Why did she succeed in college?

[sluggers]

My DD and I got into an interesting discussion over Xmas.

She is getting older, and perhaps a little more philosophical. She asked, "Why did I succeed in college? I was good in HS and in travel ball, but I wasn't great. There were a lot of pitchers better than me. I barely even get on a college team. Then, it seems that everyone that was better than me in HS and travel ball got benched and then quit after a year or two. By the end of college, I was the all-conference pitcher. Why?"

I don't have a good explanation.

There is a psychological component of it--if weight training was at 6 AM, she would be there at 5:00 AM. If the team was supposed to take 20 ground balls, she would do 50. If the coach told her to throw a 100 pitches, she would throw 200. She would have preferred death over losing a game. When a game ended, she was totally physically and mentally exhausted.

She was really lacking in a couple of areas--no rise, no change. She did perfect her one pitch-the drop ball. She could move it left and right and up and down (i.e, she said she could throw the drop at three different vertical levels). She also changed speeds with it.

Any thoughts?

 

[druer]

I'd be willing to bet that she had a "DREAM/GOAL" of being GREAT at the end of her career and could actually see herself winning games. That VISUAL was clear in her mind and it kept motivating her to do the work that others weren't willing to do because they only "DREAMED" of making it to college and once they made it their "dream/goal" was over so the work required to continue to improve was just that WORK.

Olympians I've talked to have said that they could actually close their eyes and see what was going to transpire in a game. Dionna Harris for example, leading hitter 1996 US Olympic Team, said her pre-game routine included closing her eyes, picturing herself walking into her living room at home, turning on the TV, finding her game on TV, and then she'd go through her at bats. More often than not she said her at bats would unfold pitch wise just as she had visualized they would, and ended with her getting the hits she saw in her head before the games ever started. I've also read a lot about "visualization" techniques but never anything as clear as that.

Saying you want to do it, "writing a goal", and seeing yourself doing it are two different things. So do let me know if you talk to her and she did "clearly visualize" victories in her future. Or your DD just LOVED to practice and in doing the extra practices she continued to develop when others didn't.

 

[fivepotsogold]

Suceeding

My 12 DD ... #2 pitcher on her Travel team....middle level on her other skills.

She goes to every practice, even optional ones for her team.
She goes to 14 U and 16U when we can...about once or twice a week.
Since we get there early, she is often seen doing extra pitching or joining in with other teams.

No idea where this will go as far as her skill or whether or not she goes to college for softball.
But, it has resulted in all the coaches noticing that she is there and she gets extra attention because she shows she wants to learn.

The extra time and attention, will result in improved skills and respect from the coaches.

Who knows where it goes....but the work ethic can only result in something positive ....
...in softball ... and every other area of her (or any players) life/future.

It is all good!