"I'd been playing softball for 5 years and was getting no where. I felt like there was no way I would ever play college ball. Then I found out about the camp that saved my game and even got me in front of Division I college coaches.”
FACT: There are many types of pitching lessons and softball clinics, but most of the "softball experts" are completely WRONG! I used plenty of them and my game suffered horribly!
When I started out, I had potential and everyone said I could only get better. They were wrong. No matter how much skill I had I still was advancing. All the advice and techniques I learned from the pitching coaches and mediocre softball clinics ruined my game.
"My name is Jessica James and my story starts off well and somewhere in the middle I get completely lost. I was a good pitcher for an 11 year old girl, and all I wanted to do was become a great pitcher. I took lesson after lesson, and went softball clinic after softball clinic. I never found the coach that met my needs. I'm not a professional, I don't play for any college, I'm not a coach or trainer, but I'm one great pitcher for my high school team. This is my story."
How did I get so lost when I was coached by all these other people?
In all honesty I don't know. Like I said I was pretty good when I started, and after I got so many different points of view and I changed my style of playing a few dozen times, I completely lost focus. Softball was no longer fun.
To make a long story short, it was a few mediocre coaches, some unorganized softball clinics, and my eagerness to learn. So in all I learned a lot of bad habits which left me with one seriously bad game.
By shear dumb luck, I found a softball clinic that turned it all around...
Well, after a game one day where I didn't get to play more than an inning as right fielder, I went to my sisters house where she was having a barbeque with a bunch of friends. There I met Cyndee Bennett. She had moved to Salt Lake City to coach Olympus High School but had come back to L.A. to visit.
Coach Bennett was just who I needed to speak to. She talked about discipline and how important it is to have the right instructors no matter how much talent you had. She stressed the importance of good techniques to hone in all your skills and play at your best.
This hit me hard because she knew exactly what I was going through and well, she in fact is an amazing player. Coach Bennett is a former University of Utah softball player and holds many records for the university.
Coach Bennett's achievements include records for career leading batting average of .371, records in RBI’s, runs, sacrifice flies, hits, home runs, and more. She's also a three time high school softball coach of the year.
It just got better from there... I learned that Coach Bennett was hosting a softball clinic with Olympic Champions!
Plus, there would also be Division I coaches who would attend the event in search of new talent. So I went and for the first time I saw my game improve.
How did this softball clinic help me?
Well, it took three days and lots of practice after I left, but it was the techniques I learned and the knowledge I gained that really made a difference. The coaches at this clinic where not just rec players, and has beens. There were America's Olympic athletes. Possibly the very best in the world. They shared with the campers their stories of hard work and their secrets to being the USA's greatest softball team. This is what the softball clinic included:
I have been practicing my heart out throughout the last year and I hope to get noticed by the college coaches this year.
If you are planning to play softball for any college I know where you can learn from the best. After all who's better to learn from than the USA's Olympic team?
I'm hoping my experience helps you and you attend this clinic to better your game. Give yourself this opportunity to learn from the best, and be seen by Division I coaches. Avoid making the mistakes I made before I found this clinic.
Here's the information you'll need to go to this year's Rocky Mountain Softball Clinic:
What:
In all honesty I don't know. Like I said I was pretty good when I started, and after I got so many different points of view and I changed my style of playing a few dozen times, I completely lost focus. Softball was no longer fun.
To make a long story short, it was a few mediocre coaches, some unorganized softball clinics, and my eagerness to learn. So in all I learned a lot of bad habits which left me with one seriously bad game.
By shear dumb luck, I found a softball clinic that turned it all around...
Well, after a game one day where I didn't get to play more than an inning as right fielder, I went to my sisters house where she was having a barbeque with a bunch of friends. There I met Cyndee Bennett. She had moved to Salt Lake City to coach Olympus High School but had come back to L.A. to visit.
Coach Bennett was just who I needed to speak to. She talked about discipline and how important it is to have the right instructors no matter how much talent you had. She stressed the importance of good techniques to hone in all your skills and play at your best.
This hit me hard because she knew exactly what I was going through and well, she in fact is an amazing player. Coach Bennett is a former University of Utah softball player and holds many records for the university.
Coach Bennett's achievements include records for career leading batting average of .371, records in RBI’s, runs, sacrifice flies, hits, home runs, and more. She's also a three time high school softball coach of the year.
It just got better from there... I learned that Coach Bennett was hosting a softball clinic with Olympic Champions!
Plus, there would also be Division I coaches who would attend the event in search of new talent. So I went and for the first time I saw my game improve.
How did this softball clinic help me?
Well, it took three days and lots of practice after I left, but it was the techniques I learned and the knowledge I gained that really made a difference. The coaches at this clinic where not just rec players, and has beens. There were America's Olympic athletes. Possibly the very best in the world. They shared with the campers their stories of hard work and their secrets to being the USA's greatest softball team. This is what the softball clinic included:
- Warm Up
- This is crucial when avoiding injury
- Time With Two-Time Pan American Gold Medalist Cat Osterman
- Osterman is the USA's World Champion Pitcher who coaches campers on (of course) pitching.
- Time with three-time Pan American Gold medalist Laura Berg
- Berg coached campers on slapping and out fielding.
- Time with two time World Cup Champion Crystl Bustos
- Bustos who is considered one of the best hitters of all time coached on her invaluable hitting and in fielding skills.
- Breaks
- These are extremely important to prevent dehydration and keep the campers and coaches energized and playing at their best.
- Take Aways
- Not only did the Olympians tell you stories and give you words of encouragement but they also gave what we call the “Softball Bible”
- This is a take home study guide. After all after we get home we no longer have the Olympians to coach us, we have to be our own coaches.
- Not only did the Olympians tell you stories and give you words of encouragement but they also gave what we call the “Softball Bible”
- Division I College Coaches
- There was college coaches all through out the softball camp looking for big talent to become their next softball star.
- The coaches included Texas A&M, BYU, the UofU and Utah State
- There was college coaches all through out the softball camp looking for big talent to become their next softball star.
I have been practicing my heart out throughout the last year and I hope to get noticed by the college coaches this year.
If you are planning to play softball for any college I know where you can learn from the best. After all who's better to learn from than the USA's Olympic team?
I'm hoping my experience helps you and you attend this clinic to better your game. Give yourself this opportunity to learn from the best, and be seen by Division I coaches. Avoid making the mistakes I made before I found this clinic.
Here's the information you'll need to go to this year's Rocky Mountain Softball Clinic:
What:
- 2nd Annual Rocky Mountain Softball Clinic Taught By The USA's Olympic Champions
- Host: Coach Cyndee Bennett
- Sponsor: Cory Olsen
- Pitching Coach: Cat Osterman
- Out Field/Slapping Coach: Laura Berg
- Hitting/In Fielding Coach: Crystl Bustos
- September 5-7, 2009
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Space is limited and registration ends July 21, 2009... Get your chance to play with Olympic athletes!
