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Thor, The Viking Bandit - part 1

by Dave
Sunday, June 21, 2009

A: "In Little League I was considered a top player/pitcher from the time I started until I quite LL after 8th grade.   But on my summer ball teams, I was never really considered a dominant player, let alone pitcher, until I was much older.   I think probably during my sophomore year in high school my summer teams started realizing that I was one of their better outfielders, but I only got a few innings to pitch here and there.   Really it wasn't until my senior year in summer ball that I was considered a top pitcher for my team.   I'd always been on teams where the pitchers were coaches' daughters.   But it just fed my fire that much more to go out and prove to everyone that I could pitch with the best of them.   The best thing that ever happened to me was that I was told I'd never be good enough to accomplish my dream of pitching and dominating in the PAC10. "

A: "I think, so far, the most memorable years I've had in softball were my junior season with my high school team, senior (HS) season with my summer team, senior year at Cal, and last year with the Bandits.   It's funny, because those were hands down the best team years we've had, judging by win loss standards, but I think that's due to the same reason those are my most memorable seasons.   Each team I mentioned had that chemistry that coaches always talk about achieving, and that players/teams dream about achieving, especially my summer team the WA Ladyhawks - that was a really special team.   We were small, but had great talent and love for the game, but you couldn't separate us from each other.   We never got in tiffs, no one ever talked bad about someone else, and we all loved being around everyone on the team.   We always played for each other, and we always played for the love of the game.   That's what made those years so memorable and so successful."

A: "First off, the most important thing is that their daughter is having fun.   I see a lot of girls playing because their parents want them to, and they end up resenting the game which is a really sad sight to see.   Having fun is the most important aspect of the game, regardless of what level they're playing at.

Secondly, when someone tells you that you can't achieve something, or that you'll never be good enough, don't use that as an excuse to settle.   Use that as a reason to work harder, to show everyone that you can be good enough, that you can succeed.   It's so easy to take the easy path and just give up - but it's SO much more rewarding to work harder than everyone else and to reap the benefits in the end.   Even if you don't reach your goals, you know you outworked everyone, and you know you gave it your best shot.   You'll never have any regrets that way."

A: "Throwing and catching.   Hitting wins games, but defense wins championships.   Close games always come down to who has a better defense, who doesn't make the error that cost the game.   Proper throwing and catching techniques make up most of the game.   With hitting, it's great to have a nice swing with a lot of power, but even if you don't have that swing, you can find a way to get on base.   With throwing and catching, if you don't have the right mechanics, it makes it really difficult to get outs, which is what you need to win."

A: "I think if I could do it over again, I would have tried to keep playing at least one other sport.   But when I look back, I don't regret my decision.   I enjoyed volleyball and soccer, but I wasn't passionate.   Not only that, I was in band, marching band, national honor society, and I was helping coach the middle school softball team as well as doing weekly pitching clinics.   So I had a lot going on, and school was always really important to me, so I couldn't let my grades slip.   I would have loved to been able to keep playing another sport, but I wasn't willing to give anything else up, and something had to give.   And besides, I have many years left to get back into volleyball and soccer, and all the other sports I want to try."

A: "I didn't really play varsity my freshman year.   I was a swinger, and I got the minimum amount of innings to letter at varsity, but most of my freshman year I pitched JV.   I was SO mad when I didn't make varsity, but looking back, I'm glad I didn't because I got a lot more pitching time in JV than I would have at varsity, which made me better in the long run.   The only other sport I played for Shorecrest was volleyball my freshman year, which I played on the frosh team."

A: "I fully believe my coach when he said I stunk worse than skunk poop.   It's hard for me to remember how bad I came back, but I know that I was REALLY disappointed in myself.   I'm sure Jim, my coach, also said what he said to try and light a fire under me.   From that point, and not making varsity 2 months later, I never wanted to be that person again.   I finally just had enough of people telling me that I wasn't going to be good enough, that I couldn't make the cut and my focus just shifted.   From then on, I threw a minimum of 4 days/week, usually 5-6 days, and most workouts were an hour and a half long.   It wasn't enough for me to just workout.   I spent the first half hour of my workouts on basic mechanics, but after that the majority of my workouts focused on spins and getting my pitches to move.   I was a perfectionist, and expected perfect spin on all my pitches.   I knew I would never throw very hard, so that was never a focus.   I wanted to have three different speeds between all my pitches, but more than that, I wanted/needed all my pitches to spin and move.   With pitching practices and team practices, I probably averaged about about 10 hours of practice/week.   But more than the time I put in, which was really important, I credit my growth as a pitcher more to my focus on details, spins, and the small things that got me the success I ended up with.   I lived and breathed by the quote, 'Champions do uncommon things, things that are boring and tedious to others.'"

• Part 1 - rec play through high school.
  
  
• Part 2 - experiences as a college player
  
  
• Part 3 - experiences as a professional pitcher
  
  
• Part 4 - future including high school coach, private pitching instructor, and some longer-term possibilities

Labels: national pro fastpitch, pitching

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