Practice with PRESSURE! – Carol Bruggeman

by Carol Bruggeman - Associate Head Coach, Louisville
Originally published in July 2010 edition of Fastpitch Delivery

How many coaches out there can relate to this scenario?

You feel you have a very solid defensive team, as your athletes work hard on the mechanics and fundamentals of fielding, throwing, and receiving every day. Each member of the team fields 150 ground balls and 50 fly balls daily. Technically, they are a very sound group on defense. Rarely does anyone on your team miss any routine ground ball or throw to a teammate. They look at ease in practice on defense, can't wait for "their turn" and look confident.

Flash forward to a live game. Not just a live game but a close game. Not just a close game but a game with the conference championship on the line. Your team is on defense, up four runs, bottom of the seventh inning. No problem, right? Only three outs and the game is over. Your team has not made one mistake the entire game so, as a coach, you feel great. "We got 'em right where we want 'em." After all, every player fielded her required balls in practice the day before and looked solid.

Leadoff batter gets on first base with a missed call from the umpire. Immediately, everyone is frustrated. Next batter hits a ground ball to the pitcher, who starts to go to first base for the out, then very late hears someone yell "two," and changes her mind and tries to get the lead out at second base – it's too late; both runners are safe. Next batter hits a three-run home run. Now it's one-run lead. It gets very quiet on the field and you see fear in your fielders' eyes. Next ball is hit routinely to the shortstop, who makes an error. "No way she did that" you think. "She fielded 150 of those yesterday with no problem!" Now the entire team looks stiff, frustrated, and nervous. The look of doubt is written all over their faces. Nobody wants the ball hit to them. Two errors later, two more runs score and the end result – your team loses by one run.

What's the difference in the above scenarios between practice and the live game? It's certainly not the required skills. They are the same in each situation. The difference is PRESSURE!

What is pressure? Pressure is a compelling or constraining influence on the mind or will. It is a condition of distress. Pressure is created when a player focuses on the END RESULT and not the PROCESS. In softball, the goal is to be able to focus on the process always and not the end result. We all have read the research that states stress and pressure cause an elevated heart rate, lack of clarity and focus, even some "paralysis by analysis." Most of us don't even need the research. We've seen it happen right before our eyes with our own players!

The result may have been different in the above scenario if the players PRACTICED PRESSURE situations on a daily basis. Even if the end results were the same, at least they would have "gone down" with a real opportunity for success. If we can create pressure-packed practices, then our live games become "just another day at the office" and another opportunity to compete and play softball at the highest level.

Pressure and mental toughness go hand-in-hand. Mental toughness, simply defined, is the ability to bounce back. If we want players who can handle pressure, and if we want mentally tough softball players in our games, then we must practice mental toughness in practice.

As coaches, we tend to put players in one of two categories...

Those who can perform under pressure or who can rise to the challenge of a perceived tight situation.

Those who cannot perform under pressure or who fold in the face of a perceived tight situation.

In the sport of softball, it is critical that we challenge our players with pressure on a daily basis so that our players can move into the first category. We do numerous drills that are skill-specific over and over and over, and certainly, softball is a sport of repetition. However, once a player has a mastery of the skills, we must have our players focus and perform that same mastery of skills UNDER STRESS. A player is not a complete defensive player until she can perform the skill required AND communicate the play. You are not a complete SUCCESSFUL defensive player until you can perform the skills required, communicate the play, and be able to do it under stress/pressure.

Let's say you are facing an opponent who has three slappers in a row on offense who all possess tremendous speed. To create that feeling of pressure and handling speed for your infielders, start a runner a fourth of the way up the line toward first base. When the ball is hit/slapped, the runner sprints to first base on contact, essentially giving the runner a head-start. The infielders must throw the runner out on a bunted or slapped ball or there are consequences. This simple drill allows your infielders to know where to position themselves to make the play and also to "feel" how quickly they must release the ball in order to get an out.

The only real way to create pressure is to have perceived or real consequences. We must hold our players accountable for performance in practice. What we do not want as coaches is for our players to feel any sort of stress, offensively or defensively, for the first time, during a game situation. Our players need to have that "stressful" feeling or be put in a pressure situation repeatedly in practice so they are ready to perform during the games under the same circumstances. We put our players at a huge disadvantage if we do not practice pressure and competition.

Softball is an interesting sport. It truly is a team sport, yet very individual as well. After all, on defense, you cannot make an out by yourself... ever. Yet when a ground ball is hit to the second baseman, the second baseman must field and throw the ball cleanly (individually) and the first baseman must catch the ball cleanly (individually). The entire team is depending on an individual to perform a skill. Now that's pressure! The better the individuals, the better the team!

Therefore, we must have PRACTICE situations where the entire team is depending upon the performance of an individual skill... all while working together as a team!

At Louisville, we want our players to be "comfortable being uncomfortable" in various offensive and defensive situations. We practice, in a team format, the ability to focus, perform, and bounce back under pressure. Errors on defense and strikeouts on offense are a part of our game and we must learn how to handle them, refocus, and welcome the opportunity to make the next play quickly.

Examples of team practices we use to practice individual skills, teamwork, mental toughness, leadership, and, most important, performing under pressure include "Top 25 Defense," "Around the World," "Work Up," and "Perfect 12/5 minutes."

The keys to our team drills are the different types of pressures, challenges, and competition. If we have one mental mistake by a player or two physical mistakes in a row as a team at any time throughout the drills, the entire team has a consequence. Therefore, the entire team is depending upon individuals to perform successfully... just like a game!

This past season (2010), we were fortunate-enough to finish 20th in the country in defensive fielding percentage...although we were happy with our overall performance, you can bet our goal will be a top 10 finish next season. Time to turn up the heat in practice!

Add a little more pressure to your drills and team practices... you will find your team welcomes and enjoys the challenge and will be prepared mentally going into competition.

After all, the best and most memorable outcomes for individuals and teams occur when there was pressure or when it meant the most!