It sure would be nice if getting better at fastpitch softball was a linear progression upward. You start at one point, put in some time, and your performance (measurable and intangible) just keeps on getting better.

Unfortunately it doesn’t always work that way. In fact, often times it can go the other way for a while.

This is especially true if you’re trying to make fundamental changes to your skills after doing reasonably well doing what you’ve been doing.

For those who haven’t been doing particularly well it’s not much of an issue. If you’re a hitter who has been striking out for most of your at bats, and popping up or grounding out weakly when you don’t swing and miss, you don’t have much to lose by making a change.

Worst case you don’t get any better. Anything beyond that will be an improvement.

But if you’ve been getting on base now and then there’s a little more risk involved. It’s possible you may struggle a bit more at the plate for a little while before you start seeing the work you’re putting in pay off.

In fact, your batting average, slugging percentage, etc. may go down first before it goes up.

Why is that? Simple: whatever you’ve been doing, even it isn’t great, you’re comfortable with it and can execute it without thinking about it. Those mechanics may not be great but they’re serviceable enough to let you get by.

Now you’ve decided you no longer want to get by but want to be a top hitter. So you start making changes and find yourself kind of between worlds for a little while.

You’re not comfortable with your swing, or your timing, or some other aspect and as a result you’re not able to execute it with full energy. You might even start over-thinking it and throwing yourself off completely. Next thing you know your performance begins to fall and you feel like you’re moving backward.

That’s ok. If you’re making the right changes your performance will improve as you become more comfortable in your new “skin.”

As old bad habits are replaced by new better ones you’ll discover how to get the bat to the ball more efficiently and the ball will start finding its way to (or over) the fence more often.

This process doesn’t just apply to hitters by the way. Pitchers may lose a little speed and/or accuracy as they replace old habits with new ones, such as moving from “hello elbow” to internal rotation mechanics or changing the way a particular pitch is thrown to improve the spin.

If the new techniques are being taught properly, however, any setbacks will be temporary and the gains will be well worth the pain of getting there.

The same goes for fielding or throwing or really any other fastpitch softball skill. There will probably be a period where you wonder whether you would have been better off staying with what you were doing rather than learning something new and supposedly better.

If you’re focused only on the short term it may seem like you would have been better off sticking with what you know. If you’re focused on your long-term career, though, making these changes will help keep you from bumping up against artificial ceilings so you can become the player you’re meant to be.

Of course, the caveat here is you have to be careful about the timing of these changes. With fastpitch softball now being a 12-month (or almost 12-month) sport it seems like there is always a game coming up that causes you to feel like it’s a bad time for a major change.

But there are holes in the schedule, such as the period between tryouts and fall ball, or certain points over the winter, where there is reduced risk in starting changes. And if your performance isn’t where you want it, or where you need it to be to reach your goals, then the sooner you get going the sooner you can start moving forward again.

Making big changes isn’t easy, and sometimes they can result in temporary setbacks. Don’t let that discourage you.

If you’re making those changes for the right reasons the reward will be worth the risk.