Matsuda Slow Motion

[Hillhouse]

Even at 75 if you observe and choose a pitch to swing at before you get anything in motion, you will have feet in cement and flip your bat at the ball in the catcher's mitt. You have to time the pitch, trigger, and make a quick decision in the process. IMHO that is why you see as many bad swings as you do, since observation time is so limited; and the game at that level is 10x harder than most imagine at the plate.

Well said. Sometimes it's a guessing game and boy oh boy do you look silly when you guess wrong. Change ups in particular. I have told the story about the USA women's team vs. Japan, didn't I? About Mike Candrea bringing in USA men's guys to pick Ueno's change up? It's a great story.

 

[Hillhouse]

Bill, when I first got involved in fastpitch, I joined here in 2013, I soaked up and tried to learn everything about pitching I could shove into my brain!

You‘d be embarrassed if you knew all the research I did on you, bought 2....or 3 of your CD’s, your double ball, and watched everyone of your lessons on your site.

You always came across to me as a passive, calm, no nonsense guy who could pitch lights out, and better yet, teach pitching!

Then one day I ran across a video of Folkard, now mind you I have no idea what kind of guy he is, he could be a preacher for all I know? But the thing that struck me about him was his demeanor in the circle.....basically here it is A$$****, see what you can do with this, now go sit down!

I remember watching that first video of him probably 10 times in a row, then telling Anna to come check this guy out!

Good story:

During the spring of 2010, I was divorced (still am... hint hint...). I was living in Erie PA, in my 3 bedroom house alone. The sponsor of Adam's team called and said he was having a hard time finding a place for Adam Folkard and Nick Shailes (arguably the best overall PLAYER in the world, also from Australia) to live for the summer. He asked if I'd let Adam and NIck stay with me for the summer. We played in all the same tournament so we could drive together on weekends and they could ride to the airport with me on flying trips. Keeping in mind, I was on the NY Gremlins team and this sponsor and my team are the arch rivals I mentioned before. I mean, we'd face each other in almost every final of every tournament during the season. And I do mean EVERY final. So this would be like the Duke basketball coach asking the UNC basketball coach to "house" some of his players...

I didn't really know Adam too well but we played in Kitchener Ontario for the first weekend of the year. Adam flew into Ontario from Aussie, and my first real interaction with him was our drive home from Ontario to Erie (2.5 hours or so). We got home, dropped his stuff off and went for wings/beers.

Both he and Nick were the most awesome people, we rarely talked about our team's rivalry... rarely talked about games we played (win or lose) we just hung out drinking beer by the pool, etc. My son was 6 at the time and came to stay with me for the summer. Adam and he became good buddies and Adam would play Legos with him. They played Thomas the Train, building train tracks around the house, etc. He helped me blow up inflatable toys for the pool for my kid to play with etc. So you see his demeanor in the circle and in games, then you compare that to seeing the world's best pitcher (and one of the most dominant pitchers of ALL TIME) carrying an inflatable Shamu floaty for the pool to the gas station to help me inflate it. It's like a Jekylle and Hyde. He's a normal guy. A really great guy.

Very rarely do I use the word "friend". My friends are the same people I've known since grade school, none are in the softball world. I have a million buddies and a million pals in the softball world but, I consider Adam and Nick to be genuine friends.

They lived with me for 2 or 3 years, I can't remember. The man you see in the circle is 100% different from the man you'd have a beer with.

 

[ANNASDAD]

Good story:

During the spring of 2010, I was divorced (still am... hint hint...). I was living in Erie PA, in my 3 bedroom house alone. The sponsor of Adam's team called and said he was having a hard time finding a place for Adam Folkard and Nick Shailes (arguably the best overall PLAYER in the world, also from Australia) to live for the summer. He asked if I'd let Adam and NIck stay with me for the summer. We played in all the same tournament so we could drive together on weekends and they could ride to the airport with me on flying trips. Keeping in mind, I was on the NY Gremlins team and this sponsor and my team are the arch rivals I mentioned before. I mean, we'd face each other in almost every final of every tournament during the season. And I do mean EVERY final. So this would be like the Duke basketball coach asking the UNC basketball coach to "house" some of his players...

I didn't really know Adam too well but we played in Kitchener Ontario for the first weekend of the year. Adam flew into Ontario from Aussie, and my first real interaction with him was our drive home from Ontario to Erie (2.5 hours or so). We got home, dropped his stuff off and went for wings/beers.

Both he and Nick were the most awesome people, we rarely talked about our team's rivalry... rarely talked about games we played (win or lose) we just hung out drinking beer by the pool, etc. My son was 6 at the time and came to stay with me for the summer. Adam and he became good buddies and Adam would play Legos with him. They played Thomas the Train, building train tracks around the house, etc. He helped me blow up inflatable toys for the pool for my kid to play with etc. So you see his demeanor in the circle and in games, then you compare that to seeing the world's best pitcher (and one of the most dominant pitchers of ALL TIME) carrying an inflatable Shamu floaty for the pool to the gas station to help me inflate it. It's like a Jekylle and Hyde. He's a normal guy. A really great guy.

Very rarely do I use the word "friend". My friends are the same people I've known since grade school, none are in the softball world. I have a million buddies and a million pals in the softball world but, I consider Adam and Nick to be genuine friends.

They lived with me for 2 or 3 years, I can't remember. The man you see in the circle is 100% different from the man you'd have a beer with.

These are the kind of "real people" stories I love to read about, thanks for sharing that!

 

[Quasimodo]

Well said. Sometimes it's a guessing game and boy oh boy do you look silly when you guess wrong. Change ups in particular. I have told the story about the USA women's team vs. Japan, didn't I? About Mike Candrea bringing in USA men's guys to pick Ueno's change up? It's a great story.

I want to hear it!

 

[Hillhouse]

I want to hear it!

Keeping in mind, I wasn't involved and only heard about it after the fact. But, as the story goes:

The year was 2005 (I think). Japan brought their new ace Ueno to the USA for a tour, and she baffled the USA hitters with her change up. They couldn't touch it. The next year, Japan was again playing in the KFC "world cup" or whatever the ASA hosted in Oklahoma City. Team USA's coaching staff "invited" a couple of the USA men's team players to come to the tournament and pick Ueno's change up. Apparently the guys picked it within an inning or 2, and they passed it on to the coaches. Next thing you know, USA was not fooled anymore and beat Ueno. Japan knew something was amiss, and in 2007 (year before the Beijing Olympics) when Japan toured the USA, they left Ueno at home. I was told Japan had thought USA was getting the advantage from all the TV cameras from ESPN. So, they left her at home and came on tour without her. Ueno made some "tweaks" to whatever she was doing and whatever the pick the guys picked up was no longer the key to seeing what she was doing. Japan and/or Ueno figured out the problem somehow. As a result, Japan stuffed it up the USA's butt in the Gold medal game in 2008.

 

[Dwyer Trucking]

I retired 4-5 years ago. When I was still on the NY Gremlins, Folkard's team was our ARCH RIVAL. Imagine Duke/UNC, Auburn/Alabama, Texas/Oklahoma, etc. that type of rivalry. And at the time, Adam was untouchable. Especially in some of the ballparks not orginally made for men's FP, where the lights are not ideal. Anyway, since my retirement, Adam isn't dominating the way he used to. I KNOW he didn't forget how to pitch, and even if he dropped to 85mph, he'd still be the fastest in the world by several MPH. But more runs are being scored off Adam now than 4 years ago, which means the hitters have figured something out. Since Australia (Adam's home country) is arch rivals with NZ, and Australia/NZ play each other a lot.... I'm guessing the NZ hitters got something. Now fastforward to the US club seasons, those NZ players spread out over 10 different teams and some might "share" what they have.

That said, NZ players are notoriously secretive so it's doubtful they would share their intel with Canadian players, or Americans or God forbid Australian players. But in all my years of experiences, this is the only LOGICAL explanation for why Adam isn't quite the same pitcher. Still the best in the world, just come up short the last 2 years (pre-Covid). His team finished 4th in the World the 2018 and 19. NY Gremlins (my former team) back to back world champs those years. Yes, I'm sure it's a coincidence!!!!! ha ha ha ha ha ha.

IF I had one Christmas wish this year, it would be for as many people as possible to get to see Folkard in person. You guys simply cannot imagine how fast he's throwing. He is a man among boys. Many of us have seen Clemens, or Randy Johnson pitch in a MLB game and thought "boy that looks fast". Now imagine that from a pitcher starting at 46 feet away vs. Baseball's 60' 6", then he jumps (literally 3-4 feet) closer before throwing something that moves more than you can imagine. I know, I know, I know.... the rise doesn't really go up. I still have a hard time with that, after having wiffed at his a few times. But aside from that, the sheer speed is amazing. And I've seen and/or been teammates with all of the people Quasi mentioned, Moore (not a flamethrower) to Meredith (who threw the hardest I ever saw before Folkard), Piecknik (close 2nd to Meredith), etc. etc. Folkard was unreal. And I use "was" because his last couple years have not been as dominant. There must be a "pick" going around that guys have on him where his velocity is still there but, knowing what's coming allows the hitters to adjust faster. He is still the best in the world, still the fastest, but the hitters have something on him that they are exploiting. His 88mph riseball isn't an automatic trip to the finals anymore.

Is Folkard as fast as Ty Stofflet in his prime?

 

[Hillhouse]

Is Folkard as fast as Ty Stofflet in his prime?

I can't answer that, I never got to see Ty in his prime. I played with and against Ty when he was 52 years old, and while that sounds ancient lets keep in mind, that was 1992 and he went 4-2 at the World championship and earned a place on the "All World team" that year.

I will say this though: Most of Ty's era, he had to keep 2 feet on the rubber and pitchers did not leap or jump. In 2020, the only rule in men's FP is "don't throw overhand". It's hard to imagine pitchers throwing harder in yesteryear with strict rules vs. today when there are none.