The "Ten Commandments" of Softball

[quincy]

#1 and #7 are interesting, DD has started following #7 not sure why.

If P is foolish enough to throw it over plate, good luck to her.

Umpire gets in way for #1.

 

[gdc03120]

RE: #1 - I spent many batters last season with my girls who looked picture-perfect strike 3s into the glove, then came back and always told me, "I don't know" when they are asked why they never swung. I will say I do believe in the "close enough to call, close enough to hit" mantra because I try to coach my girls to become better judges of their zones and we spend much of our hitting practices becoming judges of pitches and working on situational hitting. If they swung at ridiculous pitches, that's one thing, but if pitches are consistently being called in close areas, I would much rather they try for contact on reasonably-close pitches than become turtles in their shell. My girls have always been told they will never fear hitting as long as they can justify swinging - but if their judgement is off, we make a note of that to review at our next practices.

RE #7 - as I said before, I've told my girls, "3-0 count, it HAS to be perfect, otherwise lay off". The probability of a ball or strike is still 50/50 regardless of other factors, but they have a slight advantage with the count. So they either jack a perfect pitch OR they do nothing. So far it's been I'd say 2:1 in our favor, but we still have our areas/times we're fooled, and each time we look back and prepare for a 3-1 pitch and go from there.

To Clarify: This is meant to be a list that is as satirical and funny as it is serious, so these don't all have to even be specifics of the game rules/technicalities. It's mainly meant to be a list that can be marketed on a t-shirt that softball players/parents might read and go, "Hey, that's cute, and it supports a good cause, let's get one for you, [insert child name here]."

 

[quincy]

One of my stories...

DD pitching. 2 pitches, 2 outs.

Opposing coach told hitter not to swing, like DD does not have ears.

She threw the prettiest pitch a batter ever saw, batter was done.

 

[gdc03120]

Are there any other "rules" of the game that could make a top-10 list like the one I'm considering? Perhaps things not on the list OR things on the list that could be worded differently?

 

[djcarter1966]

That shall not make the first out at third base

 

[quincy]

My biggest pet peeve is you are moving on every ball put in play.

 

[chinamigarden]

Completely fair approach. I look at things from the different side of things, also the mathematical approach (as a HS math teacher). Even with a 3-0 count, the probability of a strike is 1/2 (assuming a strictly ball/strike pitch, no CO, HBP, etc.) My batters are always told, "3-0 count, it has to be perfect". Generally speaking, they usually do one of two things - a.) Lay off the pitch and try to draw the walk (usually by crowding the front corner of the box to shrink the zone) or b.) Lay off the pitch, see it was a perfect strike, turn to me and shrug. That's probably the 1 of the 10 I'm most likely to replace, just trying to figure out with what.

Thou shall follow the coaches signs

 

[CoachPete]

Personal one is you will not hit a batter with 0-2 count, she does it almost every game. Urr.

Doesn't belong on list, just whining.

Maybe not, but 0-2 counts are on my list. How about "Thou shalt not hurl meat nor aim to maul others on a 0-2 count." I cannot stand big hits against my pitchers on a 0 and 2. Hitting the batter is almost as bad.

 

[gdc03120]

Thou shall follow the coaches signs

Perhaps something like, "Thou shalt obey thy coaches' signals, for they knoweth the game well" or "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy coaches' signals"? (Personally, I like the 2nd one better)

 

[Chaz McNulty]

Thou shalt not hold onto the ball in the outfield trying to figure which base to throw it to! If in doubt, throw it to the infielder that is looking at you.