As a pitcher the sky was the limit for Courtney Walton of southern Virginia.
The sky came crashing down. One of my most promising students, it was around 9th grade that Courtney began feeling extremely weak. She fainted frequently. For almost a year specialists studied her symptoms, making little progress. Finally, POTS was diagnosed, with such severity that she would face serious challenges in everyday life. Softball was not …
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Lessons we learned in College World Series
Lessons we learned from the College World Series and the playoffs leading up to the event. That is the subject today, and there were many. We asked our Certified Instructors to list the things they learned that could help you. Share these with your favorite pitcher. Adrienne Walker-Chery, near Atlanta, had a couple of great …
What coaches and parents must know about suicide and mental health issues
Recent news has shined a light on a dark place in which many athletes live. What you do not know can hurt someone you love. The warning signs can be incredibly difficult to detect and, in almost every case, athletes who struggle mightily or even take their own lives seem to be in a great …
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pitch calling
Any great pitcher will tell you that great pitch calling can improve her game by 50-percent. Poor calling goes in the other direction. Few things in the game are as misunderstood by pitchers, catchers, and coaches. Fortunately, in our organization, we have some incredibly experienced Instructors, over 100 who have succeeded at every level of …
The Threat of Suicide Among High-Functioning Clients;
Why success does not mean free from struggles and what we can do to help. By now many of you have heard the tragic news about Stanford University soccer captain Katie Meyer’s passing from suicide. When I read about her untimely and tragic death, I immediately had a gut-wrenching feeling in my stomach. As a …
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Cold Weather and injuries
A few years ago I saw a high school pitcher end her season early. During a pre-season tournament that was not important, she pitched game after game with temperatures in the low-40’s and an icy wind. By the end of the tournament she was popping Ibuprofen, but the shoulder was already in big trouble. Let’s …
SHE DOES NOT NEED TO bE FIXED.
She needs to be understood. This one is for parents and coaches. The chances of a great 12U pitcher still going strong in college are almost zero. The chances of a great 18U pitcher being the number-1 pitcher at a good D1 school are very small. Four or five pitchers almost always watch one or …
Is She Starting Too Late?
A wonderful mom told me she felt so badly that her daughter got such a late start pitching and was always playing catch-up. She began pitching at 10-years-old. That is not late! I told her about working with an athlete who started pitching at 14, eventually taking her team deep into the College World Series …
Restoring balance
When is it too much? Talking with experts in every field, the consensus is that we are overdoing it, so if you want to play year-round, this is an article you will not enjoy. Dozens of top medical experts are warning that playing almost year-round has led to a dramatic increase in injuries. The body …
Measure against Olympic dreams. When our older daughter began pitching, we had no pitching instructor and little knowledge. We had one thing. At 10-years old she began with a simple, very serious goal. One day she wanted to pitch for the Olympic Team. We measured everything from that day forward against that one goal. We …
I’ve actually found great relationships between pitching and my education
This is an incredible look at pitching from a scientific perspective. This week, we salute our Instructor of the week, Jonathan Hon, in the Chicago area. Jonathan is an aeronautical engineer who sees pitching in a fascinating way. Oh, he is good at what he does, and I can assure you that he doesn’t talk …
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So Simple That People Miss It
If asked to name the most important quality colleges seek in recruits, what would you say? Strength, speed, batting average, pitching speed? None of the above. In a recent conversation with a recruiting consultant, she said there is a heavy emphasis on character. All things being equal, this is the difference maker. In other words, …
Rushing the Process
Are there times when we keep a student from taking it to the max? Absolutely. That may surprise you, but there is a good reason. My total focus is on development, with planning designed specifically for her. If an 11-year-old tries to throw as fast as a varsity player, but her body has not developed …
Passing the torch
“Now that you know my story, go create your own.” Have you ever thought about what you would say to the next athlete who gets your uniform? “You will make thousands of mistakes, but that is how you learn”. These quotes came from 12U travel players in Nebraska. As they moved to the next age …