Fastpitch Softball Fielding

It’s Just a Ground Ball

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It’s game time. Your team needs you. The ball is coming. You’re soooo nervous. Aughhh! Another error! Why can’t you field the ball as well as you do in practice? You’ve made that play 5 million times before in practice. Okay, maybe not 5 million times, but you know what I mean.
* sigh * You’re forgetting! “It’s just a ground ball.”

So what if it’s the bottom of the 7th, your team is up by one run, there are two outs, and the tying run is on 3rd? Don’t let that ground ball fool you! It’s not the big, bad, mean old ground ball that’s going to chew you up and spit you out for dinner. It’s just the same old, boring, routine grounder that you’ve seen again and again in practice. The same one that you’ve fielded a million times before without a problem. Okay, maybe not a million, but probably a thousand.

So what if it’s the championship game your team has worked so hard for all season?
So what if there’s a bunch of college scouts out in the bleachers watching your every move?
So what if you’re playing in front of more people than you’ve ever played in front of before in your entire life?
So what if the game is on TV and there are thousands more people watching at home?
So what if it’s the ground ball that’s going to make you the hero of the day and bring home the championship your team has never won before?

That doesn’t change what it is. It’s just a ground ball. No different than that ground ball that’s a piece of cake in practice. In fact it’s an easier ground ball than all those laser shots your coach hits at you day after day, week after week, year after year, your whole softball career and you handled those just fine.

…….See it travel all the way into your glove…….
…….Bring it right into your body with those soft hands that you have…….
…….Now nice and easy…….
…….Make your throw as perfect as you always do
* sigh * now wasn’t that easy?

You got that out!
You won that championship!
You’re the hero of the day!
All because you remembered…. It’s just a ground ball.

Stacie Mahoe is an assistant varsity softball coach for Kapolei High School in Hawaii. She operates the All About Fastpitch website, which is full of fastpitch softball resources, drills, coaching tips, useful articles and college tips.