Firecracker Fastpitch
Designed or young softball players – Ages 8-18
Firecracker Fastpitch is a new and innovative program designed for sole purpose of bringing excitement, skill development and fun back to the game of softball.
In locations all over North America, communities can form talented teams, but then they have nobody to play against. There is no competitive league available, so in most cases, the kids have to play “up” a division. This in turn leaves behind all of the other kids in the same age group who will now not get a chance to develop because now they do not get the opportunity to play against skilled competition.
We need to make sure that all of the kids are getting proper skill development and we need to make it fun.
Firecracker Fastpitch solves these issues.
How does Firecracker work?
We change the game a little bit. We don’t change the rules, but what we do change is the situation. It is tough to practice a suicide squeeze play offensively or defensively unless there is a runner on 3rd base with less than 2 outs. How many times does that happen in a game? When it does happen, many coaches would never try it because they can score the run in so many other ways. Runs can score via a pass ball, an error etc. In other words, it is highly unlikely that any player will every get the opportunity to be involved in a suicide squeeze play. The same goes with so many other situational plays;
1st and 3rd play
Taking the lead runner
Double plays
Hotboxes or pickles
Drag bunts
Sacrifice bunts
Delayed steals
Push bunts
Or any other skill or situation you want to work on
These are all situations and skills that can be practiced but it becomes a lot tougher for the players to perform in a game setting. Firecracker Fastpitch puts the players in the situation in a game setting and allows them to practice the situation or skill effectively and rewards them for trying!!
We set the situations up by starting with runners on base. They start on base every inning. That means that every inning, there will be runners on base to deal with. Pressure for all of the players…all of the time.
Firecracker Fastpitch also involves some other major adjustments. If we really want to focus on skill development and fun, we need to address some of the games issues. We need to make the game fun and we can do this by changing the game a little to suit the needs of the participants. Please remember, this is not necessarily “league play” (although it can be), this is simply a high intensity practice program.
These are just a few of the most important adjustments.
I am not here to sell you anything. There is no cost involved. It’s about the kids. It’s about the parents and coaches. It’s about the sport itself. We need to make it fun again. For everyone.
The numbers keep going down. If we continue to do what we have always done, we will get the same results. It's time to think outside the box.
For more information about Firecracker Fastpitch, please feel free to contact me at any time.
Bruce Dougherty
ACES Academy of Softball
Calgary Diamond Devils
bruce@acesacademyofsoftball.com
cell – 403-998-2152
Designed or young softball players – Ages 8-18
Firecracker Fastpitch is a new and innovative program designed for sole purpose of bringing excitement, skill development and fun back to the game of softball.
In locations all over North America, communities can form talented teams, but then they have nobody to play against. There is no competitive league available, so in most cases, the kids have to play “up” a division. This in turn leaves behind all of the other kids in the same age group who will now not get a chance to develop because now they do not get the opportunity to play against skilled competition.
We need to make sure that all of the kids are getting proper skill development and we need to make it fun.
Firecracker Fastpitch solves these issues.
How does Firecracker work?
We change the game a little bit. We don’t change the rules, but what we do change is the situation. It is tough to practice a suicide squeeze play offensively or defensively unless there is a runner on 3rd base with less than 2 outs. How many times does that happen in a game? When it does happen, many coaches would never try it because they can score the run in so many other ways. Runs can score via a pass ball, an error etc. In other words, it is highly unlikely that any player will every get the opportunity to be involved in a suicide squeeze play. The same goes with so many other situational plays;
1st and 3rd play
Taking the lead runner
Double plays
Hotboxes or pickles
Drag bunts
Sacrifice bunts
Delayed steals
Push bunts
Or any other skill or situation you want to work on
These are all situations and skills that can be practiced but it becomes a lot tougher for the players to perform in a game setting. Firecracker Fastpitch puts the players in the situation in a game setting and allows them to practice the situation or skill effectively and rewards them for trying!!
We set the situations up by starting with runners on base. They start on base every inning. That means that every inning, there will be runners on base to deal with. Pressure for all of the players…all of the time.
Firecracker Fastpitch also involves some other major adjustments. If we really want to focus on skill development and fun, we need to address some of the games issues. We need to make the game fun and we can do this by changing the game a little to suit the needs of the participants. Please remember, this is not necessarily “league play” (although it can be), this is simply a high intensity practice program.
These are just a few of the most important adjustments.
I am not here to sell you anything. There is no cost involved. It’s about the kids. It’s about the parents and coaches. It’s about the sport itself. We need to make it fun again. For everyone.
The numbers keep going down. If we continue to do what we have always done, we will get the same results. It's time to think outside the box.
For more information about Firecracker Fastpitch, please feel free to contact me at any time.
Bruce Dougherty
ACES Academy of Softball
Calgary Diamond Devils
bruce@acesacademyofsoftball.com
cell – 403-998-2152
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