True North Softball Association

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@DGratz13 Again, the athlete comparison is not the same, but there have been millions of races run between elite level sprinters so you’d have to assume that if there was a faster way to do it, someone would be doing it. Plus it’s one less thing for athletes to think about :)

@DGratz13 We know it’s not the same sport and the correlation of athletes is weak at best, but Olympics sprinters spend their life optimizing getting from point A to point B as fast as they can. They ALWAYS run through, never anything else.

I always hear coaches/announcers say diving into head first into 1B is not as fast as running through the base. It’s one of those things that everyone seems to agree on so now I’m skeptical. Does anyone have data on this?

A phenomenal thread here that is definitely worth the read. Thanks for sharing the data @Bolandev3 and @tking0426. Can't wait to fire up the @RapsodoSoftball and @Blast_Sftball again!

@JPFasone1 👍 to this. Every hitter is different. Do whatever works for them!

A couple things I said one the hitting floor today: "Hit a groundball." "Hit a pop-up." "Swing off your back leg." "Finish will all your weight on your front leg." "ROTATE!" "Try not to rotate." If they hit the ball better, it doesn't matter.

@BeaverSoftball @MessmerGrace 💪🇨🇦

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Grace Messmer with a two-run bomb to left center. @MessmerGrace | #GoBeavs

@krista_stoker 100% agree to everything you've said here. It's ultimately on us coaches to create a culture and environment that allows players the freedom in space to fail and grow. Setting a machine at 68 and celebrating foul tips goes a long way!

@TrueNorthSB I’d love to research/write an article on this! Added to my list. I think it’s large part emotional intelligence education and also just education around the game. If you can’t hit 64 in a game, training shouldn’t give you the illusion you can. It should help you learn to.

The hardest part of shifting to more efficient training has been getting comfortable with training sessions that are uncomfortable. Half the battle is teaching athletes to WANT rounds where they fail more than they succeed. Unlearning the feel good front toss is hard.

@DinosFastball @softballcoach77 Congrats @ChloeMaher2021!

Congrats Kait! One of the "OGs" of True North Softball Academy🤣. Looking forward to cheering you on in the blue and gold for the next few years!

James Madison's Odicci Alexander received a standing ovation from the crowd in OKC 👏 @JMUSoftball | #WCWS

ODICCI ALEXANDER, ARE YOU SERIOUS?! 😱 📺 ESPN2 #WCWS #SCtop10 x @JMUSoftball

@Bolandev3 We always play normal to shallow, even on big hitters. Would WAY rather give up the occasional ball that goes over the OF head instead of the the multitude of weak fly balls / mishits that drop in in in front of them.

Why do coaches position their OF literal feet off the fence? Is getting an out the goal? I want to hear what you think⬇️

@krista_stoker Very great point! We love putting hitters up against a machine at high velocity. We allow them to fail and encourage them to things on their own. It's amazing to see how quickly they figure out their own swing and movements and start to barrel up a few.

There are several external constraints that hitting places on us... timing of the pitch, timing of the pitcher's motion and path of the ball. It's hard to truly expose a hitter's lack of adjustability to those constraints with only front toss.

@FoldenFastpitch We've trained players with much heavier bats than what they normally swing and while bat speed decreases, exit speed and distance increase. Full disclosure: Frequency of contact decreases w/ much heavier bat, so there's a middle ground to be sure.

@FoldenFastpitch Definitely heavier bat. If bat speed is the same, a heavier bat will impact more force on the ball at impact, raising exit velo and distance.

If all things are equal (no change in mechanics, bat speed, etc.) which is better for a softball player? Explain yourself in the comments.

@devenmorgan Love it! Keep up the great work

Some late night thoughts after our first Driveline Academy games. We can't solve youth baseball in a weekend. But we can take the first real steps toward building an organization truly focused on long term value. One brick at a time. vimeo.com/509150477?ref=…

Today, Bell will donate 5¢ towards Canadian mental health initiatives for every one of these actions! 👇 #BellLetsTalk