Total Reading Time: 4 minutes

Happy Monday! It’s convention week and time for all of us to come together through softball and the NFCA. If you’ll be in Vegas this week I hope to see you there. Meanwhile I’ll keep this short and we’ll look at leadership and contingency planning.

So Let’s Go!

Table of Contents

• The Responsibility of Leadership

• Contingency Planning from a Fighter Pilot

The Responsibility of Leadership

Zach Brandon writes a terrific newsletter on coaching and leadership that I highly recommend (Winning with Words), and his latest issue deals with the topic of leadership.

As Brandon says, leadership is a responsibility, not a convenience. There will be days when you’re tired. Days when you’re managing your own burdens. Days when you don’t really feel ready.

As coaches we’re asked to lead when we don’t feel good, or when we’re uncertain. When we’re tired or struggling in our personal lives.

You can’t script when someone will need you. You can’t predict when a moment to help will arrive. Your job is to be the kind of leader who shows up even when the timing isn’t ideal, because that’s often when your presence will matter most.

(NOTE: Zach Brandon is a terrific resource as a newsletter, a podcast and as a coaching resource @MVP_Mindset)

Contingency Planning from a Fighter Pilot

A former Air Force fighter pilot, retired Colonel Kim Campbell, wrote a book - Flying in the Face of Fear - in which she talks about the role that planning plays in staying calm in the face of fear.

I love these kinds of books because, without sounding dramatic, it’s similar to the pressure we feel as pitching coaches, and that our pitchers often feel when pitching.

Colonel Campbell talks about how fighter pilots often think of the most likely scenario and the most dangerous scenario. What’s the worst that could happen, and what’s the most likely thing that’s going to happen that doesn’t go according to plan?

She says the key is it’s not what could go wrong. It’s - what will you do when that happens? It’s thinking about the action you’ll take.

Prepare - it’s all the scouting and research preparing for our opponent.

Practice - it’s shaping our practices for our specific opponents and ensuring our pitchers are primed for action and can effectively cope with the stress of game pitching.

Plan - this is where we take into account the contingencies. What can go wrong and what’s the most likely thing to go wrong - and how will we handle both of these, like changing pitchers early. Or making sure your “lefty specialists” can successfully get through the righty hitters.

As we head into the offseason and some much-needed downtime, start to consider how you’re going to work contingency planning into your practice planning. Plant for it and be better prepared for it!

Thanks for reading this week’s Curveball Chronicles. I hope you gained some insight, some encouragement, some knowledge or some grace.

Go make this a Great week!

Missed some previous issues? Don’t worry, I’ve got them all on my website: https://pitchingcoachcentral.com/curveball-newsletter/