Inspire Her: It’s Not as Difficult As You Think

Did you ever notice that when you weave a concept into a story it comes to life? It becomes interesting and memorable. 

My uncle took me to Minnesota to watch my cousin play at the ASA National Championships in 1995. I will always remember who the Orland Park Sparks are because among dozens of teams that came from all of over the country for the tournament, it was the Sparks who beat the Oak Park Windmills for the Championship that year. I tell the story in detail, the highs and the lows, to pitchers when I hear someone mention one of the two teams.

It was exhilarating and fun. It made me like softball more and want to be better than I was so some day I could play in that tournament. When the girls play one of the two teams, they have a little more fire in their belly because they know how “good” the teams are and want to beat them more. When I ask, “who did you play this weekend?” she will definitely remember not only the answer but also all the details of her performance.

Maybe if you put softball into a narrative for your daughters and players they would find new value in it. Drills and tips and practice are great, but maybe share your stories of playing sports when you were a kid. Make sure to tell them during a car ride so their is no escape from your tale. You’ll get an eye roll but in the end it might inspire them. Perhaps it will curtail the bribing, nagging, and cajoling them to get to practice they days they don’t feel like it. They’ll want to create their own stories.

Certainly you’ll make your own softball stories together along the way. “The time you went to the Bandits game and Jennie Finch signed a ball and I got a picture with her.” But how fun is to be asked, “Mom, tell me the story about Michelle Smith and the game at Oklahoma State.”

Not sure where to find great stories? Here are some good resources.

Pitchers should know these stories: 
Lisa Fernandez
Jennie Finch - story
Cat Osterman
Monica Abbott


Tips and Instruction:
SoftballExcellence.com by Cindy Bristow - Leader in softball instruction.
Breakthrew Fastpich - Awesome Facebook Page. Great drills!
The Packaged Deal and Amanda Scarborough - great drills and blog.
Fastpitch magazine - Seriously great info in here, especially Coach Traub's stuff (below)
Coach Traub - really smart sports psychologist.
Brian Cain - the well-known mental trainer & motivational speaker.

“Storytelling plays a very important role in the cognitive development of infants and young kids. It helps improving key areas like memory and language skills, it sparks curiosity which increases the child's imaginative skills, and it gives the child new perceptions to the world around them every single time.” -  Aakanksha Khanna