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A good friend of mine recently had a heart to heart with me that I desperately needed, although at the time I didn’t realize it. The future is a scary thing, no matter how old you are or what your plans are. Big life decisions all boil down to two things - Who are you, and what do you want? Everything else that is occurring or you plan to accomplish in your life should fall under those two categories. If they don’t, it’s time to reevaluate. He helped me make my decision, and I actually ended up with a list written down under each question. Creating the list was easier than I thought it would be - it made it much easier to remove the outside factors and focus on what matters. It made me realize that the choices I was making were difficult in the short term, but would pay off tenfold in the long term. I think this is a great concept to apply to recruiting and looking for that perfect fit for college ball as well.
Who are you?
- What do you stand for?
- What are your values?
- What is your personality?
- What defines who you are?
- What do you want to do for the rest of your life?
- What are your passions?
What do you want?
- How far away from home do you want to be?
- How strong of an academic school do you want to be at?
- What division do you want to play in?
- How important is softball in your decision?
- What are your goals for your four years of college eligibility?
- What kind of coach do you want to play for?
-What contributions do you want to make to your school, program, community?
Having a purpose and a plan while making decisions helps to guide YOU in the right direction for YOU as an individual. Being influenced by external pressures and short term goals can often hold us back from reaching our true potential and shining in the long term. Often times, we are so caught up in what ifs and short term goals that we lose sight of the big picture and what we want to accomplish. And still there are other times, where our loved ones are telling us what we don’t want to hear - but they’re right. Sometimes it just takes us looking within ourselves to arrive at the right conclusions. Taking the opinions of our loved ones, mentors, and peers is never a bad thing...but in the end we must make our own decisions. It all boils down to who are you, and what do you want? Answering these two questions not only gives you a better idea of where you are now, but also where you want to be.
Who are you?
- What do you stand for?
- What are your values?
- What is your personality?
- What defines who you are?
- What do you want to do for the rest of your life?
- What are your passions?
What do you want?
- How far away from home do you want to be?
- How strong of an academic school do you want to be at?
- What division do you want to play in?
- How important is softball in your decision?
- What are your goals for your four years of college eligibility?
- What kind of coach do you want to play for?
-What contributions do you want to make to your school, program, community?
Having a purpose and a plan while making decisions helps to guide YOU in the right direction for YOU as an individual. Being influenced by external pressures and short term goals can often hold us back from reaching our true potential and shining in the long term. Often times, we are so caught up in what ifs and short term goals that we lose sight of the big picture and what we want to accomplish. And still there are other times, where our loved ones are telling us what we don’t want to hear - but they’re right. Sometimes it just takes us looking within ourselves to arrive at the right conclusions. Taking the opinions of our loved ones, mentors, and peers is never a bad thing...but in the end we must make our own decisions. It all boils down to who are you, and what do you want? Answering these two questions not only gives you a better idea of where you are now, but also where you want to be.
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This is going to be more of a rant, I apologize in advance. The more softball I watch, at every level from collegiate ball down to 10u travel ball, the more I see 0-2 hits being given up over and over again. I just don’t quite understand this phenomenon. How does this happen? These are the possibilities I have come up with, while I’m sure there are more…these seem to be the most common that I have seen. Don’t get me wrong, I gave up my own fair share of 0-2 hits as a pitcher, and sometimes (though rarely!) a hitter just gets a good piece of a really bad pitch. You scratch you head, wonder how they just got that ridiculous bloop hit by golfing a pitch 4 inches off of the plate and one inch off of the ground. In that case we tip our hats and move onto the next batter. This scenario is the ONLY scenario where giving up an 0-2 is acceptable.
1. Pitchers become over confident.
I LOVE confident pitchers, those pitchers that just command the circle and the strike zone. Occasionally, a pitcher will become over confident in their pitches. For example, throwing two curve balls in a row, getting a called strike and a swinging strike, a pitcher will want to throw a third. This is one of the most common ways a pitcher will give up those hits. Just because something is working does not mean we throw it over and over again. We become PREDICTABLE when we do this. A hitters job is to learn your tendencies as a pitcher, just as it is your job to learn the hitters tendencies. By giving a hitter three of the same pitch in a row, by the third time, they’ll usually have you figured out enough to at least get a decent piece of the ball. Trust your pitches, just because one is spot on today does not mean the other pitches you throw will not be just as effective in the right situations.
2. Pitchers become lazy.
THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. Yet…it happens often. A pitcher will go up 0-2 and lose focus. We get complacent and believe that because we have the advantage of an 0-2 count with a batter we already have the at bat won. You CANNOT take pitches off. We talk about this all of the time. If you’re playing 3rd base and lose focus for one pitch what happens? Usually, the ball isn’t hit to you and it’s not a huge deal (I am not telling you to take pitches off while playing other positions!!). If you take a pitch off while pitching and lose focus, most of the time you are going to throw a “hitable” pitch. We often throw hitable pitches while ahead in the count because we relax due to the fact that we are ahead. You must finish the at bat and close the door before taking a breath and refocusing in between batters.
3. Pitchers do not think like pitchers.
DO NOT THROW A HTTABLE PITCH. So many times I see pitchers throw a ball over the plate when they are ahead because they want to “throw a strike.” When we are ahead in the count we want to throw believable balls (AKA balls that look like strikes). Batters are on the defensive and will swing at anything that looks close to save their at bat. By throwing off the plate to the outside of the hitter, they may swing at a ball to “protect” their at bat which in reality is barely a pitch they can get their bat on.
4. Pitchers forget how hitters think.
Think about while you are at the plate, how are you taught to think while you are hitting with an 0-2 count? That you better be swinging at anything and everything that could even be close to being called a strike and at least get a piece to keep yourself alive. If you think like this, 99% of HITTERS think like this. Why would you give a hitter who is on the defensive and swinging at anything close something good to hit?!!!?!
1. Pitchers become over confident.
I LOVE confident pitchers, those pitchers that just command the circle and the strike zone. Occasionally, a pitcher will become over confident in their pitches. For example, throwing two curve balls in a row, getting a called strike and a swinging strike, a pitcher will want to throw a third. This is one of the most common ways a pitcher will give up those hits. Just because something is working does not mean we throw it over and over again. We become PREDICTABLE when we do this. A hitters job is to learn your tendencies as a pitcher, just as it is your job to learn the hitters tendencies. By giving a hitter three of the same pitch in a row, by the third time, they’ll usually have you figured out enough to at least get a decent piece of the ball. Trust your pitches, just because one is spot on today does not mean the other pitches you throw will not be just as effective in the right situations.
2. Pitchers become lazy.
THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. Yet…it happens often. A pitcher will go up 0-2 and lose focus. We get complacent and believe that because we have the advantage of an 0-2 count with a batter we already have the at bat won. You CANNOT take pitches off. We talk about this all of the time. If you’re playing 3rd base and lose focus for one pitch what happens? Usually, the ball isn’t hit to you and it’s not a huge deal (I am not telling you to take pitches off while playing other positions!!). If you take a pitch off while pitching and lose focus, most of the time you are going to throw a “hitable” pitch. We often throw hitable pitches while ahead in the count because we relax due to the fact that we are ahead. You must finish the at bat and close the door before taking a breath and refocusing in between batters.
3. Pitchers do not think like pitchers.
DO NOT THROW A HTTABLE PITCH. So many times I see pitchers throw a ball over the plate when they are ahead because they want to “throw a strike.” When we are ahead in the count we want to throw believable balls (AKA balls that look like strikes). Batters are on the defensive and will swing at anything that looks close to save their at bat. By throwing off the plate to the outside of the hitter, they may swing at a ball to “protect” their at bat which in reality is barely a pitch they can get their bat on.
4. Pitchers forget how hitters think.
Think about while you are at the plate, how are you taught to think while you are hitting with an 0-2 count? That you better be swinging at anything and everything that could even be close to being called a strike and at least get a piece to keep yourself alive. If you think like this, 99% of HITTERS think like this. Why would you give a hitter who is on the defensive and swinging at anything close something good to hit?!!!?!
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I am a pitching coach, and I barely care about your daughter’s stats. (Yes, you’re shocked, I know.) Pitching is not defined by statistics. Pitching is defined by how you win games, and great stats don’t win games - great pitchers with the support of their team do.
There are three stats I care about:
Okay, so number of first pitch strikes. YOU START AHEAD. Do the math, it takes four balls to walk someone and three strikes for a strike out. If you start out a batter 1-0 you automatically level the playing field. Throwing a first pitch strike keeps you ahead of the batter, but more importantly forces the batter to hit YOUR pitch. By starting with an 0-1 count you are in complete control and have a much higher chance of the batter hitting a pitch they don’t want to or swinging through the pitches you throw. By keeping hitters off balance we make our job as pitchers much easier. This also keeps pitch counts down, which can never be a bad thing!
Balls vs. Strikes - this is one I often find overlooked. Everyone is interested in the number of strike outs at the end of the day, rather than how the pitcher did overall. Looking back at games that didn’t go so well, I can almost guarantee that you got behind a lot, and threw way more balls than strikes. It is rare (although it will happen occasionally!) that a pitcher who gets ahead and has a good ball to strike ratio will lose a game.
WALKS. Walks kill us, specifically lead off walks and walks late in the game with runners on base already. If you put a lead off walk on, the softball gods will never work in your favor and generally there’s a hit or an error right after your walk. If you go back through stats, more likely than not most of the runs that score there was a walk involved somehow, whether the walk scored, or pushed a runner ahead that scored. Walks generally happen when we start to stress and throw tight, or when we lose focus. Being a mentally strong pitcher helps lessen the amount of walks you give up.
Rant over, back to parents not focusing on stats. As coaches we preach team, unity, and winning. Nowhere in those three things is there room for a focus on personal stats. This starts with you. Your daughter does not play softball to make sure she gets “X” strikeouts a game, she plays softball because she loves it. When the first word out of your mouth when she gets in the car are “How many strike outs did you have? How many hits did you give up? Did they give the shortstop an error on that one bad play or was it is a hit? Did you check the book?” what message are you sending your daughter? By focusing on her stats and not her team and their performance as a whole you change the conversation. It goes from “we placed 2nd in the tournament today” to “we only placed 2nd in the tournament today but I had 18 strikes outs.” Your daughter will begin to focus on stats on her own without your guidance. While she is on the mound she will begin to worry that she hasn’t had enough strike outs yet in the game, or that she’s given up too many hits, these outside stressors will not only impact her performance but her teammates will see it as well. As she begins to focus on her personal stats she loses the team mentality. By setting the example and putting emphasis on team performance and improvement weekend to weekend you not only help your daughter on the field but are also fostering the expectation that she can work well with others and focus on group goals off of the field as well.
P.S. Hey pitchers - DO NOT go look at the book at the end of a game. It sends the message to your team that you are all about yourself (even if that’s not the message you mean to send). It also tells your coach that you are more worried about your stats than the fact that you just won or lost a game.
There are three stats I care about:
- Number of First Pitch Strikes
- Number of Balls vs. Strikes Thrown
- Walks
Okay, so number of first pitch strikes. YOU START AHEAD. Do the math, it takes four balls to walk someone and three strikes for a strike out. If you start out a batter 1-0 you automatically level the playing field. Throwing a first pitch strike keeps you ahead of the batter, but more importantly forces the batter to hit YOUR pitch. By starting with an 0-1 count you are in complete control and have a much higher chance of the batter hitting a pitch they don’t want to or swinging through the pitches you throw. By keeping hitters off balance we make our job as pitchers much easier. This also keeps pitch counts down, which can never be a bad thing!
Balls vs. Strikes - this is one I often find overlooked. Everyone is interested in the number of strike outs at the end of the day, rather than how the pitcher did overall. Looking back at games that didn’t go so well, I can almost guarantee that you got behind a lot, and threw way more balls than strikes. It is rare (although it will happen occasionally!) that a pitcher who gets ahead and has a good ball to strike ratio will lose a game.
WALKS. Walks kill us, specifically lead off walks and walks late in the game with runners on base already. If you put a lead off walk on, the softball gods will never work in your favor and generally there’s a hit or an error right after your walk. If you go back through stats, more likely than not most of the runs that score there was a walk involved somehow, whether the walk scored, or pushed a runner ahead that scored. Walks generally happen when we start to stress and throw tight, or when we lose focus. Being a mentally strong pitcher helps lessen the amount of walks you give up.
Rant over, back to parents not focusing on stats. As coaches we preach team, unity, and winning. Nowhere in those three things is there room for a focus on personal stats. This starts with you. Your daughter does not play softball to make sure she gets “X” strikeouts a game, she plays softball because she loves it. When the first word out of your mouth when she gets in the car are “How many strike outs did you have? How many hits did you give up? Did they give the shortstop an error on that one bad play or was it is a hit? Did you check the book?” what message are you sending your daughter? By focusing on her stats and not her team and their performance as a whole you change the conversation. It goes from “we placed 2nd in the tournament today” to “we only placed 2nd in the tournament today but I had 18 strikes outs.” Your daughter will begin to focus on stats on her own without your guidance. While she is on the mound she will begin to worry that she hasn’t had enough strike outs yet in the game, or that she’s given up too many hits, these outside stressors will not only impact her performance but her teammates will see it as well. As she begins to focus on her personal stats she loses the team mentality. By setting the example and putting emphasis on team performance and improvement weekend to weekend you not only help your daughter on the field but are also fostering the expectation that she can work well with others and focus on group goals off of the field as well.
P.S. Hey pitchers - DO NOT go look at the book at the end of a game. It sends the message to your team that you are all about yourself (even if that’s not the message you mean to send). It also tells your coach that you are more worried about your stats than the fact that you just won or lost a game.
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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.
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Cocky and confident are two very different things. Cocky is saying you are the best, confident is acting like you are. When you step in the circle no one can be better than you. The second that thought enters your head, they have already won. Mental toughness can be your biggest asset as a pitcher. Your team looks to YOU. When things go south it is YOUR job to stop the bleeding, even if it isn’t your fault that the bleeding began.
Pitcher’s must carry one emotion throughout the entire game, whether things are great, awful, or you’re sitting on the bench. You have to believe that you are the best, and have the confidence in yourself to know that you are in control. Your one emotion must be confidence. When you strike someone out – confidence. When a ball gets hit in a gap and scores two runs, act like that’s exactly where you wanted that pitch to go – confidence. When your coach takes you out of the circle, you act like you agree with the decision – confidence. Once you’re out of the game, you’re on the fence cheering on your teammate pitching – confidence.
We talk about the bubble on a weekly basis. When you’re in the circle, the chalk lines raise up into the sky and encase you in your own personal bubble. Nothing matters in your bubble but you, your focus, and what you want to accomplish. Once in the bubble, you don’t hear the obnoxious parent behind the backstop, you don’t see the go ahead runner on second base, you don’t hear your coach screaming from a bucket to “just throw strikes.” Your bubble is your safe space, it is your space to focus 100% on what pitch you want to throw and how to make it the best pitch possible.
Pitcher’s must carry one emotion throughout the entire game, whether things are great, awful, or you’re sitting on the bench. You have to believe that you are the best, and have the confidence in yourself to know that you are in control. Your one emotion must be confidence. When you strike someone out – confidence. When a ball gets hit in a gap and scores two runs, act like that’s exactly where you wanted that pitch to go – confidence. When your coach takes you out of the circle, you act like you agree with the decision – confidence. Once you’re out of the game, you’re on the fence cheering on your teammate pitching – confidence.
We talk about the bubble on a weekly basis. When you’re in the circle, the chalk lines raise up into the sky and encase you in your own personal bubble. Nothing matters in your bubble but you, your focus, and what you want to accomplish. Once in the bubble, you don’t hear the obnoxious parent behind the backstop, you don’t see the go ahead runner on second base, you don’t hear your coach screaming from a bucket to “just throw strikes.” Your bubble is your safe space, it is your space to focus 100% on what pitch you want to throw and how to make it the best pitch possible.
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I was 10 years old, and the older of the two pitchers on my rec team, so naturally I did more of the pitching. The younger pitcher was only 8 and just learning to pitch. She developed her skills and became very successful as she got older. We were playing in a regular season game - she had the mound and I was playing first base. Each time she threw a ball away, or walked someone, I would look over to my coach (who happened to be my mother at the time) and shoot her that 10 year old look that says “Hey, you know I can do better than this.” I still remember the conversation we had after the game to this day, and I am still embarrassed about the way I acted. She sat me down and asked me what the All-Star committee would have thought about the way I played today. So, of course I responded that I didn’t make any errors and that I had hit well. She then asked what they would have thought about my attitude. I didn’t even know what to say. I don’t think I had cheered for my teammate once the entire time she had been pitching. I was too worried about the fact that I was not the one pitching and thought I should have been.
Moral of the story- don’t be like 10 year old me. Eleven years later I am still just as embarrassed that I acted that way as I was the day it happened. It is one of the moments on the field that define who you are for the rest of your career. More often than not those moments have absolutely nothing to do with softball. The way you carry yourself, the support you show your teammates, and the attitude you portray are what people remember - not that you went 2-3 with a triple, or that you threw a 3-hitter.
Moral of the story- don’t be like 10 year old me. Eleven years later I am still just as embarrassed that I acted that way as I was the day it happened. It is one of the moments on the field that define who you are for the rest of your career. More often than not those moments have absolutely nothing to do with softball. The way you carry yourself, the support you show your teammates, and the attitude you portray are what people remember - not that you went 2-3 with a triple, or that you threw a 3-hitter.
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My first pitching coach told my parents they should give up. That I just wasn’t going to cut it and they were wasting their time. Over the next decade, this simple conversation between parents and coach fueled my fire. It came easily to everyone around me, I quickly became the pitcher that was really a first baseman that got a few innings here and there. But that wasn’t enough. I wanted the ball in my hand.
I worked harder, practiced longer, and thought about what I wanted more and more. Pitching was never easy, I had to think harder, focus harder, and push harder than others my age. By the time I got to high school, I was working out at home before school, going to high school practice after school, an hour of pitching, and then off to travel ball practice. Focus, repetition, and drive helped mold me into the type of personal that refused to fail.
I knew that I wanted it more than anyone else. I also knew, I wasn’t as good as the naturally talented girls who could just show up to practice and succeed. It fueled my fire, people told me I couldn’t do it and I knew I wasn’t as good, but I was going to prove them wrong. I took hours outside of practice with coaches and my parents who supported my goals and dreams.
Not being naturally athletic taught me life lessons that I use today in college, coaching, and life in general. I’m so thankful for the fact that I had an amazing support system and found it in myself to push harder than the naturally athletic girls to level the playing field.
No one can tell you that you can’t do something but you.
I worked harder, practiced longer, and thought about what I wanted more and more. Pitching was never easy, I had to think harder, focus harder, and push harder than others my age. By the time I got to high school, I was working out at home before school, going to high school practice after school, an hour of pitching, and then off to travel ball practice. Focus, repetition, and drive helped mold me into the type of personal that refused to fail.
I knew that I wanted it more than anyone else. I also knew, I wasn’t as good as the naturally talented girls who could just show up to practice and succeed. It fueled my fire, people told me I couldn’t do it and I knew I wasn’t as good, but I was going to prove them wrong. I took hours outside of practice with coaches and my parents who supported my goals and dreams.
Not being naturally athletic taught me life lessons that I use today in college, coaching, and life in general. I’m so thankful for the fact that I had an amazing support system and found it in myself to push harder than the naturally athletic girls to level the playing field.
No one can tell you that you can’t do something but you.
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“Simply put, when you teach your body how to do something—ride a bike, surf, strike some yoga poses, run a few miles—it creates a physiological blueprint” (Women’s Health Magazine). So, why does a physiological blueprint matter for a young pitcher? This is what helps young athletes create muscle memory. Every single time a pitcher completes their motion they are creating a blueprint for either poor mechanics or correct mechanics.
This is where dry pitches and mirror pitches come in. I spend an hour a week with my pitchers, and we get a lot done in that hour! It takes thousands of pitches to create mechanically correct muscle memory though, which we obviously cannot do in an hour. The most common excuse I hear from pitchers is “I don’t have a catcher, I can’t do this or that.” You don’t need a catcher. By completing dry pitches (throwing on your sneakers and your glove, and practicing your motion without throwing a ball) in front of a mirror or against a wall, pitchers can 100% focus on their mechanics and going full speed rather than whether the pitch is a strike or “fast.” Doing mirror work gives pitchers the opportunity to actually see how their body moves when they pitch and understand their mechanics better. There is a huge difference between a coach standing next to you and saying that your hips are closing too early and YOU seeing that your hips are closing too early. Throwing an hour a week with a coach doesn’t make you better. Taking initiative with what you work on and learn in that hour throughout the week is what makes you better. 30 dry pitches take five minutes. Do you have five minutes in your day to get better?
This is where dry pitches and mirror pitches come in. I spend an hour a week with my pitchers, and we get a lot done in that hour! It takes thousands of pitches to create mechanically correct muscle memory though, which we obviously cannot do in an hour. The most common excuse I hear from pitchers is “I don’t have a catcher, I can’t do this or that.” You don’t need a catcher. By completing dry pitches (throwing on your sneakers and your glove, and practicing your motion without throwing a ball) in front of a mirror or against a wall, pitchers can 100% focus on their mechanics and going full speed rather than whether the pitch is a strike or “fast.” Doing mirror work gives pitchers the opportunity to actually see how their body moves when they pitch and understand their mechanics better. There is a huge difference between a coach standing next to you and saying that your hips are closing too early and YOU seeing that your hips are closing too early. Throwing an hour a week with a coach doesn’t make you better. Taking initiative with what you work on and learn in that hour throughout the week is what makes you better. 30 dry pitches take five minutes. Do you have five minutes in your day to get better?
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Of course, you are a softball player. For many young athletes that is what comes to mind first, Eventually we all hit that point in our lives where we need to figure out who we are on the other side of the chalk lines. For me that didn't come until 16, when I spent six months sans softball after a shoulder surgery. I fell in love with history that led to a passion for travel. That's when I really decided that I wanted to work with children and teach someday. Sometimes taking that step back and figuring out who you are off the diamond can make you even stronger and more confident off the field. I missed playing more than anything, but I learned things about myself I maybe never would have if I had not had the opportunity to take a step back. You will always be a softball player, even years after your last game that part of you never leaves, but you also need to understand who you are off the field to be a completely well rounded person. Playing softball ends long before life does, figure out who you are not just what you do.