Consistent Practice: 4 Steps to Help Your Pitcher Succeed

Hey There Friend,

If you are like most of the pitchers (and their families) that I work with, you are BUSY! You are involved with lots of different activities which keep you running in multiple directions and managing several schedules every day.

I may hear things like this from my pitchers (especially pitchers that are new to training with me) when I check their practice journals:

"My family was super busy this week and just didn't have ANY time to practice"

"I had basketball games and club volleyball practice this week so I COULDN'T also practice my pitching"

"I didn't get home until late every night this week and I FORGOT to practice"

"My parents had to work late this week so I had NO ONE TO CATCH ME"

When I hear these "excuses" from my pitchers, we talk about choices we all get to make each day AND the systems we have in place that will either help us move closer to our goals or further away from them.

The truth is, if we want something badly enough, we will find a way to fit it into our schedules if we have a plan in place to help us!

I thought sharing some of these systems around practice that I encourage my pitchers to create, may be helpful for your pitcher too!

I've broken things down into 4 simple strategies for you:

1. Create an at-home practice area in your home that your pitcher is in every day!

This doesn't have to be a traditional practice space where you have full pitching distance and can throw a ball to a catcher. If you are lucky enough to have this kind of space, great, but most of my pitchers don't.

Here are a few ideas that could work:

• A net and and a bucket of ball in a small area in your garage or basement
  • If you don't have space to leave a net up permanently, invest in something like THIS that can go up and down in less than a minute!
• Plyo balls and a sturdy wall
  • There are tons of options on types of plyo balls on the market today. I like THIS set as it has a ball that's approximately the same weight as a regular softball and also balls that are slightly heavier and lighter for power work.
• A full length mirror
  • A mirror is a good tool for helping create solid mechanics! Most families already have a full length mirror somewhere in their home. If there is enough space for a pitcher to see her entire body throughout the pitch, it could be a great practice space. HERE is an example of a pitcher and her catcher using a mirror during one of our training sessions. The dialogue it can create is so great!
• A wall and a pair of socks
  • Find a wall/door in your pitcher's bedroom she could throw a pair of her softball socks (formed into a ball) into to practice. HERE a video showing what this could look like.

Having a space like any of these options will give your pitcher an OBVIOUS area that she can spend time improving her skills ANYTIME she has a few minutes to work.

2. Make sure your pitcher knows HER "why" and keeps that at the front of her mind!

I do goal setting sessions with my pitchers at the start of each training season and believe it is one of the most important classes that I do with them!

If your pitcher hasn't identified something that she wants really badly as a pitcher, helping her figure that out is the first step to getting her to commit to the system it takes to reach her goal.

I encourage my pitchers to hang their goal sheets (their WHY) somewhere they see them every day and are reminded of the things they will move closer to achieving IF they invest consistent work over time! You pitcher's work ethic MUST reflect the goals she has set for herself.

The bigger her goals, the more committed she must be to doing the work. IF they are HER goals she will be more invested! As coaches and parents, our job is to remind her of what she says she wants to do during the times she may get off track! ; )

Every pitcher has different goals and dreams, but here are a few examples of a "why" that I've seen from several pitchers:

• I want to help my team win ____________
• I want to earn the ball during championship games this summer
• I want to make my ____________ proud of me
• I want to earn the chance to be a college pitcher
• I want to earn a scholarship and play college softball
• I want to get more swing and misses with my rise ball
• I want to hit ________ on the radar gun
• I want to throw my ________ with confidence at anytime during games
• I want to earn a spot of the 20___ Olympic Team

Again, a "WHY" is very personal for each pitcher and SHE should take the time to reflect on what is going to fuel her to stay disciplined to practice EVEN when she's not motivated to do it!

3. Make practicing EASY for her to want to do!

Start SMALL when working on creating a consistent practice routine. If your pitcher knows she only has to invest a few minutes (3-5 minutes) to start getting better, it's very easy to do!

Short, daily workouts are great for:

• Creating new muscle memory around mechanics
  • Using a mirror to watch mechanics or doing a drill that works on something your pitcher wants/needs to improve are a great options
• Learning or improving spin
  
  • Use a spinner, lined ball or another spin trainer that your pitcher likes, and work to learn correct spin or develop faster spin
• Hitting Targets
  • Try trying small ribbons to your net or putting small stickers on your wall and work on hitting them
  • You can also set up stationary targets like THIS in front of a net or wall and use a ball or socks to try and hit them!

Once your pitcher is in the habit of doing short workouts frequently, and feels good about her consistency, start trying to make a few of them a little longer!

Another tip to help find a consistent time for short, daily practice, is to link pitching practice with something your pitcher already does every day!

For example:

• Get up - make your bed - short pitching practice
• Short pitching practice - take a shower - go to bed
• Brush your teeth - short pitching practice - go to bed

By connecting short, daily practice with current habit, it's easier to remember it!

4. PLAN and TRACK practices so your pitcher begins to hold herself accountable to doing the work!

My pitchers are able to plan and track their workouts in a practice journal I provide them at the beginning of the training season.

Many of my students have gotten into the habit of PLANNING a their workouts for the week in their journal each Sunday night. They look at their school/activity schedule for the week and figure out what days work best for longer workouts. They pre-record their workouts in their journal so they are committed to doing them on those days. Once they complete a workout, they will put a check mark by it to show they did it. My pitchers also know that I will check their journals when I see them, which also adds motivation to practice! ; )

Other things that can work to help your pitcher hold herself accountable to consistent practice include:

• Habit trackers
  • I provide my pitchers with monthly habit trackers and encourage them to use these trackers not only for holding themselves accountable to practicing their pitching, but also around any area of their life that they are wanting to create a new habit or break an old one.
  • They get to choose WHAT goes on their habit tracker so they are invested in doing the work towards it
• Sticker sheets
  • This year my in-person students got a goal sheet that is a winding road that reflects their pitching journey this training season. Each time they practice (even just a couple of minutes), they get to put a sticker on their road and see that they are moving forward on their journey. Anytime they skip practice, they have to put a larger sticker next to a "detour" sign on their goal sheet. You would be amazed how effective something as simple as this works to keep them focused on investing a little time each day. They do not like having to put a sticker in the detour area! ; )
• Pennies and Two Jars
  • Start with 100 pennies (or any small object you'd like) in one jar. Each time your pitcher practices, she gets to move one penny into the other jar.

You can build in "rewards" when your pitcher accomplishes a milestone with her practice habits.

For example:

•  When she gets all 100 pennies to her other jar, she gets to take a teammate with her for ice cream
• If she makes it through the training season without using all of her "detour" stickers (I give them 24 total for 6 months), she earns a trip to watch a college softball game with 3 of her teammates

It's so important to celebrate when pitchers stay committed to the PROCESS of working towards a goal and not only the results. It's our responsibility as coaches and parents to help them understand that all great things take consistent work over time to develop.

In summary, here are the 4 steps to help you pitcher stay more consistent with practice:

1. Have an obvious place for your pitcher to practice in your home
2. Help her identify her "why" so she WANTS to do the work towards it
3. Start with short, daily workouts and link those to an already established habit
4. Help her plan and track her practice and reward her for staying committed to the process of doing the work

Give these things a try and let me know how they work for your pitcher!

Remember, pitching is a journey, a road trip you are on with your pitcher that will have road blocks and detours along the way!

Don't ever forget to help your pitcher ENJOY her pitching journey because at the end of it, whenever that is, she will remember the lessons she learned and the memories you made together!

As always my friend, don't hesitate to E-MAIL me if you have any questions about things I covered in this article OR if you have something you'd like me to cover in a future blog post!

I'll be back next week, same time, same place! ; )

All My Best,

Myndie