Collegiate Workout

As many of you know, I have been working very hard with the pitchers from C.W. Post over the last month or so.  Many girls are very curious about what happens with workouts at a collegiate level.  To an extent, certain things are similar to what occurs in private lessons.  Conversely, everything is very compressed because of the amount of time spent with the pitchers and the team.  I put in a little over nine hours a week with four girls.  As you can imagine, that is a great deal of individualized attention with good athletes, producing expedited results.   The focus is still on mechanics first.  You have to have a solid foundation to work on speed, spin or accuracy.  This is true for athletes at every level.  It is also true that everyone is anatomically different and will therefore be unique in certain aspects of her motion.  Therefore, I thought I would post the unique workouts I provided for the pitchers at Post.  These workouts are based on throwing three days a week in addition to strength and conditioning.  All pitchers have individualized warm-ups that they do prior to working on the proceeding skills.  I have decided not to use their names, but describe them by the things they are working on: 

Pitcher One (Lefty): Working on producing a straight circle, better speed, and adding a drop

Day One: Stability      

-Circle while balancing on left leg (right leg is up)

-Vest or bands

-Plank and throw

-Rise

Day Two: Straight Circle

-Warm-ups should include at least 10-15 with the circle against the wall

-Freeze at superman (check circle) and throw

-Throwmax

-Ball in the sock

-Drop and change-up

Day Three: Power

-Warm-ups

-Run throw and run

-Hop, hop and pop

-Eleven inch ball

-Vest or bands

Pitcher Two (Righty):  Working on producing sharper, more explosive break

Day One: Spin

-Warm-ups with spinner (rise, drop, curve)

-Spins down on the right knee

-All spins with the baseball (using two fingers)

-Run through pitches with the regular ball (rise, drop, curve, change)

Day Two:  Timing of Break

-Warm-ups on oversized ball

-Snap and look at your range of motion

-Under one leg with the 12 inch

-Work ropes for positioning of the break on all pitches (ropes go horizontally for rise and drop; vertically for curve)

Day Three: Explosiveness

-Throw and run

-Rapid Fire

-Vest or bands

-Circle snap circle

-Sprinter’s start

Pitcher Three (Righty):  Working on an explosive leg drive, endurance, and spots


She purposely throws after conditioning, so that she can work on her endurance in later innings.  She is also required to keep a pitch count.

Day One: Explosiveness

-Drag the towel with back leg (make sure the heel is not dropping)

-Throw and run

-Circle snap circle

-Rise spin with spinner and then from full

 Day Two: Spots and Spin

-Work outside corner using the line/rope for reference

-Warm-up drop and curves (inside and outside) with spinner

-Use the ropes to create good timing on the break

Day Three

-Work on the skills you feel still need improvement based on the workouts earlier in the week

Pitcher Four (Lefty): Working on hitting spots, creating consistent speed, and producing a loose arm whip

Day One: Accuracy (You will probably not need a catcher for this day: a bucket of balls and a net would suffice)

-Use the ropes to create lines to your spots

-Begin with the rope starting with snaps and work all the way to full

Day Two: Looseness and whip

-Pendulum

-Roll your wrist then throw

-Throw and run

-Swinging from full motion

-Sprinter’s start

-Drop (use the rope for break)

-Throw with the eleven-inch ball

Day Three: Break and speed 

-Warm-up all spins except curve using either spinner or undersized ball

-Work Positioning and timing of the break

-Throw with the vest or bands pulling forward

I hope that this gives everyone a basic idea of how I have painstakingly crafted and individualized the workouts for these pitchers.  Try to think of your goals (both mechanically and otherwise) and ask yourself how to best craft your own workout to meet those goals.  Remember, mechanical issues should always precede work on spins and speed.  Only once your motion is perfect or near-perfect should you begin working for power and break.   Speed is gained most quickly not through power drills, but through correcting mechanical inefficiencies.   

Change is hard . . .

Inevitably, the wonderful athletes that I have worked with for years and years will go on to college.  In fact, that is what I try to train them for.  We always address preparation for the higher level and make sure that it figures prominently in our workouts.  Still, I feel like this year is probably the toughest it has ever been to say even a temporary "good-bye" to my graduating seniors.  Kerri, Liz, and Kaitlyn have been tremendous fixtures in my life for years and years now.  They have been athletes that I looked forward to working with every week.  I was always excited during the season to open up the paper and learn of their most recent successes.  Not having that weekly interaction in person is going to be tough, and yet, I feel so confident in their respective work ethics and their abilities to succeed, that I am anticipating that wonderful joy at seeing them conquer the next level of play.  It is something almost tangible:  all those long hours they spent perfecting their craft seem destined to culminate soon.  It is incredible.

But, of course, I will still miss them terribly.

As if that weren't enough, Danielle Henderson, an amazing friend of mine (and a fellow pitching instructor) was offered the incredible opportunity to be a pitching coach at Ohio State.  She is someone with whom I have always discussed spins, methodology, and the various topics that come up when working with young girls.  I am truly so blessed to have her as a friend.  Aside from being knowledgeable and having experience at the highest level, she is honest, sweet and wonderful in every way.   I remember looking up to her as a young athlete when I just started to learn pitching and then interviewing her for a newspaper article when I wrote for The Three Village Times.  After all of that, to have the honor of being her friend is just a great gift.  I know that this job means a kind of success for Danielle that she can't experience here.  I am so happy for her, but I can't help but be just a little selfish and want her to stay.  She is going to be wonderful and inspiring for girls at a very high level, just as she has been wonderful and inspiring to me and her students for years now.

Finally, some of my younger girls who are wonderful athletes at other positions have decided to dedicate their time on perfecting these areas of the game as opposed to pitching.  This is actually something that I wholeheartedly agree with.  It is tough to  decide that, as skilled as one may be as a pitcher, it might be better to dominate at a different position.  Pitching is so much time, dedication, and heart.   It also requires mental tenacity and a certain amount of fearlessness.  It takes a very strong person to realize that she has these qualities and can cultivate them, but it also takes a very strong person to do the opposite.   I love these girls.  They will always be a part of our softball family.  However, even Natasha Watley was a pitcher at one point.  I am sure she does not regret the decision to focus on her abilities as a short stop and offensive player.

So what is my message today?  Change is hard, and sometimes even heartbreaking.  Should that ever stop us?  No.  In my experience, all of the great things in life are hard, but they also make us stronger.  You don't want to pass up the experiences in life that will give you that gift.  

Once in a lifetime . . .

Happy Fourth of July!  This has been a huge weekend for tournaments (as usual), but it has also been incredibly hot lately, so be sure to be drinking plenty of fluids at least twenty minutes prior to going out in the heat.  Remember, caffienated beverages do not help with your hydration, and can actually make matters worse.  So-called "energy drinks" are particularly bad in this respect. 

I have been trying my best to get around to blogging, but this has been an insane time of year between coordinating for the muscle fatigue study, scheduling lessons, and actually giving lessons.  I have been dying to write about all of the wonderful events concerning Liz, and now here it is:

As many of you already know, I have worked with Liz Weber since she was ten years old.  What many of you don't know, is that she cried before her first lesson, and did not talk to me in lessons for about the first year.  What many of you also don't know is that Lori and Liz had a huge hand  in my doing lessons on a full-time basis.  When I first started teaching Liz, I was still teaching at Smithtown High School.  After working with Liz and some other students, I decided that I would much rather work with dedicated young ladies all day long than search for a few kids willing to work hard in an average English class.   Everyone thought I was crazy for leaving a good job at Smithtown, but I knew that I had something really unique with the girls that I was teaching.  Nevertheless, the  first year is always tough, and Lori helped tremendously by setting up clinics for me at a gym in West Islip.  Liz and Lori would also drive over an hour so that they could come and pitch in my parent's basement (where I used to practice growing up).  When I bought a house, they came to pitch in the basement there as well. 

Many people have helped me along the way, but Lori, Coach Ventre, my parents, the Gallo family, and the Huntley family all made it possible for me to really get through that first tough year of starting a business.   They all found ways to get me gym space and made it possible for me to do group lessons.  They also referred so many people to me, which gave me confidence and really got my business off the ground.  Lori was constantly encouraging me to open my own facility, which always  unnerved me because of the overhead.  She had even offered to help!  Very few people realize this, but this was one of the many factors that drove me to finally rent my own place after several years of renting at other facilities.  The other two major factors being the wonderful advice and help of Deanna Dovak, and finally getting the blessing from my dad.  My dad also put in countless hours helping me to set up the facility the way I wanted it.  He helped me to find, and to work with, a truly wonderful landlord. 

Now I have been in my facility for about five years and this has been the most exciting year that we have shared as a group.  All you need to do is check the homepage at http://www.flawlessfastpitch.com/ to see how we have all excelled this year.  The part that is particularly exciting, however, is the fact that Liz's  high school team (Bay Shore) won the New York State Championship in this, her senior year.  I could not have hoped for more as she prepares to head for college in the fall.  And yet, there was more.  She was Newsday's Player of the Year and Suffolk County's Pitcher of the Year.  Newsday did an entire article on her.  Just incredible.  I saw Liz on June 24th for a lesson and was amazed to learn that she was graduating the next day.  It seemed like that went so fast!  Needless to say, I had to be at her graduation.  It was then that Lori told me that Liz was up for NYS Player of the Year.  This is a tremendous honor because only one girl in NYS is chosen.  I was honored to join Liz and her family for her graduation dinner and, immediately following, we found out that she was in fact New York State Player of the Year.   I feel like such a sequence of amazing events, from that first lesson eight years ago, to the amazing conclusion of her high school career, is a once in a lifetime scenario.  I feel truly blessed to have been a part of this process.  Though I know it will be very different with Liz away at school, I feel that I will be a part of that process too, and I am so thankful.  Huge thanks to the Weber family, and major congratulations to Liz!

Our Champions

Months ago, when my husband and I were planning a vacation, I thought carefully about the dates we chose.  "That's usually about when the varsity season draws to a close," I said, and so we felt we booked our time away with perfect calculation.
Although I harbor the utmost faith, respect, and admiration when it comes to my girls, never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would still have four athletes vying for Long Island titles while we were away.  Liz Weber, Kerri Apicella, and Michiko McGiveny all contributed substantially to their teams coveted Long Island championships (in their respective classes).  Catherine Havens pitched unbelievably all season, but even her brave and wonderful efforts were unable to clinch the Long Island Championship for ESM in their Class.  Regardless, Catherine is formidable in every way and is still only a junior!
I don't think that I need to mention the fact that Liz's stellar pitching lead Bay Shore to the State Championship.  I can't express how proud or how thrilled I was to learn this.  I wanted nothing more than to have Liz be able to grasp that crowning achievement her senior year.  I have been honored to work with Liz for the past eight years.  Her work ethic and her drive are only a small piece of her skill.  Like any pitcher, she has certainly had her mechanical ups and downs.  We all struggle in that respect, but it is what we inevitably come out of that struggle with that distinguishes us from our competition.  She has made it so that even her most difficult struggles eventually become her victories.  Not only has she grown profoundly as a pitcher and an athlete since she first started pitching at age ten, she has developed an amazing poise and grace that makes her both intimidating and difficult to read.    This is a very understated quality in many pitchers, but one that I think it is hard to succeed without.  Is it possible to teach that aggressive, killer instinct while still maintaining a composure that is devastating to opponents?
I think that there are certainly ways to develop this "killer instinct" more, but to me, it seems that all the aforementioned amazing athletes have a sort of "fire," in their hearts (even at a very young age).  It is something that is very difficult to describe, but it is palatable when you stand near them.  When we make mechanical adjustments, they are not angry or discouraged, they see it as an opportunity to improve.  They are always willing to admit their mistakes, and use these admissions as a platform for improvements.  When they talk about softball, and pitching, it is like a light switch goes off.  When they discuss their opposition, they are smart, evaluative, and respectful, but always looking to get the edge.  They will work outside of their comfort zone in order to best accommodate the umpire that particular day, or exploit the weakness of the opposition.  They are skilled at learning and never miss an opportunity to improve themselves.  These are all girls who have traveled far and wide to play on the best teams, work with the best coaches, and perfect their craft in general.   I am really blessed to work with these wonderful girls, and I know that their successes will continue throughout their high school and college careers.  They are fighters, they are winners, and they have worked so hard for everything they have achieved.

The characteristics of champions

With the incredible recent successes of Catherine Havens, Liz Weber and Kerri Apicella, I have been hearing many girls proclaim how they aspire to be like these wonderful athletes.  That is all well and good, but these amazing individuals did not just develop over night.  Here are some characteristics they share:

Resiliency:  Catherine, Kerri, and Liz all lost the first game of the series, but fought hard and smart to dominate their opponents in subsequent games.  These girls never back down under difficult circumstances.  They all use their failures as opportunities to better themselves. 
Work Ethic: All of these girls have sacrificed time, money, energy, social outings with friends, and many other things to really perfect their craft as pitchers.
Consistency:  Not everyone is consistent in every game, but these girls are always on time or early for lessons, come year round, work incredibly hard throughout lessons and never complain.  This is a kind of consistency that instructors dream of. 

Want to know more about these wonderful champions?  Check in tomorrow.

Using your celebrity wisely

The time I would have devoted towards blogging last week, was very happily spent writing my next article for Baseball Player Magazine.  I am very excited about this one, as it will be discussing how to attack that intimidating batter.  No matter how accomplished we are as pitchers, there are always a few batters who are a little imposing, but no hitter is ever unbeatable.  

I have still been doing "pyramids" workouts in my lifting regimen.  I do like these a lot, since they begin with light weight and continually get higher.  It is a nice way to warm up the muscles before doing heavier weights (though I find it unnecessary to ever do very heavy weights).  Sunday's workout was the AIDS walk: 6.2 miles to raise money for research.  This ended up being the AIDS run for Frank and I, who felt that the pace wasn't quite fast enough for us.  It took us almost an hour to even get to the starting point, so we were a bit restless by then and just ran it.  There was an unbelievable crowd and also a lot of diversity among the walkers.  It was also a beautiful day in Central Park.  

This brings up a very important topic: the influence we have as athletes.  Athletes always have others who look up to them.  This is both a tremendous responsibility and a wonderful opportunity.  On one hand, the incident with the Ward Melville lacrosse team has made headlines lately.  Many of the players were suspended for a game due to the poor judgement that they demonstrated by drinking and then posting their exploits on Facebook.  Though they had to endure some consequences, the example they set for the young lacrosse players who look up to them is a very poor one indeed.  Behavior like this also tends to perpetuate a bias about what athletes are like as people.  On the other hand, we have many athletic teams that boast tremendous GPAs or do things for the community (my college coach made sure that we volunteered every year as a team).  Either way, you have to realize how others are influenced by these behaviors.    Many of my students don't realize how the younger girls talk about them like they are celebrities or how even their peers regard them highly and with much respect.  For this very reason, we should always be an example of good sportsmanship, but in addition, we should look to help others and our admirers will look to do the same.  

Helping others comes in many forms, both large and small.  I know that many of my students are involved in teaching younger girls how to pitch.  This is a wonderful way to educate others about proper mechanics, help prevent injury, and hone your own skills.  There is a wonderful ripple effect that is created when you choose to do something of this nature.  Your students will then go on and share their expertise and so forth.  Helping others doesn't have to involve pitching, though.  It is more about sharing your special gifts with the world.  Maybe you read to elderly people at a nursing home or perhaps you help tutor your neighbor in math.  One of my students did a walk for cystic fibrosis this weekend.  Many of you are involved in autism research, youth groups, and community projects.  Doing this is not just a way to boost your college resume, but it is also a way to set an example for others. I have some of my own favorite charities including North Shore Animal League, Sloan Kettering, and Heifer International.  Use your skills outside the circle to help a greater good.  You will feel good about helping others, but you will encourage many to do the same.      

Not everyone is meant to be a pitcher . . .

Sorry that I have not posted in a while.  I have been both extremely busy and a bit under the weather, which is not a good combination, since I haven't really felt like doing much.  I have therefore very grudgingly abstained from pitching, and will wait a few more days until I am feeling better.  I have still been running and lifting and doing yoga, but have been taking it day to day.

This time of year, everyone wants to be a pitcher.  It seems like a very glamorous prospect doesn't it?  The ball is in your hands every single time, you get lots of credit for the win, everyone is looking at you, etc. . . .  Based on my involvement in the Lenox Hill Study, I have been fortunate enough to spend a bit more time at tournaments and games than I normally would, and guess what I am seeing among the older girls?  A plethora of young women who were pitchers at one time or another.

So what happened?  Did everyone suddenly hate being a pitcher?  Maybe they all realized how much extra practice is involved.  Maybe they realized how much more pressure is on a pitcher (more than any other player on the field, in fact).   Maybe they realized how emotionally draining it can be to work on mechanics relentlessly or to throw a no-hitter (or a great game) and lose to errors.   Some girls will literally destroy themselves as pitchers from the inside out - overanalyzing and not giving their skills enough value.  Wait a minute . . . wasn't this supposed to be fun?

The truth is, a lot of wonderful things come with pitching.  As in the pursuit of all wonderful things however, there is a tremendous commitment and struggle to rise above mediocrity and truly develop and achieve greatness.  Many kids who are natural talents when they are younger succumb to laziness or complacency (remember last week's blog?) and never reach their true potential.  What I have found to be an amazing commonality among every single pitcher I have worked with, without exception, is the fact that they have all gone through some major mechanical conundrum.  I mean something so difficult that it would almost seem impossible to fix.  At the time, it always does seem near impossible.  What separates the girls who go on to become the super powers of the pitching world and the girls who never break these bad habits is perseverance.  I can remember years back how Kaitlyn's circle used to go over her head, or Cat had no snap, or Liz had a crooked backswing.  I can go on and on.  We laugh about these things in lessons now.  It seems like it was decades ago.  Yet many other girls have gone through similar things and have decided "I am just going to keep on throwing side-arm" or "I am going to let my spin be imperfect" or "I don't need to use my back leg."  This is not always a conscious decision, but rather a decision made through work ethic or mental fortitude.  Pitching is not for the weak of heart.  You are the strong ones out there, girls.  Carry these lessons with you throughout life and watch how it breeds success in every direction.