When You Lose Confidence In A Game

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When You Lose Confidence In A Game

Most players have started their season already. Games will be testing your and your team’s abilities. They are an accumulation of all the work you’ve put in all winter. While the offseason was a time when you’ve learned new things, like improving your pitch repertoire or making big changes to your fundamentals, the in-season is all about performance.

Even though you’ll be learning a lot during the season, if you want to play and if you want to win, you’ll have to give the coach a reason to let you pitch. Giving chances in order to let the pitcher learn or see if she can handle pressure might be few and far between.

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Why Doesn’t My Daughter Throw Strikes?

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Why Doesn’t My Daughter Throw Strikes?

One way I like to explain it is through Martin M. Broadwell’s work. He was a management trainer in the 60’s. He wrote a famous article called Teaching for Learning in which he described the four stages of competence. I thought it would be fun to apply this not only to a pitcher’s experience, but also to a parent’s experience of getting his or her kid involved in pitching.

We want to reach “unconscious competence” in pitching and parenting. It’s when a skill can be performed easily without thinking about it. Here are the four phases, the first three leading up to our goal of “unconscious competence.”

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3 Ways to Know if You "Have" a Pitch

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3 Ways to Know if You "Have" a Pitch

As soon as a player is able to throw with a good arm circle, has decent posture, and throws at her fullest effort she's ready to learn the change up and movement pitches.

Even 10 year-olds can learn movement pitches. If I were to wait until a pitcher perfected her fastball to teach her a curveball, we might be waiting until she is a high school or even college!

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How To Get Your Daughter To Practice

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How To Get Your Daughter To Practice

You are always trying to "get" your daughter to practice. After all, she said she wanted to be a pitcher, you are spending tons of money on lessons, she is super athletic and is going to be great!! Yet...she won't practice!  You even set up the basement to look like an exact replica of the Rosemont Dome! You nag her, you try to reason with her by explaining all of the benefits of practicing. You feel you have given her all the tools humanly possible, but alas, there she remains comfy on the couch, TV remote in one hand, cell phone in the other.

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Will Illinois Ever Rule the Softball World? Master Indoor Practice First

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You know what they say about Chicago, “If you don’t like the weather, wait fifteen minutes.” Illinois is not known for it’s stellar summer sports, and we love to blame the weather. But sports are about overcoming obstacles, not using them as excuses. Our Big, Hairy, Audacious goal at Practice Pro is to make Illinois the powerhouse of pitching - with our pitchers competing on every team in the WCWS by 2035!

One way to do this is to make our obstacles our assets. Our cold weather could be one of our greatest assets as a Midwesterner. We do a lot of pitching into close nets in our basements. Pitching without a forty foot target or even “fake pitching” allows pitchers to throw with great fundamentals. You might have noticed that a pitcher can execute a fake pitch with perfect mechanics, but as soon as she gets the ball and tries to actually throw to a target - rotten they go. She reverts back to what is comfortable. She does what her neural pathways have been built for - incorrect mechanics.

If I could train a pitcher for a whole year into a close net without a target, I would. But 9-year-olds get fed up with that in about 10 minutes, unfortunately. So, if it’s freezing outside, and it’s very beneficial to not pitch a full distance, what are our options? If it’s snowy and fields are unusable, if indoor facilities are booked, if it costs $60 per hour to rent a cage, if parents don’t have time to organize and rent school gyms, what can we do?

Create your own practice facility at home! Check out what some creative folks have done to their basements below.

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If possible, set up a 7 foot net in your basement and pitch real balls into it. Add pieces of tape as targets onto different sections. Even if it’s not full distance, looking at different location varies your release point, improving “feel.” Some players have hung blankets from the ceiling to throw into. When ceilings are too short, they pitch from their knee to practice their arm circles. One pitcher rolled out a pitching matt in her dining room and just did fake pitches. I’ve seen a person attach a ball on a stick to the wall at different angles to practice movement pitch spins.

The second best ball-choice are compression balls, the third are any other type of ball. Lighter balls improve arm speed, heavier balls increase body awareness. Don’t throw full speed with a full pitch using balls over 9 oz. Some studies show the increased weight is not worth the (arm health) risk compared to the benefit. If you want to get stronger, lift weights, don’t throw heavier balls. If you want to get faster, get more of reps in.

Pitching into a net can get boring if you don’t challenge yourself and get creative. Based on what we learned during Covid, long winters, and feedback about practice struggles, we created and online practice club. We give you daily pitch-by-pitch practices that are fun and varied so pitchers will never get bored. If you forgot how to do a drill we’ve added short videos so pitchers of any age and experience level can follow along. We have practice groups for beginners all the way up to college-bound athletes. The best part is the motivation! We give out Practice Pro merch for those who complete their weekly practice.

If Illinois is going to be the pitching powerhouse of the country, we’ll have to overcome weather and space obstacles. We’ll have to show our toughness in a time when other parts of the country have sun, warmth, and space. We’ll have to be relentless in our pursuit of advancing our game!

Golden Rules of Goal Setting

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Golden Rules of Goal Setting

I've grappled with the concept of S.M.A.R.T. goals, despite being a frequent teacher of it, as it often felt inadequate. The idea of a goal being both "reaching" and "attainable" seemed paradoxical. However, a few years ago, I stumbled upon a transformative solution. I began by crafting a S.M.A.R.T. goal—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Then I added a second, much bigger, long-term goal.

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5 Things You Should Correct: In Order of Importance

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5 Things You Should Correct: In Order of Importance

Do you ever think when looking at your player, “That looks funny, but I’m not sure how to correct it?” Or your watching your daughter pitch and you know about three mechanics pitchers are supposed to perform. You try to correct all three simultaneously and wonder why she can’t do it? How long will it take for her to change?

I’m writing this for beginner parents, mostly because parents of experienced pitchers have been attending lessons. They know exactly what their daughter needs practice, even if they don’t quite understand exactly why. I’d say the latter is a good-enough start.

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Where Will Your Game Be One Year From Now?

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Where Will Your Game Be One Year From Now?

If you are thinking about taking on the position of pitcher with your daughter this note is for you!

Notice I use the phrase “taking on the position with” because learning to pitch is nothing less than a partnership between the two of you.

Becoming a pitcher is a special journey that takes a high level of commitment time-wise, financially, and emotionally. It can also be one of the most rewarding positions in all of sport! After reading this you will understand what to expect, have a road map for success, and motivation to help you persevere along the way.

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What Are the Youth Challenges and Why Do They Matter?

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What Are the Youth Challenges and Why Do They Matter?

As a young pitcher you are faced with many logistical roadblocks that college pitchers don't face. You must find someone to drive you to practice or save up enough money for a new glove. You have the challenge of forming habits when many factors are out of your control, for example, not having enough time to warm up for a game because high school schedules are tight.

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7 Terms Your Instructor Wishes You Knew About Pitching

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7 Terms Your Instructor Wishes You Knew About Pitching

If you haven’t already, you’ll come across these terms in your pitching journey. These terms explain 90% of the main mechanics you and your daughter will learn throughout the upcoming years. If you can accomplish these positions you will have become an advanced pitcher prepared to perform at the highest level. In Practice Pro terms, you’d be a Level 4 pitcher. You’d put yourself in a position to throw hard and execute all movement pitches, and deliver the ball in a consistent manner. Study up!

Stacked

  • At the point of release, if mechanics are performed to maximum efficiency and power, a pitcher's hand, ball, drag knee, and shoulder will line up. Here I am next to a beginner. This is what 90% of beginners look like, including players who never had formal instruction (Caitlyn’s much better now, I swear, I just couldn’t find her new video).

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3 Fun Stats About Pitching

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3 Fun Stats About Pitching

Missy Lombardi was trying to figure out what made Michigan so dominant in 2015. As the head coach of Oaklahoma she was battling the WCWS eventual runner-up. She came up with these three factors. Then, with the help of her sports psychologist, invented a way to chart the points. Lombardi found that three things determine the dominance of a pitcher:

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How to Fairly Evaluate Pitchers in a Tryout

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How to Fairly Evaluate Pitchers in a Tryout

If you are coaching a team you know how hard it is to evaluate a big group of pitchers at tryouts. First, there's never enough time. Second, it's impossible to tell how a pitcher will perform in games. Third, it's difficult not to get swept up in the lure of a pitcher who seems fast and can throw strikes. Will fast and down the middle be enough at your level?

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Do You Get Nervous on the Mound?

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Do You Get Nervous on the Mound?

In a blog post from last year, I went over how to differentiate good pitchers from great pitchers while discussing all of the things within our control to make that leap.

In a blog post I wrote last year, I delved into the art of distinguishing good pitchers from great pitchers, exploring all the factors within our control that facilitate this leap.

Today, I aim to delve further into an aspect of competition beyond our control: adrenaline. Let's explore how we can harness this natural force within our bodies to our advantage. I use the term "venom" to emphasize that adrenaline can either be a potent poison to our opponents or a detrimental toxin to ourselves. Thus, I invite you to consider strategies that transform your moments of heightened adrenaline into unfortunate encounters for your adversaries. Why is this crucial? Because chances are, you have experienced or will experience these "nerves" or "jitters" that sneak up on us during critical moments.

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15 Savvy Ways to Watch the NCAA Playoffs

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15 Savvy Ways to Watch the NCAA Playoffs

When you watch the NCAA tournament this year, don’t just sit passively. Actively take part by analyzing what’s happening and applying it to your own development. I’d suggest picking 4 or 5 of the questions below and watch with intent. Because we mimic what we see, it’s called “visual learning,” you can improve simply by observing. There’s nothing better than relaxing and getting better at the same time! I’ve found girls with older sisters who pitch an advantage. They “get it” at a young age from observing their siblings play.

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How to Explain Internal Rotation to Your Daughter

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How to Explain Internal Rotation to Your Daughter

The main indicator or arm speed is hand speed. Obviously, it's the only part of a pitcher's body that touches the ball and it has to be equally as fast as the speed she wishes to deliver it. If you follow even one pitching coach on social media besides me you’ll see the main topic discussed is something called “internal rotation.”

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What Should I Tell My Daughter During Games?

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What Should I Tell My Daughter During Games?

I see the pain in parents’ eyes. Their daughter is finally getting her chance to pitch and she’s throwing ball after ball, nowhere near strike zone. They wonder how this can be...in practice yesterday she pitched great! In last week’s game she seemed to be more accurate. There must be something wrong with her mechanics, they think.

What can parents say to help a pitcher throw more strikes during a game, especially when they know she is capable of it?

Firstly, sometimes parents get the last part of this concept wrong. Here is a blog I wrote to help you & her decipher objectively what she is capable of at any given moment. Once this is sorted out, most of the stress goes away for everyone. Improper expectations is the largest source, in my opinion, of disappointment, anger, and failure during performances.

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16 Things You Should Know About High School Softball

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16 Things You Should Know About High School Softball

This week we were able to do something we’ve never done before - start a speaker panel series! The stay-at-home order has surprisingly benefited our pitching school in many ways, including making it easy to host events and bring in speakers. When travel times are minimal, schedules are clear, and facility spaces are free we become ultra-flexible! We will continue to host these learning experiences for our pitching school so take advantage of this unique time.

What do they wish they would have known? What made them great pitchers? What were failures that they overcame? I took the top 20 lessons learned from these great athletes and made it easy for you to digest here.

You’ll hear from Julia Youman ‘20 OPRF and IHSA State Champion, Mackenzie Janes ‘20 Jones Prep and 4-year Varsity Letter winner, and Molly Murray ‘19 Lane Tech Conference CHamp and Sectional Runner-up.

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A Point-by-Point Guide to High School: From the Coaches

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A Point-by-Point Guide to High School: From the Coaches

When I tried out for my high school softball team I simply showed up on the prescribed date and time. I carried my spikes and glove in my hand. I did what I was told. I observed the skills of the other girls and measured myself against them. What chance do I have? How hard are the coaches making me work? Do I like this? Are the girls nice?

Never once did I think bigger than that. I didn’t think about winning a championship. I didn’t ponder what made a good team, or what I could do to be a good leader. In hindsight I wish I would have. To those of you who are reading this, I’d suggest thinking of these things. Whether you are in 5th grade, going to college next year, or in high school, the following will be valuable.

We had the opportunity to interview the Whitney Young Coach, Mike Hinrichs and the Ridgewood Coach, Ken Juarasz about how they’ve built their program, what they expect of players, and how to buy in.

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How to Master Power in 4 Simple Drills

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How to Master Power in 4 Simple Drills

When learning, a lot of players look like this the pitcher on the right: leaning forward and her back leg has not moved towards the target by the time the ball is being released. When a pitcher throws “all arm”, this is what is happening mechanically. 

What’s more powerful, sprinting forward or jumping sideways? Just as a sprinter leaves the block, pitchers are sprinters leaving the mound. The fastest way to run to the finish line is forward, not sideways. 

If a pitcher can put herself in a good position at 3 o’clock (top pictures), she sets herself up for the rest of the motion. If not, it can be very difficult to correct her mistakes mid-pitch.

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A Beginner's Guide to Seasonality

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A Beginner's Guide to Seasonality

Has your daughter ever been afraid to change something in her motion because it will mess up her accuracy for the upcoming game? Well, she should be concerned because there are only certain times of the year when she should or should not be majorly altering her fundamentals. Last week we talked about how to break down practices and seasonality. This week I will give you examples of fun games and challenges to include in your seasonal practice.

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