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.

Complacency is the enemy of progress

After throwing last week, I decided to focus a little more on weight training, yoga, and swimming.  I think that swimmming is tremendous exercise and very low impact.  It is also wonderful for developing the upper body in a balanced way, and therefore very good for pitchers. 

So my wonderful athletes have been going out there and doing amazing things.  They have been accomplishing so much, not just in terms of statistics, but also in terms of being team leaders and role models.  Most great athletes don't realize how much younger girls model themselves after them, and that is both a tremendous responsibility and wonderful opportunity.  Younger girls will try to emulate your mechanics, your attitude, and essentially everything about you.  They will follow you in the paper and keep track of your statistics.  I remember that when I was first learning to pitch, my dad took me to see Danielle Henderson, and I wanted to be just like her.  I also wanted desperately to pitch against her, since I am psychotic like that and always wanting to play against the best.  When she first went off to college and came home to help at clinics, I drilled her with questions about what she liked most about pitching at school, how she felt she increased her speed the most, what pitches she learned, etc.  To this day it amazes me that this great Olympic athlete was not only an inspiration to me growing as a pitcher, but she is also a very, very dear friend.   How lucky am I?

So this brings us to a more challenging note.  When you are dominating, and striking girls out left and right, how do you keep from becoming complacent?  I have some wonderful athletes who are doing great in their respective seasons, but whom I feel are not really utilizing all of their assets.  This is not an easy thing to address, but I think that the most effective way to address it is to try and set up a means of objective evaluation.  For example, the wonderfully talented Catherine Havens has been having her mom film her games for years.  She then takes some time the day after the game to evaluate the things that she did well, and the things that she could improve upon.  I think that this keeps her incredibly strong and consistent throughout her season.  It is almost like you are competing against yourself in a way, constantly striving to be better.  I joke that I need to take a lesson from Catherine because she has become so incredible at emphasizing the good and adjusting the bad.  This is a girl who will be a tremendous asset to whatever college is lucky enough to have her.  For other girls who don't want to film their games, I ask them to do a quick evaluation of each pitch on the bus ride home.  Also, note how your speed was and how it has been in general.  We want our accomplishments to be meaningful and wonderful, but we don't want to rest on our laurels.   When we all compete from forty-three feet over the summer, we want to be prepared for the better competition.  When we showcase, we want to really give the coaches something to look at.  Challenge yourself gently and you will find you are often up to the challenge.  If you become complacent, you will find yourself in for a rude awakening when the true competitors come to call. 

Working through the tough spots

Ever since I started throwing again, I feel as though I have been improving little by little each time.  Today, I kind of felt more like I was stuck in quicksand.  My speed wasn't as good, and I just felt wiped out.  My drop and change were very strong, but I didn't even really throw for a very long time.  I did do a bit over five miles yesterday, which might have something to do with it, but I thought that this would be a good opportunity to discuss some challenges that we face as pitchers.  Working hard is a very good investment, but it doesn't usually pay off right away, and we sometimes suffer setbacks.  Injuries, exhaustion, not connecting with your coach or instructor, and even just having a bad day are all factors.

So how do we work through these difficulties, especially if it comes at a bad time (like playoffs or while a college coach is watching)?  This is where mental toughness separates the good pitchers from the great.  A lack of mental toughness makes some girls quit altogether.  I have seen girls who far surpassed their peers in skill at a younger level and then couldn't take the pressure or the level of commitment required at the higher level.  Even if you don't see the fruits of your practice labors paying off immediately, you must know that practicing in general will train your body to better perform the right movements in high-pressure situations.  The only exception to this rule is if you are practicing with incorrect mechanics or if you are not connecting well with your coach and therefore not understanding what you need to accomplish in practice.  Otherwise, if you are not having a successful practice in one area of your pitching (like speed), redirect your attention to another area where you might excel on that particular day.  For example, if your speed is off, your rise will probably not work very well, but drop and change will be a good place to focus your energy.  This will keep you from feeling discouraged and will give you a sense of accomplishment.  Over time, it will help mental toughness, because you feel as though you can do well even when you don't have "your best stuff."

If you are not throwing well because you are exhausted physically (mentally is a whole separate issue), then be very careful.  I find that this typically tends to be a precursor to injury.  If you are practicing and feeling a little tired, keep your pitch count low, and make sure to stretch well and ice afterwards.  In games, I think that it is best to keep your coach abreast of your level of exhaustion.  When I was in high school, my coaches would have to drag me out of the game.  I didn't care if I was so tired that I could barely hold the ball.  I wanted in!  As I got older, I realized this was a  good way to get hurt and also a very selfish thing to do for my team.  If it was a close game and I gave up big hits because of exhaustion, I wasn't doing them any favors.  In my last few years playing, if I felt like I was running out of steam, I simply let my coach know "I feel like I am slowing down a little" or "my movement isn't as good as it was in the first few innings."  He would then warm up a reliever.  I stayed healthy and we won almost all of those games. 

To figure out when exhaustion really does set in for windmill pitchers, we are working on our muscle fatigue study.  Today, we will be measuring Bella after her game against MacArthur.  We are hoping to finish up all of our test subjects before the fall so that we can send in the data to Lenox Hill at that point.  Very exciting stuff and I will keep you posted.  Until then, keep your spirits high even if you have a rough day.  Always keep your long-term goals in sight and stay healthy!  

Get into the groove!

First of all, I am very excited to announce my first published article in Baseball Player Magazine.  It is hard to decide if I am more excited about that or having the wonderful Ashley Massoni highlighted on literally the next page (check out her video on Youtube if you haven't already).  You can read the articles and see some of the great things that this magazine has to offer by clicking on http://issuu.com/baseballplayermagazine/docs/bpm_spr_2010 . Sooo exciting. 

I threw today for a little over an hour, and have been joking that I am ready for a comeback since I feel outstanding.  I am doing a lot less drill work, throwing harder, and my spins are working so well.  Hopefully, I won't be sore tomorrow.  Speaking of spins, it has come to my attention that many pitchers have spent the winter perfecting pitches that they are not throwing at all in games.  Why is that?  If it is a brand new pitch, and you just don't feel comfortable with it right away, then you should throw it either when you have a tremendous lead or when your team is getting annihilated.  Either way, no harm done.  If you do not have enough time to warm up all of your spins, address the issue with your coach.  Every girl's coach should know exactly how much time it takes her to warm up.  This decreases the risk of injury and makes the pitcher much more effective in the long run.  If you are in the more delicate situation of having a coach or catcher unwilling to call your new pitch, offer to show it off in scrimmages or during team bp to demonstrate its effectiveness.  This will also help your own confidence in the pitch. 

Remember, being a good pitcher is different from just being a good "thrower."  Being a good pitcher entails being smart about location, mix of pitches, and how to throw to different batters.  No great pitcher has every gotten away with just one really good pitch (I could see where one might argue the case for Rivera, but he is just like superhuman).  Know your strongest pitches each day (they might be different on any given day) and work the locations that complement them.  Remember, you will ALWAYS need to work your fastball.  People fall in love with spin pitches and then forget about the old "number one."  Your fastball is not only the basis for your mechanics, but it is also typically a little quicker than your spins.  Spot it and use it at least a few times a game.  Keep spinning and keep working hard.