What Parents Need to Know About Building Confidence in Softball Pitchers

One of the things I spend a lot of time talking about during my pitcher training program is helping athletes understand that confidence is not something that magically appears on game day.

It’s built long before the pressure shows up. That’s why our "classroom" sessions matter so much.

Inside my pitcher training program, these "classroom" sessions are mindset and leadership sessions where we step away from the physical side of pitching and spend time helping athletes better understand themselves, communicate more effectively, handle pressure, and grow as competitors and teammates.

Confidence is not built only through physical training.

It’s also built through awareness, communication, trust, leadership, and learning how to stay consistent when things don’t go perfectly.

Physical skills only take an athlete so far if she doesn’t know how to handle adversity when the game gets hard.

At our recent classroom session, we spent time talking about the pitcher and catcher relationship. It’s one of the most important relationships on the softball field.

When things are going well, it’s easy to overlook how important that connection really is. But when a game starts speeding up, emotions rise, or pressure builds, that relationship becomes incredibly important. It's often what keeps a pitcher from feeling completely alone in the circle.

Building connection is why I also encourage pitchers to bring their team catcher with them to my classes and also to invite them to catch as much as possible during their at-home bullpens/workouts.

Those reps together matter more than most people realize.

When pitchers and catchers train together consistently:

• They start understanding each other better
• They build trust before the pressure is on
• They become more comfortable communicating in small moments
• They learn how each other responds to adversity
• They develop confidence together instead of trying to build it in the middle of competition

I’ve seen some really special pitcher-catcher relationships grow during training season simply because a catcher made the commitment to consistently show up with her pitcher.

And honestly, this kind of connection often starts growing when catchers attend classes and workouts with their pitchers during the off-season. At first, I think both of them probably saw it as simply getting extra reps together.

But over time, something bigger starts happening. You can see the trust growing.

Their communication becomes more natural.
The pitcher starts looking more settled during pressure situations.
The catcher becomes more confident walking out to the circle and helping slow the game down.

This kind of trust isn’t built through one big moment.

It happens through all the small moments.

The rides to training together.
The bullpen conversations.
The frustrating practices.
The reps where things didn’t go perfectly.
The stops for coffee or ice cream on the way home after workouts.
The moments where they learned how each other responds to pressure.
The little conversations that slowly built trust without either of them even realizing it.

By the time competition season arrived, they genuinely believe in each other.

Parents, I know many of you enjoy catching your daughter during lessons or at-home bullpens and I love that you have that connection. But remember, you will never catch her during a game.

Not involving her catcher during training and bullpen work when possible means missing an incredible opportunity to strengthen that relationship before the pressure of competition arrives.

Because the strongest batteries aren’t built during games.

They’re built during all the work that very few people see.

We also spend time helping athletes recognize what fuels their confidence, and what tends to drain it. Because if a pitcher doesn’t understand what helps her feel steady, calm, and confident, it becomes really difficult for teammates, coaches, or parents to know how to support her effectively when pressure rises.

That’s one of the reasons training together can be so valuable for pitchers and catchers. It reduces the guesswork. It creates familiarity. It builds trust that eventually shows up during competition.

And this is important:

The difference between physical skills showing up during competition… and falling apart under pressure… is everything we’ve been talking about here.

The communication.
The trust.
The confidence.
The relationships.

It’s these things that allow physical training to actually show up when the lights come on.

And parents, you play a huge role in helping your daughter build this kind of confidence too.

The conversations you have with her at home, the support she feels after hard games, and the way you respond during pressure moments all shape how steady and confident she eventually learns to become.

How Parents Can Help

One of the best things parents can do is simply create space for honest conversations.

Not lectures.
Not fixing everything.
Just support and connection.

After games, you might ask:

• What felt hardest today?
• When did you feel the most confident today?
• What would help you most from me after games?

During the week:

• What are you working on with your catcher right now?
• What helps you feel confident in practice?

Before games:

• What helps you trust yourself before games?

The goal is helping your daughter feel understood, supported, and connected through the ups and downs of competition.

Because confidence isn’t built in the bottom of the 7th inning with the game on the line.

That’s just the moment where all the preparation, communication, trust, and confidence start to show up.

At the end of the day, the pitching journey you are on with your daughter is about so much more than velocity, spins, and hitting spots.

It’s about helping her learn how to trust herself, compete with confidence, handle adversity, and lead her team when they need her the most!

These are the kinds of conversations we have often inside my training program. Because the goal is never just building better pitchers. It’s helping girls grow into confident competitors, teammates, and leaders both on and off the field!

All My Best,
Myndie