When I was in high school I would get a mailing (this is before the days of social media), from the pre-eminent velocity guru of the day
He preached a message of “don’t get too big” and “work on your flexibility”; and then for a large fee, he would unveil all the secret pitching mechanic drills I didn’t know, that would take me where I wanted to go.
This message resonated with me though because I was very small, and very weak, and to me, the weight room was a scary place where all the big bad high school football players lifted
So my fear combined with my lack of knowledge, and as a high school Junior, I weighed 125 lbs
I got exactly what I wanted: I didn’t get too big
The problem was that I wasn’t nearly genetically gifted enough for super secret pitching drills to overcome my lack of application of the principles of physics, namely F = MxA
So I threw 78-80mph
And it was over
Not done playing of course, as I still won some high school awards, and then mostly sat the bench at a small college; but it was over at that point.
Because unless you’re a genetic freak, you can’t FAIL to do something that you should have done, and still make it
What I needed was me right now to go back in time and slap the debates right out of my mouth, and tell me, “Start training RIGHT NOW. Start changing your nutrition RIGHT NOW. And maybe you’ll have a chance at this sport you love so much”
Sadly I don’t know if I would’ve even listened. Thanks to my ability to execute and pitch at a level beyond my competition in high school, what I was doing must be working, right?
It wasn’t until college, and at a dinky D2 at that, that I was finally awakened to the fact that no matter how great your pitching and execution is, you’re not getting anyone out weighing 125 and grunting throwing 78-80. Hitters just moved to the front of the box, and teed off. No amount of super secret pitching drills and flexibility was going to help me, and I found my new home, the bench.
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