Aggressive Offensive Strategies

with Patty Gasso,
University of Oklahoma Head Softball Coach;
8x Women's College World Series (WCWS) NCAA Champions;
first team in college softball history to win 4 National Championships in a row;
tied for most WCWS wins in D-I softball history (with Mike Candrea);
2025 SEC Coach of the Year;
2012 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame;
7x NFCA Coaching Staff of the Year;
2017 C. Vivian Stringer Coaching Award;
5x NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year;
In 2013 coached the first ever WCWS champion to lead the nation in scoring and ERA;
2012 National Fastpitch Coaches Hall of Fame;
15x Big XII Coach of the Year;
Most Big XII wins by a coach in league History (428);
1550+ wins with a .812 winning percentage;
Long Beach City College Head Coach from 1990 to 1994;
played college softball for El Camino & Long Beach State

In this incredible instructional video, Patty Gasso offers her ideas and strategies on building an aggressive offense that can capitalize on defensive miscues to score more runs. Coach Gasso delves into rundowns, bunting, moving runners with hit and runs and angle-down plays, how to use slappers, first and third plays, and squeezes.

Rundowns
Properly executed, an aggressive offense can use a rundown to pressure the defense into making a mistake. Coach Gasso outlines situations that can result in rundowns. She discusses what the base runner should do to avoid being tagged out and also demonstrates how to stay in a rundown for as long as possible, thus increasing the chance of a defensive miscue.

Bunts
Bunts are a good way to advance runners because they allow the batter to place the ball wherever the defense is weakest. Coach Gasso explains five options for bunting and advancing runners, including the sacrifice, split grip, bunt for a hit, show-pull backslap, and the bunt-and-run. . Having multiple bunting options keeps the defense guessing and gives you the opportunity to select the option that you think will work best.

Slappers
Slappers are an important part of an aggressive offense because their speed puts pressure on the defense to get outs even on routinely hit balls. Coach Gasso shares five options for advancing runners and/or getting on base themselves. Having so many options will make defending the slapper nearly impossible.

First and Third Situations and Squeezes
First and third situations offer the chance to score runs without ever having a batter touch the ball. By putting runners in motion, the pressure is shifted almost entirely to the defense, forcing them to make decisions about which runner to attack and which play to execute. The more pressure an offense can put on a defense, the more likely they are to make mistakes. A first and third situation is also an ideal time to call a squeeze bunt, which has the potential to score a run and advance a runner.

Many teams rely solely on power hitting for offensive production. While this is a valid strategy, an aggressive offense will put pressure on defenses and result in more consistency in run production. Let Coach Gasso show you how to put together an aggressive offense that will frustrate the defense and score more runs.

54 minutes. 2014.