Super Tips from Super Players

This page will be bringing you tips from the top softball players in the world regarding hitting, weight training, and fielding. Special thanks to Chasteen's Super Major Softball and The B & N Softball Page.

Rusty Bumgardner

Larry Carter
I'm just trying to hit the ball solid and hard. I never try to hit the ball out of the ballpark. Your explosiveness has to be there, your timing has to be there, and your pitch selection has to be there. Take tons of batting practice.

Kerry Everett
Every time you take BP, act like every pitch is a game situation! Take a full cut, don't cheat yourself! If you don't like the pitch, tap it back to the pitcher. Anyone can go take 100 swings and be done, but you won't get anything out of your BP. You'll get more out of it if you take it seriously!. Don't think at the plate, especially of a last AB, the only thing you should be thinking about is YOUR pitch! Know the strike zone and what pitch you can hit the best! If you learn YOUR pitch and take BP serious, you'll be amazed at how much better a hitter you can be.

Q: What advice can you give the average player to help them become a better hitter? A: Practice, practice, practice - hit, hit, hit! This is what separates the average players from being the BEST! Q: What advice could you give to someone who has good power, but keeps coming up short of the fence? A: I think he needs to practice more and if he keeps coming up short, then he does not have the power and he needs to get stronger in the gym. Q: What could you recommend to increase bat speed? A: The best way to increas bat speed is to swing, not at pitches, but visualize the pitches, swinging as hard as you can - 50 swings a day. Q: What kind of workouts do you do? A: I workout 3 days a week (2 hours each) at softball program, that benefits me at softball - not bodybuilding. Q: Can you give an example of your workout? A: 4 sets of chest on bench - 8 reps each, this build chest and triceps. Triceps (2 hours) these are your extendor muscles, which are very important in power hitting. All aspects of your legs, 3 sets of each leg exercise with 10 reps each. Work on quads, hamstrings and calves.

Jason Fleming
Q: What advice can you give the average player to help them become a better hitter? A: Be conscious of what you do when you're taking BP. Don't do it half assed. Determine which pitch is yours & which one you can hit out of the park consistantly, then look for it in the game. Be aggressive. Also, find a stance, grip, etc. that you are comfortable with and try to perfect it. Do what works best for you. There is no one swing that produces HRs all of the time, or else everyone's would look identical. Q: What advice could you give to someone who has good power, but keeps coming up short of the fence? A: Try using a cam-corder w/ a tri pod and video tape your next BP session. Make a note of which pitch you hit out of the park, wether they're 320's or 400's. Watch the tape and anylize your swing. You could have a slow bat head, your point of contact could be too far out in front or behind you. You could be pulling your head off of the ball (usually done by over swinging). Concentrate on being smooth and exploding into the ball. Remember, it's slowpitch & you're generating the force that allows the ball to fly off of the bat. It's a total body effort. Q: What could you recommend to increase bat speed? A: Try hitting a tire. Take a smooth swing into the tire and allow your wrists to pop the bat head through once you have made contact. Think "fast hands". It's not so much what the bat does before it gets there. It's the power and speed you produce once contact is made. Q: What kind of workouts do you do? A: 2 days on, 1 day off twice a week! Chest, bi's, forearms, legs /REST/ shoulders, tri's & back. Q: Can you give an example of your workout? A: I go entirely on feel on the particular day. Some days you are stronger than others. I vary my workouts every week and try to keep them fairly simple. A few warm up sets & then 1-2 sets to failure. My bench is around 420 and squat about 575.

Hank Garris
Spinning the ball: if you can hit the bottom half of the ball, that's the name of the game. Hit the ball in the high zone (from the belt to the neck area instead of the knee to the belt). If you can, do this consistently, you'll hit more balls out of the park.

Jeff Hall
Q: What advice could you give the average player to help him become a better hitter? A: Practice and take BP serious! Q: How can a player with good power and takes alot of BP, but isn't hitting the ball out of the park as often as he'd like, become more consistant in the HR category? A: Try different stances. Q: What kind of workouts or exercises do you do to help increase your power and bat speed? A: I train the whole body. Q: Can you give an example of your average workout, such as weight and reps? A: Mon. chest and tri's, Tue. back and bi-ceps., Wed. legs, Thur. shoulders. I only workout from January to September and take a few months off in-between. Q: What kind of workout could you suggest to the player with warning track power? A: Work on your legs. They are what generate power by pushing off to connect with the ball.

Britt Hightower
Q: What advice can you give the average player to help them become a better hitter? A: You have to devote yourself to working out and hitting & hitting & hitting. If you don't have the desire to be your best, you'll keep falling short. Q: What advice could you give to someone who has good power, but keeps coming up short of the fence? A: Change things up, whether it be your stance or your hand position and WORK OUT. Q: What could you recommend to increase bat speed? A: Swing a heavier bat. Q: What kind of workouts do you do? A: I am on a powerlifting workout. It is a 4 day workout. M-T-T-F. When the season gets going I'll change it to 3 days, T-W-T. Q: Can you give an example of your workout? A: Chest: bench press - warm up 275 for 8 reps, 315 for 6 reps, 365 for 3 reps, 385 for 2 reps and 315 for 6 reps. Legs: squat - warm up with 315 for 8 reps, 405 for 8 reps, 515 for 6 reps, 565 2 sets of 3 reps.

Ricky Huggins
Q: What advice can you give the average player to help them become a better hitter? A: Practice. Experiment and learn your limitations. Such as, I am a power hitter, base hitter, spray hitter. Learn to do it all, but play within your limitations. Q: What advice could you give someone who has good power, but keeps coming up short of the fence? A: Learn a agood consistent power swing to go with the power, but if you can't develop one, refer to question #11. Q: What could you recommend to increase bat speed? A: Strength, or maybe swinging 50 times every other day with a weight bat. Q: What kind of workouts do you do? A: Pyramid bench, triceps, dips, tread mill, pre-core leg press, smith machine lunges and light squats. Q: Can you give an example of your regular routine? A: Monday - upper body, Tuesday - legs, Wednesday - off. Repeat. Weight really isn't much of a factor. I'm 45 years old so I do what I need to maintain strength and stamina. I don't care about a 400 lb bench press that would hurt my body. Q(#11): Everyone knows that the homerun is the name of the game at the Super Level, do you think that defense is overlooked? A: Entirely, but I don't believe that the homerun is the name of the game. With all of our Nationals in baseball stadiums, you better know how to hit and play defense.

Rod Hughes

Sterlin Ibrom
Q: What advice can you give the average player to help them become a better hitter? A: Practice which is structured, we always use the last 20 swings as if they are game situations. Q: What advice could you give someone who has good power, but keeps coming up short of the fence? A: Do not give up, the more you swing, the better your power numbers will get. Just remember that not everyone can be a Carl Rose. Q: What could you recommend to increase bat speed? A: I personally hit a punching bag 50 times a night. Q: What kind of workouts do you do? A: Normally I will lift 4X a week. I lift to keep my strength without building up too much bulk, this helps flexibility

Todd Joerling

Jason Kendrick
Q: What advice can you give the average player to help them become a better hitter? A: ? My advice would be to watch someone that you know that is a good hitter and pick up some tips from their swing, stance, grip and pitch selection. Doing exercises to increase your bat speed, lifting weights, and taking lots of batting practice will do wonders to help your hitting. Q: What advice could you give to someone who has good power, but keeps coming up short of the fence? A: See answer to previous question. Q: What could you recommend to increase bat speed? A: I personally have an old tire set up in my back yard that I hit with a heavier bat (about 35 oz.). I think that if someone swings a heavy bat it will help increase their bat speed. I also would recommend doing exercises such as wrist curls and shoulder exercises. Q: What kind of workouts do you do? A: In addition to taking batting practice, I also workout with weights and do some type of cardiovascular exercises such as the stair stepper and the treadmill. Q: Can you give an example of your workout? A: My workouts usually are about one & half hours long and I alternate body parts about every 5 days. For example: Legs-stretch and warm-up for about 10 minutes. (1) 3 to 4 sets of squats: 1st set 185 x 12, 2nd set 225 x 12, 3rd set 275 x 10, 4th set 315 x 8 (2) 4 sets of leg press: 1st set 300 x 12, 2nd set 350 x 10, 3rd set 400 x 10, 4th set 450 x 8 (3) 3 sets of leg extension: 1st set 140 x 10, 2nd set 155 x 10, 3rd set 170 x 10 (4) 3 sets of leg curls: 1st set 110 x 15, 2nd set 120 x 10, 3rd set 130 x 10 Note: I sometimes do stiff legged dead-lifts for my hamstrings and I also do exercises for my calves. I finish up my leg workout with about 10 minutes of light stretching.

Doug Kissane

Mike Macenko
For any person out there you need to find your limits and work within them. If you are a .650 hitter, work on hitting .700 and if you are a home run hitter, work on your power alley and do this until hitting a home run becomes a habit. The number one thing I think is swinging level with the ball. This is the most important thing that players do not practice today. If you are swinging level or through the ball you will definitely have to watch the ball off the bat. Your eyes are a very important part of your swing!!!

Melvin Mallernee

Jacques Millier

DeWayne Nevitt
Q: What advice can you give the average player to help them become a better hitter? A: Get control of your bat. Don't just go up there swinging your butt off. Know your pitches, hit the ball where it is pitched. Q: What advice could you give to someone who has good power, but keeps coming up short of the fence? A: Drive the ball and find the window from where the ball comes to the plate. That window is your swinging zone. Q: What could you recommend to increase bat speed? A: Bat speed is something I personally think is hard to teach, because you have 2 kinds of hitters. Players with a long swing and players with short swings. Guys with long swings need to swing a heavier end load bat. Guys with short swings need a lighter, more balanced bat. Q: What kind of workouts do you do? A: Wind sprints and weight lifting. Q: Can you give an example of your workout? A: Bench press 4 sets of 10 reps with a max of 350 lbs., I workout with 250-275 lbs. Legs, leg press 4 sets of 10 with a max of 750 lbs., dips and alot of shoulder work.

Derek Oliver

Ron Parnell
Q: How many times a week do you take BP? A: 1-2 times a week during the season. Q: How many rounds do you hit in a BP session and how many swings per round? A: 2 rounds per session. Each round consists of 35 balls. I start by hitting some to the opposite field, then I try to base hit some, then I start free swinging with the majority of the balls. Q: How do you think this benefits you? A: I am able to work on all around game. Hit enough to keep sharp, but not so much that you're tired and worn out before the weekend gets here. Q: What advice could you give the average player to help them become a better all around player? A: PRACTICE!! Ask questions of the pros, watch their swings and techniques, video tape them & yourself. Most important... know your limitations, Not everyone was meant to hit home runs. Q: Do you work as hard on defense as you do hitting, or do you feel that hitting is everything and "D" isn't as imprtant? A: Defense wins championships! Especially since most are played in baseball stadiums. I play the oufield and its harder to practice defense than say an infielder that can take ground balls everyday. But make no mistake about it; people want to see hitting and home runs! That is where the entertainment is! Q: How can a player who has good power and takes alot of BP, but isnt hitting the ball out of the park as often as he'd like, become more consistant in the HR category? A: There's probably something wrong with technique in the swing or not hitting a good pitch, or not getting the correct spin (back spin) on the ball! Q: What kind of exercises or workouts do you do to make yourself a better power hitter? A: Work the total body, including legs. Work on cardiovascular conditioning. I train different than most people. I believe in low volume/high intensity workouts. 3 days a week, 1 hour per session. Q: Are there any specific routines that you can suggest to the average player to help get over warning track power? A: Every individual is different and needs to develop what works best for them.

JC Phelps

Dennis Pierce

Jimmy Powers

Tot Powers

Wendell Rickard

Carl Rose

Larry Sauceman

Dan Schuck

Mike Shenk
Q: What advice could you give the average player to help him become a better hitter? A: Take as much BP as possible, also try to work in some type of weight training program. Q: How can a player with good power and takes alot of BP, but isn't hitting the ball out of the park as often as he'd like, become more consistant in the HR category? A: The best thing that I can suggest is to go to a Super Major tourney in your area, take a cam-corder and tape some of the different guys and their different techniques. Technique and pitch selection are probably the most important things to learn about hitting. Q: What kind of workouts or exercises do you do to help increase your power and bat speed? A: I like to use a pyramid work out on bench pressing. My max is around 425 lbs. I really work my legs and triceps.

Monty Tucker
I try to pick a good pitch to hit, turn on the ball, and get my arms extended. If I can do those three things, then I'll be successful.

Jeff Vargo

Jeff Wallace
Q: What advice could you give the average player to help him become a better hitter? A: Alot of hard work. Take plenty of BP and hit the gym. Q: How can a player with good power and takes alot of BP, but isn't hitting the ball out of the park as often as he'd like, become more consistant in the HR category? A: Sometimes it could be as simple as changing your bat weight, which will either slow down or speed up your swing just enough. Q: What kind of workouts or exercises do you do to help increase your power and bat speed? A: Alot of tricep and leg work. Q: Can you give an example of your average workout, such as weight and reps? A: I do a full body workout. 2 days on, 1 off, 2 on and weekends off. I train every body part, work extra hard on tri-ceps and legs. Do low weight, high reps for endurance. Q: What kind of workout could you suggest to the player with warning track power? A: Work harder on triceps and legs.

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