• Why re-invent the wheel if I don't have to?

Here is what I concluded from my initial introduction to the sport.

1. There are similarities and their are differences

2. A major difference was the lack of functional strength in the game.
3. A majority of coaches think baseball & softball are as opposite as night and day.
4. Just as in "the other sport", most well-meaning coaches were teaching concepts and hand-me-down techniques instead of what really happens (much more on this) in the swing.

I conducted a study on the best hitters on the planet in the sport of baseball just a year earlier. I wondered "what a study on the best fast pitch softball hitters in the world would tell me?" I was very interested to find an answer, especially because we had already done several hitting camps for softball players and nearly 90% of fast pitch coaches had voiced their opinions on the differences in the two games.

• I gathered as much video and still photographs possible from Team USA, University of Arizona, ASU and other top programs.
• After gathering enough information, I did the same exact study I did with the baseball players.
• I identified movements and/or positions in the swing and specifically named them.
• I then went player by player and charted if they made these movements and/or were in the common positions.
• The criteria was that over 90% of the players had to make the movement or get in a certain position for me to call it a commonality. 

   

The Results:

Based on facths, the results of the study were identical, yes, identical. The softball hitters had nine of the same commonalities that the best baseball hitters in the world had. The actual swing was the same.

• Video does not lie.
• Photos do not lie.
• It is what it is; an actual fact - A truth known by actual experience or observation.

The Response:

We held a hitting round table in Indianpolis. We had 20 people attend and the majority of them were softball coaches. One of the first questions I asked was, "Is the softball and baseball swing similar or even the same?" Only one person thought they were similar or the same.
I then showed still photos of players of each sport in the same positions. They were identical and I asked the same question again. Only a few more people raised their hands.
I then showed video of hitters from both sports and again, the commonalities were obvious.
I once again the question, only a few more hands went up. I was trying to grasp this. I just showed several examples of the swing commonalities and at least half of the people still didn't believe it.
I then realized what we were up against... The history of fast pitch softball.

Bringing awareness or what We call "cracking the shell":