Softball Skills and Drills - Judi Garman and Michelle Gromacki - NEW

Softball Skills and Drills

by Judi Garman and Michelle Gromacki

NEW, 336 pages

Get other Softball books here

About Softball Skills and Drills

• Hitting
  
• Bunting
  
• Slap Hitting
  
• Baserunning
  
• Sliding
  
• Fielding
  
• Throwing
  
• Pitching
  
• Catching

About Judi Garman

Judi Garman is one of the most successful coaches in college softball history, having retired as the nation’s winningest coach in 2000 after coaching for 28 seasons and earning a career record of 1124-416-4(.727) and 7 national championships as a player and coach.

Garman was a Canadian all-star outfielder and member of two Canadian national championship teams. Garman began her coaching career at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, California, and won four consecutive national junior college championships from 1975 to 1978. She then established the softball program at California State University at Fullerton in 1980. She built it into one of the most successful softball programs in the United States, winning the Women’s College World Series Championship in 1986 following two runner-up and three third-place finishes. From 2000 to 2002, Garman coached the Italian National Team to a European Championship and a fifth-place finish at the 2002 ISF World Championship.

Garman served as president of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) from 1990 to 1991 and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 1993. She resides in Redstone (Aspen), Colorado, and Palm Desert, California.

About Michelle Gromacki

Michelle Gromacki is the head coach of Cal State Fullerton softball, one of the most prestigious programs in the nation. Under Gromacki’s guidance, the Titans have staked their claim to five Big West Conference championships, including four consecutive conference titles from 2000 to 2003. In 2006,Gromacki was named Regional Coach of the year.

Gromacki served as an assistant coach for the U.S. national team from 2001 to 2004. More recently, she served as assistant coach of the U.S. women’s national team at the 2010 ISF World Championship in Venezuela.

Michelle Gromacki played for Cal State Fullerton and was the catcher on the 1996 national championship team. She continued her playing career with the Redding Rebels and took home three national championship titles in women’s major fastpitch. She was also on the U.S. national team for 10 years. She competed in many international tournaments and won gold medals in all of them.

Gromacki is one of the NFCA college coaches instructors and also conducts speaking engagements all over the world. She resides in Huntington Beach, California.

Reviews of this book

"Softball Skills & Drills is a must-have for every player. Judi Garman and Michelle Gromacki offer hundreds of drills and skills needed for success in fastpitch."

Jenny Topping -- Olympic Gold Medalist and Two-Time World Cup Champion

"It’s not often that you get the perspective of a tremendous player and a Hall of Fame coach in one book. Judi and Michelle offer insight and teaching cues that will benefit players and coaches of all ages!"

Mike Candrea -- Head Softball Coach, University of Arizona, NCAA National Champions: 1991, ’93, ’94, ’96, ’97, 2001, ’06, ’07

"Judi Garman and Michelle Gromacki do a great job of describing the correct skills and drills for helping players improve. Softball Skills and Drills is an outstanding reference for all aspects of the game and a must for every softball coach."

Jay Miller -- Head Softball Coach, Mississippi State University, USA National Team

About Softball

Softball is played between 2 teams on a large field, with nine players from one team on the field at a time. The field is usually composed of a dirt or brickdust infield which contains the quadrilateral shape and running areas, and a grass outfield. However, the field also can consist of all dirt, grass, artificial turf, or, in areas such as New York City, asphalt . There are 4 bases on the infield (first base, second base, third base,and home plate); the bases are arranged in a square and are typically 45 to 65 feet (13,7 to 19,8 meters) apart. Near the center of this square is the pitcher's circle, and within the circle is the "rubber", a small flat rectangular area. The object of the game is to score more runs (points) than the other team by batting (hitting) a ball into play and running around the bases, touching each one in succession. The ball is a sphere of light material, covered with leather or synthetic material. It is 10 to 12 inches (or rarely, 16 inches) (28 to 30.5 centimeters) in circumference. The game is officiated by one or more neutral umpires. Players and umpires are generally free to ask for a brief stoppage at any time when the ball is not in play, or immediately following a play once its outcome is clear.

The game is played in a series of innings, usually seven. Youth leagues sometimes have 6 innings. An inning is one series of both teams playing offense and defense. Each inning is divided into a top half and a bottom half indicating which team is playing which role. The offense bats and attempts to score runs, while the defense occupies the field and attempts to record outs in a variety of ways. After the defense records 3 outs, the half inning is over and the teams switch roles.

To start play, the offense sends a batter to home plate. The batting order must be fixed at the start of the game, and players may not bat out of turn. The defense's pitcher stands atop the rubber and throws the ball towards home plate using an underhanded motion. The batter attempts to hit the pitched ball with a bat, a long, round, smooth stick made of wood, metal or composite. A pitch must cross within a small area known as the strike zone, which is determined by the umpire behind home plate, and primarily ranges from the knees to just below the shoulders the ball must cross over the plate, and it must be within a certain height restriction. A pitch which does not cross the strike zone is a ball, and if the batter reaches 4 balls, the batter is awarded the first base. A pitch which crosses the strike zone is a strike, and a batter who reaches 3 strikes is out (a strikeout), and the next batter in the order comes to bat. A strike is also recorded on any pitch that the batter swings at and misses entirely, and also on a pitch that is hit foul (out of play), a foul ball may or may not result in a strikeout dependent upon what association and local league rules. However, bunting a foul ball does result in a strikeout. Bunting is not allowed and results in an out in some associations and leagues.

The batter attempts to swing the bat and hit the ball fair (into the field of play). After a successful hit the batter becomes a baserunner (or runner) and must run to first base. The defense attempts to field the ball and may throw the ball freely between players, so one player can field the ball while another moves to a position to put out the runner. The defense can tag the runner, by touching the runner with the ball while the runner is not on a base. The defense can also touch first base while in possession of the ball; in this case it is sufficient to beat the batter to first base and an actual tag of the batter is unnecessary. A runner is said to be thrown out when the play involves two or more defensive players. Runners generally cannot be put out when touching a base, but only one runner may occupy a base at any time and runners may not pass each other. When a ball is batted into play, runners generally must attempt to advance if there are no open bases behind them; for example, a runner on first base must run to second base if the batter puts the ball in play. In such a situation, the defense can throw to the base that the lead runner is attempting to take (a force out), and the defense can then also throw to the previous base. This can result in a multiple-out play: a double play is two outs, while a triple play, a very rare occurrence, is three outs. Runners with an open base behind them are not forced to advance and do so at their own risk; the defense must tag such runners directly to put them out rather than tagging the base.

A ball which is hit in the air and caught before hitting the ground is an immediate out, regardless of whether the ball would have landed fair or foul. A fly ball is a ball hit high and deep, a pop fly is a ball hit high but short, and a line drive is a ball hit close to the horizontal. In any such situation, runners must remain on their bases until the ball is touched by a defensive player or hits the ground. If a runner leaves the base before a fly ball, pop fly, or line drive is touched or contacts the ground, the defense can throw the ball to that base, and if the base is tagged before the runner returns, the runner is out as well, resulting in a double play. If the runner remains on the base until the ball is touched, or returns to the base after the catch but before the defense can put him out, he is said to tag up and may attempt to advance to the next base at his own risk. If there are less than two batters out and runners on 1st and 2nd bases and the batter hits a pop fly in the infield, the batter is automatically out to prevent unfair play by the fielders. Unfair play may result from infielders deliberately dropping the ball to try and achieve a double play. This rule is called the infield fly rule.

Offensive strategy is fairly straight forward, revolving around hitting the ball to let the batter reach base safely and to advance the base runners towards home plate to score runs. Defensive strategy can be more complex, with particular situations calling for different positioning and tactical decision making. For both sides, there can be a trade-off between outs and runs: the offense can sacrifice a batter to advance runners, while the defense may allow a runner to score if the remaining runners can be put out in a double play.

Softball Skills and Drills