The ritual-mental side of pitching

[RubberBiscuit]

As I am watching all the conference tournaments on tv I am beginning to look and compare on the "rituals" of college pitchers when they pitch.

There are ritual items that pitchers do that are repeated steps, like bend down and grab some dirt, then there are ritual items that surround what I call "building the psyche". (Example of building the psyche is like Notre Dames pitcher named Winter. She gets this growly look on her face and rhythms a bounce before each and every pitch. Then there is the Nebraska senior pitcher that bounces before each pitch as an apparent "build-up" crescendo before a pitch).

What part of these things you experienced folks see as necessary goodness to a pitcher versus unnecessary antics??

 

[riseball]

It is all good as long as it is consistent and they believe it is helping them. I helped many a pitcher by just getting them to slow down, visualize, and develop a routine that is their own. Those couple of breaths and visualization between receiving the sign and execution are most critical to the process. There is a 7 step formal process that I have somewhere but have to catch a plane back home. Will try to post later.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I have an 8yo student that takes 15 seconds to pitch the ball. Every pitch, 15 seconds. I have to stop myself from telling her to speed up. If she throws 60 pitches, she has waited 15 minutes.

I need a happy medium between her and the "hurry up and pitch" girls.

 

[Jojo]

Every pitcher is different. I heard them them discuss this at one of the conference games as well, the announcer said the other pitcher on her team was a just get to the plate and wait for the batter and she was one of those that took her time and went through motions.

My own DD was a get to the plate wait for the batter type, she had no pre-pitch rituals. All her mental prep was done before the game.

She even DETESTED time outs. She liked to keep the game running smooth and quick and she said time outs would just stop the gears.

 

[riseball]

Every pitcher is different. I heard them them discuss this at one of the conference games as well, the announcer said the other pitcher on her team was a just get to the plate and wait for the batter and she was one of those that took her time and went through motions.

My own DD was a get to the plate wait for the batter type, she had no pre-pitch rituals. All her mental prep was done before the game.

She even DETESTED time outs. She liked to keep the game running smooth and quick and she said time outs would just stop the gears.

I would encourage her to learn to be comfortable working at a slower pace when needed. Working fast is a trait that is easily exploited by a team of savvy hitters. We do it regularly.

 

[Jojo]

I would encourage her to learn to be comfortable working at a slower pace when needed. Working fast is a trait that is easily exploited by a team of savvy hitters. We do it regularly.

Doubt she'll listen, she's 28 now and exploited many hitters this way.

 

[coachsandig]

re: mental side of pitching

(Example of building the psyche is like Notre Dames pitcher named Winter. She gets this growly look on her face and rhythms a bounce before each and every pitch.

LOL, You're talking about "Big Red" Laura Winter at ND. She's a great pitcher and a truly wonderful young lady that we see at all of the ND camps that my DD attends. Her rhythm bounce helps her tremendously.

The interesting thing about Laura that a lot of people don't know is that as good as she is, she struggles constantly with her confidence because she is such a perfectionist. My DD just turned 9 in Dec. and relates so much to Laura's struggles. Laura is (In my opinion) an incredible role model for any young perfectionist.
One thing that my DD is working on mentally is visualization techniques while she's on the mound. I have her stand there for a few seconds staring at the strike zone envisioning fireworks exploding if she gets it in the zone. To everyone else on the field and in the stands it looks like she's staring at the batter like a psychopath, and to be honest I've heard the comments from the opposing dugout like "omg she's standing there staring at us like she wants to kill us". LOL, makes it even funnier bc my DD is one of the sweetest kids in the world and that's the farthest thing from her mind...if they knew the truth she may lose the advantage though!
It's a way to get her to "trance" and get in the zone. Her "clear the mechanism" moment if you will before every pitch. I think every pitcher has these techniques, and for perfectionist types, that are infinitely harder on themselves than anyone else, it will be both more pronounced and critical for them to make it routine.

Pitchers need to have an incredibly short memory, and a routine helps that. Our current pitching coach (Britt O'Donnell who was ND's ace last year) focuses more on mechanical perfection but doesn't go anywhere near the mental/emotional aspect of the position for a couple reasons I think. One, she doesn't have enough time to do that during a 1 hour session. Two, she's one of those girls that was blessed with an incredibly short memory while on the mound so doesn't relate to the Laura Winters types (like my DD). Some girls just don't have the same temperament. Laura and Britt are as different emotionally/mentally as night and day so they will have different approaches to routine and the mental aspects of the game.

For a perfectionist that self destructs when she has a few bad pitches, a routine will be CRITICAL, both before the game and in between pitches...try to have them visualize while they're waiting for the batter. For the Britts' they still have routine, just not as pronounced. Find out what works and develop that!