The mark of an Indiana Shock
Player and Coach

1.       Leave the world a little bit better than how you found it.

2.       Vision – a culture of excellence, enthusiasm, forgiveness, teamwork, and competitiveness will maximize our chances to reach our goals.

3.       Lead by example. Bench the ego and give your best effort now. No whining. No complaining. No excuses.

4.       Connect with empathy: don’t get mad, get curious!

5.       It takes courage – the strength of will to do what’s difficult – to get rid of both complacency and a person’s safety net. It takes courage to give your best effort right now to make self and teammates better. This becomes easier when you understand that your best effort is always good enough.

6.       Good values attract good people and good people make me better.

7.       Little things make the big things happen.

8.       Greatness and success are attainable by all.

9.       The carrot is mightier than the stick and half full is greater than half empty.

10.   Adversity is good for me as long as I literally survive.

11.   Patience and a Faith hold it all together.

12.   Strive for perfection, but never expect it.

12 Mechanical Fundamentals

1.       Balance. Dynamic balance of hitters, fielders, pitchers, and base runners comes from emotional balance and good muscle memory.

2.       Good muscle memory: we strive to do the “little things” right every time. Make the Routine Routine

3.       Swing: short to it and long through it.

4.       Swing: palm up/palm down through extension.

5.       Swing: use the lower half. Transfer weight.

6.       Swing: work down to the ball.

7.       Bunting: just play catch. If it is not an easy catch, don’t catch it

8.       You can throw the ball faster than you can run with it. Get rid of the ball.

9.       Throwing – aim small, miss small!. use both arms to maintain balance and line the body up to the target

10.   Throwing: Catching – Watch the ball into your glove.

11.   Base running – be aggressive – fail full speed

12.   Rhythm – Great athletes look athletic.

1.       Softball is what we do; it is not who we are.

2.       Success is the peace of mind that comes from knowing you did your best.

3.       Play to win – be aggressive and communicate with self and others in a positive manner.

4.       More communication is nonverbal than verbal. Act poised and upbeat.

5.       W.I.N.! The most important play in the game (or drill in practice) is this next one. Know when the play starts and finishes.

6.       Every baserunner’s objective: the next base. Be aggressive!

7.       The most important coach each player will ever have is herself. Coaches are teaching players how to coach themselves and be good at life, which (happily) includes softball.

8.       You are responsible for your behavior. You can control your readiness with both attitude and physiology, your plan of attack, and your focus.

9.       Each player has a dual role: coach and athlete. She coaches herself (and sometimes others) between pitches and switches to a trust/athlete mode when she steps into sacred space (e.g. batter’s box, engaged with pitching rubber, or pitcher winding up for everyone else).

10.   We want you to develop routines to get yourself into the right place at the right time with a specific, controllable objective.

11.   When in sacred space, laser focus on the task at hand and let it happen.

12.   Your best effort is tough to give, but if you are disciplined enough to design a plan to create an ideal performance state, commit to a plan of attack, and focus…and then execute that routine precisely, success is guaranteed. (B.E. = A.G.E.: Your best effort is always good enough.)