“Ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship.”

I recently heard this quote for the first time: 

“Ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship.”

It stopped me in my tracks.

And of course I thought of pitchers.

Ease is a greater threat to PROGRESS than hardship.

Progress = growth.

You won’t grow without feeling uncomfortable.

This is the part that many pitchers can’t get past.

It’s the boundary between average and good; good and great.

When you get TOO comfortable with how you’re pitching, how it’s feeling, or become unwilling to tweak or change anything – and this is where the progress will stop.

Yes, you want to feel CONFIDENT and that can be confused with ease. Pitching is never EASY. It’s a beautiful grind.

When it feels too easy, that’s when you know you need to push yourself for something MORE. That’s when you know there IS more inside of you to pull out.

I’ve said this 1000 times. Pitching is hard. 

And while we can strive for adjustments and times that things “click,” we can’t hang on those moments for too long because there is more to be done. 

There always is. 

No matter how far you’ve already come and no matter what level you’re at, there’s always more that you can pull from inside of you. It’s one of the biggest life-lessons you learn through pitching.

So the next time your pitcher doesn’t want to try something new or tries or twice and “doesn’t like it”, remember the quote “ease is a great threat to progress than hardship.”

Examples I think of:
A) Not wanting to change the start of the pitch with the new rule change where the stride foot can be a little further back behind.

B) Resistance to change pivot foot mechanics even though there is a leap or crow hop.

C) Not pushing to get on a better, more competitive team because the team you’re on right now you’re the #1 and you get all the pitching time.

D) Not looking to better your mechanics because how you’re doing right NOW, you’re the best in your area/league/state, etc.

When things become easy or too comfortable, it’s time to check in with yourself and think ok, what’s next? Where can I grow? How can I push for more?

(Quote by Denzel Washington)

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Amanda Scarborough

Big 12 Freshman of the Year (2005)
Big 12 Player of the Year (2005)
Texas A&M Softball All American ('05 & '07)
Big 12 Pitcher of the Year (2007)
WCWS Appearances ('07 & '08)
Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee (2014)
ESPN Softball Analyst
The Packaged Deal co-founder

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