The Art of Pitching

by | Oct 7, 2013 | Blog

I wasn’t much of an athlete in my adolescence, and truthfully I’m not that stellar of an athlete now, but like many boys growing up in the US midwest I felt pressure to be in the “ball sports.”  It’s not that I lacked functioning limbs, had bad eyesight, or enough heart for the game.  I just wasn’t very coordinated and could be easily distracted by the simplest of things. Yet, every year I’d try my luck in baseball, football, and even basketball.  Most of my coaches successfully limited my harm by keeping me on the bench or occasionally I’d be relegated to the position that seemed to cause the least harm, which I quickly proved didn’t exist.  However, on one occasion I convinced my baseball coach to put me in as the pitcher.  I had no previous experience in this position, unless you count what I saw from the bench or while watching the pros on TV…but how hard could it be? If you ever watch pro pitchers successfully finish an inning, you’ll notice that they rarely celebrate, or launch their glove into the air as I would often do while coming off the field.  Instead they more often move deliberately and quietly to the end of the bench in order to keep their focus. In many ways I’m beginning to see how this characteristic of pitchers is similar to what leaders often need to exude in their positions.  Although, it’s not always assumed that a pitcher is leading the team, both pitchers and leaders benefit their teammates by remaining calm in tense moments.  Schools, like any organization are...