Brent Hawkins Next Level Fastpitch Academy

Always love it when I find more than 1 motivational piece in a day. And this one contains the key word I use all the time to young and experienced pitchers - RESET! If you can’t find a way to reset after a pitch, inning, or heck an entire game then you future on the mound will come to an end soon. The great ones find that mental reset that will make the physical effort easier and more satisfying. Remember we all have to experience bad- that is unavoidable! No one wins them all. But the great ones takes the bad one and learns to compartmentalize that effort over the others. They will dissect the areas that can be adjusted and here’s the key they’ll learn to throw away the real negative part - whether it’s a mechanical error or a mental aspect - and move past it. RESET! Find that ability in you.

We all live with some form of regret. Some form of “what if”. Some thought of what it could of been. It’s ok but never let those thoughts consume what you really need to be thinking of. Find the way to reward yourself for the what you have done - what you have achieved. It will require some sacrifices from you but when you look back that’s where you’ll stop thinking of the “what ifs” and start saying you know what I did darn well for myself. Trust me we all will not make it to the biggest stage of whatever sport or job but if we just turn up our effort just a touch then that’s where you’ll that inner peace as we continue to grow.

I really enjoyed watching and listening carefully when ONE word jumped out at me. I of course went back to watch again. What’s the word? I bet you won’t guess it because I was honestly shocked to hear it mentioned. It’s something I talk about all the time. It’s tied into my days of coaching shot put and discus. If you know anything about those events then you know about BLOCKING! And she mentioned how she gets her foot so she can BLOCK! And what blocking means is your front hip basically stops and that allows your back side to shoot up and that gives you the opportunity to “whip” your arm at the bottom of the circle.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZbQKwrtKTY/?igsh=bjFkY25zdzFndGw2

You can have a PERFECT grip but still struggle to find your spots... Because your base and where you stride matters just as much🙌 Sometimes even more than your grip or upper body👀 Because when everything starts at the legs, you can make every change possible to your upper body and still come across issues if your lower half isn’t where it needs to be🤷‍♀️ A small change in where you step can affect your spin, your finish, and where the pitch ends up. Sometimes the fix starts where you wouldn’t normally expect it🧏‍♀️ #softball #pitching #pitchingtips #pitcher #strikeout

Too many parents/kids think you must play D1 to feel rewarded for their time and effort BUT that’s so far from the truth. This doesn’t cover D3 or Juco but does give you an idea of what’s out there for D2 and NAIA! Playing at the next level whatever that level is is being rewarded. Take a look. Sorry forgot the pic.