Let's Talk Pitching With A College Coach!

If you have followed some of my blog articles in the past, you may remember that my cousin Erica, Head Coach at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, is also a former high school and collegiate pitcher like myself. She and I have a lot of great conversations, especially surrounding pitching: development, fundamentals, coaching, training, recruiting, and everything else that accompanies our favorite part of softball (yes, I am biased towards pitching).

This past Wednesday, Erica was interviewed by NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) Director of Education, Joanna Lane, about our favorite topic: Pitching! Her audio podcast will air next week on the DIRT if you are interested in learning more. However, if time doesn't allow, I'll highlight 3 of the more interesting topics for what I believe will be most applicable to you.

Q1: What should a pitcher's warm-up look like before a lesson? A bullpen? A game?

A1: Erica stated that the most important piece to warming up in any/all of these circumstances is the actual "getting the body warm" process itself. If you ask 50 different pitchers who get pitching lessons from 50 different coaches across the country, you will get 50 different warm-up structures: how long to warm up, which drills to use, whether to start with spins or skip them, random or blocked warm-ups, and volume of pitches will all look a little different. However, in Erica's opinion, there are only two things that EVERY pitcher needs to do, and the rest of the process can be personalized. The first is creating a warm-up process that gets a light sweat going in the body prior to throwing, spinning, or breaking down drills. The second necessary piece to every practice and game warm up (according to my cousin) is a pre-hab arm care warm-up with bands (she promoted the J-Band workout). The reason these two pieces were explained as most important for every pitcher is because once the muscles and ligaments are warm, loose, and properly functioning, the pitcher is ready to go. The drills, spins, type of warm-up after this can vary. Promoting mental confidence to attack the practice or game is what is important after the physical heating up process. Therefore, in a pinch, if it is mid-game, and the starting pitcher is crashing fast, getting the muscles heated and limber is all that is needed to get that relief pitcher physically ready to pitch her best. If the body is ready to move explosively and the fingers are warm to the tips, a great pitching debut can follow without any of the routine spinning, drilling, or throwing that accompanies a situation without a limited time frame. Thus, my biggest take away for you is to know that you can get ready to pitch effectively in a game faster than you think as long as you remember to get a sweat going and limber up those arms. So make sure you say "yes" next time when your coach asks if you can get ready to go into the game in 5 minutes. Just start your jog immediately, and grab your J-band on the way!

Q2: Are there ways that you can simulate pressure in practice?

A2: This was my favorite thing to listen to Erica talk about because I share a similar philosophy, which you all know because you experience it in pitching school every week. She creates multiple structures of competition within the practice setting to create the reward/consequence feeling that is similar to that of what actually happens in a game. Some competitions are speed or change-of-speed oriented, many are accuracy related, and some involve games of movement. They are against live batters, against other pitchers, sometimes with other pitchers against a clock, and a host of many other competitions that create game-like excitement and adrenaline. I hope all of you enjoy the Practice-Pro competitions you learn and execute in pitching school weekly. We are preparing you for college-like training now. You'll be way ahead of the other pitchers on your staff when it is your turn to execute under pressure.

Q3: Do you have a process when it comes to pairing pitchers and catchers for workouts/games?

Q3: I thought what Erica talked about when answering this question was especially valuable for all pitchers to consider. Even though I don't get to be there at games to call your pitches, decide who catches you, when to make a pitching change, etc..., I hope that you will be more prepared than any non-Practice Pro pitcher for decisions that will vary from coach to coach that are out of your control. The mental game we stress and the resilience we hope you feel empowered to exercise when the time comes will hopefully prepare you for the musical chairs of catching partners that most of you will experience throughout the course of your playing career. Erica talked about how she switches up catchers and pitchers quite frequently throughout the practice season, before games even begin. She does this so that no single pitcher and catcher pair come to depend on one another exclusively. Injuries occur. Different opponents may necessitate one type of pitcher while needing a catcher with a great arm for one game or a terrific receiver for another. Mixing up the catchers and the pitchers while emphasizing good communication allows the pitchers to understand that she can be effective with a variety of different people behind the dish, and that it is in her control to create a good rapport with each catcher. If youth pitchers adopt this same mindset, when they change travel teams, or catcher teammates move up or out and new catchers move in, the pitcher will remain mentally confident that she can create a healthy rapport with her new battery-mate. All of you will be on multiple teams, and almost none of you will have the luxury of having the same catcher from house-league to travel ball to high school to college. Therefore, learning how to communicate and work with different people, like your catchers, will not only prepare you to be an adaptable softball pitcher, it will prepare you to work with many different people throughout your life, which is an excellent skill to be honing now.

If I were to sum up these three questions and answers into just one sentence that can help you elevate your pitching mentality and make you a stronger player, it would be: "A winning pitcher is a pitcher who can be comfortable in the uncomfortable, adapting to pressure and changing circumstances in the world around her." Let this sentence describe you!