The Fearless Warrior Podcast

098: [RE-RELEASE] How Jordy Bahl Uses Mental Skills

• Amanda Schaefer

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This week, we're going down memory lane from our LIVE in-person Guest Speaker Event with Jordy Bahl from our Fearless Warrior Retreat a few years ago. I am re-releasing this most popular episode because of Jordy's authenticity on and off the diamond. If you already listened once or twice, it's worth another listen!

Episode Highlights:

  • The importance of her support system
  • Why she decided to transfer to from Oklahoma to Nebraska
  • Discovering her identity outside of softball 
  • Faith provided a new perspective: "When you give Him the glory, you also give Him the pressure"
  • Mental tools she uses on the field: visualization, breathwork, self-talk, routines, grounding, and her why

Connect with Jordy:

IG: @jordybahl

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the fearless warrior podcast, a place for athletes, coaches and parents who know the value of a strong mindset. I'm your host, coach AB, a mental performance coach on a mission, former softball coach, wife and mom of three. Each episode, we will dive deep into all things mental performance, mindset tools and how to rewire the brain for success. So if your goal is to gain the mental edge and learn the secrets of mental performance, mindset tools and how to rewire the brain for success, so if your goal is to gain the mental edge and learn the secrets of mental performance, you're in the right place. Let's tune in to today's episode. Every now and then, we'd like to re-air some of our best interviews. This one is special as we just wrapped up our fourth annual Fearless Warrior Retreat, so we thought it would be fun to go down memory lane, and it happens to be episode 98. This interview with Jordi Ball took place at the very same retreat just a few short years ago. This year, jordi had an incredible season at Nebraska. Her and her teammates led Nebraska to the Super Regionals for the first time since 2014. She was named both Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. She was the first player in the conference's history to earn both of those awards in the same season. She was also a member of the All Big Ten First Team. She has been a two-time National Player of the Week this spring and she has won six Big Ten weekly awards, including five Pitcher of the Week honors and one Player of the Week award. With 23 home runs and 25 wins in the circle, she is one of five players in NCAA history to have 20-plus home runs and wins in the same season. And with all of this, jordie Ball is as humble as they come. We love sharing her story, not because of her accolades, but because of her heart. Some of your biggest idols and greats of the game are still human and they will be the first to tell you that. An opportunity for us to show athletes that it's okay to not be okay. So, without further ado, let's jump into her story. Jordi Ball is with us today and I'm so excited she's back home in Nebraska.

Speaker 1:

You guys are here at the retreat. A lot of you guys have been waiting for this. This is going to be an informal conversation, and so Jordi and I are going to have a conversation back and forth about a lot of the topics that you guys have learned about, and then we're just going to see where the conversation goes and then, towards the end, we're going to open it up to you guys, first to ask questions, and then we have some questions from our Warrior members that they submitted earlier. But the main thing is is that, through Jordi's story going and playing two years at Oklahoma, being a national champion, having all of these accolades and these stats and these amazing accomplishments, I think what you're going to find today is that you will not find a more humble person who's excited to share her faith, her story, her triumphs, her struggles and all that comes with that, and that's what we're going to kind of talk about in today. So, jordi, give us a welcome, a one-two punch, tell us a little bit about you.

Speaker 2:

Well, first, thank you guys for having me. I'm really excited to be here and be working with a lot of you guys. I know like half of you are from here and half are from out of state, so I think that's awesome. It's super cool that you all came together for this camp and that there's no softball at this camp. It's literally all things besides the physical game itself, so I think that's awesome.

Speaker 2:

But a little bit about me. I'm from Papillion, nebraska, which is just about a half hour south of here, and I started pitching and playing competitive softball when I was eight years old. I played travel ball on Nebraska teams up until my senior year. I played a full season with the Beverly Bandits, but then I finished out with Nebraska Bowl that last summer. So travel ball around Nebraska, traveled around the country playing, and then I went to the University of Oklahoma for two years and then, just after this last season ended, I decided to transfer back to Nebraska. So I'm going to finish my last two years out here.

Speaker 2:

But yeah, my freshman year I experienced an injury for the first time. So that was a big struggle like I'd never faced before. So that's something we'll probably talk about today. But just all throughout the travel ball journey leading up to college. Even there were so many highs and lows, so we can also get into that. But it definitely hasn't been sneak sailing. It hasn't been an easy raid. There's been a lot of struggles with identity in and out of that. Honestly, once you think you have it figured out, you don't actually have it figured out and the struggles never go away. But I'm just excited to talk with you guys about all of it today.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so one of the things that we like to kick off is you know we're all softball players in the room, we know you as a pitcher, but can you talk about the other side of Jordy? Like, who is Jordy when you don't have the uniform on?

Speaker 2:

So I have three brothers and honestly, they've been my best friends all since I was younger, through high school, because I never really had a friend group that I ran around with in high school. I went to school with my childhood friends growing up and then, once high school hit, I actually transferred to the other high school in our town. So I was kind of like the new girl in high school and there were all these cliques formed already and I just wasn't in any of them. So like on Friday night, saturday night, I was at home hanging out with my brothers or at practice or something. There was always something going on. So they're still my best friends and some of the funniest people I know. But I like to go fishing with them, just hang out on the back patio with them, go to the good life and just hang out with them. Just hang out on the back patio with them, go to the good life and just hang out with them, get some food. We just like to do everything together.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I have a dog named Remy. She's one and a half years old, she's a black lab. She went to OU with me last year and she's going to live with me in Lincoln again this year, but she's brought me a lot of happiness. She's crazy, but yeah, my faith is really important to me. I kind of grew up in the church but when I was in high school struggling with identity for the first time is when I started seeking out a personal relationship with Christ and that kind of changed a lot of things for me. But yeah, those are just some of the basic things on who I am outside of South Pole.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, I love that Talk about how those things fill your bucket. So the you know, chasing a national championship, you know we're watching you on TV, we're watching your coaching staff and one of the words used to describe chasing this this season, this past year, was stifling and pressure and all of those heavy, heavy words. What did you do during the season preseason leading up to that? What did you do to fill your bucket? How did you fill the other areas of Jordy besides being a pitcher?

Speaker 2:

I would say that as much as you're chasing success on the field and carving out time throughout the week to get your extra work in, to get your practices in, do all these things to take your extra work in, to get your practices, and do all these things to take care of yourself in the softball world, you have to make the same priorities for yourself outside of the softball world.

Speaker 2:

So I couldn't neglect the things that are most important in my life, and those are all the things outside of softball. So it was hard when I was away at school because usually that would just be a phone call home fishing a couple times. But you don't really have a ton of time when you're that far away. So it was a little harder then. But I think you have to let it be the most important thing and treat it like it's the most important thing, because if you don't, it's so easy Like if you place all of your extra time that you have into softball, it's gonna be really hard to remember when you are outside of softball. So you have to treat the most important things in your life like they are the most important things.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and family being one of those, can you talk about that?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so my family is kind of my circle. Like I told you, my brothers are my best friends. My parents, I know, care about me whether I will touch a softball again the rest of my life or not. So they're kind of my inner circle and my soundboard. They're my foundation, my rock, who I go to when things are good and when they're not good, and I know they're always going to be honest with me as well.

Speaker 2:

So just kind of listening to them. There's a lot of people that are going to have a lot of things to say and one thing as athletes is that you can't let your head be rent free. You can't let people live in there. So instead of listening to all the outside noise, I tried to just zone in on them and what they had to say, because I knew that they love me, they have their best interest in mind for me and, well, they have my best interest in mind for me. So just really listen to what they had to say and take what they have to say seriously. Whether I liked it or not, I knew that it was what was best for me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's incredible. So, leading up to this decision to come back home, I'm sure that there we see the outside and I'm sure that there was a lot of turmoil and making that decision and listening and hearing the chatter, but then also relying on your support system Talk about the behind the scenes of making that decision to come back home. How did you come to grips with that? How did you make that decision and how did you ultimately ride those waves that you and I had talked about of? There's a lot of ups and downs that come with that, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So I would say I first started thinking about coming home. Just the thought would cross my mind freshman year I'm super homesick. Um, even like in the fall, right when I go down there, there was like a period where I'm just new and exciting that we're off pretty quick and. But when I was thinking in my head I'm like every freshman that goes away from home, whether it's seven hours or 30 minutes, they're going to be homesick in some sort. It's new and it's the first time in your life you're experiencing that. So I'm like I'm sticking it out, like I'm not doing anything crazy, like I'm just a freshman. So second year, though, those feelings didn't really go away. They just continued to get worse, and I would say a big eye-opening moment was after we won the national championship.

Speaker 2:

My freshman year. It's like your whole lives. You're like gosh, it'd be my dream to go to the College World Series and it would be a dream come true to win and you accomplish that. And then you wake up the next morning and it's super cool. But it's done and it's in the past now and you can enjoy it for a little while, but pretty quickly you have to turn the lens and be like, okay, that's in the rear view mirror, like we're working towards next year now, and it loses its glam really quick because, like, realize how fastly life moves on, um, and so that summer, when I'm at home, I also was injured at this point. Um, dealing with that and just all the just worrying about am I going to make it back? Am I going to be the same same? I don't know if you guys know what happened, but I had a stress fracture in my forearm and it took a really long time to heal. It wasn't even healed when I went back down to school this fall. So this whole time I'm spending every single day with my brothers, my parents, my boyfriend. I'm hanging out with these people every day and we're hardly talking about softball. And I just for a very long time, like that summer, felt so valued for everything outside of the game that when I went back to school in the fall it was just like snap back into reality. Now it's softball every day, wake up, go to weights, go to school, go to practice, and then, bam, it's already like seven o'clock at night.

Speaker 2:

And so then all of a sudden, my life started revolving around softball again and it was almost almost just like a rude awakening after just having a summer where it just wasn't about that and I couldn't even do softball because I was hurt, and so I think that's part of why the homesickness got worse that second year. But so it was always like a thought in the back of my mind throughout the entire fall, throughout the entire winter. But I was also in a dark place mentally. I was pretty depressed, super homesick, feelings of loneliness, like I was in a really dark place. So I didn't want to make any decision when I was in that mind state because I'm like, okay, when I don't feel like this anymore, am I going to wonder if I was just acting in a place like depressed? So throughout season it started to get better.

Speaker 2:

The light was at the end of the tunnel. I knew that I was going to get to go home soon for the summer and I was feeling a lot better, and then it was still in my heart that that's what I wanted to do. So I knew that that's what I was going to do. And then, once it came to actually telling my coaches and my teammates, I had that talk with my coaches the day after we won the national championship and I went into the meeting bawling. So I think they already knew what was going to happen.

Speaker 2:

Because it was hard, it was on my heart, it's what I knew I wanted to do, but they never really did me wrong. So it was hard in that aspect, but they were all super understanding. They had lived with me and seen me day in and day out for such a long time. They knew what was going on and they were super understanding because of that. So that made it a little easier and also harder at the same time, because it's like geez, ok, well, but now that I'm home and I'm settling in it's been a lot better. But it was definitely a roller coaster, not easy at all, but it was what was right.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and pulling back the curtain on that is really amazing, because we don't always hear that. We see Jordi Ball on social media, we see you on ESPN, we see you, we'll see you on Big Ten Network now and all of the things that come with that, and so giving us this behind the scenes, look, what got you through it. There's two questions to this of what got you through that dark place and who did you reach out to? How did you know? Because I think it's tempting to stay in that dark place and question and say, well, what's wrong with me? And to understand that it's okay to ask for help, it's okay to not be okay. Who did you seek out? And then, what helped you to get through that light?

Speaker 2:

Well, I was in the mindset that nothing's really wrong. I'm going to just gut through it. But then once we started playing in the fall we had like our inner squad scrimmages and we actually started competing. I had no really sense of positive emotion whatsoever, which really didn't surprise me, because I didn't have positive emotions like throughout daily things. But all of a sudden I just expected myself to be able to flip into it when you started competing.

Speaker 2:

But I'm a pitcher that runs off emotion. I feel like there's always something going on and that's kind of what fuels me. I can build off that. But I just felt like a pitching machine out there. Like you set a pitching machine out, you just drop a ball in it. There's no intent behind it, there's no intent behind it, there's no fire behind it, there's no competitiveness behind it, and I'd never been like that in my life. So that's where I'm like what's happening? Like I want so bad to go out there and feel competitive, but I just can't. I can't take it into that gear, I can't buckle down when there's runners on base, like I'm just I feel like a pitching machine, like a robot. Um.

Speaker 2:

So like we have a that's called a pros department at the University of Okavala and it's like there's a psychologist for every team and she she can meet with you to talk about just your sport or anything's going on. So I just started meeting with her, I think like every week. I talked to my parents but it was hard to kind of talk to them even at times, because when you're down there at school, like you and your teammates know what you go through and you know what day in and day out is like, but really it's hard to explain to other people exactly what it's like. So that's part of why I felt alone, because I felt like man, it's so hard to talk to people who understand what this is like right now and I tried talking to my teammates about it. That helped a little bit. I mean, I had a few girls that I really relied on, but I had to open up to my teammates, like the girls that I trusted the most. I had to open up to my parents, I opened up to our team psychologist and it was not natural for me to do whatsoever, like my freshman year when I was kind of struggling with some things.

Speaker 2:

And I look back and I see signs of things starting back. Then never would I have said anything to anyone? But if I hadn't, I don't think I ever would have found my way out of that slump. Because I turned to my teammates and they're like you need to go take this to the Lord, you need to start praying about this, you need to, like, dive into his word and see what he says, because all throughout the Bible, like, you hear about people being depressed, and just because you're a Christian and you put your faith in Jesus doesn't mean you're not going to go through hard times, and so it walks you through the Bible as well. So, turning to people who could turn me to him, talking to our psychologists, my parents, people, I trust that's really what helped me start to find a way out.

Speaker 1:

I can imagine that that would be incredibly hard, because here are your teammates and here's this softball wall that you have to get over of. This isn't just softball, this is everything. This is daily life, and so what I'm hearing you say is you just kept asking, you've kept seeking and eventually that light shone through that darkness and I think that's the hardest part is that initial hump of freshman year. You didn't really seek that out. And then that final push. What got you to that point, to just saying you know, I have to ask for help. What got you to that point?

Speaker 2:

And I would say what finally got me to that point was one just the competing side of things. But I'm going to be totally honest with you guys. Like there were times I knew I was doing things that weren't healthy and weren't good and were harmful to myself, and I'm like OK, this is, this is dark, like this is not good it. And so in talking with these people as well, like they helped me realize like that voice that you have in your head and like whether you're on the field and you make an error and you hear it and you're like, oh my gosh, I suck. Like I'm not good at softball, like my teammates think I suck, like all these things.

Speaker 2:

You could say all that to yourself, but that's Satan in your head, like that is evil and I don't know. Like if you're not a believer, like that's the, that's the bad guy Right, like that's not your voice. You have two different voices in your head and when you have things tell you that that's not your voice. That kind of made it competitive for me where it's like OK, I'm not going to let you win. So that was like a really big turning point when I made it competitive.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and letting, letting other people into your darkness and not feeling like you had to fight it alone. So switching gears a little bit if we switch back to the softball side, talk to us about because we have mental health, the Geordie is the person, but talk to us about Geordie, the competitor. On the mental performance side. What mental performance tools, what we call the mental skills, like breathing, and we use visualization and self-talk. What are some of those tools that you're like?

Speaker 2:

yes, this is my mental tool that I know I can rely on to get me primed. I would just say probably one of the biggest ones that helped me throughout the season was well, one, visualization is big. But then two like as I'm training, I like visualize scenarios. So if I'm just throwing a bullpen, all of a sudden this is like a super high pressure situation and I imagine myself having success in it. And then when I'm in that situation in a game, I can go back to that training and realize, ok, I've been here because your mind doesn't know the difference. If you're training in a bullpen and you make it a super high pressure situation, you're just telling yourself that. And then in a game, you're just telling yourself that as well. So your mind really knows no different and your mind controls your body, so kind of just trusting in that.

Speaker 1:

That's awesome, and you and I had talked about breathing techniques, talk about heart rate and bullpens and understanding that mind-body connection. How did you utilize that?

Speaker 2:

So yeah at OU, we talked a lot about understanding your breathing, understanding your heart rate and knowing where you work best, but also just being aware of when you feel it change. So, whether it's maybe a super high pressure situation, I can feel like I'm taking shorter breaths. I know my heart rate is going up, like practicing, like I would breathe in for four seconds, hold for four seconds, exhale, just try to get control of my breath, because having control of my breath let me have more control of my body, let me have more control of my mind and just really just brought me down if I felt like I was getting too high. And we'll have some girls that work better in that high space, so they might be doing jumping jacks in the dugout before running out. Or we have girls that work better when they're lower, so they'll take really deep breaths before going out to start an inning. So just being aware of where you work best.

Speaker 1:

I love that, and you have a couple more skills. So self-talk is another skill that we teach. Talk about that internal dialogue of you. Know, when you lock in on the field we see Jordy here now, but when we see you on the mound, you lock in what is going through your head when you step onto that mound.

Speaker 2:

By the time I step on the mound I might have one or two technical thoughts in my head, but really at that point it's just competitive. Because when I run into trouble is when I take my bullpen mentality of, ok, I'm going to work on this specific thing, I'm going to be super in tune with what I'm feeling, I'm trying to get better in this area. When I take that onto the field I run into problems because I am not as competitive. So when I get on the field, at that point I want to be able to trust my training, trust the work I put in, trust the technical preparation throughout the week to where I get. To that point I'm not thinking about that anymore. It's you versus the batter. So I find just that that's where I can, uh, work the best end game.

Speaker 1:

And so at that point, like it's less technical, more competitive yeah, so like Michael Jordan level of like I'm gonna beat you like talk, like, who's that inner voice? Like what? What are some of the things that you tell yourself? Yeah?

Speaker 2:

I think that's kind of yeah, that's kind of the vibe, um, it's the batter's not gonna win. I always tell myself that it's like you're not going to win, they're not going to score and honestly too, it's like I've started looking at the ground when I pitch, because sometimes, if I look at the catcher, I try to be too perfect and now I'm aiming way too much and I'm not trusting my bowl. So I always just tell myself just trust your stuff, trust your stuff, it's good enough. It's good enough and good enough like the phrase good enough is a big thing.

Speaker 2:

I started leading on this year because when I was like coming back from my injury, I was so focused on just getting back to where I was and I was focused on each day at a time. I was just focused on when am I going to get back to where I was? And I just started to have to tell myself every day just be good enough, just be good enough. And that is such a weird thing to say because, as athletes, like we're perfectionists. We don't just want to be good enough, we want to be great.

Speaker 2:

But at the same time, you hold yourself to that standard day in and day out. Eventually, you're going to burn out, because no one's ever going to be perfect. So you just have to trust that you, in that moment giving, even if you just have to trust that you, in that moment giving, even if you just have 75, you give 100 of that 75 and it's going to be good enough because you're giving everything that you have. So, um, just when I'm on the mound, it's competitive, you're not going to beat me. Just be good enough. And that's pretty much simple.

Speaker 1:

The simpler the better for me I love that and you talked about a focal point and grounding and fighting literally, literally grounding, looking at the ground too. So we're going to open it up to questions on what you guys have. A lot of these guys have experienced mental training and I'm sure they have other questions. But if you guys want to raise your hand, what questions do you guys have for Jordi? So Maddie said you made the decision to come to Nebraska and you would have that pressure of everybody's counting on me now at Nebraska. How do I deal with that expectation at a new school?

Speaker 2:

yeah, yeah, I would say those kind of expectations have been consistent the last two years as well, because at OU everyone expects you not just to make it to the college world series but win the college world series every year, and there's literally only one team in the country that can do that. So that's kind of an expectation that I've had to learn to kind of cope with. But at the same time it's like you don't want to listen. That's like an example of outside people talking and you only put as much pressure on yourself. Like the pressure that you put on yourself is what you're going to feel on yourself. Like the pressure that you put on yourself is what you're going to feel. So if I listen to everybody outside, then that's going to have an impact on the pressure I put on myself.

Speaker 2:

But really, like I just have the mindset that you're going to go in every day, you're going to give everything you have. You can't ask anything more of yourself. Just don't skip reps. Do them at 100% and take every bullpen, every practice with intent and just try to get a little bit better every day At the end of the season. If you know you did that, you have to be content with whatever the outcome is good or bad, because what else could you have asked for yourself? You couldn't have done anything different. So that's part of the forward work that gives you confidence but also just allows you to be content with the circumstances, and so I guess that's kind of what I'm just doing, I, and so I guess that's kind of what I'm just doing. I just want to have a fun year, be playing with girls I grew up playing with, so that's going to be super awesome and try to just enjoy it and not let the outside noise impact that.

Speaker 1:

Good question, great question, liv. So College World Series playing against stanford ou was facing a lot of strikeouts up and down their lineup. And what was your question? How did you adjust and come together to get out of it?

Speaker 2:

so a big part of that is just believing that it's going to happen and being process oriented and not outcome oriented. Because if we're outcome oriented, I think Tiare Jennings in game two was the one that like knocked in the big runs but she did not have great at bats leading up to that and she knew that. But she also knew that if she gets stuck in those moments she wasn't going to be there for her team at the end. Like, eventually you're going to keep getting opportunities and each one you have to treat brand new. You can't look at the past outcomes and let that impact it whatsoever.

Speaker 2:

But at the same time, every single strikeout we're still learning. We're like, okay, how did she beat us that? Okay, how'd she beat us the next time? And so each at bat we're learning're learning. So even though it might be a strikeout, you could put it down as failure, but we're still taking from it and learning from it because eventually we know we're going to put it all together and someone's going to put a swing on the ball and we're going to make something happen. So that's kind of the mindset is knowing that every at-bat, good or bad, is still building. We're just building one piece at a time and even if it's a strikeout, it's still building, if you look at it the right way and approach it the right way and internalize it the right way, awesome, awesome question we got, maddie.

Speaker 1:

How did you come up with your routine as a pitcher?

Speaker 2:

I would say my routine has changed a little bit over the years. I think when I was younger it probably used to be a little more technical maybe than it is now, but to get to where I am now, I have just learned that I work best when I'm competing and I'm not technical, when I'm simple, when I breathe and when it's consistent. Routine is really like one thing that you can control. You really can control outcomes all the time, but you can always control your routine and you can control the pace that you work. So just I practice my routine a lot too.

Speaker 2:

It's not just something I do in games, when it's a live game situation, but I would practice it in the bullpens and we all would, whether I mean we would even look at our cold card pretending we're getting a cold because that's part of the routine, Even though we're not getting a cold in practice, like in the bullpen, but just practicing it a lot, and a lot of girls would try a lot of different things to find what works for them. So I would say everyone's going to be different. Everyone might need more breaths than the next person, or might want to work faster than the other person who might want to work slower. So I would just say practice it in practice, find what is comfortable for you and then try it out in games awesome and that's a mental skill.

Speaker 1:

I love it. You guys are asking good questions, all right. Who else we got, anna? What goes through your mind in your routine?

Speaker 2:

so my biggest thoughts are slow, reach back to second. Slow just kind of helps me stay at a good pace, like I. If I come out too hard out of the blocks then my rhythm and my sync like everything gets out of whack, um timing wise. So I just think in slow, slow and then reach back to second just helps me stay loose and relaxed. So for me those are like my two thoughts for every single pitch I threw awesome best, aside from pitching?

Speaker 1:

what's your pre-game routines?

Speaker 2:

um, I have an energy drink on the way to the field. I get to the field, I usually put my uniform on right away, even if it's super early. I black like right before warm-ups. Music yeah, I definitely like to vibe to some music. What kind of music? Usually it's rap. On game days and on non-game days.

Speaker 2:

Country every other day of the week, other day but, yeah, rap and a little rock, I don't know awesome yeah becca, are you ever scared you're going to get hurt again um, I would say at first that was definitely a big worry for me and that's part of like, I think, part of why it just took so long to get over it, because when I was a freshman and I got hurt right before postseason and then I was throwing again in the World Series, my arm was not healed and so it was pretty painful and so just even like that summer when I tried to come back and throw, it was still painful.

Speaker 2:

So like there were times of like, oh my gosh, is it ever gonna feel good again to throw, like um, but then also that just leaves you with a little fear, right. But it finally got to the point where eventually I just started to trust it and then when I trusted it physically, like then it was just working on my brain. So at this point now, no, I'm not worried, I'm gonna get hurt again, um, and also I know that that's out of my control. So, honestly, you can't really worry about something that's not in your control and it's way easier said than done. But I kind of just learned by getting hurt the first time. It's like that's way out of our hands, like that's in God's hands, and I learned a lot through that and I went through some dark times for that, but it was all for a greater purpose. So just knowing that and trusting in that I try to not worry about getting hurt.

Speaker 1:

Purpose, so just knowing that and, trusting in that, I try to not worry about getting hurt. That's great. Do we have some questions from our Warrior members? One of them was actually on an injury. We have a girl that's dealing with a hip injury. What else? I know I'm putting Kara on the spot. Did anyone not get their question answered? We covered a lot of amazing, amazing topics. Remind me your name, lily. Did you ever think that you were going to be where you are now playing D1 softball?

Speaker 2:

I would say it was a dream, but I never really thought it was going to be something that would happen. I dreamed for it but, like I said, I mean things still happen today that I never thought would have happened. It's just, I think, when you're focused on the process, you're focused on doing everything for your team, because that's another thing. It was never a goal of mine to be an All-American. It was never a goal of mine to be a pitcher of the year or to be all these personal accolades. They were never dreams. It was always like want to win a state championship, want to win a world series, all of the team awards, and so I think when you're working for your team, um, those things just come along the way. Um. And same thing with, like playing d1 softball. I wanted to play college softball and it just so happened that I started to get d1 interest. So, um, yeah, I would say that's how that kind of went, but it was a goal. So I'd say, set your goals and then just start working hard and see what happens.

Speaker 1:

So good, so good Okay.

Speaker 2:

What do you need from your catchers? Oh yeah, Good catchers. Oh, that's a good question.

Speaker 1:

So what do you need from your catchers? Yeah, good question.

Speaker 2:

I would just say it's super important for catchers and pitchers to know each other. Um, one thing that was big in college is knowing, like having a connection with your catcher. So it's like our catchers did a really good job. Like asking pitchers okay, what do you need from me? Um, like, what do you like? Like if I call time out and I come out and I'm gonna say something to you like what do you want to hear? Like, what do you like?

Speaker 2:

Like if I call time out and I come out and I'm going to say something to you like what do you want to hear? Like what's gonna piss you off and what's gonna calm you down? You know everyone's different, but then also just working as hard for us as we work for you, and that's another thing. I mean, I don't like it when, like I would say it kind of like fun watching games and like I see a defender make an error and then the pitcher like slumps or she just kind of looks frustrated, like I don't like everything you have to your teammates and not being frustrated if things don't always go your way, I guess.

Speaker 1:

But, like as a what that brings up another topic We'll have to review frustration.

Speaker 2:

But I would just say the connection is the biggest thing with a catcher, like know your catcher, know what catchers know your pitchers know what they need from you, and I would say vice versa. Just I would say work hard for each other. That's the biggest thing. I love when catchers will put their body on the line for you because I want them to know I would do the same for them. I think that's just the biggest thing and part of what makes the battery so strong, awesome.

Speaker 1:

So, talking about frustration, you and I had talked about that a little bit on coaching calls and having questions brought. As a mental performance coach, one of the questions I get a lot is Coach AB, help me to not be so frustrated, Help me to get rid of my frustration. And we know that that's not the goal, because it's not possible. And so can you talk a little bit about your dirty ball? You still experience frustration. How does that happen? And what does that manifest? When you're playing, you get frustrated. And what does that happen? And and what does that manifest? When you're playing, you get frustrated, and what does that look like, um, when you're frustrated.

Speaker 2:

It shouldn't look like you're frustrated, it should look like just consistent with everything else going on in the game.

Speaker 2:

Because if you're frustrated, then your team knows that, the opponent knows that and then you're giving them a mental edge on you.

Speaker 2:

Um, and also, like, like I said earlier, if a fielder makes an error and then you as a pitcher or another player on the field looks frustrated, then your team's going to see that and they're going to remember that and they're not going to want to work hard for you anymore. And so same with the other team if they're like oh, this pitcher's beat. There will be times when you can see a pitcher and if you hit a couple balls hard off her, her demeanor totally changes and you know you already have a beat. Um, so never let another team have that edge on you. And then you fake it till you make it so like, eventually, like the fresh duration is just going to middle at minimize, I can't even talk, but it's going to get smaller and smaller to where you might be, instead of frustrated for innings, it'll be like a second and then you're on to the next thing already yeah, so you've had to overcome that sense of frustration, but my point being is you still experience frustration.

Speaker 1:

You've just worked through that to train yourself to understand. I may still be feeling it. I'm. I'm a human, and what do you do despite that?

Speaker 2:

So I think to changing the lens on the frustration. So yeah, definitely still get frustrated. There will be times like the leadoff batter hit the double and now there's no outs runner on second already, and it's like geez. But if you flip the lens and you're like OK, game on, like runner on to no out, like let's go, Like, this is what we train for. So I'm kind of almost welcoming those scenarios because you don't want them to happen, but if they happen, they've happened and you can't do anything about it now. So just welcome it as another challenge to defeat, I guess.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well, like if you strike out, that's frustrating. It would almost be more worrisome if your teammates struck out and they were la-da-la, like no big deal, right? You know, you as teammates are still frustrated together. Yeah, I think I have a couple in my chat. Let's do the pre-submitted ones and then we probably won't get to the ones in the chat. Okay, well, if we don't have any other questions, we're going to end on that for sake of time. That's a great final question and then we'll move on to the next activity.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so my why for softball has changed over the years. When I was younger, my why is because I wanted to be great and I wanted to win a national championship. And then, well, throughout high school, like my identity got super lost in softball. Because I don't know if you guys know this, but in high school we have state tournament. Freshman year we won. Sophomore year year we are undefeated the entire year going into the state championship. We're about to play a team. They have to beat us twice and we've beat them twice already this year. Well, they double dipped us and so we lost the state championship and at that time I was so like softball, softball, softball that I was just crushed that entire winter because our full our high school season's in the fall.

Speaker 2:

So that entire winter I'm crushed and I'm like, okay, well, if this is my life, like man, I am taking this really hard, like way too hard than it, like it's just a game and I'm taking this like I just lost a loved one, like it's insane. So I knew, okay, my identity is really lost in this and one day this game's gonna be over. And then what is gonna happen, like what's to happen to me when I'm done playing softball, like I don't know who I am outside of that. And so, like I said, I kind of grew up in the church but I didn't understand like personal relationship. So I started going to FCA and, um, I one of the verses that kind of changed my perspective. You guys should read it. It's Romans and it talks about just kind of changing your hearts and being reconstructed by Christ and not living for the culture or falling into what this world does. And then I kind of was just like wow, like we're here for a greater purpose, like we're not here to just be part of this world, like we're here to look different, act different. And then I kind of like continued to go back to FCA and learn more about this.

Speaker 2:

And then a verse that stuck with me was Colossians 3.23, work willingly in whatever you do, as though you are working for the Lord rather than people. And so then I'm like, oh so I can worship the Lord by playing softball, as long as I work my butt off and give him the glory and do it for him. So then that like became my why, and it was way more fun to go work out then at that point, because I'm like I'm not doing this for myself, like I'm doing this for someone something so much greater who has given so much to me that I don't deserve. So that kind of made it a lot more fun, I guess, because also when you give the Lord the glory, you don't feel the pressure necessarily. You still do, but when you give him the glory, you also give him the pressure. So he handles both of those. And so that was like a big turning moment my sophomore year. And, like I said, there's still been struggle since then, like this last fall I've told you guys about like obviously I've still gone through super dark places, but also he's the one that helped me get out of that.

Speaker 2:

Um, and then also I would say my other, why is for younger softball players? Um, I want them to know that like it doesn't matter where you come from, like what you look, like, like how tall you are how short you look, like, like how tall you are, how short you are, like it doesn't matter, like none of that matters. You are capable of doing whatever you set your mind to. That was another thing.

Speaker 2:

Like I was always a little girl, like I am still, I still consider myself kind of short, like I'm short compared to all my teammates. I was told I'm going to be too short to play D1 softball. Like a college coach would look at me and then look at a girl similar to me but way bigger and go after the girl that was bigger, and so I would like that's let me have a chip on my shoulder and also encouraged me to do things for you guys and for other young players, to show them that anything's possible. Like you just set your mind to it. So I would say younger players, and then Christ at this point, are my one.

Speaker 1:

So good, that was the best question to end on. I love your story. We love having you here. This has been amazing, you guys. Can you give it up for Jordy Ball?

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Amanda Schaefer

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