Never Mind the Size

Just as being a right handed pitcher isn’t a deal breaker from the immediate advantage of being a leftie, neither is overall size or height. Take a look at the height stats of the sports top pitchers:

• NiJaree Canady - 6’0 - R - Stanford

• Jordie Bahl - 5’7 - R - Oklahoma/Nebraska

• Kelly Maxwell - 5’10 - L - Oklahoma state/Oklahoma

• Odicci Alexander - 5’7 - R - James Madison University

• Donnie Gobourne - 5’8 - R - University of South Carolina

• Rachel Garcia - 5’6 - R - UCLA

• Amanda Scarborough - 5’5 - R - Texas A&M

• Monica Abbott - 6’3 - L - Tennessee

• Cat Osterman - 6’3 - L - Texas

• Jennie Finch - 6’0 - R - University of Arizona

• Kelly Barhill - 5’8 - R - University of Florida

• Paige Lowry - 5’10 - R - Oklahoma

• Taryne Mowatt - 5’6 - R - University of Arizona

• Danielle Lawrie - 5’7 - R - Washington

Watch them play. Watch the tone they set from pitch one. Watch the focus. Watch what they do after a walk, a hit, an error. Watch how they react to a strikeout, a good play, an out.

All of these pitchers do share one thing in common; confidence.

It's them in that circle that has to produce the results and put into play all the work they have put in. No one can do it for them. A coach, a parent, a teammate can speak confidence to them, but it's the player that has to believe in her heart that she deserves to have the ball in her hand and pitch with confidence.

Pitching, once past a certain age boils down to two things; work ethic and mental toughness. When relying on just talent, or speed without accuracy or movement, where lack of proper training and practice catches up to them, and where non-servant leadership reaches that dead end, the true pitchers start to reveal themselves through grit and tenacity. The ones that rise to the top are the ones who discover and utilize their confidence to reach for the hands of their teammates so that they can perform their individual jobs to the best of their ability when the pitch is thrown.