Life in the Fastpitch Lane
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Ken Krause, owner and lead instructor of Softball Success, has been coaching girls fastpitch softball for nearly 20 years. This blog is about thoughts, ideas and musings on fast-pitch softball.
Life in the Fastpitch Lane
4d ago
Whenever a group of fastpitch softball fanatics gets together to talk about pitching, they (we) often talk about the three S’s – speed, spin, spot. You need a healthy dose of all three to be successful, especially at the higher levels. Within that, however, there is one significant caveat. Success with speed and spin is ..read more
Life in the Fastpitch Lane
1w ago
As I’m sure you already know, we are at a very busy time of the year. The school year is almost over, so teachers are diligently working to cram everything they were require to teach but haven’t so far into these last few weeks before the final bell rings for the summer. School, park district ..read more
Life in the Fastpitch Lane
2w ago
Don’t worry, I haven’t suddenly gone political here on Life in the Fastpitch Lane. But there definitely is a need to be careful about what you find on social media when you’re looking for information on how your daughter or players can become better hitters, pitchers, fielders, catchers, etc. Here’s the primary issue, which I ..read more
Life in the Fastpitch Lane
3w ago
Ask anyone who knows a thing or two about fastpitch softball pitching about the changeup and they’ll tell you it’s one of the greatest weapons a pitcher can have in her arsenal. The ability to take 10-15 mph off the speed of a pitch while making it look like it will be delivered at the ..read more
Life in the Fastpitch Lane
1M ago
We often hear about how fastpitch softball players need to be good teammates and people of good character. Coaches will talk about what they look for during tryouts and recruiting beyond skills, and how they need to be able to hold their players to high standards. But what about the coaches themselves? Shouldn’t being a ..read more
Life in the Fastpitch Lane
1M ago
It seems like softball coaches, players, and especially parents are always in search of the “silver bullet” – that one technique or piece of knowledge or magic adjustment that will take an average (or below-average) player and turn her into a superstar. That desire is actually what keeps a lot of what I would call ..read more
Life in the Fastpitch Lane
1M ago
We’ve all seen the stereotype in dozens of sports movies over the years: the coach who constantly screams at and demeans his/her players early in the movie only to go on to win the a championship during the climactic ending. It makes for great Hollywood drama. But unfortunately too many people today watch those movies ..read more
Life in the Fastpitch Lane
1M ago
So, the good news is your daughter made the high school fastpitch softball team. Congratulations! That’s a relief, especially in those increasingly rare instances where high school softball programs are still actually cutting players. Now the “bad” news: if you’ve never been through the experience you could be in for a rude awakening. Because unless ..read more
Life in the Fastpitch Lane
2M ago
One of the age-old questions when developing fastpitch pitchers is whether coaches should prioritize speed or accuracy. Of course the real answer is they should focus on mechanics and everything else comes from that. In other words, focus on the process and the outcomes will take care of themselves. Still, you do need some way ..read more
Life in the Fastpitch Lane
2M ago
A few weeks ago one of my students and her dad came to me with a question about the pitching rules. She had been called for an illegal pitch because she stepped on the pitching rubber with her hands together. I confirmed that that was a rule and we worked on making sure she broke ..read more