This is one of those fastpitch softball topics that I’ve written about before, but it bears repeating. One of the biggest challenges players today face is developing the patience to succeed.

What I mean by that is we live in an instant world. Hot chocolate and popcorn isn’t cooked on the stove for 10 or 20 minutes. You pop it in the microwave and it’s ready in three. You want to watch a particular movie? You don’t have to wait until it comes on anymore — you just dial it up on-demand.

Becoming a high-level, or even a decent, hitter, pitcher, fielder, etc. doesn’t happen instantly. It takes a long time — 10,000 hours to achieve mastery according to the experts, several hundred or thousand hours to get reasonably good.

That can be tough to take for kids who are used to instant pudding or five minute oatmeal. They take a couple of lessons and right away expect to be awesome.

Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. Think of it like this: the goal of excellence is five miles away. You can see it, but it’s well off in the distance. You don’t have a bike or car, so how will you get there? You can’t leap there in one shot. You’ll have to walk, putting one foot in front of the other, over and over again.

It will take some time. You may get bored, you may get tired, you may get frustrated now and then. But if you keep walking, step after step, you will eventually reach your goal.