Softball Tips - Factors that Affect Your Performance

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

The other day at practice we were talking about the factors that can affect the success of a play. Our players were tossing out ideas, and we built a list on a blackboard that included things such as the sun, field conditions, umpires, parents yelling, speed of execution, focus, etc. The list included more than a dozen different items, and could've been even longer if we had more time.

Once the list was made, I handed the chalk to one of the girls and told her to cross off anything that she couldn't control. When she was done, she handed the chalk to the next girl who did the same, and all the way down the line.

What was left was a series of factors that our players can control. It was a considerably smaller list to be sure.

What that list came down to in the end was our marching orders for practice. It told us the intensity level we needed, the speed we needed to practice at and the amount of focus required to be successful.

It's really an eye-opener. It's easy to run through a series of drills, giving a decent but not excessive amount of effort. It's also easy to get distracted and lose focus over the course of a couple of hours.

But if you have your list made you can remember that what you do today in practice has a direct effect on how you perform in games down the road. You know where you're going and how you're going to get there.

There are a lot of things in our game that you can't control. That's why it's important to make sure you take care of the things you actually can control.

Make your list and use it to guide your approach to practice. It'll help you become a better player.

Anyway, that's the way I see it.