Eastern Connecticut State University Head Coach,
Third Place finish in the 2010 NCAA D-III National Tournament;
3x Little East Conference Coach of the Year;
5 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, 117-16 overall record from 2010-2012
Diana Pepin and her staff let the camera roll during this live, indoor practice. This entire practice takes place inside their campus gymnasium and includes the team drills you need to keep your players occupied and focused on the fundamentals when working indoors.
Dynamic Stretching
The Warriors' dynamic stretching program readies the muscles for the explosive movements of a softball practice. The warm-up ends with form running and acceleration drills.
Baserunning
See how to train your base runners to read the ball (or the pitcher) on tag-ups, running on contact and on a straight steal - all with a conditioning element attached to it.
Swing Mechanics
These team hitting drills train the basic fundamentals of the swing. Areas of concentration include stance, the heel plant, hips, staying long through the swing and head position.
Ground Ball Work
Pepin breaks her team into three groups to simultaneously work on their defensive fundamentals. The infielders work on short hops, tosses, and tags while the outfielders work on playing through a fly ball and drop steps. The catchers are working on framing pitches, blocking the ball and coming out of a stance to scoop the ball and throw to a bag.
Throwing Series
The throwing series has the entire team working on long, lofted throws to work on stretching their arms and developing good rotation on the ball. The program also works on receiving the ball. The players must catch the ball simulating a force play, tag play or cut-off position to work on their footwork. Additional drills work on quick glove-to-throw exchanges, throwing on the run and rundown throws.
Infield & Outfield Drills
These high rep infield drills focus on fielding ground balls, throwing to bases, turning double plays, and executing bunt defense. The outfield drills consist of catching on the run, working on drop steps, fielding ground balls and fly balls, and a good conditioning drill called the flying falcon.
Team Defense
Coach Pepin then takes the team defense through a series of game situations using live runners with a coach hitting or bunting.
Practice concludes with the Warriors' running through their pre-game warm-up.
This DVD is a must for any coach looking for ways to improve practice, get in a high number of reps, keep as many players as possible involved and active, and make the most of their indoor practice space!
92 minutes. 2011.
SD-03777B: with Diana Pepin,
Eastern Connecticut State University Head Coach,
Third Place finish in the 2010 NCAA D-III National Tournament;
3x Little East Conference Coach of the Year;
5 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, 117-16 overall record from 2010-2012
Diana Pepin shares her philosophy of hitting and a progression of drills you can use to develop an efficient and powerful softball swing.
Hitting Drills
Coach Pepin starts with the swing basics, providing a quick demonstration of the swing mechanics she teaches. She then moves to a four-drill series that you can use everyday to reinforce the fundamentals of stance, grip, load & attack, the heel plant, hips and the swing.
Pepin next leads her players through a series of tee drills to attack inside pitches:
- One Arm Drills - Teach your players to hit line drives, develop quick hands, keep their hands inside the ball and make contact out front on inside pitches.
- Double Tee Drill - Train your players to drive the ball by "staying long" through the ball.
- Weighted Bat Drill - Helps get the bat head out front and increases bat speed.
Throughout the drills Pepin coaches her athletes and provides key points for producing a quality swing.
Hitting Mentality
Step into the box ready to hit! Pepin shares how she breaks down the mental side of hitting by going through a checklist each batter should know to better understand what pitch they are hitting. The list includes: Breaking down the four quadrants of the plate, having a plan of attack, showing confidence while in the batter's box, seeing the defense and what they are giving you and more.
Live Hitting Challenge
Pepin finishes with a game-like, live hitting simulation where the players are presented with situational challenges while in the batting cage. Sacrifice bunts, slap hitting and 2-strike hitting techniques are all demonstrated.
These drills and concepts will help give your hitters an attacking mindset and a quality at bat every time they step up to the plate.
67 minutes. 2011.