Let's Talk Hitting | Shena Hollar | Lenoir Rhyne

August 20, 2025·44 min·4 clips

Lenoir-Rhyne's hitting coach explains why her team lives and dies by the home run, finishing second in the nation.

1. The NFCA Dirt podcast features Shena Hollar, head softball coach at Lenoir Rhyne in her 26th season, in a conversation focused on hitting development, offense construction, and roster management. 2. Hollar is a 28-29-year coaching veteran who spent two years at Newberry in the 1990s before moving to Lenoir Rhyne, where she has been since fall 1999. 3. The episode's central question is how a Division II program builds and sustains a nationally competitive power offense — and what that demands of players, coaches, and practice design. 4. Hollar states her offensive philosophy directly: 'We're going to line up and hit bombs,' and discloses that Lenoir Rhyne finished second nationally in home runs, missing first place by only one or two. 5. She clarifies that her program does not coach home runs directly, instead emphasizing good swings on good pitches and fundamentals, treating power as a byproduct of process. 6. When evaluating recruits, Hollar prioritizes athleticism in the box and on the field over specific mechanics, looking for players whose warmup swings show natural fundamentals that she can build on. 7. She describes accepting that all hitters look different — her program pulls recruits from across the country, each with their own coaches and styles — and focuses on making sure each player's individual swing is consistently effective for them. 8. With 12 freshmen arriving alongside four of her five top returning home run hitters (including players named Prim and Warren), Hollar faces the challenge of managing roster competition and setting expectations about spring playing time. 9. Fall practice at Lenoir Rhyne starts with fundamental drill progressions, heavy tee and front-toss work, and 45 allowed fall days structured around giving every player game at-bats — she explicitly criticizes programs that play only their nine starters in fall games. 10. Hollar tracks all fall at-bats, charts strikeout tendencies, and flags pitch-type weaknesses (such as three strikeouts on change-ups) that then drive individual drill focus in the next phase of practice. 11. She describes her slump-management framework as keeping hitters on a 'flat roller coaster' — avoiding emotional peaks and valleys — and calling hitting '80 to 90 percent mental.' 12. On lineup construction, Hollar places contact-and-speed types in the one and two holes, clusters her power hitters in three through five, and uses a contact hitter at nine to turn the lineup over for the top of the order. 13. She describes moving first-team All-American Julie Mardigan out of the two hole when Mardigan went through a late-season slump, illustrating a willingness to make lineup changes when supported by statistical evidence. 14. Hollar reveals that in her first five years coaching at Lenoir Rhyne in the 1990s, her program hit a total of one home run — contrasting sharply with the current era where a single game might produce the same output, which she attributes to bat technology rather than player development. 15. She describes her approach to pitch-selection development as working hitting zones on the tee and in front-toss, using game film to confirm whether hitters are seeing location correctly, and repeating zone work until hitters can identify and attack specific pitch locations with confidence. 16. Hollar acknowledges her coaching language is fixed — 'Coach Holler's verbiage doesn't change' — and relies on assistant coaches and veteran players to translate her cues for freshmen who haven't yet learned her vocabulary. 17. On parent communication during slumps, Hollar says directly that she does not talk to parents about player performance, and believes parents should be encouraging their athletes rather than adding pressure. 18. The conversation is informal and collegial; Hollar and the host frequently trade jokes, including about ghost runners and the Little League World Series kid who 'hit dingers.' 19. Softball coaches at any level focused on power-offense development, roster management with large recruiting classes, and practical hitting-philosophy frameworks will find this directly useful. 20. Listeners seeking pitching development content, video or technology analysis breakdowns, or discussions of defensive strategy will not find that content here.

As heard by us

A practical hitting and practice-planning discussion built around reps, roles, and team buy-in.

This conversation focuses on hitting, practice planning, and the everyday work of keeping a roster aligned. Sheena Holler comes across as experienced and practical, with the strongest moments tied to reps, role clarity, and the slow work of getting players to buy into a…

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Why you'd press play

A coaches' conversation about hitting, practice planning, roster roles, and buy-in.

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