Training Ideas For Prospects: Try Something New!

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Several weeks ago, the whole world got turned upside down with COVID-19 and the impact on the world, the nation, and the Spring sports community, including softball. And as families and college prospects learn to adjust at home, they’re no longer able to go to team

practice…they can’t go to their normal lessons 2-3 times a week for pitching, hitting, catching. College softball prospects and including NSR prospects have had to learn to do the best they can with what they have, at home. Especially if we have any hope of “flattening the curve”,

and preventing this virus from continuing to spread and thus, prolonging the amount of time we have to spend locked up at home (#StayHome). So PSA’s across the country have been doing what they know, doing the same drills, over and over – and are at that point right now of getting “burned out” with the same old stuff, day after day. Not only because of training and staying on top of your game, but also because VIDEO right now is the main source of recruiting for the college softball coaches, as they’re in a “dead period” (https://www.nsr-inc.com/scouting-news/make-sure-you-know-these-ncaa-recruiting-terms/) until May 31st, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the last month or so has come and gone, more and more prospects are texting me asking about different ideas, concepts and training modalities. Not necessarily to fix a certain thing here and there but to “break up the monotony” in their training. In my previous life as a strength coach, I know what redundancy and boredom can do not only to motivation but in killing consistency. And for that reason, I’ve gone through a bunch of different prospects’ videos and compiled them into a short piece, for each type of training, the prospects as well as PSA’s across the country, to perhaps get a few ideas here and there. I’ve included them below, but first, a few tips:

1. Have a specific plan! Don’t just say “I’m going to hit 4 times this week”. Break up your plan.
   1. Outline your plan in a calendar, by day, and varying training modalities, each day.
   2. Example:
      1. Monday: tee work hitting, reaction glove work, sprints, and agility
      2. Tuesday: Soft toss hitting, bunt placement hitting, arm strengthening, long toss, strength training
      3. Wednesday: OFF
      4. Thursday: Live arm BP, fielding, speed & agility via cones and ladders
      5. Friday: reaction fielding tennis ball, long toss, hitting tee work, Strength training
      6. Saturday: OFF or Soft toss hitting, glove-work or live fielding, sprint work
      7. Sunday: OFF
2. Measure, Train, Test, Re-Measure: Whether it’s using a radar gun to measure overhand, pitching speed, ball exit…or a stopwatch to measure your speed on home to first or the 5-10-5 shuttle or using zepp or Blast to measure. Bottom line:
   1. Measure where you’re at
   2. Set goals of where you want to be in 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks
   3. Along the way each time you re-measure, adjust your training to focus on the lagging areas and continue to train the areas that demonstrated improvement
3. Train Your Strengths, But Target Your Weak Areas! If you have good speed, you’re a talented slapper, good glove…but you know you have a weak arm and you know you need to get better at hitting away? FOCUS ON YOUR WEAKNESSES while continuing to train your strengths.
4. Try Something New! Don’t be afraid to watch other people’s videos, look at youtube, find some other modalities that will keep it fun and keep your body guessing.

There’s a fine line between “developing muscle memory” from training repetitively for sport VS “keeping your body guessing” in your strength and conditioning because as we all know, that’s where growth happens.

If you have a specific question regarding drills, training modalities, or strength and conditioning – let me know! Shoot me an email: rwilson@nsr-inc.com or ask one of our NSR Softball scouts.

Without further adieu, hopefully, these training ideas/concepts will help you keep your training interesting:

Catching

Speed & Agility

Hitting

Fielding/Glove-work

Slapping

Pitching

We will continue to do our best to educate the prospects on strength and conditioning for the female, softball athlete, over the next few weeks. So stay tuned via the NSR blog and our social media:

National Scouting Report Social Media

Facebook: facebook.com/NationalScoutingReport or facebook.com/NSRsoftball

Instagram: @NSR_now

insTwitter: @NSR_softball or @nsrnow

Robby Wilson Social Media

Facebook: facebook.com/RobbyWilsonNSR

Instagram: @robby_wilson_nsr

Twitter: @RobbyWilsonNSR

Something you would like to see, but don’t? Or have a drill that is your favorite? Send it to us and let me know: rwilson@nsr-inc.com

Keep up with how COVID19 affects recruiting and softball as a whole here.

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