Tricks/games to recreate pressure?
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This is not very creative, but it is effective. Simulate batters. Start with 0-0 count and see if they can strike the batter out before walking them. Catcher calls balls/strikes. You can take this up a notch by having a batting tee on a bucket actually standing in for a batter. Can move it to right side and left side to work different handed batters.
If you have another kid you don’t care that much about, you can actually have them stand in there with a bat so your pitcher actually has a batter to throw to (having them not swing). LOL.
Probably the best way to approximate game conditions is to have pitcher throw to live batters in practice. Pitcher is trying to get the batter out, batter is trying to get a hit. As long as you can secure services of a catcher, you really only need a couple of batters. More difficult logistically to pull off, but probably worth doing every so often.
Interested to see what others have to say.
If you have another kid you don’t care that much about, you can actually have them stand in there with a bat so your pitcher actually has a batter to throw to (having them not swing). LOL.
Probably the best way to approximate game conditions is to have pitcher throw to live batters in practice. Pitcher is trying to get the batter out, batter is trying to get a hit. As long as you can secure services of a catcher, you really only need a couple of batters. More difficult logistically to pull off, but probably worth doing every so often.
Interested to see what others have to say.
- Nov 6, 2019
- 92
- 18
My daughters coach always gave her a time limit to strike 3 batters out and had the catcher call balls/strikes. Then she would make her try to beat her time from the previous session.
This is true, so ask yourself if it's worth it to truly spend a lot of time trying.
I don't have all the answers, but I'm pretty sure I have the right idea here. For most people, what creates nervousness under pressure is feeling unprepared for the moment.
If you were teaching a class, would you spend a bunch of class time giving practice tests leading up to the big final, or would you spend that class time teaching them the material so when it comes to test time, the students (who do their part) know the answers? Of course, some people are just bad at tests. I have no idea how to break through that mental block.
It just makes so much more sense to me to spend precious practice time helping players develop the skills needed to be successful on the field. The only way to get better at handling the pressure is to do it. Usually that means failing a few times. But the more games they play, the more times they deal with pressure, they will get better at handling it.
- Oct 26, 2019
- 1,391
- 113
This is pretty much in line with my philosophy. I try to teach the kids the tools and fundamentals they can use in the game, but I allow them to “learn the game through the game”.
My DD's pitching coach would play a game called "how many strikes can you throw in a row."
After about five, he would start talking to her. He would say she was no good, a terrible pitcher, and that she was going to throw the next pitch over her head...it was done in a teasing manner, so it was kind of funny. E.g., "You are as soft as whipped cream. No, you are softer than whipped cream. You are the air in whipped cream." Sooner or later, she would chuck one five feet over the catcher's head.
By my DD's senior year in HS, nothing he said bothered her. She could completely shut him out and throw strikes...pitch after pitch. He would finally say, "Ok, enough."
After about five, he would start talking to her. He would say she was no good, a terrible pitcher, and that she was going to throw the next pitch over her head...it was done in a teasing manner, so it was kind of funny. E.g., "You are as soft as whipped cream. No, you are softer than whipped cream. You are the air in whipped cream." Sooner or later, she would chuck one five feet over the catcher's head.
By my DD's senior year in HS, nothing he said bothered her. She could completely shut him out and throw strikes...pitch after pitch. He would finally say, "Ok, enough."
Burpees have worked for my DD in her pitching lessons. When she succeeds, her pitching coach does them instead. I am not sure it created Pressure, but they certainly snap her into focus.
I'm imaging this escalating to the point where the coach goes to further and further extremes to distract her. Air horns, the school marching band, an atomic bomb going off nearby.
I've blasted death metal right beside my daughter when she's practicing pitching. But I also will just talk to her about tuning out the crowd or chants, knowing her role, analyzing a bad pitch and mentally going through her mechanics before the next pitch, and setting the example for her defense. I always say "When you're in the circle, you're in charge and you set the example. THEY go as YOU go. No emotion, and you always lift them up. Never talk down at them for mistakes."
Last season was 8th grade. Her third year playing ball and first season pitching. She pitched 40 innings I think, and only in two games did she bonk from a balls and strikes perspective. She only had one game where she was visibly upset. It was a combination of too many fringe pitches and an ump whose strike zone seemed particularly tight. She only ever vocalized her frustrations to me. Never to the other girls, on or off the field.
For the team, one day I got the idea to blast music from the P.A. I let it be pop music, but I had it so loud a person would have to yell to someone a few feet away. Then I also gave them all foam earplugs to wear. Then we took infield at probably 30% faster than normal. It was complete chaos, but they're a super young team and I needed to find a way for them to experience that panic they were feeling when the ball was getting beaten all over the place. I hit the gaps, hard grounders, called for them to turn 2, etc. The ball was going everywhere. Assignments were being missed. Angry faces. I couldn't stop laughing between screaming at them to pick up the pace or calling out missed assignments, which I knew they probably couldn't completely hear.
The what I hoped to see, happened. Hand signals, arms waving, eyes up and watching where the ball was, and they started THINKING and making their own decisions. A couple of the more experienced girls got frustrated enough that they took ownership and started running things. And everything cleaned right up. It was amazing to see. They still all hated it. I loved it.
Last season was 8th grade. Her third year playing ball and first season pitching. She pitched 40 innings I think, and only in two games did she bonk from a balls and strikes perspective. She only had one game where she was visibly upset. It was a combination of too many fringe pitches and an ump whose strike zone seemed particularly tight. She only ever vocalized her frustrations to me. Never to the other girls, on or off the field.
For the team, one day I got the idea to blast music from the P.A. I let it be pop music, but I had it so loud a person would have to yell to someone a few feet away. Then I also gave them all foam earplugs to wear. Then we took infield at probably 30% faster than normal. It was complete chaos, but they're a super young team and I needed to find a way for them to experience that panic they were feeling when the ball was getting beaten all over the place. I hit the gaps, hard grounders, called for them to turn 2, etc. The ball was going everywhere. Assignments were being missed. Angry faces. I couldn't stop laughing between screaming at them to pick up the pace or calling out missed assignments, which I knew they probably couldn't completely hear.
The what I hoped to see, happened. Hand signals, arms waving, eyes up and watching where the ball was, and they started THINKING and making their own decisions. A couple of the more experienced girls got frustrated enough that they took ownership and started running things. And everything cleaned right up. It was amazing to see. They still all hated it. I loved it.
