Winning and Learning: How to Transform Your Losing Mindset

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Winning and Learning: How to Transform Your Losing Mindset

Do you hate to lose more than you love to win?

As we are smack dab in the middle of the NCAA collegiate season here in 2021, I’m sure many of you have had occasion to watch some of the outstanding matchups in D1 softball on ESPN or maybe even the Big 10 Network.

Preliminarily, before I dive into the main topic at hand, I want to point out the fact that there are numerous games on television multiple times a week broadcasting softball on ESPN and individual conference networks. This in and of itself is an astronomical win for our sport.

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How You Changed "Life as We Know It"

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How You Changed "Life as We Know It"

As we approach the year-mark when the CoVid-19 pandemic blew the top off of “life as we know it,” I’ve taken some time to reflect on how this unimaginable situation has impacted our sport – and more specifically – the pitchers that I coach within this sport: you.

Remarkable events at the national and global level impact more than just the history books. They create pivotal turning points for the people who experience them at the deepest level. They create identities within the generations that endure them. Just take a look at the last 100 years: Major Wars (I, II, Cold, Korean, Vietnam), the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement, Iconic Leader Assassinations (MLK, Martin Luther King Jr.), Landing on the Moon, the AIDS epidemic, School Shootings (Columbine, Sandy Hook, VA Tech), 9/11, and now the global CoVid-19 pandemic.

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How to Practice in the Preseason

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How to Practice in the Preseason

The preseason is the second phase during your training year. If this seems like news to you, you might have missed the first phase: the offseason.

The offseason takes place October through December. Its’ when you add to your pitch repertoire, increase strength, and make big mechanical changes. It’s like gathering the ingredients for a cake, as Cheri Kempf says in her book, The Pitching Edge.

We are currently in the preseason session. It goes from January through March. It’s when we take all the ingredients we’ve gathered and “bake” them, forming them into something edible. A pitcher will work on endurance and accuracy, making minimal changes to her mechanics.

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Part 2: This Week's Top Lessons About Pitching

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Part 2: This Week's Top Lessons About Pitching

MIke Candrea, University of Arizona Head Coach

I certainly share this sentiment from coach Candrea. He said,“The word ‘coach’ is a very powerful word and I don’t take it lightly. I’m honored and blessed when a young person calls me ‘coach’.” He also said that he speaks to a lot of high school coaches who, in conversation, point out that they are “just” high school coaches or “just” travel ball coaches. “No!” he says. We are all equally valuable in what we provide young athletes.

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So You've Bought Weighted Balls....Now What?

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So You've Bought Weighted Balls....Now What?

You want more ways to get faster and you have the time. It’s the offseason so you have 7 months before your first spring game. While lifting is the best way to get stronger there’s another excellent way.

One of my favorite methods to increase speed is following a weighted ball workout. A weighted ball workout isn’t just throwing overweigthed balls. You need to pitch underweigthed balls as well.

Overweighted balls increase strength and help pitchers understand what full effort feels like. Unlike the heavy balls, underweighted balls train your arm to move fast. Notice when you are fake-pitching you are able to fly at warp-speed. Your fast-twitch muscles are being trained to twitch even faster. Light balls increase quickness and help pitcher feel how fast their arm has the potential to move.

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Do You Need A Backup Sport?

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Do You Need A Backup Sport?

Let’s say your daughter decides she wants to be a pitcher. She’s really going to put the work in this time. Unfortunately, she’s pursuing this position later than all of her teammates. In fact, everyone else has been working hard at pitching for 2 or 3 years. She’s quite far behind in all aspects including accuracy and speed. She doesn’t know any movement pitches.

However, your daughter ends up growing to like it more than you thought she would. She’s doing all the practices, going to every pitching school class, and even getting some innings in her house league.

In fact, she’s so into this softball thing that she’s going to try out for her high school team. She wants to go all-in on softball and quit her other sport. She’s so excited that by the time she gets to high school her “like” for pitching turns into love.

You know something she doesn’t, though.

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How to Do Lessons

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How to Do Lessons

*As Published in Fastpitch Magazine

The stronger your reason for doing something the more likely you are to do it, especially for pitchers. Often students come to pitching lessons with vague goals. Young players might come because their parents want them to learn how to throw it over the plate so the games go faster. Experienced players come because they want to simply "get better."

I'd like to offer you a little help on figuring out your "why" for taking pitching lessons. That is, for going week after week, year after year, throwing game after a game, before practice, after practice, or even when you have a ton of school work. What are you doing here anyway?

Your pitching coach's job is to help you develop a repeatable motion as soon as possible.

I'd like to offer you a little help on figuring out your "why" for taking pitching lessons. That is, for going week after week, year after year, throwing game after a game, before practice, after practice, or even when you have a ton of school work. What are you doing here anyway?

Your pitching coach's job is to help you develop a repeatable motion as soon as possible.

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What's Your "Wow" Factor?

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What's Your "Wow" Factor?

Tonight at 7 p.m. we’ll be releasing an interview I did with Wright State Head Coach Laura Matthews and DePauw University Head Coach, Erica Hanrahan (yes, we’re related) in a live Zoom meeting. How good does a player need to be if she wants to play in college? How fast? How accurate?

Maybe there’s even a bigger question - why would i want to play softball in college, anyway?

Both stressed the importance of having at least one thing you are exceptionally good at. Coach Erica calls it your “Wow!” factor. Coach Matthews said at the very least, have enough command to work both the inside and outside of the plate. You can’t get stuck on one side.

What’s your WOW factor? When you go to a camp or play in an exposure tournament, what will make you stand out from the crowd? Is it….

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Will Virtual Lessons Ever Rule the World?

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Will Virtual Lessons Ever Rule the World?

For parents and players trying to learn more about pitching, gathering all information from online sources can be overwhelming. As a result, it gets demotivating. Every coach says something different. The key is to ask, “What are my goals and what are my daughter’s goals?”, and “What methods of learning would fit our lifestyle best?”

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Why Inspiration Matters

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Why Inspiration Matters

In the softball world, obsession about finding the “edge” over the competition or trying to find the “motivation” to get out and practice, causes us to overlook the important role of inspiration.

How are motivation and inspiration different? I think inspiration has to do with feelings, excitement, and creativity. It has to do with a person allowing an outside force to act within him or herself.

Motivation, on the other hand, is about will. It’s about habits and is self-imposed through some sort of discipline.

I was inspired to play as a young girl by my uncle, who’s passion and joy around the sport became contagious. His daughter, my cousin, had the same drive . All the games I had to watch inspired me with her competitiveness. It seems cool to care.

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5 Go-To Resources About Mechanics [Video]

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5 Go-To Resources About Mechanics [Video]

Here is a cheat sheet with videos for the pitching basics. There are five basic pitching fundamentals, A take away, or pre-motion, sets you up for the rest of your pitch. Both hands need to propel forward to the target. The arm circle is fast and loose, your back leg drives towards the target.

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Ithaca College Hall of Fame

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Ithaca College Hall of Fame

In October, Kevin Connors, ESPN sportscaster and Ithaca College graduate, interviewed me and 7 other inductees into the 50th class of the college’s Athletic Hall of Fame. It was a very fun (and nerve-racking) experience, but I wanted to share what I talked about. The reason I’m sharing this is because I think it’s important for young athletes to see what’s possible in the sport of softball. After all, many 8-12 year olds don’t know there is a professional softball league, that college softball is televised, or that they might have enough talent to play beyond high school. I’ve also added the introduction video they showed the audience before my interview to give some background on what we had to do to achieve at a high level.

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What Yoga Can Teach Us about Pitching

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What Yoga Can Teach Us about Pitching

This summer we held class at a beautiful personal training and yoga studio called “Practice Chicago” in Lincoln Park. What a fitting name, right?! As you know, I love when pitchers practice, but I never looked at practice the way described in @practicechicago’s recent Instagram post:

“When an activity becomes a practice it shifts from something you are doing at a point in time to an ongoing process of becoming. The former lends itself to “good” or “bad” judgments, forgetfulness, and discontinuity. The latter lends itself to integration, continuous learning, and wholeness.”

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Why We Love Accountability Partners (And You Should, Too)!

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Why We Love Accountability Partners (And You Should, Too)!

Everyone needs consistent human support when attempting difficult physical activity. Before I got a personal trainer and started attending scheduled classes at the gym in 2014 I just wandered over to Lakeview YMCA 2 or 3 times a week and completed my old college lifting workout. That's right, I did my old college workout for ELEVEN years because I didn't know what I didn't know. Seemed like a totally awesome workout because it was totally awesome in college.
 

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Why Pitchers are Like Batman

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Being a pitcher is a year-round commitment. As you know the learning curve is steep!  If you want to contribute to your team and see playing time, your best bet is to practice multiple times a week, get professional instruction, and take planned breaks (not breaks where you don't quite "feel like it today"). 

Unlike a shortstop or a left fielder, you hold the ball every single play in the game. You have the power to strike everyone out or walk everyone. You have the power to affect the attitude of the rest or your team, whether you stay positive after an error or lose faith when a run scores. 

You hold the most power in your hands and with this "power comes great responsibility."  - to quote my favorite comic book hero, Batman.

Make the time to practice year-round and you might save the day, too!

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