Defensive Softball Drills Book (Copyright 1998, 192 pages)

Many successful softball teams boast a sweet-swinging slugger or a can't-touch-this starting pitcher, but softball teams that win championships are built on a framework of solid team defense. In Defensive Softball Drills, Coach Mackie Joseph provides coaches with 66 proven drills for building this framework. She presents drills for learning and mastering skills at each position and for molding players into a finely tuned defensive unit. Recent trends in the sport-livelier balls, increased bat technology, the left-hand slapper, and, at the collegiate level, the greater distance from the pitching mound to the plate-have resulted in more offense. Defensive Softball Drills provides the practice tools to counteract those advantages to give teams the winning edge. All of the drills are accompanied by coaching points and detailed illustrations. The book also includes a handy drill finder for locating drills to work on specific areas and situations. The drills focus on: eliminating the big inning perfecting ball-catching skills employing an aggressive defensive style working on the mental aspect of defense The drills are geared toward middle and advanced level fastpitch players, but slow pitch players and beginning fastpitch players will benefit from them, too. About the Author Mackie Joseph is recognized as one of the top coaches in NCAA Division I softball. She has coached at Michigan State University (MSU) since 1993 and also is a USA Softball National Team coach, having participated at the USA Festival and for the Pan American qualifying team. At MSU, Joseph has led the Spartans to their best record and best Big Ten finish in school history. Prior to her MSU career, she coached Bowling Green University to a Mid-American Conference championship. Joseph was elected President of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association in 1994. This association represents all fastpitch coaches at the NCAA Division I, II, and III, junior college, NAIA, high school, and summer league levels. When she's not coaching softball, Joseph enjoys playing golf and reading. Table of Contents Chapter 1: Fundamentals Chapter 2: Infielder Drills Chapter 3: Pitcher and Catcher Drills Chapter 4: Outfielder Drills Chapter 5: Team Drills Chapter 6: Practice Organization Words of Praise Mackie Joseph is one of the top young coaches in the country. She gives us an outstanding resource for coaches at every level of the game. This is a book that will give you something new to use a