Isn’t There an Easier Way?

As you know, we live in a world where people want an instant solution to every problem. That is why pitchers’ families buy so many gadgets. You can find a tool that claims to keep the push foot from turning, to straighten the arm, to make the arm stronger, to make the spins faster, to increase speed, to clean up the circle, to make you drive off the mound, and then you can buy videos that contain the secrets to make you All-American.

Tools are okay, but most tools treat symptoms instead of dealing with the actual cause of a problem. Videos are okay, but will always be limited by time constraints and an inability to customize the training to you.
Today, let’s talk about the process. We have been given the honor of helping develop many of the nation’s top pitchers, so let’s talk about the traits that make them special. One of the traits we see most often is that they train on an entirely different level. They work harder, more seriously, and with a purpose.
Each day they approach practice with enthusiasm. They have one, two, or three specific purposes for that practice and a plan for accomplishing each. That plan may include specific drills, but it is not the drill that is important. The important thing is the knowledge of exactly what they want that drill to do for them, and often they will vary from tradition because they want non-traditional results. They know what they want to feel and will change things until they feel that.
Great pitchers always look for little ways to better understand the way they should feel during a pitch. One of my instructors talked about an extremely special pitcher who comes to watch her teach other pitchers. She makes detailed notes and, after the lesson, talks to the instructor about a certain problem she observed, asking, “Do I do that?” Having seen it in someone else she can better understand it in herself and set about fixing it.
Great pitchers will knock down barriers that prevent them from succeeding. The crow-hop is a good example. When we get an older kid with a crow-hop, or replant, I tell her she gets three lessons to fix it. The first lesson I show her the exact process for fixing it, which is pretty easy. The second lesson I tell her it must be fixed and go through the process again. Almost every kid fixes it before returning. But, occasionally, one will return with the crow-hop still in place. In that case, we go through it again and I tell her not to schedule another lesson until it is fixed. One of them looked at me and said, “But I thought I was one of your favorites”. I agreed. She is a great kid, she is trusting me to make her a great one, and it wouldn’t be fair for me to allow her to keep doing something that I knew would put a lid on her abilities. I told her “I like you too much to ever be a part of your failure”. She fixed it, she got her scholarship. Great pitchers break down barriers while others want to pretend no barrier exists.

Great pitchers never lose faith. No matter what happens, it is just another step they had to take in order to be successful. She does not see failure as failure, but as the feedback she needs to guide her training in new and better directions.
Great pitchers keep raising the bar, pushing themselves to work in ways nobody else will. They raise the degree of difficulty, they work longer, they work best on days they feel worst, and, they take the responsibility for the results on their own shoulders instead of waiting for daddy or mommy to solve problems.
In other words, great pitchers live by a motto we often ask our students to memorize. Great pitchers train like nobody else does until one day they can perform like nobody else. It would be much easier if there were a magic pill, a blockbuster video, or the latest new tool which could guarantee success. In a world where everything is instant, it shocks some athletes that success still has to be achieved the one step at a time.
Great pitchers have that quality which is so rare in today’s society. They understand the process, they embrace the process, and they know that every single step takes them closer to the goal that they, uniquely, can see so clearly. **Note: The demand for our Instructors is far outpacing our ability to keep up with it. We need former college pitchers in markets around the country. If you have a passion for teaching, contact us about ways we can help you get started. You will be surprised at how much we offer, and best of all, it costs you nothing.