Howdy Wildcat fans,
I’m not sure how else to put it other than a simple phrase I learned growing up, “… you get out what you put into it.”
I can remember this moment like it was yesterday, but I remember the year and the exact moment of when I decided to become a pitcher. Everyone in their early years of playing softball pitches or at least tries it, but as you grow older within the sport of softball, you find other positions on the field that you also try and just grow fond of. When I first started playing softball, I gravitated towards pitching because I loved being a part of every play and playing non-stop! Any position that was open, even if it was catching, I’d be willing to learn and give it a go!
When I approached the age bracket of playing 12U softball, I still liked to pitch and this is when my mother decided on visiting a pitching coach. My first ever pitching coach was someone that taught me actual spin pitches. She taught me the basic techniques and fundamentals of pitching, but then again, I was still very young and did not take practicing that seriously. My mother consistently took me to see this pitching coach who noticed my love for the game, but saw that even though I loved it, I wasn’t getting any better because I didn’t practice on my own time! It wasn’t until my mom took me to another pitching coach that would help me elevate my game. I remember how much I learned in that one lesson and I wanted to go back for more. To this day, I remember vividly my mother saying to me “If I am going to invest in this pitching coach, then you are going to have to prove that by practicing more on your own before I take you back for another lesson!”
Say no more, I didn’t like practicing because I was the kind of young player that just loved to show up and play, but when my mother gave me the ultimatum to pursue pitching with the expectation that I would practice on my own, I saw the significance of practicing like you play! When I first started playing softball, there were occasional times when my dad would take me to the field to work on my fundamentals of hitting and pitching, but it wasn’t consistent. Then when I was given the opportunity to pursue pitching lessons, I became the one to drag my dad to the field every day after dinner, load up our golf cart and head to that little league field, turning on the lights to work on anything and everything that would improve my game when it came to pitching and hitting!
To this day, I have learned how important it is to not only practice like you play, but how crucial it is to practice on your own time and truly develop into the kind of player that you aspire to be! If it wasn’t for my parents and their tough love within the sport of softball when it came to the time and money they sacrificed, I probably wouldn’t be the kind of player I am today without them!
So if you gain anything from this, I hope it is that you never take for granted the time you put into your game when no one is watching and realize that no matter who is working with you to take those opportunities to become the player you aspire to be and overall be the best version of yourself!
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