How can you help improve the mental aspect of pitching? Why does some pitcher seems so cool and collective while others crumble under the pressure?
Mental aspect of pitching
- Thread starter Crystal Brown
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I personally think some of the mental aspects of pitching are hereditary, but if you want to maximize a players potential I would suggest reading "The Champions Mind".
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1623365627/ref=pd_sbs_14_img_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=47V0KW237ZKDGQJ4YZ7E
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- Jan 9, 2015
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Your guess is as good as mine. I think it has to do a lot with confidence. Some have it some don't. My dd is just now getting confidence and its helping her composer. But this past weekend she was in the circle that had 4 mounds. She politely asked the ump which rubber to pitch from. She kept landing on the mounds in front of her...it got in her head....she slowed way down and the rest is history. She discovered she hated astro turf also. She was pulled from game. Put in another pitcher and she was cool as a cucumber. Very frustrating. At this point I started to wonder....why can't my dd just be calm and throw....why cant she have the composer as others.....I am looking forward to reading others responses.
As a parent, I laugh at DD.
As a coach I clap a lot.
As a coach I clap a lot.
Landing on a pitching plate can be dangerous and I would not suggest it. There is a reason fields are equipped with removable pitching plates. I would have stopped the game and asked the grounds crew to remove the unnecessary pitching plates before I risked my pitcher being injured.
The mental aspect is the strongest attribute of the pitchers I work with, especially my DD. We spend considerable time developing the proper mindset. Jake has been trained since she started pitching to focus on the process not the outcome. By doing so she does a great job of "controlling the controlables". You must throw each pitch as though it is the only pitch that matters, which at the time it is just that. Commit to it, execute it, and own it. Jake knows that if she throws a pitch to the best of her ability, very few players will hit it hard. If she does this on every pitch she will have a great day. If you are thinking about the score, how many runners on base, how the last pitch was jacked, how the SS booted the last two, etc. as you release a pitch you are doomed. From the time she gets the ball back from the catcher to the release of the next pitch we use a very specific step by step process to manage the mental game in the circle. Consider the very first batter she faced as a Gamecock. She came in with bases loaded and Sierra Romero at the plate. Worked the count to 1-2 and threw a great riseball up and away hoping Romero might chase it. Unfortunately Romero chased it all the way to the right center bleachers for a grand slam. But Jake knew it was a great pitch and hats off to Romero for what she did with it. Not happy with the outcome but no regrets over the pitch that was thrown. The good news is that story ends with her immediately moving on and getting 2 straight K's to finish out the inning.
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Other thing is DD has had some not great defenses she works through it and does not get too annoyed.
Other parents complain and thier DD's hear it.
It is the same defense for all pitchers and actually they put the worse defense behind DD more then not.
DD does not read board so I am allowed to say that between friends.
Other parents complain and thier DD's hear it.
It is the same defense for all pitchers and actually they put the worse defense behind DD more then not.
DD does not read board so I am allowed to say that between friends.
That is when you call over the tournament director and tell them that if they do not remove the extra pitching plates they are endangering the pitchers and are liable for any injury that occurs since they have been notified of an unsafe condition in the field of play. Then point to one of your parents in the stand and say "Bob/Tom/Mary is a personal injury lawyer would love to take this case Pro Bono".
To expand on [MENTION=10413]riseball[/MENTION]s comment about "control the controllable", my DD's first TB coach had a great saying when he went out to the circle to talk to our defense, "what was the least important pitch of this game?", the last one, "what is the most important pitch?", the next one...
