The Softball Pitching Edge »

Cheri Kempf is owner and pitching instructor at Club K, the largest indoor training facility for female fastpitch softball players in the country. She has taught and trained thousands of athletes at Club K since 1991. Best known for her pitching expertise, she was a member of a five-person panel assembled by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) and the United States Olympic Committee to develop universal standards by which to teach fastpitch pitching.

Kempf has more than 30 years of experience playing and coaching softball at all levels. In college, Kempf was a three-time All-American, an NAIA Collegiate national champion, and a National Tournament MVP in 1982 with a tournament ERA of 0.00. She then spent four seasons with the world-renowned Raybestos Brakettes, where her team was the ASA Women's Major Level national champion in 1991 and 1992. In 1992 Kempf joined the United States national team and went on to win the gold medal in the World Cup in Beijing, China.

Kempf has been inducted into the NAIA Collegiate Hall of Fame, the Missouri State ASA Hall of Fame, and the Missouri Western State College Hall of Fame. A member of the Women's Sports Foundation and the NFCA, she has done extensive motion analysis research with some of the top biomechanists in the country and has coached softball for four years at the NCAA Division I level. She also invented the Spin Right Spinner, a training device used to teach the correct mechanics of the pitching movement to softball and baseball pitchers, and an indoor three-on-three softball game called “RIPS,” which is played with a specially designed cage and fitted to indoor competition.

Kempf lives in Hermitage, Tennessee. Her favorite leisure-time activities are boating, traveling, and visiting her family in Missouri.

Elevate your pitching ability and lower your ERA! With The Softball Pitching Edge you can perfect your technique and develop elite-level skills.

This is the first book on fastpitch softball that dissects the pitching motion to correct your flaws through photographs and drawings of the correct mechanics. It shows you how to develop a variety of pitches, including the drop, the change-up, the rise, the curve, and the screwball. It goes beyond the basics to cover pre motion presentation, stance, posture, timing, location, and speed.

Author Cheri Kempf has helped train thousands of pitchers as the owner and pitching instructor at Club K, the largest indoor training facility for fastpitch softball players in the country. In The Softball Pitching Edge Kempf offers pitchers and their coaches the best technical advice and drills to take their pitching to a higher performance level. Use her book and get an edge on every hitter and batting lineup you face.

About the Author

Cheri Kempf is owner and pitching instructor at Club K, the largest indoor training facility for female fastpitch softball players in the country. She has taught and trained thousands of athletes at Club K since 1991. Best known for her pitching expertise, she was a member of a five-person panel assembled by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) and the United States Olympic Committee to develop universal standards by which to teach fastpitch pitching.

Kempf has more than 30 years of experience playing and coaching softball at all levels. In college, Kempf was a three-time All-American, an NAIA Collegiate national champion, and a National Tournament MVP in 1982 with a tournament ERA of 0.00. She then spent four seasons with the world-renowned Raybestos Brakettes, where her team was the ASA Women's Major Level national champion in 1991 and 1992. In 1992 Kempf joined the United States national team and went on to win the gold medal in the World Cup in Beijing, China.

Kempf has been inducted into the NAIA Collegiate Hall of Fame, the Missouri State ASA Hall of Fame, and the Missouri Western State College Hall of Fame. A member of the Women's Sports Foundation and the NFCA, she has done extensive motion analysis research with some of the top biomechanists in the country and has coached softball for four years at the NCAA Division I level. She also invented the Spin Right Spinner, a training device used to teach the correct mechanics of the pitching movement to softball and baseball pitchers, and an indoor three-on-three softball game called "RIPS," which is played with a specially designed cage and fitted to indoor competition.

Kempf lives in Hermitage, Tennessee. Her favorite leisure-time activities are boating, traveling, and visiting her family in Missouri.

Library Journal

This instructional video is directed to fast-pitch coaches and pitchers of high school or college age and up. It is divided into three parts: mechanics, speed and control, and perfecting pitches. Cheri Kempf, a former college and national team pitcher who runs a softball training facility, developed this material and introduces each section. Biomechanical skills include upper- and lower-body positioning, posture, and timing. The speed and control section describes how to throw low and high and inside and outside pitches and also discusses strategy. The final segment shows grips and motions to use for the change-up, drop and rise, curve ball, and screwball. Throughout, female pitchers demonstrate drills to reinforce these skills. The pictures are crisp and show details clearly. The length and pacing of this video are just right for the material. Highly recommended for public libraries and college libraries with softball programs.-Kathy Ruffle, Coll. of New Caledonia Lib., Prince George, BC Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Preface

Introduction

Part I Proper Mechanics

Chapter 1 Pre Motion Presentation

Chapter 2 Feet and Legs

Chapter 3 Posture and Arms

Chapter 4 Timing of the Motion

Chapter 5 Consistency, Location, and Speed

Part II Effective Pitch Selection and Delivery

Chapter 6 Drop Ball

Chapter 7 Change-Up

Chapter 8 Riser (or rise?)

Chapter 9 Curve

Chapter 10 Screwball

Part III The Intangibles

Chapter 11 Catcher

Chapter 12 Practice

Chapter 13 Mental Make-Up

Chapter 14 Physical Conditioning

Chapter 15 Communication

Index

About the Author