Meet Duane Ford: Softball Authority Guest Coach

Setting Measurable Standards of Performance: The 20 Feet Per Second Rule

by Coach Duane Ford - Softball Authority Guest Coach

Here is the fourth featured coach in our new series for 2008 called "Softball Authority." The premise of Softball Authority is to showcase articles and/or training videos by coaches who have have demonstrated an exceptional ability and devotion to transfer their knowledge and expertise of fastpitch softball in order to help female softball athletes reach their maximum potential and take their game to the next level.

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As Hall of Fame catcher, Yogi Berra, once observed in his own uniquely profound logic during a commencement address, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere else.” Legendary UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden, put it another way: “if you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”

Whatever way you phrase it, the message is clear. This game has become two competitive to allow players to stand still in their development and rest on past accomplishments. If you wish to move onward and upward, you must improve your level of performance and bridge that gap between desire and achievement with a genuine and effective plan to accomplish your goals.

Unfortunately, the inability to recognize and meet sound standards of performance often interferes with your capacity to determine whether or not the goals of such a plan are being met. Despite all your effort and hard work, how do you know if you are really getting any better and whether some changes in technique are necessary to do so?

I don’t propose a definite answer to these questions, but we do employ a standard here that may give you a good start. We call it our “20 Feet Per Second Rule”, and you need only a stop watch and some simple math to gauge progress in several critical areas on both defense and offense.

Essentially, this rule is based on the statistical guidelines that most colleges use in recruiting players. “Rabbits” aside, most recruits are expected to run from home to first in three seconds. With 60 foot bases that breaks down to 20 feet per second, and it is roughly the same when advancing from any base to another or covering several bases. What you gain in momentum is offset somewhat by taking you terms around bases or sliding, so the time is still very close to this 20 feet per second benchmark.

From there you can project with some simple math that a player can also cover ten feet in ½ a second and five feet in ¼ of a second.

For a player working on defensive skills, measuring improvement is now possible by timing how long it takes to make the same play, from the same point, on the field. when she began the process and when the practice sessions are completed. Several trials should be used in the beginning to establish an average baseline and, again, at the end of the sessions.

Maybe you are working on footwork, throwing technique or gauging arm strength after a weight training program, but you now have a standard to judge results.
To a casual observer, consistently cutting a ¼ second off the time an outfielder throws from the same spot to home plate may seem inconsequential. However, with the “20 feet per second rule,” the player involved may now visualize that close play at home as an out rather than a slide under a late tag.

Obviously, none of this, whether from shortstop or center field, has any bearing on accuracy, but that is easily measured visually and doesn’t need any help in comprehending.
For catchers throwing to second base, the benchmark for most college recruiters is two seconds from touch at home to catch at second, but the variables are reduced. The catcher is always in the same place and always throws to the same target. Since many steal attempts are decided on “bang-bang” type plays, cutting even 1/10 of a second off the time may make a difference. All other factors regarding receiving ability being equal, a catcher who can consistently throw with accuracy and shave ¼ second off that two second standard, is a highly prized prospect at any college division.

This same approach is also useful on offense in measuring improvement in such areas as getting out of the batters box and running to first, rounding bases with proper technique, and sliding styles. It may also help you to determine whether or not to use metal cleats, which are now legal in high school.

In this case the situation is reversed, but the rule is the same. Every fraction of a second you can cut off your winning time puts you that much closer to the desired base. If you’re wasting a second with a wide turn around first base, you’re also giving away 20 feet in your attempt to search second base. Turn the stop watch on and off, mark the time and do the math. Whether you’re changing shoes or technique, the results will be very clear after a number of trials.

If you’re a coach trying to convince players to change their techniques, this is a far less confrontational approach and gives you sound objective data to justify your decisions when it comes to making out your line up rather than relying on mere subjective opinions to defend your choices.

I’ve been coaching high school softball during five different decades at the same school, and there was a time when players, parents and fans simply accepted coaching decisions in such matters. That is no longer the case, however. We have also entered an era where there seems to be a national societal dissatisfaction with people making judgments about us and our children. High school and college administrators often reflect this trend by moving toward quantitative rather than qualification criteria for evaluating coaching performances. Unable, or unwilling, to simply judge that a team is “improving” or “better” under a particular coach in terms of performance on the field, they sometimes look to unrelated or peripheral criteria (improvements in times for distance running, increased lifting capacity in the weight room ,etc.)

The “20 Feet Per Second Rule” not only gives you relevant criteria for judging genuine improvement but also provides justifiable data to compare performances and determine line ups.
For players, it provides that most crucial and important avenue to success—genuine feedback regarding performance levels necessary to take their game to the next level.

Coach Ford with Daughter Abbey, a three-time league MVP!

About Coach Ford
Entering 39th season as Haed Softball Coach at Central Columbia High School(Bloomsburg,PA) with a record of 635 Wins and 136 loses,including a 28-0 State Championship season in 1994. Also won 266 games as Head Girls Basketball Coach and 318 games as Head Boys Basketbakk Coach,including a 1981 State Championship(only coach in PA history to win a state title in two different ports).1219 total wins here at Central.

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Have a question? Contact >> Coach Ford directly.