Why you may not be the best pitcher you can be

Before we get started, let me say that I am going to be very blunt in this post. It is not my intention to be mean, derogatory or to point fingers. I’m just going to give you the facts about what it takes to become a great pitcher and if you really read and understand what I am about to say, I have no doubt that you can be the best that you can be.

I began playing softball at a young age and the sport has given me some of my best memories and has taught me many things that are not only applicable to the game, but to life. As soon as I started playing, I fell in love with the sport and dedicated a huge amount of time to getting better and better. All I wanted to do was play and be on the field. At the age of 9 I decided I wanted to be a pitcher and I soon came to realize that to become a top level pitcher would take even MORE time and work than I was putting in previously. Fortunately, I had a father (Coach Phil) who was more than willing to learn everything there was to know about pitching and teach it to me.

Of course, as I got older (parents may know it as the dreaded teenage years), there were some arguments about not to wanting to practice, or not wanting to attend my weekly workouts. Believe me, I get it, we are all busy with school, maybe even jobs. We all want to hang out with our friends, play video games, watch TV, just relax. I get it, I really do, because there were definitely times when I would have preferred sleeping to pitching. But at the end of the day I always did it. And the practice and discipline helped   me reach my ultimate goal of playing softball at a D1 college.

After my career ended (honestly though, I wish I could still be playing), I started giving pitching lessons to aspiring athletes. It was a great way for me to stay involved in the sport I loved while also helping other girls reach their softball dreams. However, all too often I come across athletes and parents who want to learn how to pitch but sadly don’t want to put the time in. They want a “quick fix” and want to be an amazing,  top level pitcher right away.  When they don’t see results or any changes after a couple of lessons, they ask me “why am I not perfect at this yet?” Or, “why am I not as good a pitcher as this other girl?” Or, “why am I still having trouble doing this?”

I typically answer their question with another question: “Are you practicing?” And I typically get a variety of answers :

• The girl says, “Well I practice when I’m at a lesson with you…” (which is usually once a week at the very most);
• The girl gets embarrassed and says nothing, but the parents stare at their daughter in a way that says, “See I told you that you needed to practice;”
• The girl says, “Yes, I do.”

Now let’s take a look at these responses:

• “Well I practice when I’m at a lesson with you…” That’s great, lessons are super important. But if you’re relying on one practice a week to hammer the drills and mechanics into your muscle memory, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. Softball, and ESPECIALLY pitching, takes and INCREDIBLE amount of time and effort to master. We like to tell our athletes to work at their mechanics at least every other day for at least an hour. This repetition will help ingrain the correct mechanics into the muscle memory. But if you’re only pitching/practicing once a week, this will not happen.
• The girl gets embarrassed and says nothing, but the parents stare at their daughter in a way that says, “See I told you that you needed to practice.” This is a big problem. You parents SHOULD NOT want it more than you do. If that is the case, you should not be pitching. You have to have the desire and the drive to be a great pitcher. You should WANT to go out there and practice. Of course we all have other things we want to be doing, and we all get busy, but if you want something bad enough, you’ll make time for it.

Now let’s take a really close look at the last response…

• “Yes, I do.” Great! So she tells me she practices at home as well as when she’s with me. Very good to hear. But she’s still saying she’s having trouble with the mechanics. Maybe she’s wild, or she’s not throwing as hard as she could.

So, I usually ask a few more questions. The two big ones are:

• Are you really focusing on doing the drills? Are you taking your time doing them, really focusing on the mechanics, and not just rushing through them?
• (If the girls is old enough) Are you doing any strength and conditioning to prepare your body to be able to do these mechanics? There are a lot of pitching specific muscles in your body that need to be strong and in top condition in order to perform the mechanics in the right way.

And here are the responses I usually get:

• “I kind of don’t do the drills when I practice, I just go out, warm, up, and pitch.”
• “I don’t want to do strength and conditioning.” Or, “I don’t have time to add strength and conditioning to my day.”

Now let’s talks about these responses:

• “I kind of don’t do the drills when I practice, I just go out, warm, up, and pitch.” This is a problem. The drills we give our girls exist for a reason, it’s because they develop the mechanics in the best way possible. I am fully aware that some of the drills can seem a little repetitive and boring, and it’s really easy to rush through them without paying attention or not do them at all. But this will only make pitching more difficult. If you skip the drills or do them poorly and without focus, you are not building the correct form or muscle memory you need when on the mound. If you practice poorly you will play poorly.

• “I don’t want to do strength and conditioning,” or “I don’t have time to add strength and conditioning.” Then you probably will not reach your full potential. Go onto the social media pages of any college softball program (doesn’t even have to be D1) and you will see videos of the kinds of workouts the girls are doing. All athletes need to prepare their bodies, but pitchers specifically have a lot of work to do. We are the only player on the field that is moving for every play of every inning of every game and pitching is an extremely explosive movement. Being able to push yourself off the rubber, while being tall, getting tracked, and firing the arm and the drive through takes an incredible amount of core, hip, and leg strength. If these areas on your body are not strong, you will not have optimal mechanics. You will be more likely to see rotation, bending, and a slow arm circle that will greatly impact the pitch. We like to say, “We can teach you the mechanics, but it’s up to you to prepare your body to do them.”

I have worked with hundreds of girls over the years. My favorite students are the ones who are smiling and having fun, even if they have a lot of improvements to make. Many times I’ve worked with girls who have SO much “natural talent” but don’t seem to be enjoying it. They look miserable during practices and lessons and they never put any heart into it.  They seem to progress the least.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, I’ve had girls who have come to me with very little pitching knowledge or skill, but LOVE practicing, and are always having fun. One of my fondest memories is of one girl I taught several years ago. She struggled a lot with accuracy and speed, and was just a little stiff and awkward when she pitched. But she seemed to want it so much. After her first lesson, I got a call from her dad. He said, “She is SO excited about pitching with you. She came home after her lesson and practiced for 3 more hours, just throwing into a net.” I would get weekly texts and emails from him saying things like “She just walks around the house practicing her forearm fire motion,” or “She was throwing a foam ball into a mirror so she could watch her form!” I was so happy that she was so excited about pitching and she was having such a good time with it. Cut to a couple of months later, she was one of my BEST pitchers. She had jumped to about 60MPH and had mastered several pitches with true spin. She had a devastating changeup and had some of the best mechanics I’ve ever seen. She wanted it, and she excelled.

The bottom line is this: What makes a great pitcher? WANTING IT. Working harder than everyone else around you. Wanting to put the time in and wanting to put your heart and soul into the game. Every girl who wants to be a pitcher has the ability to do so. But you have to put the work in. Nobody else is going to want it for you, and nobody else is going to put in the work for you. So decide whether or not you REALLY want it, and then go for it. The only thing that can stop you, is you.