hello Mr schonberg , i’m curious as to how you keep your junior pitchers to be confident and relaxed in a game that’s not going so well for her.. my daughter seems to do so much better when her team has a big lead but gets down on herself when things are on the opposite end for her.. is there anything to keep her relaxed and focused?? I would like to know before the state tournament this weekend.. it’s our first time ever in state!!
Philon May 14, 2014 at 5:46 PM
Wesley – This is absolutely a normal reaction to game stress for developing pitchers, even major league pitchers. Depending upon the emotional make up of the individual, some will deal with these stresses better than others. Developing the ability to remain calm and relaxed when things are not going so well is largely a function of practice, focus, and experience, same as the approach one would use in developing solid mechanics. There are not, unfortunately, many shortcuts to this state of mind. We train many pitchers on a lot of teams, but do not coach their teams. We try to impress upon our athletes the importance, from a developmental perspective, of continually stepping up in class; of looking forward to exposing themselves to competitive enough environments where they are likely to get their butts kicked. You may be surprised at how effective this is in getting them “comfortable” with “discomfort” and focused on improving instead of the result of a particular game. Success is the enemy of excellence. If you don’t put yourself in situation where you may fail, you may never evolve. In the immediate term, try getting your daughter to focus on mechanics and execution ONLY during games. She should not be worrying about pitch selection or location, what the opposition is doing, or what her own fielders are doing. Tell her to execute one pitch at a time and, if she does, she has done her job. She will likely learn more from giving up a home run than from striking everyone out, if she maintains the right attitude. Most important of all is the unconditional support of you and her coaches. Hope this is helpful.
hello Mr schonberg , i’m curious as to how you keep your junior pitchers to be confident and relaxed in a game that’s not going so well for her.. my daughter seems to do so much better when her team has a big lead but gets down on herself when things are on the opposite end for her.. is there anything to keep her relaxed and focused?? I would like to know before the state tournament this weekend.. it’s our first time ever in state!!
Wesley – This is absolutely a normal reaction to game stress for developing pitchers, even major league pitchers. Depending upon the emotional make up of the individual, some will deal with these stresses better than others. Developing the ability to remain calm and relaxed when things are not going so well is largely a function of practice, focus, and experience, same as the approach one would use in developing solid mechanics. There are not, unfortunately, many shortcuts to this state of mind. We train many pitchers on a lot of teams, but do not coach their teams. We try to impress upon our athletes the importance, from a developmental perspective, of continually stepping up in class; of looking forward to exposing themselves to competitive enough environments where they are likely to get their butts kicked. You may be surprised at how effective this is in getting them “comfortable” with “discomfort” and focused on improving instead of the result of a particular game. Success is the enemy of excellence. If you don’t put yourself in situation where you may fail, you may never evolve. In the immediate term, try getting your daughter to focus on mechanics and execution ONLY during games. She should not be worrying about pitch selection or location, what the opposition is doing, or what her own fielders are doing. Tell her to execute one pitch at a time and, if she does, she has done her job. She will likely learn more from giving up a home run than from striking everyone out, if she maintains the right attitude. Most important of all is the unconditional support of you and her coaches. Hope this is helpful.