What if I Don't Get to Play?

You put in so much effort to be a pitcher. Going to lessons, practicing, and always being sore are tough things to commit to if you don’t get to play. If this hasn’t happened to you, consider yourself a very lucky pitcher.

How, then, do you deal with this situation to your benefit?

Use it as motivation to better.
If your coach is communicating to you through her actions that the other pitcher has more skills than you, what should you do? Get more skills! Taking responsibility for yourself is what separates the good pitchers from the mediocre ones.

Ask the coach what you can do to get playing time.
When you ask the coach directly what you can do to get playing time, you gain respect from the coach. When your parents ask for you, you get less respect. Coaches are excited to get a chance to tell a player how to get better (that’s their job) and you will get a chance to practice being brave and mature.

Take your warm-ups seriously.
Many coaches ask all the pitchers to warm up before games even if they aren’t going to pitch. Just because you won’t get to play doesn’t mean you should goof around. Use this time to improve.

Note the gaps in your pitching staff and fill them.
Are the top two pitchers fast but not accurate? Stop lamenting on your lack of speed and start doing target practice. Is your team lacking pitchers who can change speeds? Ask your pitching coach to teach you a change up.

When you do get an opportunity to pitch don’t mess it up.
Messing it up doesn’t mean walking batters or allowing a home run. Messing it up would be giving up, being a follower, not showing excitement about your opportunity, or blaming other people for your mistakes.

While it may feel like your lack of playing time is the result of a mistake on your coach’s part, you can’t allow that to impact the kind of player—or person—you are. It’s important to avoid falling into a victim mindset or viewing the situation as “unfair” in a way that causes you to give up.

Adversity like this is often what drives growth. Ask yourself: who is a role model you admire most, and how would she respond in this situation?

How you handle circumstances outside of your control—like a coach’s decisions—is what ultimately sets you apart.