StacieMahoe.com » Softball Pitching

Monica Abbott in Hawaii 2012 – Mark Your Calendar!

Stacie — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:03:07 +0000

Don’t miss this! Save the date and make plans to see and work with Monica Abbott in Hawaii, December 2012.

Let your friends know!

Click image to enlarge. Right click to save to your computer.

Softball Pitching Video: Yukiko Ueno Great Elbow Snap

Stacie — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 14:30:55 +0000

It’s no wonder Yukiko Ueno of Japan throws so hard. Check out this video clip which shows her awesome elbow snap/whip!

What is your arm/elbow positioning and movement as it approaches release? If it’s not similar to this, you’re probably losing quite a bit of speed and power. A locked out elbow through the pitching motion does not generate your full pitching speed or your full pitching power. Watch how Ueno’s elbow reaches her side/hip far before the ball does. It’s not only about wrist snap people!

Thanks to Ray aka sluggers for sharing this clip at DiscussFastpitch.com. By the way, if you’ve never really spent time over at Discuss Fastpitch, drop by! It’s a great place to talk story with other people who love softball and also a great place to get answers to softball questions you may have. Hope to see you there!

Arizona Pitcher Suffers Concussion – Kenzie Fowler

Stacie — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:51:27 +0000

I know concussions do occur in softball, but how on earth does this situation happen? Was this one of those cases where the ball was hit sharp into the dugout?

Yikes!

A University of Arizona softball pitcher has suffered a concussion after being struck by a foul ball during Sunday’s game against Washington.

Kenzie Fowler, a sophomore, was struck in the bottom of the third inning, with UA player Nicole Bryan at bat. She was taken to a hospital as a precautionary measure and was released Sunday evening.

Read the full story here

Softball Thoughts of the Week

Stacie — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:30:12 +0000

If you aren’t a Facebook Fan yet you may want to check it out. Sometimes I have short softball thoughts that aren’t long enough for an actual blog post and I either post them there or on twitter.

So if you’d like to get those tidbits of softball info during your week, head over to

Facebook – click the “Like” button at

or follow me on Twitter at

twitter.com/staciemahoe

I’ve had quite a good response to some of the posts I’ve shared there, so I’m going to recap them all here for you…

Softball Thoughts of the Week

Agree or Disagree?

Your “Ace” is whoever’s standing in the circle giving her best for the team in that given moment.

Back when I had a “day job” I remember thinking…

Worst day at the field is still better than the best day at work

The LAST thing you need to be doing when standing up for something you believe in is worrying about what other people think – ESPECIALLY when those people have NO clue about what’s really going on.

Been there, done that, and slapped “stupid” across my own head for being foolish enough to take advice from uninformed/misinformed/under-in…formed “know-it-alls” (aka idiots). Not making that mistake twice.

Goals you set must be YOUR goals. You won’t stick with them and push through challenges if goals you have are not yours.

Playing because “daddy wants me to” is not going to pull you through when all heck is breaking loose around you, when umpires aren’t giving you calls, or when you make costly mistakes on the biggest stage of the season. You only survive and make it through times like those if you are there because YOU want to be.

Cat Osterman on How to Make Your Pitches Move

Stacie — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 19:26:25 +0000

In this softball pitching video, Cat Osterman talks about a common pitching mistake many pitchers make. Luckily it’s a simple thing to fix and doing so will help you get move of the movement on the ball that you want. She’s one of the best in the game at movement, so click play and hear what she has to say!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVak2r7aYyI

Softball Pitching: Which Drop Ball Should I Throw?

Stacie — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 13:14:08 +0000

Personally, I like the Peel Drop better even though I threw the Turn-Over as a player. But if you want to find out which method actually gives YOU more spin and, therefore, more movement, the RevFire System can tell you. Check out the video below to see how it works. Cool stuff!

Oh yeah, and please excuse the typo in the video. I didn’t do it. It’s not my fault really – but it actually is REVFire – not Red Fire. lol

Anyway – enjoy. I think this thing is amazing! Go ahead. Press Play!

Wordless Wednesday

Stacie — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:06:24 +0000

Softball Pitching Tip: How to Grip a Rise Ball

Stacie — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:42:13 +0000

There is more than one way to grip your rise ball. However, here is a video clip that will show you how Bill Hillhouse does it. Why listen to him? Well…

because he actually throws the pitch in competition against real batters (not just teach it)
because he not only is a pitcher, but is a pitcher that competes internationally against some of the best men’s fastpitch players in the world
and of course, because he has a cool rise ball! If you ever see him throw it in person you’d agree.

Click HERE to watch the Rise Ball Grip video clip

Agree or Disagree: Change Softball Pitching Stride Length to Change Height of Pitch

Stacie — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:53:14 +0000

In this video Crissy Rap talks about what to work on first, speed or accuracy, then she also discusses how to get the ball to go where you want. Her suggestion for changing the height of a pitch, low vs high, is to change your pitching stride length (about 2:50 into the video) - lengthen to throw higher, shorten to throw lower. Agree or disagree?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrQU95FiF-I

Leave a comment below to share your thoughts on this softball pitching tip.

Jennie Finch on Sport Science: Baseball vs Softball

Stacie — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 20:24:55 +0000

This is a cool baseball vs softball video from the show Sport Science featuring Jennie Finch. In this episode they are testing what is harder to hit: a baseball or a softball. Wanna see a baseball guy whiff at softball pitches? Watch this video!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_de3HJvO-N8

What did you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts!

Fastpitch Softball Hitting Rule – Hit By Pitch

Stacie — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 01:13:13 +0000

Some people think that softball hitters automatically get to go to first base when they get hit by a pitch. However, that isn’t always true. The batter must actually make an attempt to get out of the way of the pitch in order to be awarded the base. Of course, like many other calls in this game, this one depends on the umpires judgment so it’s not always a cut and dry call.

Below is a video clip that shows an example of a batter being hit by a pitch and not being awarded first base. So remember, when you’re in the box, you must make some sort of move that looks like an attempt to get out of the way of the pitch if you want to be awarded 1st base on a bean.