Have you ever noticed that softball is a sport oferrors?
There are all kinds of errors. They happen in everygame.
Usually, the team that makes the least amount of errorswins.
What is the cause of all these errors?
Most of the time, errors are caused by one of these 4factors:
1) faulty mechanics
2) lack of focus
3) Too rushed or pressed
4) Lack of confidence and hesitation
I would like to talk about #2.
This is the easiest one to fix.
It takes time to fix mechanics or even more time to buildconfidence. You can train speed of execution or working fastunder pressure but that also takes time and effort.
However, any player can learn quickly what to focus on andalmost instantly reduce the number of errors they make asa result of poor focus - especially on defense.
If you aren't focus on the right thing or aren't thinkingabout the right thing, you are much more likely to make anerror.
When you are on defense, you must play one pitch at the timeand make the play in your head ahead of the time.
I know you've heard these things millions of times. However,a lot of errors that we see today are still the results ofnot applying those two basic concepts.
But what do we mean by playing the game one pitch at the timeexactly?
We mean by that you shouldn't focus on what happened beforein the game neither about what's going to happen later butonly focus on the next pitch.
And what do we mean by making the play in your head exactly?
You have to analyze the situation (who's hitting, any runneron bases, how many outs, what inning is it, etc.) and takinginto consideration all those factors, you need to anticipatewhat you will do with the ball if it is hit to you.
Bottom line, you try to rehearse in theatre of your mind whatyou'll have to do if the ball is hit to you on the next pitchso that you are ready when it happens.
That's all. Again very basic but worth emphasizing again.
Who loves ya? ;-)