The Best Advice You Could Ever Get About Athleticism

I forgot I had to learn how to squat at one time in my life. Someone had to teach me to push myself so hard that I produced a grunt! I even forgot that someone had to show me how to swing my arms when I run, instead of flailing them around. 

When we tell pitchers to be “athletic,” it can be confusing. “What do I have to do?” she thinks. 

We need to teach pitchers what words mean - especially those we adults take for granted. At the 2019 National Fastpitch Coaches Association national convention, I heard Kai Correa talk about infield defense. He's the infield/baserunning instructor of the San Francisco Giants. He  explained to us what the word “athletic” means. When we see someone who is “athletic” she has a penchant for being 1) bent at the knees, 2) bent at the waist, and 3) light on her feet. That got me thinking.

I believe the talents of those players we praise as being “naturally gifted” or “very athletic” can, most of the time, be traced back to doing physical activity at a young very age. They were either taught formally, through observation of a parent or older sibling, or through playing with other children who were athletic. Someone taught them how to move their bodies early on.

The next day at the convention I was surprised when one college coach at a top SEC school said her pitchers didn’t actually know where the strike zone was. They were somewhat wishy-washy on the answer. I wonder what I  take for granted with my pitchers? That got me thinking.

Firstly, I couldn’t believe there was a definition for “athletic”! I just thought it was a feeling I got. Or maybe it was a special sense that I could pick out in the best players, since I’m such an awesome coach. I’m like a scout for top pitchers. I could pretty much work in the major leagues, but I know you all would miss me. To me, an athletic person was someone who made things look easy and moved like Serena Williams or Mia Hamm. If a player didn’t frustrate me, it meant she was athletic! 

Secondly, I realized after hearing Kai speak that I could no longer pick and choose which 8 year olds were cut out to pitch based on my old idea of “talent.” I have to do my job - coach! 

Because we get so mechanical in lessons often, we forget the thing that will help them the most: get in an athletic position! If girls push off the mound athletically and then land in their “K” the same fashion, they’ll probably be better off than if they think about all of those little adjustments. Do me a favor: remind me of that during lessons and I’ll remind your pitcher to be bent at the knees, bent at the waist and light on her feet for you!