James Chassin wasn’t part of the travel party bound for California on Thursday. But his influence accompanied the University of Hawaii softball team as the Rainbow Wahine embarked on their longest road trip of the regular season.
Chassin, a graduate assistant with the UH strength and conditioning program, coordinates a training regimen that has helped power the Rainbow Wahine this spring.
"He’s kind of the behind-the-scenes guy nobody knows about except us," senior shortstop Jessica Iwata said. "But I give him a lot of credit and he really cares about our team.
"He really did his homework and he makes sure what we do in the weight room will be used on the softball field."
WAHINE SOFTBALL
In Fullerton, Calif.
» Who: No. 15/20 Hawaii (31-7, 9-0 Big West) at Cal State Fullerton (16-23, 3-6)
» When: 1 p.m. today (doubleheader); 9 a.m. Sunday
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The Wahine had two weight-room sessions this week before leaving on the 11-day, seven-game road trip. They play three games against Cal State Fullerton, beginning with a doubleheader today, and have stops at UC Bakersfield and Cal Poly next week.
Chassin doesn’t travel with the team, but he does provide insight on dealing with the challenges of travel.
"We’re at a disadvantage in how far we have to travel, sitting on a plane for hours and sitting on buses," Chassin said. "My big thing with them is hydrating when they travel and making sure they’re stretching.
"We often lift the day before they leave, so they may be a little sore, their muscles may be tight. So I’m big on giving them (resistance) bands to take with them to stretch."
Hawaii coach Bob Coolen said the softball team’s training consisted of running around the Ala Wai when he arrived as an assistant in 1990, "because the philosophy of the time was we’re an endurance sport. We have five-hour doubleheaders, so we have to have endurance."
The paradigm has flipped since then and Chassin puts the team through fast-paced workouts tailored to mimic the explosive movements involved in hitting, pitching and fielding. He focuses on building leg strength — the source of power in both pitching and hitting — with squats and deadlifts. Various medicine ball throws simulate the rotational aspect of swinging the bat.
"We focus a lot on core training because a lot of energy is lost through the core," Chassin said. "For them it’s super important. We work on all that power from our legs, but it has to be able to go through our core to get to our upper body and transfer to the bat and to the ball."
Chassin worked with pitcher Kaia Parnaby on a program designed to help her maintain her stamina while throwing 2172⁄3 innings out of UH’s total of 2642⁄3 so far. Parnaby (28-3, 1.19 ERA) continues to lead the nation in wins and ranks second in strikeouts with 265.
"We don’t just run long distances, because pitching is an explosive movement," Chassin said. "I want to focus on power, so we do a lot of quick sprints and repeated explosive movements, such as long jumps. Every 10 seconds we’re going to do a long jump, or maybe every 15 seconds for five minutes."
The Wahine have training sessions scheduled for Monday and Wednesday during the conference schedule, focusing primarily on maintaining their strength and flexibility. Access to weight rooms can vary on the road, so resistance bands come in handy. The team’s five seniors lead the workouts laid out by Chassin.
"They know his terminology and they know what he wants," Coolen said.
The Wahine began the week eighth nationally in home runs per game (1.39, 53 total) and Coolen sent credit Chassin’s way after UH belted 11 in last week’s sweep against UC Riverside, with Iwata hitting two on her way to Big West player of the week honors.
"That’s why I do it, to help them improve their performance and confidence, their mental toughness," Chassin said. "That’s the payoff, watching them succeed."
