Michele Smith - Coachs Guide to Game-Winning Softball Drills: Developing the Essential Skills in Every Player

Developing the Essential Skills in Every Player

Michele Smith
Two-Time Olympic Gold Medal Winner,
and Lawrence Hsieh

To my parents, Barbara and Ernest Smith, for teaching me to love the game of softball as well as the importance of giving back in all aspects of life Michele

To my all-star team: my wife, Janice, and my children, Jennifer and Jason, who inspire and amaze me every day, and to my parents, Mary and J. S. Hsieh, for their wonderful support Lawrence

Copyright 2008 by Michele Smith and Lawrence Hsieh. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-07-174460-7
MHID: 0-07-174460-6

The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-148587-6, MHID: 0-07-148587-2.

All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps.

McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. To contact a representative please e-mail us at bulksales@mcgraw-hill.com.

TERMS OF USE

This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (McGraw-Hill) and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it without McGraw-Hills prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms.

THE WORK IS PROVIDED AS IS. McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMATION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the functions contained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Neither McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inaccuracy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting there from. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in contract, tort or otherwise.

As a two-time Olympic gold medalist, I firmly believe that success is the sum of ones efforts. While certainly my Olympic teammates and I were blessed with natural athletic ability, Ive seen time and again how physical superiority alone does not assure success in softball at any level, whether it be international, intercollegiate, interscholastic, or even junior softball. In addition to having supportive parents and knowledgeable coaches, what set me apart was equal parts work ethic (unrelenting), thirst for knowledge (unquenchable), and practice (lots of it!). Practice still is my favorite part of softball. Habits, both good and bad, have a tendency to take over in game situations, so its difficult during games to work on your game. The time to get better is during practice.

Weve written this book to give coaches, parents, and players the tools to use during practice to maximize every players potential to be the best she can be. Ive always been a stickler on proper mechanics, and I believe that the constant repetition of drill work is very important in establishing good habits. And weve coupled each group of drills with detailed coaching instruction to help give you the proper background for doing the drills. Theres something in this book for coaches at every levelfrom novice junior players to advanced high school players and beyond.

Over the years, Ive used, and I continue to use, many of the drills in this book to help make my game the best it can be. Having worked with young softball players for many years through my Michele Smith Gold Camps and Clinics, I realize that drilling is seen by some young athletes as boring, almost too easy. But each drill in this book is designed to help you diagnose and then challenge your players to work on improving different parts of proper softball mechanics. As they progress, your players will start to realize that each drill they can do successfully and consistently is one more good habit seared into muscle memoryone more good habit that adds to the sum of their efforts. I recognize that each time I step on the practice field I have the chance to work on my gameto work on my swing, to work on my rise, curve, or drop. Being a winner sometimes has little to do with the score. If your players seize the opportunity to be better today than they were yesterday in softball, in math, in music, in anything worth doing in life, regardless of natural ability, that will make them winners on and off the field.

And mastering these drills will arm your players with one of the biggest intangibles necessary to perform wellconfidence. In each Olympic game in which I played, I got a boost in self-confidence because I knew I was better trained and better drilled than my opponents. One of the greatest feelings in the world is knowing that you are prepared. It frees you as an athlete to play uninhibited, and thats when hardworking athletes play to the fullest of their potential.

We truly are the sum of what we do. I am confident that our book will help you and your athletes prepare for the successes that follow. Good luck in everything you do!

Onward,
Michele Smith

The Team (left to right): Morgan Hughart, Katelyn Perna, Michele Smith, Julia Brakeman, Lawrence Hsieh, Jennifer Hsieh

We would like to thank the following coaches for reviewing and providing helpful comments on the manuscript: Debbie Delahunt, Kathryn Klaassens, and Laura Bravyak of Fairfield Ludlowe High School; Gary Quiricone, Cheryl Covino, and Kristina OBrien of Fairfield Warde High School; as well as Frank Lapolla.