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My coach is making his son the starting pitcher on varsity?
by Wally
Wally asked: Hello Rick, If you are one of two starting pitchers, you should see as many starts as the pitcher ahead of you, or visa versa if you become the number one. At this point it would be beneficial to move your focus onto being the most successful starting pitcher, rather than the number one. Focus On The Process and the Results Will Take Care Of Themselves. In your estimation, have you out performed the coaches son during last spring and through this summer? Has that number one slot in the rotation histrically gone to a senior, or has it been based on head to head competition? You mentioned waiting your turn last year, did you get much mound time at all, or were the pitchers all seniors? How was the rotation divided this summer? You worked your way from the bench to starting on the JV team as a sophomore. There is no reason that you can't do it again on the Varsity. Be the better pitcher, the guy they have to go to because you are getting it done. You never know when that opportunity is going to show up. The trick to success is to be ready when the opportunity presents itself, step up and grab it, don't look back. It sounds like you may be letting the fact that the player listed as the number one is a junior, and you are a senior. Out of your control. I can see where it would also be a concern because he is the coaches son. Out of your control. Use both of those factors as motivators to prove the list was a mistake. At this point, it is only a list. Use the upcoming months to improve on your deficiencies and fine tune your strengths. Set up a plan for how you are going to get there and stick to it. Frame your situation in the positive. Use it as an opportunity to get stronger, take your game to another level, seperate yourself from your competition. It is my belief that a major seperator between players and teams, at all levels, is the Mental Game. This is an area where you can gain a significant amount of ground on your competition, and you have the time to do so. I highly recommend a book by H.A Dorfman, The Mental ABC's Of Pitching, a handbook for performance enhancement. He also has written The Mental Game Of Baseball, a guide to peak performance. Also, The Mental Keys to Hitting, A handbook of strategies for performance enhancement. All are available on Amazon, in book stores, or on my website. A quote from Mr. Dorfman from his pitching book: "Anger, in many ways is a feast...the chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you!" I am sure you are angry at your current situation, it would be natural to be. Let your anger go, re-frame your situation to see this as the opportunity to improve your game that it is. You will never regret the time and effort you put into this endeavor. Please let me know how things are going. I would also like to get a little more depth about your situation, if you have time. Yours in baseball, Rick |
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