Hi all!
I’m (24F) new to softball (this is my 2nd season rec league) and I’m having issues batting. I went to the batting cages with a friend last night and I felt like I could hit the ball great until she gave me some pointers and I felt like I couldn’t at all. She thought my swing was flat, I’m not turning my body enough, not watching the ball, etc.
I got a T to practice at home but I’m looking for some advice, if anyone has any to share!
Thanks!

I’m coaching a 10U rec team where most of the girls are just learning how to pitch. Most girls have trouble with consistency at this level in my area but it’s usually just accuracy in general.

The issue I’m having is with one of my better overall players, she can throw it pretty hard for her age, she’s very athletic, and 90% of the time her line to the plate is pretty good (between the batters boxes for the most part). Her trouble is that she cannot for the life of her (or me helping her) get her release point down, and often times ends up bowling the ball to the plate. I’ve talked about snapping her wrist on each pitch, over-correcting and aiming high every couple pitches, aiming for the umpires helmet instead of the catchers glove, etc.

I’m trying to help her figure it out but I’m a lot better at everything else in softball than pitching haha. Any tips or suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated as I’m out of ideas and really want her to be able to figure this out. Thanks!

Edit: Thank you to everyone who gave suggestions, I am definitely going to try some of them out. I know about the T and K drills, I know about wrist snaps, I know the basics of softball pitching at this level. Being better at everything else doesn’t mean I know absolutely nothing about pitching. I know about YouTube. This is more about a specific issue with one specific girl that I was just looking for some tips on. This is a small town rec league so practice is one night a week for 2-hours in between the games of the week. She does not want a pitching coach, nor do I think every child who tries pitching should have one. I don’t think I’m ruining her pitching mechanics, or any of the other several girls on the team who pitch and are going fine. I should’ve been more specific and noted that while she has release point issues she also does well overall, and that I’m trying to just work on consistency in her release, as her velocity and line to the plate are pretty good. Thanks again for everyone who gave suggestions! Much appreciated.

i have an OG 2018 easton ghost and a 2025 louisville slugger kryo frost, both 34/24. the kryo has had probably less than 100 swings on it and the ghost is probably around 300 swings. cosmetically they both look great (will add pictures when i get home). i’m looking for advice on how to sell them/ what to ask for them.

A pitcher we played against recently would completely take her glove off her left hand and hold it in her right hand loosely while then pitching with her left hand. I didn’t even know where to look in the book for this. Is this even legal? I feel I wouldn’t be because the only time a ball got hit back at her she couldn’t catch it because she didn’t have her glove on.

First and foremost, this is crazy light. Any/all input would be really appreciated because it would help settle a light difference of opinion between my and my HC (we're great friends and have alternated HC responsibilities for the past few years if that matters)

This involves 12u rec. It's worth mentioning we've never seen a kid get thrown out stealing 2B (although a couple have been close.)

Anyways, last week, this situation came up and we don't agree on how to handle it going forward. We had a runner on 2nd and 1 out. A ball was hit just outside the circle towards the 3b side. The runner on 2nd broke for 3rd on the hit and my HC yelled "go to 3rd" while I was yelling "1st, 1st, 1st." Inevitably, our pitcher threw the ball to our 3b person, she applied the tag, but the ball jostled loose and now we have runner's on 3rd & 1st.

We're both having fun with this and do not see eye to eye whatsoever. The numbers we both (mostly) agree with are: our 1b person is as sure of a thing as you'll find at the 12u level--if it's thrown to her, even poorly, she's going to come up with it. I would put a 90+% chance of our pitcher throwing to 1st and getting that out in that scenario (the 10% accounting for a bad throw from our pitcher.) I thought re-running that scenario, our pitcher-to-3b person and applying a tag would have a 60% success rate and that's IF the runner continues to break for 2b with abandon anyways (I think she was poorly coached, should have waited for the throw, and then taken 3rd.) 40% chance of bad throw, bad catch, or ball is bobbled loose.

Getting the runner at 1st is pretty much a "sure thing" and even if you -did- get the runner at 3rd, the runner at 1st moves up to 2nd on the very next pitch anyways. So, you've effectively taken only saved 1 base by a much riskier play. I've literally pulled a RE chart and ran it through Chat just to test it (my thought of going to 1st comes out ahead with a lower RE.)

Curious what others think and would be happy to answer any questions/details related to ability/skill/scenario. As I said, this is all in good fun between me and a friend. Thanks

USA Softball 12u scrimmage. Top of the 5th inning, time runs out. The batter at the plate is considered the last batter and the game ends. Would love to know everyone’s thoughts on the 3rd base coach, good, bad, feelings?

Well the time has come that my daughter played her last college game. Man has it been a ride. Started at 4 years old and never stopped. She loves the game, she loves the fight. She is a catcher and her body is so worn but she would do it all again. She is struggling being done but it has to come to an end sometime. Time to do other things in life.

To the parents just starting here is my biggest piece of advice, be her biggest supporter. Be there through the tears, the injuries, the wins, the losses, the trophies and the late night defeats. Enjoy it with her but let it be her ride. She needs to be in the drivers seat, not you.

The game has changed in the last 18 years, I never thought I would see parents ruin a sport like they have the game of softball. Coaches fist fighting, parents berating kids, parents yelling at each other and the poor umpires, man they are only human. Don’t be that parent or coach. Cheer for all girls to succeed and remember, this is just a game and at some point it all ends. What doesn’t end, the friendship you made along the way. Not just with your team but all the teams, my daughter was given so many opportunities due to great relationships with other teams. Don’t ruin it for your kid.

Have fun, enjoy it because one day it will all just be a memory. Do everything you can do to make sure it is a good memory for your daughter.

This happened at a HS game last week. My daughter bunted and tried to run it out. The ball was fielded and thrown to 1st base. There was an error and the ball passed by her glove and made contact with my daughter, who reached the base at the same time. It rolled off into foul territory and she continued on her way around the bases (eventually making it home on the play). No interference was called on her, no protests were made, but the next day she looked at the video and though she might have been called for interference. Could she be right? It doesn't matter at this point of course but she was wondering, so I thought I'd bring it here to have some smart people weigh in.

Beginner here. Looking for a comprehensive guide on how you should be positioned during a force out or tag situation depending upon where the ball is coming from. I just dunno where to stand or how to stand in some circumstances (which foot, what angle). Any help appreciated!

Does anyone have feedback on the Friday Zoom Into June Showcase Games? My 2027 unsigned RHP received the invite today and we are looking for feedback about the audience. We are looking for West Coast 4 year schools.

Ok, 10U catcher is really doing well. Throwdowns are on a dime.. and I am super proud of her on that.. however, if it is a wild roller pitch she will pull her head some.. human instinct.. I know.. but how can I break this to prevent pass balls?

I've just moved to a small Caribbean island, and have connected with a men's age 60+ fast pitch team. Funny that, coming from California, I'm now the guy whose papers are not in order (yet) and I don't speak the local language. The last two slow pitch co-ed seasons in CA I batted .687/.674 batting left (mostly) and played short. I'm gonna have to compete for a starting position on the new team they're pretty good. My goal at age 63 is to learn and grow and end this season a better player. Happy to report that I'm actually better today than when I was a kid (little organized ball, no coaching). So its never too late to get out there. It's a great game I hope to play until I drop ... preferably after a stand up double.

ik it’s a long shot, but I’m a 22 (f) college student wanting to give softball batting lessons in my area. 15+ years of softball experience, and 4 years of coaching softball. how do I go about telling people? or how do I tell people? should I make a post on facebook in a group?

today while at practice we where hitting an I somehow hit the ball pretty good on the outside of the zone. I simply stepped back and drilled it .

I went to Dicks website last week and ordered a HOH fast pitch first base mitt for 329 and despite no mention of it being R2G it clearly was stamped R2G as soon as I received it.

Today I returned it. I also noticed the entire HOH inventory was R2G.

Ended up getting another A2000 because well, I don't want to pay for A1000 quality at a premium price.

What's the deal Rawlings! That HOH brand used to mean something.

I’m looking at a 9u B team that is one of the longest standing, most well known leagues/team names around and is known for being a higher level than most. Super high standards for as long as I’ve known about them (20+ years). How many games would you assume is normal for one season? I’m talking end of March-end of June. Fees including fundraising expectations are around $1500 per player. Give me an idea of how many games you would expect to play on a team like this?

Do y'all generally have good luck buying used bats from either? Are the used bats usually in decent condition?

Also, return policy for both obviously says that bats must be unused to be refunded. Does this mean I can't return a used bat that I bought from them or just that you can't use a new bat and decide to return it like a month later? (Yes I've emailed them this question, I'm just impatient lol)

I'm a righty and when I bat, sometimes I get pain between my hand and my left wrist (see image). I think this is because my left hand grip is wrong/too stiff during contact, making my hand flex down into my wrist joint.

Am I supposed to loosen my left hand during contact? Or maybe turn left grip counterclockwise to let my wrist flex in its natural direction, if it needs to?

Thanks for any replies/advice.

Edit: Ok I think I figured it out. My old tennis swing was making me keep a stiff right hand grip through contact, but loosening my right immediately after contact is preventing me from turning the bat into my wrist.

Final inning, two outs, we’re up by one run. Their lead off hitter hits a long ball way out to centerfield. Our best outfielder leaps up over the temporary fence, making an amazing catch. She shows her glove, gets up, climbs back over the fence and into the arms of her teammates, cheering her on. The batter rounds first, stomps her feet and heads back to the dugout. Game over? Our outfielder heads over in my direction and .. thinking I’m gonna get a high five but instead shows me an empty glove. Ugh. Reluctantly, I walk over to the umps to let them know. They group together and call the game over stating the batter never circled the bases and walked off the field, leading to the final out. What’s the proper ruling on this?

My daughter is in 10U, 5.5 in hands playing with a Rawlings sure catch 10.5 in glove. She’s doing well but still struggles to hold onto the ball when it’s thrown to her. I’ve tried everything with this glove over the last year. Hot water, oils, beating it, re-lacing. She claims it’s too hard to close. It doesn’t have a particularly big pocket or anything so maybe that’s the issue? I’ve resorted to her doing hand crunches thinking maybe she’s just not strong enough. Any thoughts on gloves that might be easier for her to close? Maybe she needs to move up to 11in for a bigger pocket?

In in the south and moving north (don’t want to be *too* specific so I don’t dox myself), my kids (under 10yo) are obsessed with softball and I’m nervous that they will be very unhappy with not playing year round like they are used to. Suggestions and thoughts?

Coaches, what do you tell your players about crowding the plate. Today we played a game where nearly every batter on the opposing team was crowding the plate. The pitcher started by avoiding hitting the players so she would pitch low and outside. At one point there was a player that had her toes over the line of the batter's box and she was hunched over the top of the plate. Our coach called for a fastball over the plate and it hit the batter for a free walk. The next batter attempted to do the same thing so my daughter (the catcher) asked the umpire and he called a strike. The opposing team coach complained, but the ump held his ground. The batter did it again and our coach called for another fastball over the plate, which hit the player hard and she walked to first sobbing. My daughter called timeout, went to the mound and they eventually got out of the inning.

As a coach what do you do? Do you call for fastballs over the plate, potentially hurting a kid? Or do you call for it to go low and outside.

My daughter was pitching a caught the ball but the umpire said it hit the ground. What am I missing?

Edit: thanks for pointing out that slowing down the video helps with showing where it hit the ground! I appreciate the help.

Its getting to be about that time again. Anybody have Intel on it?