What if I Don't Get to Play?

You put in so much effort to be a pitcher. Going to lessons, practicing, and always being sore are tough things to commit to if you don’t get to play. If this hasn’t happened to you, consider yourself a very lucky pitcher.

How, then, do you deal with this situation to your benefit?

Use it as motivation to better.
If your coach is communicating to you through her actions that the other pitcher has more skills than you, what should you do? Get more skills! Taking responsibility for yourself is what separates the good pitchers from the mediocre ones.

Ask the coach what you can do to get playing time.
When you ask the coach directly what you can do to get playing time, you gain respect from the coach. When your parents ask for you, you get less respect. Coaches are excited to get a chance to tell a player how to get better (that’s their job) and you will get a chance to practice being brave and mature.

Take your warm-ups seriously.
Many coaches make all pitchers warm up before games even if they aren’t going to pitch. Just because you won’t get to play doesn’t mean you should goof around. Use this time to improve.

Note the gaps in your pitching staff and fill them.
Are the top two pitchers fast but not accurate? Stop lamenting on your lack of speed and start doing target practice. Is your team lacking pitchers who can change speeds? Ask your pitching coach to teach you a change up.

When you do get an opportunity to pitch don’t mess it up.
Messing it up doesn’t mean walking batters or allowing a home run. Messing it up would be giving up, being a follower, not showing excitement about your opportunity, or blaming other people for your mistakes.

While you might think your lack of playing time is due to a huge mistake on your coaches part, you can’t let that make you a less of a player or person. It’s in your best interest to avoid developing a victim mentality. Do not allow yourself to think and act like this situation is “unfair” and give up in any way. Many times you need adversity like this to make you a better. Who is a role-model that you admire the most? Ask yourself how she would handle this situation. The way you handle situations that are not under your control, such as the coaches actions, will separate you from the rest.