Pre-Pitch Routines

Hey Friend!

This week I want to spend a little time talking about Pre-Pitch Routines. Pre-Season is the PERFECT time to check what your pitchers are doing from pitch to pitch. A Pre-Pitch Routine helps create consistency, confidence and triggers to help your pitchers understand the process of playing the game one pitch at a time.

If you have any pitchers that are basketball players, ask them what their routine is before they shoot a free throw. Almost ALL of them will be able to answer that easily. They may say something like, "I line my right foot up with the middle of the basket, get the ball from the ref, dribble 3 times, spin the ball, take a deep breath and tell myself "nothing but net", look at the front of the rim and shoot." Coaches teach it to get players to clear their mind, take time to breathe, AND create consistency and confidence that they WILL make the shot because they've done this routine hundreds or thousands of times during practice.

Now ask them what their routine is before each pitch. MANY pitchers will have a hard time telling you exactly what they do. Often they don't understand just how important routines are to keep them "in-the-moment" and prepare them for the only thing they can control...what happens on the NEXT pitch. If your pitcher doesn't have a routine yet, NOW is the time to help her figure it out. Make sure that is something simple, comfortable, personal/unique to her and only takes seconds to complete! Performing each step between every pitch clears the mind and creates consistency and confidence...just like a free-throw routine does for a basketball player! Here's a couple of examples:

Get the ball back from my catcher - fill in the dirt in front of the rubber - stand one step behind the rubber - put my ponytail over my left shoulder - step on the rubber - get the signal from my catcher - tell myself "throw through my target" - take a deep breath - lock into my target - throw the pitch

OR

Get the ball back from my catcher - walk to the back of the circle - spin the ball on my leg twice - walk to the rubber - get the signal from my catcher - tell myself "attack this hitter" - take a deep breath - lock into my target - throw the pitch

So, here's what I often see when I watch game. Things are going great, the pitcher is cruising, defense is making plays, everything is working.... AND then... "SOMETHING" happens. You've seen this too Friend, right? Maybe the pitcher walks a batter, then the next batter hits a routine fly ball to center field that is dropped, a run scores... OR maybe the umpire misses a call at home, the next batter hits a ground ball that goes through the 2nd baseman's legs, the next batter walks... As you are watching this unfold you will often see the pitcher unintentionally SPEED UP the pace of the game because she stops focusing her process (using her routine) and gets caught up in what has happened around her. When this happens, I can predict the results and they are never good!

When "SOMETHING" that creates a little adversity happens, routines becomes extra important! In fact pitchers want to add a little MORE to their pre-pitch routine to give themselves and their teammates a little more time to recover. Here's a couple of examples of how a pitcher might ADD a little to their normal Pre-Pitch Routine during times of adversity. Check out the things in bold:

Get the ball back from my catcher - fill in the dirt in front of the rubber - walk to the back of the circle - look at 2nd base - write my grandma's initials in the dirt with my foot (she is my ROCK and loves to watch me compete no matter what the score) - take a deep breath - turn back around and face my catcher - walk up to stand one step behind the rubber - put my ponytail over my left shoulder - step on the rubber - get the signal from my catcher - tell myself "throw through my target" - take a deep breath - lock into my target - throw the pitch

OR

Get the ball back from my catcher - walk to the back of the circle - pick up a handful of dirt and squeeze - take a deep breath and read the word I wrote on my glove (COMPETE!) - Drop the dirt and wipe my hand on my pants to wipe away/clear the last play - spin the ball on my leg twice - walk to the rubber - get the signal from my catcher - tell myself "attack this hitter" - take a deep breath - lock into my target - throw the pitch

These "extra things" that are added during times of adversity should be personal. Here's just a few ways to get your pitchers thinking about how they can make an adversity routine work for them:

• Writing a word or quote in her glove or on her wrist that keeps her present and reminds her to have fun competing with her team is a tool many pitchers use. I've had pitcher write quotes, verses, strong words, even silly words. I once had a young pitcher tell me her word was "ice cream" because it reminded her that after the game she loves getting ice cream with her teammates and that made her smile and relax and remember to have fun!
• Picking up dirt or rosin and squeezing. The act of squeezing something can be a great release both physically and mentally. Squeezing the dirt lets players take their frustrations out on something and dropping it and wiping their hands off on their pants is a mental release to "wipe away" the last play.
• Writing something in the dirt with their toes. This is a great way to keep things in perspective. I've had players use this tool to make them remember that they are really lucky to be getting to face a little adversity with their teammates right now. I had one player tell me she wrote the initials of her best friend that lost her battle with cancer. She told me that every time she wrote out those initials it made her want to fight harder for her friend that wasn't with her anymore and helped her realize that no matter how bad things felt at that moment, they were nothing compared to the battle her friend fought with cancer.

I've attached a PDF HERE for you to use to help your pitchers think through some routines they would like to try using. Being able to control emotions and stay focused on the next pitch becomes MUCH easier once pitchers have consistent routines to help them! At the bottom of this handout there is a place for pitchers to write down things during games that may be triggers that cause them to need to use their adversity routine. If you and your pitcher understand WHAT the triggers are, it's much easier to help recognize WHEN it's important to take more time to re-focus by using an adversity routine.

I would LOVE to hear about and see what's working for you or your pitchers. Share a video of your pre-pitch routine AND your pre-pitch adversity routine with me OR explain to me HOW your adversity routine is personal to you! What you are doing may be exactly what someone else needed to hear!

All my BEST,
Myndie