www.mavenvideo.com – Softball pitching drills and tips on how to create essential techniques for hurling the most effective pitch in fast pitch softball by coach Bob Todd. This video is a preview from his full DVD from mavenvideo The Killer Rise with Bob Todd. Releasing 2010.

• Fast-pitch version of 12.5-inch fielder’s softball glove made of walnut-hued cowhide leather
• Breathable, top-grain cowhide leather will retain its shape for years to come
• Closed webbing, closed back with Sure Pull Strap, CoolMax finger lining
• Contemporary styling
• Backed by a one-year warranty

Product Description
12.5″ glove with genuine top-grain walnut leather cowhide with a smooth brown color. It is a breathable leather and will retain its shape. It has strength and durability.Amazon.com Product Description
The Fast Pitch version of the Nokona AMG600W 12.5-inch fielder’s softball glove combines buffalo and cowhide leather and features a closed webbing, closed back with Sure Pull Strap (made of Velcro for easy adjustment) and contemporary styling. The genuine top… More >>

Nokona AMG600W-FP 12.5-Inch Closed Web Walnut Leather Fast Pitch Baseball Glove

So you want to pitch faster? You can choose to focus only on strengthening your muscles, or you can take a smarter option and take a complete approach to your pitching.

But before I get misunderstood, I’m not discounting the importance of strengthening your muscles to be able to pitch faster. What I’m saying is that it’s not all there is to pitching. And becoming a smart pitcher means you can pitch more effectively with lesser effort.

Want to be a smart and efficient pitcher? Here are some tips I have for you:

Focus on the mechanics first. Many players focus too much on strength training to make them pitch faster. But nailing the mechanics before anything else should be your priority as a pitcher.

The proper pitching mechanics teaches you to throw the ball correctly. Throwing the ball correctly solves two problems: it teaches you how to throw the ball without exerting much effort, which at the same time minimizes your chance of injuries due to incorrect mechanics.

Do your warm-ups and stretches. How fun would it be to be able to pitch fast right out of the dugout? However, it doesn’t work that way. If you want to pitch fast, you must do your warm-ups and stretches first.

Why? Because doing these helps loosen your muscles which helps you pitch better and prevent injuries due to pulled muscles.

Keep yourself relaxed. While stretches and warm-ups help loosen your muscles, tension can cause a reverse effect. So try to keep yourself relaxed before every game. Try to breathe regularly, loosen muscles on your upper back, neck and shoulders. If listening to music helps, you can do that too. Improve the strength muscles involved in pitching. As I mentioned earlier, I’m not at all discounting the importance of strength training to improve your pitching speed. So work out your schedule to include training your muscles involved in pitching such as in your forearms, wrists and shoulders. Don’t forget accuracy. Although this isn’t exactly an advice on how you can pitch faster, I just thought I’d remind you to take the time to focus on your pitches’ accuracy as well. After all, pitching isn’t just about speed, but also on how well you can pitch inside or outside the strike zone. Vary your throws. An arsenal of different pitches is the bane of any batter out there. It keeps them guessing what you’ll be throwing them next, especially in tight games. So work on having different pitching techniques and don’t just focus on speed alone.

It takes more than just these short and quick tips on softball pitching to help you throw faster. It also takes a huge amount of time, training and practicing incessantly until you refine your technique. So work on them and at the same time take into consideration the tips I have for you here. And I’m pretty sure how they will positively affect your game will be evident soon enough.

• Fast Pitch softball bat
• SV12 high performance alloy
• ultra thin handle
• extended barrel and sweet spot
• evenly balanced model

Product Description
12.5 oz drop… More >>

Easton SV12 Fast Pitch Softball Bat, Purple, 31/18.5

On ClubHouseGAS.com , noted coach and college player, Crissy Rapp talks with Casey Bass and demonstrates drills for the fundamentals of pitching for softball.

If you’ve ever been in the market for a bat rolling machine I’m sure you’ve found that there are several sites out there that other similar products. Each one of them trying to sell you their product and of course they all point out features of their roller that are different (and better) than the competitor. I’ll try to clear the air of some of the important features you need to be concerned with and those that really don’t matter.

Perpendicular or Parallel Rolling Machine?
I’ve been rolling bats for over 5 years now. The first bat rolling machines (in their current design) were developed about 5-6 years ago. All of the first bat rollers were of the Perpendicular style and roll the bat length wise up and down the barrel. A couple years ago the Parallel roller was developed and now everyone has followed suit. Listen clearly here.. The parallel roller was ONLY designed to speed up the rolling process. It DOES NOT do a better job rolling. You’ll read that parallel rolling is needed in conjunction with perpendicular rolling because it hits spots that the where missed by the perpendicular roller. Simply put, it is NOT TRUE. I’ve been rolling bats for 5+ years and we’ve rolled bats every possible way and Perpendicular rolling gives you the same results that Parallel rolling or a combination of Parallel/Perpendicular does. There is really no need to spend the extra money on an already overpriced parallel roller. I recently communicated to a new bat rolling company and asked them why they preferred Perpendicular followed by Parallel and what they told was VERY surprising. They told me they used this method because they DIDN’T know how to roll a bat Perpendicular correctly to ensure complete coverage so they used the Parallel method to basically clean up what they missed. My point is, if you find a company that knows what they are doing and is willing to take their time and not just make a quick buck. They can give you the BEST roll via the Perpendicular method.

Roller Sizes – What is the optimal size?
This paragraph only applies if you’ve made the choice to go with a parallel roller. From what I’ve seen there are 3 different designs of Parallel Rollers on the market. The roller sizes range from 6-7 inches in length. Most slowpitch and fastpitch softball bats will have at least a 10″ barrel. With this being said, it DOES NOT matter whether you use a roller with a 6 or 7 inch roller. Either way you will still be able to adequately roll your bat. You’ll read that the 6″ rollers are better because then allow the composite to flex more than the 7′ rollers. Again this is NOT TRUE and should not be factored in when making your decision on which roller to purchase.

Bearings – What type is the correct type?
This information may be more than most people will understand but I’ll include it anyway. You’ll see many different terms thrown around when it comes to the type of bearings that each machine uses and how their type is better than the next. The truth is that you should be looking for a unit that uses good quality sealed bearing that is lubricated. The last thing you want to get is a unit that requires you to lubricate your bearings in order for smooth operation. I recently came across a site that claims their new higher priced rollers have special bearings. They use big names like “Thrust Bearings” and “Radial Bearings”. It doesn’t matter. These big names just give them a reason to be able to charge you more money for something that you don’t really need.

Roller Materials – What’s the deal?
Again you’ll see some different material claims being offered by different manufacturers. Most manufactures will use a high impact Polyethylene material or nylon which has a hardness of Shore D 68. These are roughly the hardness of a golf ball. This material provides great wear resistance which equates to little need to ever replace them because of wear and tear. Some claim their rollers are precision machined for more consistency. Again this is just a sales pitch and gives them another reason to charge you more money. If you can find a reputable company that offers you a lifetime warranty and is willing to work with you then there is absolutely no need to worry about what type of roller material is being used.

Bat Roller Patents – What’s the truth?
I’m only including this information because it’s being used by some as a deterrent to convince you to purchase their unit vs. others on the market. The truth to this is that most likely a patent will never be issued on this type of product. There are a couple reasons it will be rejected. The main reason is that the company that applied for the patent is not the first to market a bat rolling machine (or the control compression method). This has been around for many years in many different forms. Their patent application was submitted in early 2008 and one of the biggest reasons for rejections is that you CAN NOT have a patent for things that have already been on the market prior to the patent being submitted. Since this patent was submitted in 2008 and there are photos of “controlled compression” devices dating back to 2005 available for view on the internet. It would reason that these devices have been around long before any patent application was submitted. This will make it an easy decision to the US Patent Office. In fact I believe the company that submitted the patent request has already received the initial rejection to their request. If you want to take the time you can do some research yourself and find the status of the patent and see the reasons for the rejection. You have no reason to worry about support or warranties from other companies offering similar products as they WILL NOT be effected by these claims. Again it’s simply a sales pitch to steer you into buying their units.

In summary, we recommend you purchase your next bat rolling machine from a company that gives you REAL information and not a sales pitch. If a company is charging you extra for this upgrade and that upgrade when in fact there reason is no measurable difference in product you have to ask yourself is this an honest company? If they aren’t willing to give you honest information (regardless of what they offer) then what makes you think they’ll be around when you have problems or questions. Most reputable companies will respond to your email questions in a timely manner and give you honest information.

• Fast-pitch version of 13-inch fielder’s softball glove with kangaroo leather back and walnut cowhide palm
• Kangaroo leather offers high tensile strength and light weight
• Closed webbing, closed back with Sure Pull Strap, CoolMax finger lining
• Contemporary styling
• Backed by a one-year warranty

Product Description
13″ glove with buckaroo walnut cowhide palm and kangaroo leather back. Kangaroo leather is one of the finest and strongest lightweight leathers known. Its tensile strength far exceeds that of other animals. The fine texture gives the player a glove that will break-in quickly and the light weight for those who prefer a lighter weight glove. The walnut cowhide leather gives the glove the added support for retaining its shape.Amazon.com Product Description
Th… More >>

Nokona AMG650-K-FP 13-Inch Closed Web Buckaroo Hide Fast Pitch Baseball Glove