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Happy DIII Week!

4/18/2020

As many of you know, I’ve had two fantastic experiences at the DIII level and hold DIII week near and dear each year whether I am coaching at that level or not. As a coach with experience in DI, DII, and DIII that played DII, I love the opportunities that DIII provides athletes of all skill levels to pursue their dreams.

I got my start in collegiate coaching at Rhodes College, a high academic DIII program in Memphis TN. Starting out coaching at the DIII level taught me more than I ever imagined it would. I learned how to be the most efficient data driven coach I could be to take advantage of the short fall season. I learned how to support athletes as they balanced their athletic pursuits with their other passions. Later in my coaching career, I became a head DIII coach at Canton, a state school in Upstate NY. I absolutely loved being able to say YES to almost anything that my athletes wanted to accomplish outside of softball.

DIII changed my perspective on coaching, and I will forever be better for it. Travel coaches, parents, and players - I urge you to consider what each individual athlete wants to accomplish with BOTH their athletic AND academic pursuits. Each recruiting journey is 100% unique to the individual and it’s about what the best FIT for you is!

I wanted to share some of the things I’ve been able to say yes to at the DIII that I may (emphasis on may, each program is different!) not be able to say yes to at the DI or DII levels.

A graduating senior completed a 600 hour internship during season getting her reps in every day at 6:30am. She missed practices to make up the internship hours she missed while we traveled.
We never had to say no to a major - we could always find a way to make it work.
3 two sport athletes who started in both sports.
4 players are now pursuing a medical degree.
14 players were also active in their sorority.
More than half of the student-athletes have also held a job during the school year.

One of the biggest things I preach with recruiting is that everyone is on their own timeline. I’ve worked with players who went the JUCO route and committed to the school a week before classes started. With players who didn’t want to play softball in college, tried out as a sophomore and fell back in love with the game. With players who fell out of love with the game, and learned to love it again by having a little fun. With players who committed early to their dream school. With players who committed “late” (there’s really no such thing!) and realized it was the best decision they could have made. Where your friends are at in their process, has absolutely ZERO impact on yours. Everyone’s recruiting journey is different, just like their life journey will be.

Your recruiting journey, just like your life, is 100% unique to YOU. There is no “right time” to do anything let alone commit to a school (because you really are committing to the school, and not the softball program). DIII should not be considered a back up plan or a last resort, and I wish more travel ball coaches would ditch that mentality. Some of my most successful (and favorite!) mentors are DIII coaches. Some of the most talented athletes I have coached are DIII athletes who CHOSE to play DIII for their own unique reasons! Division III will always have a special place in my heart, and I will always support and encourage athletes to at least consider it as they decide what they want their athletic and academic future to look like!

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What Happened to Playing?

4/2/2020

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When did we stop letting players play? I’m thinking of pitchers right now, but it really can apply to hitters, catchers, any position out there! When I work one on one with pitchers, I ask a lot of questions and they always think I expect a specific response. Asking what were you thinking after throwing that pitch or did that feel comfortable somehow makes today’s generation of pitchers uncomfortable and feeling like I as a coach expect a specific answer.

My philosophy as a pitching coach focuses around the thought that it is my job to support a pitcher in being “their own best pitching coach.” I often joke with pitchers that my goal is to make it so they don’t “need” me at all. When you really think about it, there’s not much a coach can do from a bucket in the middle of a game…but the kid in the circle? She can do it all.

Now, as I start to create relationships with new players and families, it’s a whole new world for many of them. People are often trained to always seek the answer from a coach, rather than explore, play, and find one themselves. Our new era of players have a private pitching, hitting, fielding, strength and conditioning, mental training, etc., coach that leaves little room for players and families to find solutions on their own through trial and error. I usually say my brand of private coaching offers “guided play” for athletes. There is a balance between aiding in mechanical development, drill work, and muscle memory and allowing athletes to feel differences, understand what they are most comfortable with, and teach themselves.

Especially during “crazy times like these” as everyone keeps saying, it’s a great time for you to get out and play! I wanted to share a few examples of what I mean by this.
1) Pitcher A came to me with a change up she wasn’t comfortable with that “probably is only slow enough 25% of the time.” I asked her why she threw it - “Because it’s the one my last pitching coach taught me” …so if you’re not comfortable with it and it doesn’t work why are you throwing it? We spent the lesson trying out different types of change ups, changing the finger pressure she put on the ball, and seeing what felt natural to her. Once we found “the one” she liked, I sent her home with the homework of deciding whether it was the one or not. It’s HER change up, not mine.

2) Pitcher B came to me basically using a different pre-motion every pitch. We videoed 15 pitches to see how many different variations she really did (turns out it was 4). We narrowed it down to 2 that she was most comfortable with, and then tracked how well she did using each pre-motion, including more video to determine if either changed her mechanics at all. Once we found the more productive one, I sent her home with the homework of deciding whether it was really the one or not. It’s HER pre-motion, not mine.

3) Pitcher C came to me as an 8 year old newbie who had never really pitched before. By her third lesson she was working through some full motion pitches. Not a lot, but enough to start to learn what it’s supposed to feel like…what happens when she moves her hips a certain way, what happens when she lets go of the ball too late, what happens when she lands too far to the right. Small things, but things you cannot learn from drill work. I sent her home with the homework of working on the drills we learned so she can work more and more on that full motion pitch. It’s HER pitching, not mine.

I guess all of that is a long winded way of saying, what better time that for pitchers, and all players, to start playing at home again? Get out a net and spend an hour playing with different things - motions, grips, mentalities, self talk…what do you have to lose? Let your daughter get out and play! Learn to trust her instincts, her abilities, and help her remember why she fell in love with it in the first place.
It will change her perspective.
It will help her learn to be her own pitching coach.
It will help her grow.
It will empower her.

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Happy DIII Week!

What Happened to Playing?

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