Lessons From Coach Obama

 Earlier this year, in the spring, I was working with  a young hitter who also happened to be a very good pitcher.

Let me rephrase that.

I was working with a terrific young pitcher who was wasting her time swinging the bat - in her mind.

You see, she was coming from a baseball family where pitchers (her dad and brothers are all pitchers) don't hit.

Furthermore, that perception was reinforced by her own coaches who didn't want her to get her hurt to protect their precious jewel the year before.

Mind you - she was 12 years old.

Basically, in her mind, she was no hitter.

However, today, I am not writing about whether pitchers should hit or not - that's not the purpose of this article.

It was just to set the table.

So, why was I working with her on her hitting then?

Because, a SMART coach saw how athletic she was and asked me to spend time with her on her hitting believing she could be a great hitting asset to the team.

I saw the same thing. She could be a good hitter.

Her swing was not good at all but she had all the tools to be a good hitter.

One exception - in her mind - she was not! She didn't see herself as a hitter.

Most of my work with that kid was spent telling her how great of a  hitter she could be and working on having her SEE in the theater of her mind that she was hitting beautiful, game-winning, line-drive doubles and triples.

Of course, I fixed part of her mechanics - easy task with such a natural athlete - but most of the time was spent getting her to believe SHE WAS a hitter.

I spoke to the coach again yesterday. Guess what happened this past summer?

You probably guessed it. She became a great asset to her 12U team finishing the season with a .473 batting average and was considered by the coach her second best hitter.

And she got the MVP because she also threw a bunch of shutouts during the summer.

The lesson here is that you have to BELIEVE and SEE YOURSELF IN YOUR MIND being successful before you can actually be successful on the field.

What is the saying already?

"Yes, we can!"

Who loves ya?

Marc
"Your Softball Peak Performance Coach"

P.S. Remember - you've got to believe that "YES YOU CAN"!

What are your thoughts on the subject?