Hello Passion for Pitching Family!!!
So we are currently on a five game win streak. Much more fun playing out in front of the bunch then playing tug-o-war and five hundred baseball. During the streak we have done an amazing job as a team to simply compete. Every AB, every inning, we have been right where we need to be with our focus. No matter if we are down during a certain part of the game or playing out ahead, we have done a very solid job of playing until the bell sounds.
Yesterday (July 29th) we had a young left handed pitcher go out to the mound. From the start he was having trouble commanding his fastball and working ahead of hitters. There were times where he would throw a ball in the dirt, then a ball way up in the zone and then a perfect strike. He basically had no feel for what was going on out there.
But here is the thing...
when you are a pitcher there are going to be all sorts of different feelings you have when you are on the mound. Some days you are going to feel amazing and nothing will bother you. Some days you will feel horrible the entire game and you are just going to have to deal with it the best you can. Some days you will feel amazing and then all of a sudden in the middle of the game you lose feeling. Some days it will be the opposite, where you start out feeling horrible but then little by little you gain that feeling place back and you roll through the rest of the game.
No matter what the situation is you MUST be able to compete without your best. That is exactly what our left handed pitcher did last night. He was able to battle, not get too discouraged where he was unable to make pitches when he needed to. There were specific times where he knew he needed to get a little extra focus to get out of a jam and he dug down deep and made it happen. This is something that is not always easy to learn or to deal with for young professional pitchers, but it is a huge part of their makeup and will allow them to play at higher levels and increase their chances of becoming big leaguers some day. Very rarely will a pitcher feel absolutely perfect on the mound. We want to strive for that but not let it discourage us or beat us up if we don't get that each time out.
Ok, all for now...just a friendly reminder from your friend here at Passion for Pitching. Hope all is well and happy pitching!!!
Showing posts with label competition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label competition. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Friday, June 10, 2011
Top Two On My List
It is June 10th and I am three days away from completing my fourth extended spring training with the St Louis Cardinals!!! This has been the best extended spring by far and it only seems to be getting better and better. It is like each year I ask for more stuff whether it be better living arrangements, better players (lol), better relationships with coaches and players, and every year that is exactly what happens. I am super excited about the young group of pitchers I get to work with in Johnson City, TN this year. We may only have one or two kids coming with me that are 21 years of age, the rest are 20 and 19. So we may have our days where we get our asses handed to us but these guys compete and they aren't afraid so I am ready to sit back and watch!!!
That brings me to the subject of this new blog. The more I am around the game the more I realize what it takes for someone to make it in this game, besides the obvious answers such as talent and ability. More and more I realize how you must believe in yourself and also how damn competitive you must be. That's why I called this blog, "Top Two On My List".
I was speaking with some of the pitchers today and I was giving them a goodbye speech and all of my precious words of wisdom!!! LOL! I shared with them what I thought were the two most important things a player needed to have to make it to the big leagues. After listing belief/confidence and the desire to compete everything else just falls under that umbrella for me. Mechanics, knowledge of the game, preparation, focus, etc....it all falls under the belief you have in yourself and the desire to compete. All things will come to you in this game if you practice those two things first.
The reason why I wrote this blog though was to really talk about competition and competing. There is soooooooooo much that goes on during a season for these young athletes that the competitive nature is really what makes you or breaks you. Just think of this, you get up every morning at about 5:30am. You go to the field, eat breakfast and then start early work about 7:30 until 8am. Then you come back inside, take a breather and head back out to the field for an 8:30 meeting before you start the day. From about 8:35am to 10:30am you go through a routine of stretch, condition, throwing, fundamentals, and BP. Then you head back inside for some food. By about 11:35am you head back out to the field for a Noon game that lasts until 3pm on most days. Don't forget this is Florida so it is humid and hot all day, everyday!! Picture this day and then repeat it from March until the middle of June. That is exactly what the kids down here do, the kids who are not able to make a full season club and leave right after a month of spring training.
Be honest, do you think you could handle that??? It is not an easy thing to do at all. That is why if you don't have the desire to compete you will never make it in this game. The story of guys going from college to the big leagues in less then a year is far and few between. It may have only happened a handful of times in the history of the game. Most guys spend year after year in the minor leagues just hoping for a chance. Now, I am not trying to make excuses for anyone here I am just pointing out to you out there in computer land that if you really want this dream you better be one competitive son of a gun or this game will eat you up and spit you out. There are a lot of good players out there in minor league baseball that come to play each and every day. Those are the guys who make it, the guys who love to compete and can inspire themselves to perform each day. The guys who don't depend on anyone else to tell them they need to be ready to play or wake up before it is too late.
I take my hat off to these young kids down here because they are doing things I really don't know if I would have been able to handle when I was their age. It takes some real desire to hang in there and keep battling like these guys do, back on field 75 where nobody comes to watch. So if this is something that calls you, then great!! But make sure you start to practice that competitive drive right now. Don't let anything get in your way, compete, compete, compete!!!
Ok, all for now....wish us luck this year and every now and again check in on the Johnson City Cardinals up in the Appalachian League!!!
That brings me to the subject of this new blog. The more I am around the game the more I realize what it takes for someone to make it in this game, besides the obvious answers such as talent and ability. More and more I realize how you must believe in yourself and also how damn competitive you must be. That's why I called this blog, "Top Two On My List".
I was speaking with some of the pitchers today and I was giving them a goodbye speech and all of my precious words of wisdom!!! LOL! I shared with them what I thought were the two most important things a player needed to have to make it to the big leagues. After listing belief/confidence and the desire to compete everything else just falls under that umbrella for me. Mechanics, knowledge of the game, preparation, focus, etc....it all falls under the belief you have in yourself and the desire to compete. All things will come to you in this game if you practice those two things first.
The reason why I wrote this blog though was to really talk about competition and competing. There is soooooooooo much that goes on during a season for these young athletes that the competitive nature is really what makes you or breaks you. Just think of this, you get up every morning at about 5:30am. You go to the field, eat breakfast and then start early work about 7:30 until 8am. Then you come back inside, take a breather and head back out to the field for an 8:30 meeting before you start the day. From about 8:35am to 10:30am you go through a routine of stretch, condition, throwing, fundamentals, and BP. Then you head back inside for some food. By about 11:35am you head back out to the field for a Noon game that lasts until 3pm on most days. Don't forget this is Florida so it is humid and hot all day, everyday!! Picture this day and then repeat it from March until the middle of June. That is exactly what the kids down here do, the kids who are not able to make a full season club and leave right after a month of spring training.
Be honest, do you think you could handle that??? It is not an easy thing to do at all. That is why if you don't have the desire to compete you will never make it in this game. The story of guys going from college to the big leagues in less then a year is far and few between. It may have only happened a handful of times in the history of the game. Most guys spend year after year in the minor leagues just hoping for a chance. Now, I am not trying to make excuses for anyone here I am just pointing out to you out there in computer land that if you really want this dream you better be one competitive son of a gun or this game will eat you up and spit you out. There are a lot of good players out there in minor league baseball that come to play each and every day. Those are the guys who make it, the guys who love to compete and can inspire themselves to perform each day. The guys who don't depend on anyone else to tell them they need to be ready to play or wake up before it is too late.
I take my hat off to these young kids down here because they are doing things I really don't know if I would have been able to handle when I was their age. It takes some real desire to hang in there and keep battling like these guys do, back on field 75 where nobody comes to watch. So if this is something that calls you, then great!! But make sure you start to practice that competitive drive right now. Don't let anything get in your way, compete, compete, compete!!!
Ok, all for now....wish us luck this year and every now and again check in on the Johnson City Cardinals up in the Appalachian League!!!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Belief Conquers All
A lot has been said this Spring Training, as is always the case when you get into a room with 20 coaches and bosses and roving instructors and all the rest. Each morning we go into a meeting before we head out to the fields and each morning a coach or boss or whomever is assigned a topic for the day so we can debate and discuss different things. Yesterday it was my turn and I discussed the word "startle". In short, "startle" is basically what happens to the body when it feels threatened in some way, shape, or form. The body is built for survival and it goes into survival mode when it feels the need. That is basically the definition of "startle"
So, who cares, right?? Well, basically it doesn't matter at all if you are a person who is not competing against 150 other professional players for a job in the big leagues. But, if you are one of those guys fighting for your livelihood and your life in professional baseball, then it does matter. "Startle" is something you can get in many different ways by doing many different things. For me, I go into "starle" each time someone mentions Batting Practice!! LOL...right now I am pretty bad with that!! But for these young pitchers on the mound "startle" is something that can be very serious and very real. Basically it is when you are on the mound and you feel as though you have no chance in getting anybody out. Or it comes up when the catcher drops down a sign to throw a curveball and you feel a shortness of breath because you have no feel for the pitch that day. Or it comes up when the manager walks out to the mound and points to the bullpen and the umpire runs over and says, "you're in!" However it comes up it all comes down to one thing and one thing only.........BELIEF!
The bottom line of all things in life is belief. If you truly believe in who you are, in what you are doing then "startle" is not an issue for you. "Startle" is just another word that some fancy shmancy coach uses to explain what goes on in the nervous system when the body feels threatened. And for those who do believe in themselves and their abilities that is what the word "startle" will always mean to them. But for the pitchers out there who do get freaked out when it gets tough on the mound or when a big time hitter comes to the plate or when there are too many people in the stands watching your every move, you need a way to deal with this so called "startle".
Well, belief is the way to go. Belief needs to be something you practice daily. Now I am not talking religion here and going to church and all that stuff. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but this is not a blog on religion. The belief I am writing about is the belief, the knowledge in yourself and your abilities that no matter who is hitting or what the situation is or who is in the stands watching, none of that matters because you believe in you!!
People all the time debate on talent vs. hard work. I realize that talent and hard work are both equally important, but when it comes down to it, if you don't believe in what you are doing and in your own abilities, all the talent and hard work in the world will not mean a thing. In professional sports especially, you must be so locked in to who you are and what you are capable of or the game will eat you alive. The game is not forgiving, don't forget that. I compare it to the ocean and the waves in the ocean. Riding those waves out there the ocean seems so beautiful and fun, but you lose your focus on a big time wave for a second and that beauty can turn into pure fear in an instant...LOL!!
I guess what I am trying to get at with all this blabber is that belief can be learned. Belief is something that you can train yourself into and it is not just given to those who are gifted. Belief is something we all have in our bodies right from birth, it is just that some of us get trained out of that along the course of life. That is ok too, you just got to get back on course and realize who you really are and what you are capable of. I know I am giving a lot of eyewash now but don't worry, the belief sermon is not over yet....stay tuned!!!!!
So, who cares, right?? Well, basically it doesn't matter at all if you are a person who is not competing against 150 other professional players for a job in the big leagues. But, if you are one of those guys fighting for your livelihood and your life in professional baseball, then it does matter. "Startle" is something you can get in many different ways by doing many different things. For me, I go into "starle" each time someone mentions Batting Practice!! LOL...right now I am pretty bad with that!! But for these young pitchers on the mound "startle" is something that can be very serious and very real. Basically it is when you are on the mound and you feel as though you have no chance in getting anybody out. Or it comes up when the catcher drops down a sign to throw a curveball and you feel a shortness of breath because you have no feel for the pitch that day. Or it comes up when the manager walks out to the mound and points to the bullpen and the umpire runs over and says, "you're in!" However it comes up it all comes down to one thing and one thing only.........BELIEF!
The bottom line of all things in life is belief. If you truly believe in who you are, in what you are doing then "startle" is not an issue for you. "Startle" is just another word that some fancy shmancy coach uses to explain what goes on in the nervous system when the body feels threatened. And for those who do believe in themselves and their abilities that is what the word "startle" will always mean to them. But for the pitchers out there who do get freaked out when it gets tough on the mound or when a big time hitter comes to the plate or when there are too many people in the stands watching your every move, you need a way to deal with this so called "startle".
Well, belief is the way to go. Belief needs to be something you practice daily. Now I am not talking religion here and going to church and all that stuff. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but this is not a blog on religion. The belief I am writing about is the belief, the knowledge in yourself and your abilities that no matter who is hitting or what the situation is or who is in the stands watching, none of that matters because you believe in you!!
People all the time debate on talent vs. hard work. I realize that talent and hard work are both equally important, but when it comes down to it, if you don't believe in what you are doing and in your own abilities, all the talent and hard work in the world will not mean a thing. In professional sports especially, you must be so locked in to who you are and what you are capable of or the game will eat you alive. The game is not forgiving, don't forget that. I compare it to the ocean and the waves in the ocean. Riding those waves out there the ocean seems so beautiful and fun, but you lose your focus on a big time wave for a second and that beauty can turn into pure fear in an instant...LOL!!
I guess what I am trying to get at with all this blabber is that belief can be learned. Belief is something that you can train yourself into and it is not just given to those who are gifted. Belief is something we all have in our bodies right from birth, it is just that some of us get trained out of that along the course of life. That is ok too, you just got to get back on course and realize who you really are and what you are capable of. I know I am giving a lot of eyewash now but don't worry, the belief sermon is not over yet....stay tuned!!!!!
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