- Aug 21, 2008
- 2,386
- 113
Whether you live in the majority of the country that plays their High School softball in the spring, or in one of the 5 US states that plays in the fall (only Iowa plays high school ball in the summer time), this is a very difficult time to be a softball player but pitching in particular.
2020's Covid year was a nightmare itself, but even without that hassle, this time of year is particularly grueling for young pitchers. I can remember it vividly myself as a young pitcher. Spring is almost here and ball season is almost upon us. Some places of the country start their tournaments as early as February, they don't have to shovel their fields as we'd have to in many parts of the USA. And even though more and more teams are traveling to warm weather destinations earlier and earlier each year, and indoor tournaments are becoming more popular than ever in cold weather places, nothing beats the thrill and excitement of that first REAL game of the year. Whether it's the first local tournament or first league game, the anticipation for that starts to boil at this point every year.
Lost on all of this is the mindset of a young pitcher. Most have been working hard all winter long, from Halloween to St Patty's day. Day after day, week after week, month after month in an indoor training facility among all the "ping" sounds of people doing hitting and the "distractions" of the boys baseball players running around, trying to impress the softball players. Yet, the season is so close they can taste it. And for some it's closer than for others, again depending on where you live. The ability to concentrate and continue to focus on work in pitching lessons becomes challenging. This time of year, everyone is SICK of practice and wants to play games.
Trying to find new and unique ways to keep pitchers invested in their 30 or 60 min lessons this time of year is beyond challenging. It's not the fault of the coach, or the parent. It's just that time of year. This time of year, I was always SICK of pitching in a gym. Sick of working on things, I wanted to try out my winter's hard work on a batter in a real game. I guarantee so does your DD or your roster of pitchers. And you can set up games at practices for them, trying to keep it fresh. Like playing the 10 strike game, seeing how many pitches it takes for them to throw 10 strikes then challenging them to beat that number in the next round. You can complicate this by having them use their pitches. Dropballs, for example, at the knees of the catcher count, ones down the middle do not. Riseballs that hit your designated spot count, ones that miss do not. This is helpful but even these mundane games during practice don't take the place of the real games played with the team on a field.
Take this advice or throw it away, however I'm writing this not as just a "pitching coach" but also as someone who's endured this time of year as a young pitcher A LOT. You will do yourself a great service if you acknowledge this with your DD or pitcher prior to your next workout. Let them know that you understand how hard they've worked all winter and the season is ALMOST here. But now is not the time to become complacent and do half effort. Now is the time to step on the gas and work extra hard. To concentrate 1000% for that next 30 minutes of lesson or practice. Remind them that the hardwork they put in over the winter can be undone by not taking the final stage of this offseason seriously. Hopefully the acknowledgment of their hard work and understanding of how anxious they are to get on the field will go a long ways to getting them to give that little extra, and continue to do so.
2020's Covid year was a nightmare itself, but even without that hassle, this time of year is particularly grueling for young pitchers. I can remember it vividly myself as a young pitcher. Spring is almost here and ball season is almost upon us. Some places of the country start their tournaments as early as February, they don't have to shovel their fields as we'd have to in many parts of the USA. And even though more and more teams are traveling to warm weather destinations earlier and earlier each year, and indoor tournaments are becoming more popular than ever in cold weather places, nothing beats the thrill and excitement of that first REAL game of the year. Whether it's the first local tournament or first league game, the anticipation for that starts to boil at this point every year.
Lost on all of this is the mindset of a young pitcher. Most have been working hard all winter long, from Halloween to St Patty's day. Day after day, week after week, month after month in an indoor training facility among all the "ping" sounds of people doing hitting and the "distractions" of the boys baseball players running around, trying to impress the softball players. Yet, the season is so close they can taste it. And for some it's closer than for others, again depending on where you live. The ability to concentrate and continue to focus on work in pitching lessons becomes challenging. This time of year, everyone is SICK of practice and wants to play games.
Trying to find new and unique ways to keep pitchers invested in their 30 or 60 min lessons this time of year is beyond challenging. It's not the fault of the coach, or the parent. It's just that time of year. This time of year, I was always SICK of pitching in a gym. Sick of working on things, I wanted to try out my winter's hard work on a batter in a real game. I guarantee so does your DD or your roster of pitchers. And you can set up games at practices for them, trying to keep it fresh. Like playing the 10 strike game, seeing how many pitches it takes for them to throw 10 strikes then challenging them to beat that number in the next round. You can complicate this by having them use their pitches. Dropballs, for example, at the knees of the catcher count, ones down the middle do not. Riseballs that hit your designated spot count, ones that miss do not. This is helpful but even these mundane games during practice don't take the place of the real games played with the team on a field.
Take this advice or throw it away, however I'm writing this not as just a "pitching coach" but also as someone who's endured this time of year as a young pitcher A LOT. You will do yourself a great service if you acknowledge this with your DD or pitcher prior to your next workout. Let them know that you understand how hard they've worked all winter and the season is ALMOST here. But now is not the time to become complacent and do half effort. Now is the time to step on the gas and work extra hard. To concentrate 1000% for that next 30 minutes of lesson or practice. Remind them that the hardwork they put in over the winter can be undone by not taking the final stage of this offseason seriously. Hopefully the acknowledgment of their hard work and understanding of how anxious they are to get on the field will go a long ways to getting them to give that little extra, and continue to do so.
