with Shonda Stanton,
Indiana University Head Coach;
former Marshall University Head Coach;
the winningest coach in Marshall softball history;
2017 Conference USA Coach of the Year;
2013 Conference USA Tournament Champions; 4x Conference champions;
former Coach for the Akron Racers of the Women's Professional Fastpitch League
Often neglected and relegated to a warm-up activity, throwing is a skill that is vital for success on the softball diamond. Coach Shonda Stanton shows you 28 drills and progressions that cover all aspects of throwing, from mechanics to different types of throws that will prepare your players to make stronger, faster throws with the game on the line.
Warm-Up
Coach Stanton walks you through the importance of treating throwing and catching as a skill set rather than using it to warm up. She starts by focusing on preparing the arms using bands or cords before a ball is even picked up. Next, Coach Stanton covers three types of throwing routines she uses with her team. Each one targets different types of throws and ensures athletes gets a variety of drills to help them be successful.
Drills
Coach Stanton shares 12 throwing drills that will loosen up arms and help players improve reaction time. These drills promote correct throwing form, while allowing your players to use their athleticism. In one self-toss drill, players prepare for when they don't get a perfect grip on the ball but have to throw it anyway. Preparing your players for any situation they may face during games will help them become more confident in their skills.
Progressions
Coach Stanton offers three different throwing progressions that have proven to be successful in creating strong, accurate throwers. She pulls from a wide array of drills to keep the progression fresh and effective, depending on where her team is in the season or how her players' arms feel. Learn different progressions to:
- Focus on mechanics
- Focus on position-specific throws
- Throw and loosen up when your team is sore and tired
You'll learn how to break the progression into position groups to allow outfielders to work on their aspect of the game and infielders to use drills appropriate for them. Having multiple options for throwing will help you adjust your throwing warm-up to what your team needs on every specific day.
Your players will soon be making more accurate throws and be less prone to arm injuries.
55 minutes. 2017.
SD-05080B:
with Shonda Stanton,
Indiana University Head Coach;
former Marshall University Head Coach;
the winningest coach in Marshall softball history;
2017 Conference USA Coach of the Year;
2013 Conference USA Tournament Champions; 4x Conference champions;
former Coach for the Akron Racers of the Women's Professional Fastpitch League
Put pressure on your opponent and make them make plays. Coach Shonda Stanton has compiled a video featuring a comprehensive set of sliding and baserunning drills to help your team "Take the next 60 feet."
Once on base, from stealing to making aggressive baserunning reads, Coach Stanton teaches what to look for as a coach and runner, and shares 24 drills to put pressure on the opposing defense.
Leads, Stealing, and Sliding
Getting off the base efficiently in the lead is the first step to stealing. Coach Stanton teaches you to avoid the five common base stealing mistakes, most of which start at the base. Learn the three things you need to know and the formula for success in stealing bases, as well as six stealing drills to help you swipe bases more effectively.
Sliding is a major part of the game, and knowing when to use a variation of slides at the right time will help you steal more bases and get more safe calls. Not only does Coach Stanton show you how to teach your players to slide into bases with no fear using six sliding drills, she'll also show various ways to slide and when you should execute each type of slide.
Baserunning
Being smart but aggressive baserunners allows your players to be in scoring position more often. Putting pressure on the other team ultimately leads to making them be perfect in their execution. Be more efficient around the bases and read the ball better with Coach Stanton's nine drills. In the controlled baserunning reads drill, the runners are placed in five common baserunning situations and they have to make reads off a hitter's batted ball. The runners learn to take into account the defense and how each ball is hit when making their reads.
Score more runs with smarter baserunning!
72 minutes. 2017.
SD-05080C:
with Chanda Bell,
coached the 2017 Conference USA Pitcher of the Year;
former pitcher for the University of Kentucky, she holds the Wildcats all-time (910) and single-season (288) strikeouts record, and is the only pitcher in UK's history to have four seasons of 200 or more strikeouts; she threw the program's first no-hitter and perfect game
All pitchers need moving pitches that they can use to strike out opposing batters. Chanda Bell uses her experience as a player and a coach to help her players reach their absolute best when they are pitching. In this video, she shows you how to break down the mechanics of pitching into phases, and how to throw two of the most popular strikeout pitches.
Phases of Pitching
Improve pitching mechanics by learning the five phases of pitching. From the mental preparation necessary to succeed on any pitch, to executing the pitch, knowing the five phases will help break down the pitching motion into manageable parts.
Coach Bell has broken down her drills into five phases that address common problem areas with pitchers, and the solutions on how to fix them. The "Swing Through" drill is a great drill for pitchers to learn the balance and mechanics necessary to explode off the mound before you start your pitch. If this phase of the pitch isn't correct, accuracy will be affected, spin won't be as tight, and the pitch won't get as much movement. Overall, you will see 12 drills to help you develop better pitchers.
Rise and Curve
Once the pitcher's mechanics are correct, learn how to perfect the rise and curve - two of the most popular swing and miss pitches. Snap your wrist correctly to throw a rise that jumps over the hitter's bat, and, a curve that dances away from a batter. You will learn a progression, with drills for both pitches, to throw a late-breaking rise and curve. Coach Bell shows you how to creatively use several different tools, from spinners to pool noodles, to help throw a curve that breaks away from a right handed batter.
If you want to teach your pitchers solid fundamentals through great drill work, then this is the video for you!
48 minutes. 2017.
SD-05080D:
with Shonda Stanton,
Indiana University Head Coach;
former Marshall University Head Coach;
the winningest coach in Marshall softball history;
2017 Conference USA Coach of the Year;
2013 Conference USA Tournament Champions; 4x Conference champions;
former Coach for the Akron Racers of the Women's Professional Fastpitch League
Although pitchers often get most of the attention, the skill of catching is central to the success of any team. Give your catchers the attention they deserve!
Catchers have a wide variety of skills they must master to be successful, including receiving, blocking, and throwing out runners. In this video, Coach Stanton gives you drills to mold your athletes into complete catchers.
Coach Stanton includes 35 drills that isolate certain aspects of a complete catcher or serve as a progression into game-like situations. Her focus ranges from conditioning to blocking, and receiving to transferring. Drills progress from those performed by catchers only to drills and progressions that include all of the infield. All of these drills can be performed without having to spend big money on fancy gadgets, as everything can be done with basic equipment.
Warm-up and Receiving Drills
Get ready for practice or a game with 12 drills to physically prepare catchers and help get them mentally focused. Become a pitcher's best friend by mastering six receiving drills that will help any catcher get more called strikes. In one particular drill, "Receiving Off the Wall," the catchers stand facing a wall and have to react to the bounce of the ball off the wall and frame it. Limiting a catcher's reaction time and making them react quickly to the bounce will help make catching a pitch from 43 feet away seem easy!
Blocking Drills
Give your pitcher the confidence to throw a pitch in the dirt by mastering 13 blocking drills. These drills will help your catcher be explosive and quick to get down to the ground, while getting their body in the correct position to redirect the ball right in front of them to prevent runners from advancing.
Throwing Drills
From footwork to glove work, Stanton shows you how to throw out runners with ease. Catchers can improve how many runners they throw out by improving their release times. Stanton shares nine throwing drills, which incorporate everything from correct footwork to getting the ball out of the glove faster in the release.
Stanton not only provides you with the tools to build complete catchers, but also models how to coach athletes to hold themselves accountable and expect more of themself at practice. You will learn a variety of drills to improve catcher performance in all facets of the position and avoid utilizing them solely as ball flippers in practice.
80 minutes. 2017.
SD-05080E:
with Shonda Stanton,
Indiana University Head Coach;
former Marshall University Head Coach;
the winningest coach in Marshall softball history;
2017 Conference USA Coach of the Year;
2013 Conference USA Tournament Champions; 4x Conference champions;
former Coach for the Akron Racers of the Women's Professional Fastpitch League
Good infielders are athletic, can move quickly, and are able to make difficult plays look easy. Coach Shonda Stanton brings you a fully comprehensive instructional video filled with over 35 innovative drills to make your athletes better infielders.
Teaching footwork to go along with glove work is a necessity to quality infield play. Working from the ground up, Coach Stanton isolates the hands and feet before putting it all together and drilling the full skill, which leads to the finished product: a complete, athletic infielder capable of making every play.
Mechanics of Fielding a Ground Ball
Coach Stanton takes you through what to look for in your players when they field a ground ball:
- Good footwork
- Smooth and quick hands
- Good posture (chest forward, butt out, create a hinge with wrist and elbow)
- Transfer ball at mid-line
She emphasizes the four key points above during each drill. You'll also see her team run through an assortment of drills to drive the key components of sound mechanics.
Glove Work and Footwork
Footwork and glove work are necessities to getting outs. Learn from Coach Stanton the pre-pitch movement to put your body in a good fielding position to make a play quicker. She cover six drills to isolate the footwork necessary to get to balls hit to all sides of a player, as well as 15 drills for hands and glove work.
In one drill, Coach Stanton sets out hula-hoops that her players have to step in to emphasize the need to gain ground on their first steps. The first steps are the most important, as you cannot make up for a poor start to a ball.
Infield Fundamental Drills
Putting it all together, Coach Stanton offers 19 infield drills she uses to develop athletic fielders. She progresses her drills from working with a stationary ball, to rolling, and finally fungo fielding. Teach your players several key pieces to being an athletic infielder, including:
- How to make plays and field a ball while moving
- How to react quicker
- How to transfer the ball faster
At the end of the video, Coach Stanton gives an assortment of drills that puts everything together for the athlete. The Scramble Drill has base runners and infielders competing against each other. It incorporates fielding, throwing and tagging runners out as well as slides for the runners.
You can't make an out unless you field the ball first! Coach Stanton gives you over 35 drills to help even the newest infielders develop into great players. Mastering the skills in this video will help your players become complete infielders.
80 minutes. 2017.