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The Best Make Time. The Rest Make Excuses.
As I’m sure you already know, we are at a very busy time of the year.
The school year is almost over, so teachers are diligently working to cram everything they were require to teach but haven’t so far into these last few weeks before the final bell rings for the summer. School, park district, and private organizations are preparing to put on their spring plays/musical recitals or concerts, dance recitals, science fairs, art fairs, and other events.
On top of which rec leagues are launching, travel teams are gearing up for the long summer, and many high schools and colleges are getting ready for their playoffs.
With so much going on it’s understandable that fastpitch softball players might say, “I just don’t have the time” when it comes to the extra work required to help them level up their play. And in many respects they’re right.
But here’s the reality: if leveling up is important to you, somehow you will make the time. If it’s really not, you’ll make excuses.
Take the photo of Madi shown here for example. She has one of the best built-in excuses for not practicing you could have: her left foot is in a boot due to a broken toe.
But instead of saying, “Oh well, if I can’t pitch full-out I can’t pitch” she kept every lesson and worked on what she WAS able to do to help herself get better.
Or how about this Maddy? She could barely walk in the door under her own power due to nerve damage in her leg from taking a couple of hard line drives to the same spot in her shin.
Did she let that stop her? No! We pulled up a stool and she worked on what she could so that when she was able to walk normally again she’d be better than she was before the injuries.
Those are a couple of extreme examples for sure. And their issue was injury, not time-based, so maybe you don’t think it’s quite the same.
The mindset is the same, however, i.e., I’m not going to let anything stop me from getting better.
If your issue is not enough time, then perhaps it’s time to put on your thinking cap and get creative.
One way to do that is to look for short opportunities instead of thinking practice has to be a half hour or an hour. For example, if you have a lot of homework, research shows that taking breaks of 5 to 60 minutes helps keep your mind fresh so you learn better.
Instead of hopping on social media (which doesn’t give your mind the proper break anyway) why not take some practice swings or throw a rolled up pair of socks into a mirror for 10 minutes? The physical activity will help rejuvenate your brain while also helping you improve your softball skills. Three breaks like that and you’ve put in 30 minutes without even thinking about it (pun intended).
Or let’s say your high school team’s practice doesn’t allot enough (or any) time for you to practice a specific skill. When practice is over, hang out a little longer while you’re still warmed up and in softball mode to do a few reps of whatever you need to work on.
What if you’re in the school play? I did those when I was young and I know how much standing around time there is during rehearsals, especially if you’re not the lead.
Go find a corner somewhere and go through whatever mechanics you need to work on, or your band work or other exercises. In most cases you don’t need much more than about a 10′ x 10′ area, or a convenient hallway.
You can even get a little practice time in when you’re standing in line for the school cafeteria or the grocery store with your parents. If you’re a pitcher, work on getting faster, looser pronation at the finish. If you’re a hitter, work on using your hips more effectively.
There are lots of fairly subtle things you can do to make use of the fact that you’re not doing anything else. Sure, people might stare at your funny. But those stares will turn into looks of admiration when you’re out-performing your opponents on the softball field.
The key is to think about practice not in the traditional large block of time way but in smaller bites that you can execute whenever you have a few minutes, or need a few minutes to yourself. Know specifically what you need to work on most, and then make the time to work on it.
All those little on-the-fly practice sessions will quickly add up to the types of big improvements that will help you achieve your goals.
Don’t talk yourself out of greatness. Remember that the best make time and the rest make excuses. Choose which group you want to be a part of.
Practice Doesn’t Always Have to Mean Going to a Field or Facility
When someone says “it’s time to practice” what’s the first thing that springs to mind? For most of us involved in fastpitch softball the answer is probably grabbing some equipment, running out to a field or facility, and then spending the next 30, 60, or more minutes hard at work (as Paige is doing in the photo above).
While that approach is generally a good thing, it also has a downside (doesn’t everything?). When we’re in that mindset, we tend to think if we can’t do those things (get to a field or facility, spend 30-60 minutes) then we are unable to practice. In fact, “practice” kind of becomes an activity unto itself that requires special effort.
That’s unfortunate because for some players it could mean going a week or more without making any progress to get better. For others, especially those who are trying to learn new skills, it could even mean they get worse, or regress all the way back to step one.
It doesn’t have to be that way, however. Practice doesn’t have to involve going somewhere or making a special effort. And it certainly doesn’t have to be tied to a set amount of time.
Working on fastpitch softball skills anytime, anywhere, for any length of time can help players get better (or at least maintain their gains) versus doing nothing at all. The key is for players to know what they need to focus on and work those movements.
Take pitching, for example. Perhaps a player is having a tough time learning to relax the arm in the circle so she can whip the hand through at the end. In a full practice session with a catcher, she may be too focused on throwing strikes – double if the catcher is her dad. in that case she may continue to lock out the elbow and “guide” the ball to the plate.
But at home in her bedroom, or standing outside waiting for the bus, or marching through the house she can make arm circles and focus on staying relaxed throughout. No ball, field, facility, or catcher required. Learning to make the proper arm movement will help her know what it feels like when she’s actually pitching so she can carry the improvement forward there.
She doesn’t need to spend a half hour doing it either. If she takes 5 or 10 minutes it will help. Do that three random times during the day and she’ll have put in 15-30 minutes without even realizing it.
The same goes for hitters. Maybe the hitter is having trouble learning to lead with her hips, or is having a problem with barring out her front arm during the swing. She can practice the correct movements wherever she happens to be standing, whenever she has the chance.
The more she makes those movements the more natural they will become – and the easier they will be to execute when she’s actually up to bat.
Practicing in small increments may even have some benefits over longer sessions, especially if the longer sessions are focused on one thing. It’s similar to block practice v randomized practice.
In block practice you focus on one thing for a long time. With randomized practice you don’t linger on a single skill for any length of time. You essentially go from skill to skill. Studies have shown that the skills transfer better in game situations when practice is more randomized, at least in part because you get too used to doing the same thing over and over – an opportunity you don’t have in a game.
The other benefit to the shorter sessions in random locations is it lets players concentrate on the specific movements they need to improve on rather than the outcomes of those movements. And as we all know, in the end if you do the right things in the right way the outcomes will take care of themselves.
This isn’t to say longer, more formal practice sessions aren’t necessary. They absolutely are. But they’re not the only way to practice.
Taking advantage of whatever time and space is available is a great way to ensure players continue to improve. And it definitely beats using “I don’t have the time/I can’t get to the field or gym” as an excuse to do nothing.
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 