Coaching is a very tough task. The coach has the responsibility of training players of a team and bringing out the best in them to attain victory. This responsibility should be fulfilled with dedication, commitment, and hard work. How can a softball coach achieve these goals? For that, the coach needs to be equipped with the necessary softball equipment. Let’s know which accessories a coach should have during training sessions:
- Batting helmets
- Catcher’s gear
- Fielding faceguard
- Gear bag
- Pitching machines
- Practice nets
- Softball buckets
1. Batting helmets
Softball batters wear batting helmets during a game to protect their heads from fast pitches. It prevents the risk of injury from a pitch which can be fatal if it hits directly. A protective batting helmet should:
- Cover your forehead and both ears.
- Feature a facemask on the front to avoid facial injuries.
You need to measure the circumference of your head with a measuring tape and get a helmet according to the measurement.
2. Catcher’s gear
A catcher’s gear should be available all the time with a coach during a training session. The protective gear includes:
- Chest protectors
- Gloves and mitts
- Helmets and masks
- Leg guards
a. Chest protectors
Chest protectors keep your abdomen, chest, and shoulders safe from a fast pitch. You need to get a measurement from the base of your neck to your waist in inches. You can obtain chest protectors according to this measurement.
b. Gloves and mitts
Catcher gloves and mitts are useful to catch a pitch with full intensity. Measure the circumference of your wrist. Wear mitts according to the circumference. Softball catcher’s mitts strengthen your support as they differ from baseball mitts in various ways. A softball is larger in size compared to baseball.
Hence softball mitts are also made larger. The softball mitt has open webbings to increase visibility and simplify the catching of the ball. However, a mitt too large can also affect the mobility of your arms. So, you need to be able to get a customized mitt that ensures proper grip and visibility of the softball and eases your mobility.
c. Helmets and masks
Helmets are essential to protect a catcher’s head and face. Your helmets should be covered with masks. Usually, there are two types of catcher’s masks:
- Two-piece style mask
- Hockey style mask
i. Two-piece style mask
A two-piece style mask is the traditional catcher’s mask. You can remove it easily. You can also breathe in fresh air while wearing it. However, you need to wear a helmet with the mask if you want to be safe from being hit with a pitch.
ii. Hockey style mask
Hockey style mask provides more protection to your head and face than the traditional mask. The better protection to your head, ears, and neck has made it popular and preferable among softball catchers. However, it is not easy to remove which can affect your vision while trying to catch the ball.
d. Leg guards
Leg guards are important to protect your knees, shins, and ankles from injury by a hard-hitting pitch. The leg guards cover all the area from above the knee to your entire shin. You should equip yourself with leg guards that are comfortable, durable, and flexible.
3. Fielding faceguard
Fielding faceguards are important to protect your face from the pitch. Infielders and pitchers wear it for this purpose. It relieves you of the worry of being hit with the ball and lets you divert your focus fully towards the game. You can wear either a metal faceguard or a plastic faceguard which suits you better.
4. Gear bag
Softball coaches must keep gear bags with them to be able to carry necessary softball equipment in the bags such as softball bats, softballs, gloves, water bottles, faceguards and leg guards, etc.
5. Pitching machines
Pitching machines are automatic machines that softball coaches use during training to throw balls at the hitters. All you need to do is set the speed and insert the ball into the machine. You can throw either fast or slow balls. It allows hitters to practice different variations and speeds of pitches.
6. Practice nets
You have always seen that practice nets are available in training sessions for various sports. Nets are important in goal-based games like football and hockey where it’s used to scare goals. The question arises as to why to use a practice net in softball training when it is not used in a softball game. The reason is that these nets improve your hand-to-vision coordination. It also allows you to improve your playing skills such as batting, fielding, and pitching. There are several types of softball training nets including:
- Barricades
- Rebounders
- Sock nets
a. Barricades
The barricades or barrier nets are quite useful. The barricade net is large in size which prevents your softball from going over the fence or outside your training ground. It ensures the safety of the environment and the players during the training session.
b. Rebounders
A rebounder net is a training net that assists in improving pitching and throwing skills. It is called a rebounder or pitchback net because it throws back the ball. A pitcher throws a ball at the net and the net bounces it back.
c. Sock nets
Sock nets are simple traditional practice nets. These are good for improving your batting and pitching drills. Just like other nets, it has a backstop that prevents the ball from going out of the training area.
7. Softball buckets
A softball bucket is great training equipment that helps you to carry your softballs inside it during training sessions. Buckets not only keep the softballs, but some coaches use these during training sessions as well. These coaches use the bucket drill practice to improve pitching. Pitchers put their foot on the bucket and improve their swinging abilities with it.
