After eight years of running a pitching school and sometimes coaching up to 150 pitchers per week, I have identified the drills that work the fastest to help pitchers understand the most important skills in pitching. After trying just about everything, these drills work for the largest amount of girls at the fastest rate. It is crucial to teach them correctly, so be sure to pay close attention to the explanations provided in the videos. Here are five of my favorite drills that help pitchers improve at blazing speed.

Sometimes I forget what young people don’t know (since it was so long ago I don’t remember). Part of being a good coach is to admit my mistakes, then improve for next time, just like we ask players to do. Along those lines, the idea of sportsmanship got me thinking.

Growing up, my dad played an integral role in my softball journey. Without him, I wouldn’t have achieved what I did in sports. His support, along with that of my uncle, cousins, sister, and anyone who caught for me, was invaluable. Here’s why having someone, especially a dad, to catch for you can make all the difference. In my personal experience my dad was the one with the best hand-eye coordination, as opposed to my mom, so I’m going to share with you the benefits I got from working with him!

Last week I wrote a blog about creating your own BHAG, a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal [Video 1:18]. After Oklahoma accomplished a 4-peat last night by winning the WCWS against Texas, I wondered if they made a goal 4 years ago to win 4 in a row. While I doubt it, I think that would have been a perfect BHAG! Winning not just one, but 4 national titles is something truly outrageous.

I thought back to this speech I made two years ago at my Alma Mater, Trinity High School. In it, I explain a BHAG that I had as a high school student. It was to be a CEO at a big company. At the time, I didn’t know about BHAGs, but I think it’s interesting that I made one. I didn’t end up coming close to that, obviously. What is even more interesting is that if I didn’t have a goal to be a CEO of a big company, I wouldn’t own my awesome little one. They key is to create your BHAG for fun, try to get it, and welcome any twists and turns that come along the way.

This brings me to the discovery of who I am and how I love a BHAG. I read it first in a book called Build to Last about businesses, then read it again in a book about accounting, and then I heard it a third time at a softball conference. A coach was able to win a DII National Championship because he believed his team created a BHAG, a Big Hairy Audacious Goal. This is definitely not a SMART goal. BHAGs are seemingly unattainable; they are moonshots. They put your brain on a different plane of thinking. They scare you, challenge your courage, and mainly get you excited.

How can you tell if you are mentally tough? Is it your endurance, your ability to come from behind, or strike out the last batter of the game? You might think a person who controls their emotions as tough, or one who can maintain complete focus amid a crowd of screaming fans.

I believe a mentally strong pitcher has a plan and sticks to it. She helps her teammates recover from their errors. Perhaps most importantly she understands the game, knowing when she’s in a crucial situation and can execute during those times.

I had to opportunity to attend my 5th National Fastpitch Coaches Association convention at the beginning of this month. This year we went to Atlantic City. I learn a great deal of information about mechanics, team and staff building, the mental game, and - get this -  even other positions besides pitching. But the best part is hanging out with my favorite coaches and talking about the game. 

What I find most inspiring is that my coach-friends absolutely love what they do and are super intense about improving. When there are breaks in between seminars we talked about what we liked, didn’t like, and what were planning to adopt ourselves. They love a healthy debate and rarely get to talking about anything else. It’s not like other jobs I’ve had where everyone wishes they were back home or at the hotel bar. Everyone is excited to be there. How could you not? It’s one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. 

In an effort to be festive, let's honor the 12 days of Christmas with the top 12 things I learned at convention. 

To accurately evaluate your performance in a game, it's essential to use a structured approach. You should fill out an evaluation form before and after each game. Facing the truth might sting initially, but it's the only way to identify areas for improvement

If you’ve gone through one of our programs at Practice Pro, you know there is a lot to remember. I’ve broken down 10 of the most helpful tips to remember from your pitching lessons.

Learn first, then do “fixing” later. Many coaches won’t do a video analysis on a pitcher in her first year or two of learning. While we look at video, we don’t try to “fix” a young player's problems when she doesn’t know the principles in the first place. If you start “fixing” too soon, players get discouraged, especially with detailed video analysis. Those tend to point out only problems.

Good things happen when you sit at the front of the class. I'm living proof of that.

When I was a kid growing up, adults and teachers would tout sitting in the front of the class as the holy grail of all serious learners. And it stood to reason that if you sit in the front of the class, you must pay close attention - as there is no one to hide behind and less opportunity to distract yourself without the teacher taking notice. And though I accepted this as truth, I didn't always like to sit in the front of the class. It's not always comfortable to make direct eye contact with the teacher or be "called on" more often, so I always thought the middle of the room was safer. But nonetheless, I knew that teachers wanted their best pupils to sit in the front of the class, and because I cared about being a great student, I embraced the uncomfortable and leaned in.

Knowing a team's rules can tell you a lot about their values. But just like setting goals, these values only matter if people follow them. Good teams make sure their members act according to these rules because it keeps the team culture healthy. When everyone feels confident and clear about how to conduct themselves and how teammates should, it’s easy to refer back to or coach people back to good behavior. I thought this idea should be brought into the parent/pitcher relationship. When I was younger, my dad and I did not get along when he caught for me.

The Practice Pro coaches and I worked with 13 teams in Pitching School this preseason. That means an organization reserves an entire class time, once per week for the entire session. What I like about this is that we have closer relationships with their team coaches, helping them progress faster. There is less confusion on 'my one coach said this, and my other coach said that, so now I'm confused and starting to get irritated.'

One of the team coaches wanted some information from me. She asked which pitchers had pitches that were...game ready, game dependent (depends on the day), not ready, but working on it.

Over the past 8 years of coaching 100+ players per week on softball pitching, I noticed the following trends in phrases that parents and coaches, including me, say that confuse fastpitch players. These phrases are "broken" because they confuse girls on pitching mechanics. Here are some ideas of what to say instead.