was the impetus for the rule change that made a third-strike foul bunt into a strike out. 

Stanton's injury could cause MLB change

I'm OK with it, I see it all the time in high school sports. But given the Buster Posey rule and now this, who is going to be first commentator to utter the phrase, "Why don't we just put skirts on them?" once again. The Giancarlo Stanton Rule just doesn't quite roll off the tongue as easily as The Buster Posey Rule.

from ESPN:

Stanton's injury could cause MLB change

				Stanton's injury could cause MLB change Buster Olney looks closer at what Giancarlo Stanton's injury suffered Thursday night means for MLB long-term.
				View on insider.espn.go.com	Preview by Yahoo

Stanton is expected to miss the rest of the season, and just as the Buster Posey injury of 2011 spurred a lot of conversation about home plate collisions and player safety, the injury to Stanton -- one of the game’s greatest stars -- will inevitably spur this question: In the name of player safety, can more be done to protect hitters? 

The answer, without question, is yes.

Maybe teach hitters not to dive into pitches in order to get plate coverage on the outside corner might help. Then late in the year, when everyone's a little tired and the amphetamines are wearing off ( What? I thought testing eliminated that http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11512445/baltimore-orioles-first-baseman-chris-davis-suspended-25-games-mlb  ) guys might not sleep-walk into inside fastballs or remember how to duck out of the way better to protect themselves.

Or maybe we can eliminate bench-jockeying and replace it with good old fashioned bench-singing a la softball and the world would be a better place. 

1. 

Does Grunting Improve Your Sports Performance? | STACK

Does Grunting Improve Your Sports Performance?

				Does Grunting Improve Your Sports Performance? Find out whether grunting during tennis matches and other sports actually increases performance.
				View on www.stack.com	Preview by Yahoo

If it does, it should be banned, right? Seriously, I've worked games where an opposing coach wants the softball pitcher who "excessively" grunts is distracting his hitters. I usually suggest he does a better job coaching his hitters so they are not so easily distracted, but whatever.

from STACK:
http://www.stack.com/2014/07/02/grunting-sports/

Some think it’s a tactic of deception—attempting to distract the opponent and hide the sound of the ball. Others think it actually impairs breathing and oxygen consumption.

 However, a recent study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that grunting may actually have tangible performance benefits.

Researchers from the University of Nebraska had five male and five female NCAA Division-I tennis players participate in two standardized practice sessions—one with grunting and the other without. Each athlete wore a portable metabolic unit to measure oxygen consumption, and each shot was measured with a radar gun.

RELATED: Who Wore the Best Tennis Shoes in History

The finding: grunting increased average groundstroke velocity by 3.8 percent. It also did not impair oxygen consumption—which came as a surprise.

.....

The researchers theorized that an increase in trunk stability when grunting produces the added velocity. The core can more efficiently transfer and produce force without wasting energy, which translates to more powerful groundstrokes.

This caused an instantaneous improvement among the tested athletes, which is remarkable given that NCAA athletes are already near the top of their game, so small improvements are hard to come by.

Did the study have limitations? Certainly. The athletes were only measured over two-minute periods, and a long tennis match can last upwards of five hours. Also, each athlete reported feeling more tired when grunting, even though physiological data indicated otherwise.

However, the study provides a pretty compelling reason to give grunting a try next time you play tennis. Also, it may also apply to other sports skills involving quick bursts of power, such as a baseball swing or a slap shot.

'via Blog this'

In the gym, I'm sure they get many complaints about excessive grunting.

Maria Sharapova turned it into an art form in tennis I suppose, but that's a post for another blog.

Oh what the heck, here we go. Gosh darn it if there isn't a thing called a "grunt-o-meter" and a formal ranking of the female tennis players -- never the males -- what's up with that?

http://www.businessinsider.com/loudest-womens-tennis-shrieks-2013-6?op=1

RANKED: The 10 Loudest Grunters And Shriekers In Women's Tennis

				RANKED: The 10 Loudest Grunters And Shriekers In W... Guess how high Maria Sharapova scored.
				View on www.businessinside...	Preview by Yahoo

WARNING: 

Don't let your spouse or boss (same thing, right?) catch you watching these (turn down the volume) or you'll be banned for a week from something you love to do, just like Stephen A. Smith. Apology or no apology.

Umpires worst nightmare

Umpire Jim Joyce emphatically called Cleveland's Jason Donald safe - AND THE REST IS HISTORY!!!

THE VARIOUS ANNOUNCERS CALLS OF THE PLAY & THE POST-MORTEM FROM MLB.COM
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=8629733

"It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the (stuff) out of it," Joyce said, looking and sounding distraught as he paced in the umpires' locker room. "I just cost that kid a perfect game."

This has got to be an umpire's worst nightmare. Influencing the outcome of a GAME on the basis of a bad call would be bad enough. Jim Joyce cost the Tigers Armando Gallaraga a chance at history and a place in the Hall of Fame. WOW!!!

I don't understand how in that situation, with two outs and a perfect game going, that ANY close play at first would not be SOLD as an out as emphatically as the umpire in Don Larsen's World Series perfect game sold strike three to end that one. Has anyone questioned that call? Anyone calling for instant replay based on that call? SELL THE CALL!!! It didn't even need selling, it looked like a clear out.

Maybe instant replay is the answer here. And in the white-hot crucible of the World Series.

But this isn't the answer to the recent twin Joe West debacles. Lately, Major League umpires are violating that age-old adage that the best thing anyone can say about umpires or referees after the game is that they didn't really notice them.

Now, in Joe West's defense, I will say that if anyone of us had a job supervisor or quasi-quality control inspector on our own jobs that had the personality of an Ozzie Guillen, Lou Piniella or Joe Girardi, we might act like the southern end of a north-bound horse, but Joe West brought a lot of this on himself by being a publicity whore. That's what he was fined for, more than the perception of bad calls, Hawk Harrelson's opinion aside. West doesn't seem as if he enjoys being out there anymore.

I know with Joe West, it's "The Show" and all, but when I do games during the season, the hardest problem I have is making the adjustment from having to deal with testosterone fueled 15-18 year-old young men and their equally daffy baseball coaches one night and 10 and under girls the next night, who are trying to influence the outcome of the game by singing songs with lyrics that end with something along the lines of "Oosh-ka, ash-ka. Oosh-oosh-kah, ash-ka".

On second thought, maybe that's just what a Joe West needs right now, more games on his schedule where the players are trying to influence the outcome of the game by singing "Oosh-ka, ash-ka. Oosh-oosh-kah, ash-ka". Its worth a try. The ball's in your court Commissioner Selig.



"Oosh-ka, ash-ka. Oosh-oosh-kah, ash-ka, indeed!!"

IOC TELLS BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL TO DROP DEAD

In favor of golf and rugby. GREAT!! I hope they don't try to bring the Games to Chicago now. Not without baseball and softball. NO SIR!!

According to the IBAF:

IBAF Statement Regarding IOC’s Announcement on Re-instatement To The Olympic Programme For 2016

(LAUSANNE, Switzerland) – The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) today issued the following statement after the announcement earlier today in Berlin on which two sports would be put forth for a vote in October in Copenhagen for re-instatement for the 2016 Olympics.

“The IBAF would like to congratulate golf and rugby on their selection today. Both will be welcome additions to the Olympic programme and should add great excitement to which ever city is selected to host the Olympic Games in 2016. We also want to wish nothing but the best to karate, roller sports, softball and squash, who were also not selected today. All of the seven sports under consideration have proven through the selection process that they are worthy of Olympic Games inclusion.