Play Fast but Don’t Hurry

As I sit in Kansas City watching a girls H/S club soccer match I can’t help but observe parallels between sports. Two teams competing without an enormous delta in overall talent and athleticism but one team is clearly in control of the game. Both teams are playing fast but one isn’t in a hurry while the other is over pursing, losing connection and feeling rushed.

If I am on the mound my job is to get the hitter off balance, sometime to promote fear in my opponent and to keep them guessing. So, when we take the batters box we want to swing fast but we can’t be in a rush. If we are, the pitcher wins as we get caught over our front foot and roll one over, or we freeze up and watch strike after strike go by, just like the soccer girls that got run ragged by the other team who played fast but didn’t rush.

As hitters we must control the space between our ears, slow our breathing and find that magical “zone” we all operate best in. The more often we can do that the more often we will have success. To get there implementing sound training techniques and volume of reps are a must BUT so is training our abilities to slow down the game, to see the pitch longer and slow our mind.

When we master all those pieces we will be able to Swing Fast without feeling Rushed.

Let’s Hit 👏