Good things happen when you sit at the front of the class. I'm living proof of that.

When I was a kid growing up, adults and teachers would tout sitting in the front of the class as the holy grail of all serious learners. And it stood to reason that if you sit in the front of the class, you must pay close attention - as there is no one to hide behind and less opportunity to distract yourself without the teacher taking notice. And though I accepted this as truth, I didn't always like to sit in the front of the class. It's not always comfortable to make direct eye contact with the teacher or be "called on" more often, so I always thought the middle of the room was safer. But nonetheless, I knew that teachers wanted their best pupils to sit in the front of the class, and because I cared about being a great student, I embraced the uncomfortable and leaned in.

Over the past 8 years of coaching 100+ players per week on softball pitching, I noticed the following trends in phrases that parents and coaches, including me, say that confuse fastpitch players. These phrases are "broken" because they confuse girls on pitching mechanics. Here are some ideas of what to say instead.

In our preseason sessions, which we're currently in, we focus on mentally preparing for the upcoming competitions. This means creating game-like scenarios and adding some pressure to our practices, so that when our pitchers step into actual games, it all feels routine.

I want to share as much as possible with you, and there is too much for one post, so I’ll start with what applies to us most - the Wasserman High-Level Throwing program. We started this plyo-ball program for the first time during the offseason. Players experienced with pitching school completed the exercises every class, working on things like “separation,” “body awareness,” and “patterning.” I wanted to test this program and see how it went, then the plan was to go from there.

“Practice to get better.”

“Be mentally tough.”

Sometimes I take all the things I learned for the mental game of softball for granted. I think they are very obvious, but did you know they came from somewhere? Actual psychologists throughout history introduced and studied these concepts. They came to evidence-based conclusions about what works and what doesn’t. Their conclusions were so influential, in fact, that they were woven into the foundation of all our sports so much so that we don't even notice them!

From the age of birth through the age of 31, everyone told me I was a slow runner. My dad and uncle said I ran like I had a piano on my back. I’m pretty sure I stole less than 10 bases in 7 years. I didn’t even get enough momentum to slide. It was true, I wasn’t quick with my footwork.

The peculiar thing, though, was that when I was the ripe-old age of 31 I got a trainer who used to be a sprinter in college. In a short period of time he taught me how to run fast. Within a year I was able to run 3 one-mile repeats on the treadmill each under 6 minutes at 168 pounds, and could run multiple one-minute repeats at 14 mph. I was squatting double what I did in college and deadlifting close to 300 pounds. Twice I jumped up five stairs starting from both feet on the ground.

How could that be?

Because many young pitchers get discouraged when they don't pitch 100% strikes, not realizing that the excellent players at their age only pitch 40% strikes, we made our guesses on appropriate goals. They will be able to set reasonable goals and methodically tackle one at a time.

When you feel like you throw accurately in practices, but then in games it’s wild, it might be less about a feeling or nerves and more about your stats. Tracking your numbers in games and practices gives you a clear picture of reality. It can help you form your practice plan. Without this knowledge, you’ll be a servant to your emotions and whims.

Below is a chart we use in pitching school. All ages can use this, but adjustments for skill-level are included in the video. Make observations about your improvement over short and long periods of time. If you have a bad day compared to yesterday, shake it off and move on. If you are not getting more accurate over a three to six-month span, re-evaluate your practice plan or mechanics.

“More is better” - When it comes to training in any sport, more is often thought to be best practice. Don’t get me wrong, without a consistent work ethic at any skill, especially pitching, there will be a limit to improvement. However, most players and parents think about going out to practice pitching between lessons or games as a chore. And the reason for that is because we have been trained to believe more is better in most everything. So when we go out to practice, we spend at least an hour, sometimes more, between driving to and from a location to train, warming up our bodies, warming up our mechanics of each pitch, and then actually throwing each pitch.

There are three main types of pre-motions: dropping one hand back, dropping both hands back, and rolling the hands. There has also been a recent trend of pitchers eliminating the pre-motion altogether. Let's take a look at examples of pitchers from the current world series employing each of these take-aways:

In tandem with these mental toughness skills, she can track the basic stats like strike percentage, walks and hits. Your pitcher will probably start to see a gradual correlations between good mental performances and good statistical performances. I’ve attached the forms we give players for free below. I developed these through learning what coaches do at annual NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) conferences I attend yearly, so I won’t take credit. I would have your daughter fill these out before and after every game as part of her routine. There’s nothing more fun than seeing your pitcher grow and recognizing her improvements.

I’ve been talking about the mental state of players the last month with many parents. I like to check in and see what everyone is thinking, and how we can keep incorporating pitching and motivation into family’s lives.

You know I say it constantly. Pitching is a skill that needs to be developed year-round. If you fail to recognize this, you’ll be very sorely disappointed at the result, and the money, time, energy you invested in 1 month to 5 years of lessons.

The last thing we want is those Wisconsinites and Hoosiers to kick our butts in tournaments since they’ve been able to socialize more than us!! Don’t let this happen Illinois!!