By Dr. Chad Peters, Precision Performance Concepts (PPC)
A step-by-Step guide to performance enhancement- softball edition.
Fun – The overlooked tool that softball has “right!”
Why Fun Is the Secret to Softball Performance
As a sports fan, the one thing that absolutely stands out for me in your sport—and something that has been diluted in the elite levels with so many others, is fun.
Softball has it right.
All it takes is turning on the Women’s College World Series to see it.
The precision is elite, the athleticism unmatched, but what shines above all is the joy. The dugouts are alive, the smiles are everywhere, and the whole atmosphere feels more like a celebration than a grind.
And if you’ve ever been to Oklahoma to watch a game in person, you can feel it. The energy in softball is just different, it radiates through the stands, and you walk away knowing you’ve experienced something special.
As a coach or parent looking for a true performance boost?
Don’t lose this.
Fun isn’t just the soul of the game, it’s a competitive advantage.
A Personal Story: Almost Quitting, Then Rediscovering Joy
I know this firsthand. As a college sophomore, playing football for the Jackrabbits, I nearly quit the sport I loved.
The grind had worn me down. Cold, workouts, lifting, practice, film meeting, study hall, separate dinner lines. College sports has more time, an advantage, but it has a cost associated with it too.
What pulled me back wasn’t a training breakthrough or a motivational speech, it was stumbling across a youth flag football game.
Watching those kids laugh, mess up, celebrate, and play for pure joy reminded me why I started.
That one experience transformed my practices, lifted my performance, and within a year, I was named team captain.
A Training Tool Every Coach Should Use
That lesson became a cornerstone of my performance seminars. Today, when I speak with college coaches, I teach them this:
Make it mandatory that your team has one or two “practices” each year that involve nothing more than going to watch youth softball.
I’ve helped dozens of athletes get out of slumps, or even keep from quitting altogether, using nothing more than this exact tool.
It’s not about sitting in the stands to highlight your team or give back to the community, nope – the opposite. this is FOR YOUR PLAYERS!
It’s about reigniting the spark. When older athletes see the game played in its purest form, the energy flips like a switch.
It’s not entertainment, it’s a performance ignitor.
The Brass Tacks: What Coaches Really Want
Ok, on to you what brought you here.
In nearly all of my seminars, when I ask high school/club coaches what they really want, it almost always boils down to three things:
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What’s the best way to warm up?
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What’s the best way to get faster?
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What should we be doing in the weight room?
It applies to softball just like it does in every other sport. And the good news is, I don’t have to rewrite it all. I’ve already built out the system, and if you really care, the full version is here.
But let’s cut to the reality, the same one we talked about on the Extra Inning Softball podcast: speed wins games. It’s the #1 tool. More speed = more runners on base = more wins. Period.
The catch? Mobility has to happen first to allow for speed. It’s called movement prep in the performance universe. Without it, speed training doesn’t stick. So here’s how it works. (And sorry—it really does take a little more explanation.)
For those of you that just want the condensed version—read on.
Mobility Before Speed
Every coach wants more speed. More speed equals more bases, more scoring, and more wins.
But here’s the truth: speed starts with mobility.
Instead of wasting time on static stretches, build your warm-ups around movement prep—drills that combine mobility and sprint mechanics. This creates athletes who move smoother, accelerate faster, and stay healthier through the season.
Speed –
The number one tool in the sports performance arsenal for every coach is speed.
Here’s the basics
– It cant be done at the end of practice.
– There’s a lot of rest involved and that drives coaches on a time budget crazy.
– There is a better way and at a bare minimum takes about 9-15 minutes and coukld be done every single practice and I’d almost guarantee more wins per season!
Building Strength the Softball Way
Softball has a unique place in my philosophy on power, strength, and hypertrophy. It’s important, but I approach it differently than the traditional weight-room model.
For one, I put a far greater emphasis on lunges than squats. Sorry, but not sorry—traditional softball training has a tendency to build athletes with big squats and, yes, oversized butts. Squat and deadlift are simply overvalued in my opinion, and coaches lean on them far too heavily.
If you want athletes—not powerlifters—shift the focus. Use lunges, step-ups, and dynamic single-leg movements. These patterns translate far better to the field. They build strength in motion, balance across the body, and power that actually carries over to running, throwing, and swinging.
The second focus is hypertrophy—actually seeing muscles. In high school sports, I’m a believer that this is healthy. Not for vanity, but because it fosters the idea of self-creation. An athlete looks in the mirror, sees the work paying off, and loves the feeling of building a better machine.
Just these tips alone—fewer squats and more lunges, plus a dose of hypertrophy focus—can help your softball athletes become stronger, more athletic, and more confident. And if you want to dive deeper…yeah, that’s why my work at Precision Performance Concepts comes out in articles, not TikTok videos. It takes more than 30 seconds to actually understand performance.
Weaponizing the Brain: Post-Practice Processing
Performance isn’t just physical. The brain is constantly learning, even after practice ends.
Here’s the catch: if your athletes grab their phone the second practice is over, that learning window gets shut down.
They don’t need a neuroscience degree to understand this—just a quick cue from you:
“Give your brain five minutes after practice before grabbing your phone. That’s where the magic happens.”
Those little windows of mental processing stack up into faster decision-making, stronger instincts, and smarter play. I go deeper into this in my article on Weaponizing Mind Power.
Off-the-Field Coaching: Nutrition & Strength
What happens outside the field is just as important as what happens between the lines.
At every seminar, i bring up a fun little fact that sets intent on the importance of what’s changed in sports.
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Nutrition: Ten years ago, NBA rookies spent their first paycheck on a car. Today, they hire chefs. The message is clear: fueling matters. Share that with your players, especially high schoolers who are just learning how food impacts performance.
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Strength & Movement: Forget the old-school football weight-room mentality. Today’s best athletes train like movers, not lifters. Teach your players to look like cheetahs, not powerlifters – fast, sleek, and dangerous.
When you use words like dangerous with athletes, they light up. Every softball player wants that edge.
Final Thoughts: Softball’s Unique Advantage
Softball has something special, and it’s the reason I love working with athletes in your sport: you’ve kept the fun. While other sports grind the joy out of their athletes, softball has protected its soul.
Coaches and parents, if you want a performance boost, don’t lose this. Schedule those youth game practices, ignite the spark, and then layer in the training: mobility, speed, strength, brain processing, and nutrition.
Because when softball athletes keep their joy while building their tools, they don’t just stay in the game, they thrive.
Thanks again for having me on the podcast.
I Hope it helps unlock your daughter’s performance!
Chad Peters
Precision Performance Concepts
for my books – (your kids will love the softball one!) – visit https://books.by/precision-performance-concepts
