The Competitive Levels of Softball

Picture this…….

It’s a beautiful Spring day. It’s 72 degrees and the sun is shining. You are sitting in the grass picking dandelions without a care in the world dreaming of the ice cream cone your mom is probably going to buy you in a couple of hours. Just then a big yellow ball flies by your head and everyone is screaming “get the ball Tammy”. You wake up from your daydream and realize you’re actually in the middle of a softball game and Jenny is now rounding 2nd base. Slightly dazed, you run after the rolling ball, pick it up and throw it as hard as you can back toward everyone else. The ball goes about 16 feet and starts rolling toward your teammate. She has to run out and pick it up, she throws it somewhere closer to the infield. Meanwhile, Jenny is now getting guided back into the third baseline by her coach headed for the plate, she got a little of course. 5 of your other teammates start running toward the ball as it comes to a stop….someone has to pick it up right? After the crowd of people around the ball clears, everyone sees that you actually ran all the way from the outfield to pick the ball back up and throw it again. Good hustle! Jenny trips over the plate, falls down and everyone cheers because that probably counts as a run. If you’re even keeping score. Who cares if you do? You’re 6.

Everyone’s introduction to softball is different some of us started when we were 5 or 6. Some started a little later. Regardless of when you started, each level of softball demands a little more out of you. Let’s go through the various levels and see what they entail.

We have recreation softball or rec ball. Rec ball is a great way for players to see if they love the game. You can play softball with your friends with a couple of practices per week. Once games start, practices usually slow down or stop altogether. Rec ball is great for players who want to enjoy the game and learn as much as possible. It’s usually coached by amazing volunteers who dedicate their time to giving players the best experience possible. We love rec ball. If you play well enough during the rec ball season you may be invited to play all-stars which takes the most talented rec ball players and puts them on teams to compete against other all-star teams. Now the competition starts to heat up a bit.

Travel ball usually fits somewhere in here but that is for a much different article because there are so many different types of travel ball organizations and private teams. We can get to that later.

Middle School ball is most likely the next step for most players. Your school team may have a team for 6th-8th graders although 6th graders usually have a tough time making the middle school team for various reasons. Don’t let that discourage you, you should definitely tryout for the experience and the chance that you will make the team! Middle school usually practices 4-5 time per week for a couple of hours. The games are played at your middle school field or you travel to other middle schools to play. Depending on the size of the middle school this might be the first time you actually have to tryout for a team. Meaning, there is a chance you won’t make the team if the Coaches determine your skill set is not suitable for that level of competition. This can be a tough time for young players who have never experienced this before. Honestly speaking it’s also a big time for players to stop playing the sport who get discouraged by not making the team and that is an unfortunate reality.

High School ball takes all of the middle school players and puts them at one High School. Now you’ve got 1 or 2, sometimes more middle schools combining into 1 high school. So those starting middle school players are now trying out for 9 spots on the JV and Varsity high school teams. This is where competition really starts to ramp up. Now you have the best players from surrounding middle schools competing for the same positions at the High School level. High school practices are usually 2 hours 5-6 times per week with 2, sometimes 3 games per week mixed in. Public schools play around 20 games and private schools can play up to 30 games per season. This is a tough reality for a lot of players as those border line middle school players will struggle finding a starting spot on the team or finding a spot at all. The High School coaches main goal should be to win. They are getting paid to put the best team possible on the field and be competitive each year. Sometimes their job depends on it.

If you’re in the very small percentage of players who are talented enough you might get to play in college. There are various levels of college but college softball is college softball. It’s a very competitive environment where your talent, work ethic and life balance are all tested. These Coaches are 100% paid to win and their job definitely depends on it. Now it’s a money factor. The colleges generate income from athletics and the more successful programs bring in more money. Therefore, the college must employ coaches who are in the business of building winning programs. The coaches don’t care who you are, where you came from or what your last name is. They will put the best players on the field at all times. Most colleges, in my experience, practice 6-10 times per week pre season and off season. These practices include workouts, team building activities, hitting sessions, fielding sessions, bullpens, small group sessions, team practices, study halls and classroom sessions. The season itself is very grueling with lots of travel. Sometimes by plane, sometimes by bus or team vans. A college softball program can play up to 56 games in a season. Some games are played in a tournament, most are double headers and then you’ll have single games as well. Practices still happens 6-7 days per week with sometimes very early more practices before classes. I’ll go into more details about college sports in a different article but that gives you a basic rundown.

The higher you go through the levels of competitive softball the more it demands of you. You have to work harder at each level pushing yourself more and more. You can use the people around you to push you or you can be self motivated. Whatever your goals are in softball just know it takes hard work and sacrifice to be successful. You may also feel some heartbreak a long the way. You can either take that heart break and quit or you can use it as motivation to build yourself an awesome softball story.

Should softball players lift weights?

Yes. We are done here.

Alright, we can dive in. Most of the time when I talk with females about weight lifting their biggest fear is they don’t want to get “bulky”. Well, if you’re not lifting massive weight time and time again…you won’t get bulky. If you don’t train to be bulky, you won’t be. It’s all in the design of the program.

Let’s talk age first. Elementary school players should be focusing on body weight exercises and learning how to move properly. Middle school is a great time to introduce some light weight training to athletes to start to refine movement patterns. In high school we should be getting into some more advanced lifts. It is important to get the introductory stuff done first so players can focus on proper technique to avoid injury as they train.

Our goal as softball players is be explosive. We have to train our muscles to move quickly, just like in our sport. We have standing around time and then our bodies are expected to move explosively. This isn’t necessarily a sport we want to train super heavy weight to build a ton of muscle. In my opinion keeping our weight to 70-80% of our 1 rep max is ideal and then we challenge the body from there with increased volume and variation of the exercises we do.

To be able to throw and hit harder we have to choose exercises that train the muscle groups that are being used. Examples of muscle groups used when swinging: hip rotators, lats, pecs, abdominals, shoulders, forearms and wrists (and more). Examples of muscle groups used when throwing: shoulder rotators, pecs, deltoids and lats (and more). Examples of muscle groups used when pitching: quadriceps, hamstrings, hip flexors, calfs, lats, deltoids, triceps and forearms (and more).

Plyometrics exercises are a great way to train explosiveness for our athletes. Box jumps, 1 foot hops, starting a stopping quickly, burpees, tuck jumps and clap pushups are just a few examples of plyometric body weight exercises. We can also weight train with explosive movements as well: landmine press, renegade rows, trap bar jumps, kettle bell swings, dumbbell push press, etc.

Eccentric training also has huge benefits for softball players. That is basically lowering the weight slowly. Your body is forced to recruit stabilizer muscles when you slow the movement down. This forces smaller muscle groups to work harder and lengthens that muscle for a longer period of time. This also helps us train how to control our movements better.

We also can’t forget about mobility and flexibility exercises. These must be added to any training program to ensure the body is moving the way it’s suppose to. This will ensure the greatest benefit from your training program.

If you’re not on a training program currently or are interest in one, let’s talk. We have a full weight room at the facility and 3 certified personal trainers ready to help anyone who is willing to put the work in. We offer very affordable gym memberships and can help train you. Come see us!

Why IYG Softball?

My name is Tyler LeClair and I’m the new owner of IYG Softball. Joe Frostick was the original founder of the program and my goal is to build on the foundation that he left behind. In just over 1 year as owner of IYG Baseball we took the baseball program from 3 teams to 9 teams. I believe that happened because families and players find a lot of value in what we offer our members. My plan for the softball program is just as big. We will offer things to our players to help them that other programs will not. Stick around and find out what lies ahead for us.

At IYG we will place a huge emphasis on developing the entire person. Our goal is to help young women grow into respectful, highly functioning members of society. We strive to teach attitude, work ethic, hustle and passion at a high level. Softball will end for everyone at some point but life goes on. That is why our emphasis is placed on the person first.

At the facility we are making big changes that will offer a very welcoming environment for players and families to want to come. We are replacing turf and cages. We are cleaning up and organizing. We are making our training equipment more accessible than ever. I want this to be a training facility your daughters ask you to go to constantly.

We have plans for new technology before the spring season starts. We have Rapsodo hitting and will be introducing Rapsodo pitching very soon. This allows us to see all sorts of metrics on the girl’s swing and pitching mechanics in order to help make changes to help their bodies move more efficiently. Our end goal is to get as much out of swing and pitching mechanics as possible. Understanding what those metrics are is step 1. We are working on upgrading our weight room with new/updated equipment to continue to push our fitness programs. We will also be adding updated pitching machines. Our training equipment is second to none: Blaze Pods, Heco Stix, Flat gloves, Heavy bats, Pro Velocity Bat, flat bats, weighted balls….the list goes on and on.

To help develop your daughters skills in softball we offer 2 practices per week and fitness (weight training, plyometric training, flexibility). The girls also have access to our facility during our open facility times which are 7 days per week in the off season. They can hit in the cages, get a bullpen in or a workout in our weight room. We offer development programs, clinics, camps and other extras at a reduced rate for our members. We put on free classes for our players (Introduction to Social Media and Recruiting, Nutrition, Weight Training Basics, etc) We are going to provide every opportunity we can think of to help your daughter physically and mentally in this game. I have developed an online data base of drills our players can do at home to help improve their game. They no longer have to work blind, they can have a plan.

We are building a coaching staff of dedicated coaches who care about our players from all angles. Our coaches have all coached for multiple years, love this sport and you can tell in the way they coach.

I could go on and on about the positive outlook of IYG Softball but you need to come see what we are doing. Feel free to stop by our facility at any time and talk.

You can check out our social media sites to see how we promote our players and what we are up to. @iygsoftball on Instagram and Twitter. IYG Black Widows Softball on Facebook.

Thank you and we hope to see you soon!

Tyler LeClair
-Owner of IYG

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