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I am often asked how I relate to players being so young myself. It took me awhile to be able to put into words my answer to this question.
1. I just stopped playing the game. My personal experiences help me to explain to your daughter why we practice the things we do. We practice what to do when a batter calls time out when you are in the middle of your motion. We practice how to step off the mound legally when you are uncomfortable. We practice communicating with our catchers respectfully while fostering a great battery relationship. These are the small things that many coaches who did not pitch can easily overlook.
2. I was your daughter’s age not so long ago. I understand that sometimes there are outside factors that are going to affect what happens at softball practice. A bad day at school will 100% carry over into a bullpen. Understanding and relating to how your daughter feels while working on how to block out those outside problems when we step on the mound is a huge part of the mental game I teach. Whether that outside problem is that the bases are loaded or a bad day at school they both must be addressed.
3. I understand that the game is ever evolving, and that I must evolve with it. I am young, and new at this. Coaching is teaching, but more importantly coaching is learning. Many times, I don’t even teach your daughter the way that I learned. In 15 years the game has already changed drastically and I owe it to your daughter to continue to learn.
4. You will never hear me say that I personally have come up with a drill or a new idea. Everything I do and say has come from coaches much better than myself who have been doing this a lot longer. If older, more experienced coaches are successful with new research, drills, and ideas why should we reinvent the wheel?
5. I care. I have had the coaches that I feel do not believe in me, and it is one of the worst feelings. I refuse to give your daughter anything but confidence in her abilities. If someday she decides that pitching is not for her, I will support her decision, and continue to support her as a softball player but more importantly a young lady.
Yes, I’m 21 - but my age does not define who I am as a softball coach, mentor, and role model for your daughter.
1. I just stopped playing the game. My personal experiences help me to explain to your daughter why we practice the things we do. We practice what to do when a batter calls time out when you are in the middle of your motion. We practice how to step off the mound legally when you are uncomfortable. We practice communicating with our catchers respectfully while fostering a great battery relationship. These are the small things that many coaches who did not pitch can easily overlook.
2. I was your daughter’s age not so long ago. I understand that sometimes there are outside factors that are going to affect what happens at softball practice. A bad day at school will 100% carry over into a bullpen. Understanding and relating to how your daughter feels while working on how to block out those outside problems when we step on the mound is a huge part of the mental game I teach. Whether that outside problem is that the bases are loaded or a bad day at school they both must be addressed.
3. I understand that the game is ever evolving, and that I must evolve with it. I am young, and new at this. Coaching is teaching, but more importantly coaching is learning. Many times, I don’t even teach your daughter the way that I learned. In 15 years the game has already changed drastically and I owe it to your daughter to continue to learn.
4. You will never hear me say that I personally have come up with a drill or a new idea. Everything I do and say has come from coaches much better than myself who have been doing this a lot longer. If older, more experienced coaches are successful with new research, drills, and ideas why should we reinvent the wheel?
5. I care. I have had the coaches that I feel do not believe in me, and it is one of the worst feelings. I refuse to give your daughter anything but confidence in her abilities. If someday she decides that pitching is not for her, I will support her decision, and continue to support her as a softball player but more importantly a young lady.
Yes, I’m 21 - but my age does not define who I am as a softball coach, mentor, and role model for your daughter.
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Do you play for a coach that best fits your pitcher personality? Do you know what your personality as a pitcher is?
Everyone needs something different to succeed. Each player has their favorite brand of cleats, favorite bat, favorite glove. You might have a lucky bow or headband you have to wear every time you play, or that pregame ritual that has to happen or it just doesn’t feel “right.” It is as much a part of being an athlete, as softball is a team sport. We all have those small things that help us to succeed (even if we might not actually need them!).
Have you ever taken a minute to think about what kind of pitcher personality you have? What motivates you? How do you like to be pushed? What kind of reaction do you want when you play well? What about when you don’t play well? How much communication do you need to feel supported? There is no right or wrong answer to any of these questions, it is all about what is best for YOU.
Once you figure out your pitcher personality, you can begin to see if you click with a coach. If you like a coach who comes out to the mound and talks to you when you are struggling, and the philosophy of your coach is that you will be more successful if you work through it, there may be a disconnect. In no way am I saying these little things should not be communicated to your coach. In the same sense, you must be comfortable in order to perform well, and this starts with you and your coach being on the same page. What he or she needs from you is to have a good solid pitching performance. What do you need from them in order to provide that?
I sat down and created a list of things that I needed from my coach as a pitcher to feel comfortable, confident, and ready to go.
1. At least 35 minutes to warm up before I was pitching at batters.
2. To be told that I was starting or relieving before my warm up; it changed how I warmed up and what I did when.
3. A LOT of communication in between innings, but very little communication from the dugout during the inning. In between innings we talked about mechanics and pitch calling, looked at pitching charts from previous innings, you name it I wanted to talk about it. While I was out on the mound I wanted my focus to be 100% on the next pitch and not trying to communicate through hand motions and yelling to the dugout.
4. To be hard on me. I don’t like sugar coated “you’re really good” type of things. (If you hadn’t noticed from my coaching style) I need someone to push me to get better, not tell me how good I already am.
This is MY list. You need to create your own. As I started my search for a college this list became even more important as I was looking for a new home for my career. Even before the college search it was important. As I grew and played for different teams I looked for coaches with philosophies that matched my pitcher personality.
If something on your list does not match what your coach does right now, talk to them! You have to be in charge of your own destiny. If you don’t communicate what you need to be successful how will they ever know? (Hint hint, we can’t read minds!) If at the end of the season you still don’t feel like your personality as a player fits your coach’s philosophy, it might be time to look for a new home.
Everyone needs something different to succeed. Each player has their favorite brand of cleats, favorite bat, favorite glove. You might have a lucky bow or headband you have to wear every time you play, or that pregame ritual that has to happen or it just doesn’t feel “right.” It is as much a part of being an athlete, as softball is a team sport. We all have those small things that help us to succeed (even if we might not actually need them!).
Have you ever taken a minute to think about what kind of pitcher personality you have? What motivates you? How do you like to be pushed? What kind of reaction do you want when you play well? What about when you don’t play well? How much communication do you need to feel supported? There is no right or wrong answer to any of these questions, it is all about what is best for YOU.
Once you figure out your pitcher personality, you can begin to see if you click with a coach. If you like a coach who comes out to the mound and talks to you when you are struggling, and the philosophy of your coach is that you will be more successful if you work through it, there may be a disconnect. In no way am I saying these little things should not be communicated to your coach. In the same sense, you must be comfortable in order to perform well, and this starts with you and your coach being on the same page. What he or she needs from you is to have a good solid pitching performance. What do you need from them in order to provide that?
I sat down and created a list of things that I needed from my coach as a pitcher to feel comfortable, confident, and ready to go.
1. At least 35 minutes to warm up before I was pitching at batters.
2. To be told that I was starting or relieving before my warm up; it changed how I warmed up and what I did when.
3. A LOT of communication in between innings, but very little communication from the dugout during the inning. In between innings we talked about mechanics and pitch calling, looked at pitching charts from previous innings, you name it I wanted to talk about it. While I was out on the mound I wanted my focus to be 100% on the next pitch and not trying to communicate through hand motions and yelling to the dugout.
4. To be hard on me. I don’t like sugar coated “you’re really good” type of things. (If you hadn’t noticed from my coaching style) I need someone to push me to get better, not tell me how good I already am.
This is MY list. You need to create your own. As I started my search for a college this list became even more important as I was looking for a new home for my career. Even before the college search it was important. As I grew and played for different teams I looked for coaches with philosophies that matched my pitcher personality.
If something on your list does not match what your coach does right now, talk to them! You have to be in charge of your own destiny. If you don’t communicate what you need to be successful how will they ever know? (Hint hint, we can’t read minds!) If at the end of the season you still don’t feel like your personality as a player fits your coach’s philosophy, it might be time to look for a new home.