A Championship Softball Off-Season

pat softballThe Truman Softball Team, led by head coach Amy Broughton was Missouri State 5-A Champions in 2012 and have one of the top pitchers in the country (Paige Parker) and 6 other starters returning for the 2013 campaign. Rather than rest on their laurels, these players and their coach are attacking their off-season program. Nearly all are, or have been, in the advanced strength and conditioning class at our school. Coach Broughton has her squad stay after school 3 days a week where they supplement the in class lifting they do with a variety of interesting athletic activities and challenges. Her focus is developing faster, quicker, and more explosive athletes- the same qualities we all are looking to develop.

In the workout that I am highlighting today, Coach Broughton’s emphasis was on Flexibility, Balance, and PostureYes Posture!

Coach Broughton took a cue from the University of Alabama’s softball program, after reading an article entitled “Stand Up Performance” discussing this facet of the Crimson Tide’s program. Here is a brief snippet from the article:

Most people know University of Alabama softball for its big bats, speed on the bases, and continuous winning seasons. While our lifting program helps produce those monster hits and our conditioning program helps keep the players’ feet churning, what a lot of people don’t know is that our focus on posture is also a major contributor to the team’s success.

Softball is about power and speed through precise movements, but if the body cannot maintain good posture throughout those movements, power and speed suffer. If a batter has some deficiencies in her posture, she will not get full force behind her swing. If a pitcher has poor posture, her pitches will not be as strong. Gray Cook said it best in his book Athletic Body in Balance: “Most athletes work around energy leaks instead of through them.”

The entire article can be found at this link – Stand Up Performance

The following video will show examples of each of these drills Coach Broughton had her athletes do for this workout.

  • High to Low Hurdles (6×3)
  • Thera-band side step (10)
  • Thera-band duck walk (10)
  • Thera-band in-and-out (10)
  • Thera-band toe pull (10)
  • Thera-band kick back (10)
  • Regular Jacks (25)
  • Scissor Jacks (25)
  • Seal Jacks (25)
  • Pop Squats – on coaches count (10)
  • Glue-Ham Drop (10)
  • Side Lift (10)
  • Kick Back (10)
  • Around the World (10)
  • Side Pulse (10)
  • Back Pulse (10)
  • Straight Leg Around the World (10)
  • Supine Run (10 each side)

I am very fortunate to be colleagues of many fine coaches at our school; I learn something daily from them. Coach Broughton is a great “teaching” coach, and an excellent example of a lifetime learner (Lifetime Learning) . In addition to using information from the University of Alabama’s Softball program, she incorporates many of Auburn University’s drills into her off-season program.

If you would like any additional information regarding the Truman Softball program, or what Coach Broughton is doing with her group in the off-season, just comment or email and I will connect you.

Remember – You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you…. Don’t Believe It!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

4 thoughts on “A Championship Softball Off-Season

  1. Pingback: Paige Parker Gatorade POY! | You Can Do More!

  2. Reblogged this on You Can Do More! and commented:

    I thought it appropriate to reblog this post today.

    Paige Parker, pitcher for the University of Oklahoma softball team, won a NCAA National Championship yesterday. I ran this post three years ago during the off-season after Paige and her Truman HS teammates (led by Coach Amy Broughton) won the Missouri State HS championship.

    On a side note… Coach Amy Broughton was in attendance at OU’s championship contest yesterday!

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