by Dan Hughes
Some of the Things You'll Learn from this Book:
Coaching and Managing
An adult slowpitch softball manager’s two major problems (page 6)
Play for fun or play to win? (page 7)
How to make total strangers cheer for your players – by name – at faraway tournaments (page 8)
How to scout for new players (pages 8-9)
How to concentrate on what you can control, and how to ignore what you cannot (page 18)
Handling problem players (page 19)
What to do when the ump makes a bad call (page 20)
How to find the silver lining in every cloud (page 21)
Over 20 items you should consider for your team bag (page 22)
How to set your lineup (page 22)
Two full pages of tips on getting your players to show up on time (pages 23-24)
Setting up team practices (page 25)
The secret to making your players eager to come to practice (page 27)
Crazy, fun games that will improve the skills of your team (pages 27-28)
Complete details of the scouting method that gives your team a tremendous advantage (page 31)
Nine things your base coaches should know before every pitch (page 32)
How to get the crowd-noise advantage (page 33)
How to get your kids interested in the game (page 33)
A simple method of keeping stats that are useful to your team (page 34)
How to get free scorecards (page 34)
How to score questionable plays (hit or error?) (page 35)
What to do at your post-season team party (page 52)
Secrets of a great team website (pages 54-55)
A great free team bulletin board on the internet (page 56)
The two videos every team should own (page 57)
Two pitching videos, six hitting videos, several other videos that cover both (pages 57-58)
Delegating managerial duties (page 59)
A two-manager team (page 61)
Two types of managers (page 62)
The danger of helping your players improve (page 63)
The very worst mistake a manager can ever make (page 64)
The Three Rules one manager enforces (page 65)
Rotational managers (page 66)
Pitching
How your pitcher can learn to nail the 12-foot height limit (page 29)
How your pitcher can minimize the chance of injury from line-drive grounders (page 29)
The Big Secret of slowpitch pitching (pages 29-30)
How to pitch the knuckleball (page 30)
The two vital things your pitcher must be able to do (page 30)
How to intimidate batters (without making the ump mad) (page 46)
What the pitcher (and every fielder) should do before every pitch (page 47)
How to handle teams that take the first pitch every time (page 47)
Batting
More ideas on setting your batting order (page 35)
Beware these bats (page 36)
In-depth discussion of bat quality (pages 36-39)
Why your bat is likely the wrong weight for you (page 40)
A $31 bat that outhit a $200 bat (page 40)
Batter’s duties before he is up to bat (page 41)
Secrets of a good stance (page 41)
How to reduce your easy fly balls and pop-ups (page 41)
Ball-strike strategy for batters (page 42)
How to hit the ball for better distance (page 43)
The secret to maximum bat power (page 44)
The secret of inside pitches (page 45)
Fielding
How to pick the right glove (page 26)
How to reduce throwing errors on grounders to the pitcher or second baseman (page 48)
How to increase your fielding percentage (page 49)
How to minimize throwing errors to first base (page 49)
How to give yourself a second chance on catching a fly ball (page 50)
The one thing every catcher should do, but most don’t (page 51)
Making Money for Your Team
How to make money for your team long before the season begins (page 9)
How to have a voice in making league rules (page 10)
Over forty potential sponsors – actual businesses that sponsor teams (pages 11-12)
How one small-town team got 30 sponsors (page 12)
How to make your sponsor eager to pay your bills again next season (page 13)
How to solve the multiple-sponsor-but-just-one-trophy problem (page 14)
How to handle team sponsors who want to overrule the manager (page 14)
How to save big bucks on a road trip (weekend tournaments) (page 15)
How to set up your own tournament (pages 15-16)
Nine ways to make money at your tournament, besides the entry fee (pages 15-17)
How to double the money you make at the concession stand (page 16)
How to encourage weaker hitters to enter your home run derby (page 16)
Three ways to make BIG BUCKS as seed money for your tournament (page 17)
How to increase the odds of getting enough team money to pay the bills (page 60)
Raising money in the off-season (page 53)
Just Plain Craziness
“…two of the Good Shepherds got bats and started beating the Ferris Avenue Baptists….” (page 67)
Nachos! Natchos! (page 67)
Remember Walter Hakanson! (page 68)
© 2009 Dan Hughes