Heyy, my name is Emily Schaffer. I am 13 years old, I live in 
New Jersey, and i play for the Jersey flames. This year we made it to the WFC softball nationals in South Carolina (Mytrle Beach). Our team came in second place to the West Virginia TNT Explosion. They were 76 an 0 their whole season so when we lost to them in the championship we werent so upset, we knew we played our best. I love my team. We usually get along great but like every other "family" we can have minor arguments sometimes. I wouldnt rather be on any other team. We are a very well team. I play first base, pitcher, and sometimes the outfield. My dad is the head coach and he runs the team very professional. I love Jennie Finch, Cat Osterman, Jessica Mendoza, and Natasha Watley. 

Ask me any questions,comments or just to say hi!I will answer any questions.

We had a Fantastic Fun weekend in Binghamton, NY! We had our 2nd to last camp of the year... it makes me a bit sad thinking about it. We had 400 awesome campers and their families. We packed the dome! It was such a wonderful environment, we had tons of fun! Its always great coming up to the Northeast, seeing the excitement for fastpitch. I am so grateful to all who came and participated! Thank you to Lou Bishop for having us up here. We look forward to coming back next year! Here are some shots from the the festivities!

This crew below is the unit! They make it happen! Family & friends... well they are all family! Well, minus the chef! ;) They are the ones who sacrifice so much, they have allowed me to make my dream of running my own camps a reality. Let me tell you, they are beyond selfless, so giving, so loving, so of so much. They are always there to do this, they are the foundation and the glue to the JF Softball Camps. We are so forever grateful and forever in debt to this crew! Thank You and We love you!
(I know its a lil' corny being in a Japanese Steak House but its the only shot I have of everyone!)



These are my girls! You know those girls who know you inside out! Those girls who you can always count on! Those girls who tell you what you need to hear not just what you want! They are way more than teammates they are best friends! These girls are above and beyond, I love them like sisters! My besties!!! They give me the warm fuzzies! XOXO



I love this shot! My dad and I talking shop at the pitching station! I'm so blessed to have him come work my camps! He is my backbone! I would not be where I am today without him. He is my confidence when mine is gone. He tells me what is right, not easy, but right. A man of integrity, a man of knowledge, he has impacted my life beyond words. He continues to amaze me everyday! I love you dad!



Bergie! What can I say, she is Bergie! One of the best people I have ever met! I love her, admire her, am in awe of her, am so grateful for her and her friendship! And she just so happens to be the most blinged out softball player of all time for Team USA, 4xOlympian!


Mac Attack-52 hitting bombs in the dome! That's what I call her! She is incredible! Inside and out! So caring, so funny, so lovable, so giving, so sharing, I LOVE her! She is one big heart (52) one big muscle!



Another shot of camp! Good times!



Thank you, Binghamton, NY!
Keep Dreaming & Believing! Til' next time!
#27

Increasing Your Pitching Speed

If you want to increase the speed on your throws as a pitcher in softball, you can do that by using softball drills which focus on speed.
There exists many fastpitch softball drills that work on a pitcher's speed and most of them are related to the fastball pitches. You should use those pitching drills to increase your speed and become a pitcher with a lot more velocity.

Drill 1 - No Stride

Purpose: To work on proper ball release and speed.

Procedure: The pitcher delivers a ball to a partner without using a forward stride. The partner can be another pitcher, so this is a good warm-up drill. The stride foot is even with the pivot foot. The pitcher pitches the ball using good hip rotation, a strong snap of the wrist, and a good follow-through, focusing on proper hip and arm mechanics. Pitchers should be aware of the danger of not rotating the hips and then throwing only with the arm.

Drill 2 - Arm-Speed Development

Purpose: To learn the feeling of arm speed and to develop acceleration through the arm circle.

Procedure: The pitcher works alone on her arm circle. The drill has two parts.- The pitcher stands in a sideways pitching position with the stride leg forward and the pitching arm above the head at the top of the circle. She moves the arm around in a perfect circle as fast as she can to get the feel of high arm speed. She keeps the arm totally relaxed meaning very loose.- The pitcher focuses on buidling acceleration through the circle. Still sideways, she begins with the pitching arm at waist level. The pitcher focuses on lifting the arm in a relaxed manner and increasing the speed of the arm by accelerating on the downswing with a whiplike action. The arm is extended (elbow relaxed) to create the biggest arc and lever possible. The longer the lever, the more force it can produce.

Drill 3 - Speed Pitching

Purpose: To develop speed while throwing to a catcher.

Procedure: The pitcher works with a catcher, concentrating on exploding off the mound and attempting to throw each pitch a little harder.

Drill 4 - Wall Pitching

Purpose: To develop speed without worrying about accuracy.Procedure: The pitcher stands 10 to 15 feet from a wall and throws hard, focusing on mechanics and the feeling of throwing the ball hard. The repeated impact softens the ball quickly so the pitch should use the same ball. Don't use a rubber ball that doesn't have seams because the pitcher has to be able to grip the ball properly. An advantage of this kind of practice is that pitchers can do it on their own at any time. 

I am so pumped up for my game tomorrow and Saturday. I am really ready to be aggressive and do my best to help my team play hard. We need to stay undefeated.

Planning for a team building is a very hard task. If you are a coach in such a team most particularly in softball, you have the tendency to focus most of your time in the development of their attitudes because you believe that a team without a good attitude even though it wins will never become a true winner at the end of the day.A team is as strong as its strongest member. A team cannot live by one player working alone. A team is not one, it is all for one, and one for all. A team is definitely a group of individuals who are fighting for the same or common cause. A team shall therefore work according to its capacity and that capacity should be built more in order to generate more capabilities. Once a team encourages an increase of its efforts, this already means that there is something that is constantly motivating them. The coach should also see how a team is being motivated so that he will achieve on thinking of more and more strategies that will make his team more and more motivated. It is also important that a coach shall make an effort of treating his team more passionately so that the members can feel that while they are away from their families, they still have a family in the name of their team. Building a family-like team is really needed so that everything will run according to its pace.

There is also a need for every coach and every player to have attitudes that will serve as their motivation before they plan on starting off their softball drills. The attitudes must also be learned selflessly. This means that your goodness should be shared with other team so that every team will also play with the same vision as yours, that is, to play a clean and fun game.

The rightful knowledge of the things underlying each softball drills must be studied carefully so prior to its implementation, you will explain to the players what attitude you shall use in the achievement of the certain softball drill that you have to train them.

As a coach, you must also understand that your team members vary from each other. It is therefore needed that while you are incorporating different attitudinal skills to your softball players, you fairly evaluate those players who are having a hard time making their bad attitudes turn into a good one. Try as much as possible to identify the cause of this. The moment that you have discovered the reason for the problem, you may talk with the concerned individual. It is important that both of you should talk in private so that you will show respect his personal life.

The job of a coach is not only confined inside every court. It goes beyond what the public eye can see. It is more on becoming a teacher, a second parent and a best friend to their players. Without the coaches' patience, determination and love for the players and the game, there will be no success, real success.

   The team that I play on is called Foothill Fury. It is a Winter ball team. Right now we are undefeated. We almost lost our last game which was last Friday but, we won by 1 point because I did a perfect delayed steal to home and that tied up the game. Then after I scored, my team went crazy by hitting the softball everywhere.    I am also on another team which is called Anderson bat company. It is a travel ball team. And we just barely started the season. We are doing pretty well but, we need a little work. We have had a few Friendly's (which are practice games) and we have won about 4 out of 6 games which I think is pretty good. So overall, I am having fun playing softball with my teams. 

OC Batmobile is Orange Couty's #1 Source for Baseball and Softball Bats. We offer same day delivery service for all Orange County, CA residence. Please visit our website www.ocbatmobile.com or call today (714) 785-6475