The Fearless Warrior Podcast

120: How to Love the Process Even When It's a Grind with Amanda Lorenz Mazur

• Amanda Schaefer

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In this week's episode, we are sharing our mentorship call with Amanda Lorenz Mazur, Professional Softball Player for the AUSL and the U.S.A. National Team. She dove into the mental skills that kept her steady under pressure - love practice, align work with goals, and choose words that build confidence instead of breaking it.

Episode Highlights:

• First encounters with mental skills
• Language matters and rejecting the word "slump"
• Favorite Florida moment and handling pressure
• Loving practice for longevity and joy
• Advice to younger self on nutrition and resilience

Connect with Amanda:

IG: @amandalorenz

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Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_00

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, you're in the right place. Let's tune in to today's episode.

SPEAKER_02

Good evening and welcome to this month's mentorship call. We are so excited to have Amanda Lorenz here with us, visiting, ready to share with us her story. So just a brief background on Amanda Lorenz, who I'm sure you guys all know who she is. But she was originally from California, grew up in California. She played her college ball at Florida, where she was a first team All-American and led the team to the College World Series three years in a row, which is a pretty great accomplishment. She currently is playing professionally with Athletes Unlimited on the Volts. So that was her team this last year. She also, since 2023, has been playing with the USA women's national team and has had a couple opportunities, right? World Cup and was there another tournament that you played in Pan Am Games?

SPEAKER_01

Pan Am's World Games World Games twice. So started in 2022 through current. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. So getting ready for Olympics coming up, huh? That's super exciting. Yeah. So yeah, that's Amanda. That's a brief overview, but I'm gonna go ahead and kick it over to her and let her kind of share about herself and about her story. Hi guys.

College At Florida And Pro Path

SPEAKER_01

Hi, thanks. Thanks for having me. So my name is Amanda Lorenz. I'm from Southern California. Started playing softball when I was really young, just had a lot of energy. And so my parents put me in sports and I like really loved softball and definitely felt like so in love with the game at a really young age. And I felt a little probably probably a little different from the other girls in my schools, even like just because you know they were just interested in much different things. And I was definitely the sport girl that loved softball and being busy on the weekends. And my parents never had to fight me to get in the car for practice. I was always excited to go and really felt like most like myself, especially growing up playing softball. So started playing travel ball in middle school, and then getting recruited was was pretty crazy just because you know you have these dreams, but when they're like starting to kind of come true, it's like pretty amazing. But yeah, so started getting recruited. I was like it was before the rules changed, so pretty young, but committed to Florida and being from California, I was like very, I loved my parents and being home. So it was like a really big change for me to go so far away from home and try something new, but it was the best decision of my life. Went and played four years at Florida, and then also got to stay on staff for three years and learn from Coach Walton and the rest of the staff, which was so awesome and amazing. And yeah, so I've continued to play since I graduated. I graduated and got drafted by the at that time it was the NPF. So I played with the pride for a few years and now with with Athletes Unlimited, but and then always have dreamed of being on Team USA. So 2022 was the first year that I was actually actually made a roster. I was a pickup player for their elite team a few times, but 2022 was my first time making the roster and I've been able to stay on the roster since then. So fingers crossed that it continues and trends that way. But I've just been super, super fortunate that like I'm 28, gonna be 29 next year and still playing softball. And that's like really nuts. Like if you told me that when I was your age, I would probably like not believe that that's true or that there was even opportunity for me to keep playing this game and and make money. Like that's pretty crazy too that I'm able to like devote my time to training and and be able to make an income through our game. So it's just been really awesome to see our game grow and see how many opportunities they are there are and how companies are now investing in us and seeing the value in us as female athletes. And it's just been been really fun. So I'm just like super thankful to be in this position to show you guys that there's like a way to pursue softball even after college. Obviously, like college is the end all be all. But if you want to, like there's a chance to play professionally too and and make some money in our game, which is like just really cool and a lot of fun, like just truly a lot of fun. But I love our game so much. I am a huge, like I feel like if anyone's heard Sue Enquest's talk, she talks about how the game always pays you back. And I just fully believe that with my whole chest that the game always pays me back. I might not be able to see it tomorrow, but you always you'll always eventually see it. So just so thankful for everything that the game has brought my way and excited to keep staying involved and see where we can take this thing because our professional league is gonna keep growing and growing and growing, which hopefully means that by the time you guys are old enough to be pros, you guys get paid millions and it will be awesome.

Growth Of Pro Softball And Opportunity

SPEAKER_02

They're gonna love it. That's that's really great. What tell us what? So right now you're not playing in your in the ASL, is is not playing right now. So, like, what does your offseason look like? Like what are you what are you doing day to day to stay ready?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, we actually have a national team camp next week. So I've been training pretty consistently since since I got home, especially like defensively and just having some things that I wanted to get better at. So I live here in Clemson. So I'm really thankful that their coaching staff has been able to work with me defensively. So I was out there today and getting ground balls and getting fly balls and getting reps. So it's probably a little bit different for so many of us in the pro leagues because it just depends on are you going to play overseas? Are you gonna play? There's a bunch of different leagues now. And if you're involved in the national team program and we have some pop-up camps here and there, so staying ready for those. But if I wasn't in the national team pool and I wasn't going to play until AU, I probably still wouldn't have touched a softball. Just continue to train and and work out and get as fast and strong as possible. And then probably once the new year hit is probably when I would start hitting and and doing defense again.

SPEAKER_02

Did you uh play any other sports as a kid? Or is it just softball for you from daily?

Offseason Training And Staying Ready

SPEAKER_01

I played soccer a little bit, and then it came to a point where it was like I probably want to play travel softball, and it's just the schedule was a little crazy, and so it was an easy choice for me to. I'm I definitely could have made both work, but it was a really easy decision for me to just focus on softball because softball was truly everything to me.

SPEAKER_02

That's awesome. Sometimes you just know, sometimes it's just it's just it. Totally. Did you did you is your family is that like a is baseball, softball like big in your family already, or were you like a trailblazer or yeah, totally a trailblazer.

SPEAKER_01

I just was really a psycho kid and had a lot of energy, and so they just like really wanted me to figure out a way to channel this energy positively, and so threw me in the local rec softball league. And I just I really feel like God blessed me with the ability to play softball. And you know, I definitely have worked hard and I've loved every second, and I I love working hard and getting better, but I do believe like God blessed me with some talent, you know, at a at a young age to like and the love of the game for sure.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, that helps so much. When were you or what yeah, at what age were you introduced to the idea of like mental skills, things like breathing and visualization? You talked about at Florida, you guys did some of those things, but were you introduced before you went to college, or was it like a new thing for you once you got up to that level?

Multi‑Sport Choices And Family Influence

SPEAKER_01

No, and I think like more like the I would say, okay, time out. My senior year of high school, there was this thing called the Louisville Hit Club. And so they they chose like eight to ten of the best recruits for a few days, getting to do this cool stuff. And we got to actually like meet Ken Revisa and talk with him, who's like a big like mental performance coach, and he has since passed, but he's written some awesome books. And he came and talked to us and he was like, Who likes to who needs to feel good before the game? Like, who needs to like feel good offensively before before they go in so they know that they can feel good? And I was like, Me, like me, I need all the good swings. Like, I had no shame in raising my hand. I didn't know that it was a test. And he was like, dang, you must be so bad. Like you're that, like, you're that not confident in yourself that you need to have 20 good swings in order to have a good game. Like, dang, like you are not confident in your skills at all. You must not be very good. And I was like, Oh, like dang, you're right. Like that, so that was probably the first time of me like taking just like working hard and getting the result out of it and like thinking about how my mind can affect my performance. And then at Florida, it was just like, you know, playing in the SEC and playing at the top of the game is is just really hard. So it's about managing your expectations and lining up your work ethic with your expectations. So, like immediately, like I remember my freshman year, Coach Walton called me in. He was like, Hey, like, what are your goals? And I was like, Okay, I want to win four national championships. I want to be a four-time all-American. And yeah, that's what I'm here to do. Like, I fully believed like both of them were gonna happen. He was like, Love it, like I'm in, let's do it. But just so you know, like your goals are up here and your work ethics, like about here. So if you want these two, like if you want to match all these goals, you need to work like it. And I was like, Oh, like let's go. I'm I'm in. But it just took somebody kind of like showing me, like, here, here's the here are all the tools, but like you, you need to do it. And then just managing your expectations with like failure is gonna happen, especially when you play you when you're playing other people, like they practice too, right? Like they're practicing to get you out, right? Like they're not just there, they didn't just show up that day, they've been practicing for years, just like you. So managing that and knowing like it's part of our game. No one yet has ever hit a thousand in their whole career. So until that happens, like we're all going to be failing at one point. So it's just about you know, flipping the switch, giving yourself that 10 seconds to, you know, decompose, like decompress and take a deep breath and then move on to the next.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so I love it. I love that idea of like you have to work like your goals require. And I I think I think so often you people are like, oh, wouldn't that be so cool to be an Olympian? Or wouldn't that be so cool to like be a professional athlete? And so many people are willing to like set that goal or quote unquote set that goal, but then they're not willing to do what it takes to get to that goal, right? Like to be an Olympian, you have to live, breathe, eat, sleep, whatever you're doing, and and be willing to sacrifice all those other things. Same with you know, winning a national championship or getting getting getting recruited by a D1 school. Like those are all things that if you're not working to make it happen, and if that it won't match your goals. Otherwise, they're just dreams, they're just wishes, they're just like high in the sky idea. So what would you say is your best memory from Florida in your college career?

First Encounters With Mental Skills

SPEAKER_01

Oh gosh. In 2018, we walked off against Texas AM to go to the women's college World Series, and we were we were losing, and it there were two outs and two strikes. And we had a freshman up who ended up hitting a three-run home run to send us to Oklahoma City, and I was so blessed to be on second base. And so I was the tying run. So immediately when she hit it, like I was just trying to run as fast as possible to score. And I touched third and heard the crowd just absolutely erupt. It was insane, the most incredible atmosphere. I remember like weeping going into home play, like a freshman is not expected to hit a walk-off home run with that amount of pressure. If we lost, our season was over. So it was it, that was a pretty insane moment. Like it was just so awesome. It gives me chills, like even thinking about it now and this seven years later. Like it's crazy. Yeah, that's epic.

SPEAKER_02

That's that's I mean, everyone that's everyone's dream, is right at the bottom of the seventh. Totally outs, two strikes, down by three, two runners on. Yeah, that yeah, that's crazy. What pressure was that? Jordan, okay. She went on to have a pretty good career herself. That's exciting. All right, well, we can go ahead and flip this over to the girls. I know Sophie, Sophia already put a question here in the chat, but if you want to put it in the chat or if you want to raise your hand, we can call on you. But Sophia asks, what was it like playing for the Bolts? Or what is it like because you're still currently playing with them?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, it was it was really awesome. I th I loved my teammates. We it wasn't as successful probably as we had anticipated. Like I thought that we were going to win a lot of games. We did not win a lot of games, but definitely had fun. The the crowds were awesome, and it was just an awesome opportunity to play our game at the professional level and then see we had so many young Volts fans. So that part was really cool too to see like so many young girls excited about professional softball.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Did you did you like the new format of having the team? Or I I kind of thought the old drafting method was fun that it was a new team every week. You liked having the team.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, definitely like having the team. I mean, we still have that. So, like, we still have an all-star cup, so we still have that, but it was just much easier for fans to follow a specific team. We had way more fan engagement, like it was not even close. I I honestly felt like there was a big drop-off this year of just like going from our team base and then going to like the All-Star Cup, which is like new team each week leaderboard. I didn't not feel like the fans were as invested. Like the fans really bought into a specific team and cheering on players. And then once they got to the All-Star Cup, I think people were like a little bit confused. So the momentum was really awesome with you know our teams.

SPEAKER_02

That's cool. It was neat how you guys traveled around to the fans instead of making the fans come to you. I think that's a really good idea.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. All right, Katie says, What number are you? I wear number 18. So that's the number that I wore growing up. I wore 18 at Florida, and then I'm 18 with Team USA and the Volts. And really, it was just T-ball and asked my dad what number he wore, and he he played baseball just a little bit, not not anything crazy, but not even in high school. But he said 18 was his favorite number, and I said, Okay, great. So it's now mine, and it's definitely stuck, and and I love it.

Aligning Work Ethic With Big Goals

SPEAKER_02

Isn't that crazy how like just the stupidest little thing that's like, sure, why not? And then it like becomes like who you are, right? Like no one will look at 18 the same. Yep. Yeah, that's awesome. All right, Andy, you got your hand up. How do you handle hitting slumps?

SPEAKER_01

I don't believe in a slump. I hate that word. I think it's ridiculous. So one, throw it out. Don't ever say it. Don't ever say, oh, I'm in a slump. Like you're only in a slump if you tell yourself that. So it's all a mindset, but truly just like hitting out of it. So if I'm not hitting great and having like a bad kind of stretch, then I then I hit out of it. So I spend a lot of time on the tee, a lot of time with my coaches, and figure out the root of the problem so that I can change and get better. So the what Coach Walton would say at Florida is the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. So if we're like in this quote unquote slump, I I seriously I hate it saying that. But if we if you say that you are, but you're not changing anything about your routine or anything about your work ethic, then why would you expect a different result? Right. So I love to hit out of it. So once I gain the confidence in the cages and in practice, then I really feel like I've outworked it and I am gonna be fine.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, words have a lot of power. And and naming it something like a slump has comes with a whole baggage, a whole bunch of baggage. It's not like we're like ever happy about it. It's not sure it's there's there's baggage attached automatically. And so if we're gonna start saying things like I'm in a slump, we start identifying with all of that baggage as opposed to I I love that idea of just get out of it. You're not in a slump until you decide you are. That's great. That's good advice. All right, Sophia.

SPEAKER_01

What's it like being on Team USA? Oh gosh, Sophia, it is the coolest thing ever. Like, truly. I at your age like would stand in line for for Team USA's autographs, and I was just like so obsessed with one day wearing the uniform and representing our country, but I'm just so thankful for the opportunity. It's hard and it's a lot of work, but gosh, it's such an honor. Nothing compared, like the feeling that you feel when your national anthem is played while you're wearing that jersey is something that I wish I could bottle up and share with others, but it's just it's so special. I'm so thankful. I've truly had the time of my life and have accomplished my younger self's dreams times a million. So it's it's really, really, really amazing and such a blessing.

SPEAKER_02

What's uh what's the schedule like for team USA? So you have you said you have a team camp. Is that like a week-long camp? Where's it at? Where do you guys have?

Favorite Florida Memory: Walk‑Off To OKC

SPEAKER_01

Monday through Thursday next week, and it's in in Oklahoma. So Coach Gasso is is our head coach now, and so it just kind of works. And USA Softball's headquarters is in Oklahoma City. So we've been utilizing both Norman and Oklahoma City. So we'll be there for a week and then we haven't had our camps announced for next year, but I'm sure we'll have a few training camps the beginning of next year, too.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so it's like every couple of months, it's not on like a regular schedule.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, we've we've like this will be way different now than in the past. We we didn't have any other camps other than maybe a selection camp or maybe a mini one before competition, but now that we're in an Olympic quad, we get a little bit of different funding. So we didn't have the funding to get everybody out there for multiple times a year to train together. So now the past year has been different because we now have some funding from the Olympic committee. So we were able to get some people together and and train, which has been really great. That's awesome. Sophie is asking, what did you major in at Florida? I majored in sport management. So I really wanted to stay involved in sport for as long as possible. And Florida at the time, I don't know now since I've been gone, but at the time had the seventh best sport management program in the country. So I was able to major in sport management. I graduated early with my sport management degree. So then I was able to start my master's degree. So I also got a master's degree in sport management. So I'm a double gator.

SPEAKER_02

That's awesome. So sports management, that's then like being like an agent, like working with athletes and and companies. Is that what sports management is?

SPEAKER_01

But it's like a a sport business degree. So basically, just like so many we learned sport finance, we learned facilities, sport law. Like we basically had a bunch of different buckets that we learned about leadership. So there was just a bunch of a bunch of interests. But you could definitely go the agent route and like eventually get a law degree and do that. I did. Not do that. That's not not on one of my passions at this point, but we'll see. You still got time.

SPEAKER_02

So what what would be your like dream career then out of that?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, to to coach and and stay involved in the game. But you know, who knows?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. You still got years left. Lots of good years left. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Hoping to still play for a while.

SPEAKER_02

Katie asks, How many days a week do you have softball?

SPEAKER_01

Right now.

SPEAKER_02

How about you answer this answer this for both right now and then when you're in season with ASOF?

Life With The Volts And Fan Engagement

SPEAKER_01

Well, in season is seven days a week. That's not every single day. So I feel like it's really hard to judge us because our schedules are so like small and squished together, like we're really just playing for three months out of the year. So it's like we're we're on every single day. If you're asking me like in college, it was like if we are out of season six days a week, if we are in season, seven days a week. If you're asking me about travel ball, probably about four days a week. You know, it's all changes. I think the pro the pro space is really hard to judge because our schedule is so different. So in season, seven days a week. Right now I'm doing soft just because I have a camp next week. Also, it's probably around four to five days a week, but I like to move my body and work out seven days a week. And then a follow-up question to that is how long is each practice? Totally depends. So, like if you're talking about a college practice, that's gonna be if you have a certain amount of hours that you have to like stay within. So if we didn't have weights that day, then we would have a four-hour practice. If we had weights, then that would take an hour of our time. So we would have a three-hour practice. If we got if we were in 20 hour weeks, which means you have 20 hours throughout the whole week. If you're asking me now, it's about an hour if I'm doing my own work. Travel ball is probably around three hours. A volts practice is probably around two hours.

SPEAKER_02

And do you do you like that? Do you like because obviously a two-hour practice, you're probably gonna get through a lot of stuff really quickly. Do you like just like touch everything quickly, or do you like like the more intensive, like longer? Like how do you like to approach practicing?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think like the the difference is like the volts, it's so small and you get to know each other like super quickly, and we have to like go. We don't have time to spend a lot of time like on things. So we're more moving quickly and getting our reps. And so it's basically like a lot of what you need, and not necessarily like a a situation where we have like a huge practice plan and you're you're you don't have an option to do things. Like we have a lot of we can do what we want, not saying like it's a free-for-all and you can just sit down, but I'm saying like I know what I need could be totally different than what Sophia needs. So, like, we need totally two different things because because especially like as you get old in this game, you know what works for you and you know what doesn't. Like you always want to learn and get better, but like I love the tea, and so I love to spend time on the tea where sis space doesn't need the tea, she doesn't like the tea, she goes into front toss, you know. I'm not I'm not saying that she hates the tea, I'm just using her as an example. But like right, so we have there no one is in our Voltz practice saying you guys all have to hit 50 balls off of the T. So it's just a little bit more in whatever you need to take advantage of, where like USA is a little bit more uniform, where like we have certain things that we're trying to accomplish and all be on the same page with defensively, and I love it. Like it's fast paced, but focused and competitive and fun. And so USA softball practices, especially this past year, have definitely been my favorite of just competitive and hard, but like so much fun. Like I love cuts and relays and feeling like I can't breathe after after some defense. Like that is so fun to me.

SPEAKER_02

You really, you really gotta fall in love with practice, right? Like that's that's a really important part to having longevity in the game is understanding that like practice is has got to be where it's at because that's not only are you gonna get better through practice, but like you're gonna spend so much of your time in practice that you gotta find a way, gotta find a way to love it.

Numbers, Identity, And Player Q&A

Beating “Slumps” With Intentional Work

SPEAKER_01

Sure. And like I talked about it earlier, but like I always loved going to do softball things when I was younger. And I think like you can't replicate hard work when you when you love it and you want to be there or you're forced to be there, right? So if I'm really glad and happy to be at practice and and working hard, then I'm gonna have a way different attitude than my teammate who doesn't want to be there and they're thinking of other things, right? Like our level of work and what we're gonna get done that day is gonna definitely going to look different. So that's why like there's especially like life is too short and you spend way too much time in our game to not love it. Like, if you don't love our game, like go find what you love, like go do something with your with your childhood or your life that you love doing and you enjoy doing. Like, this is not supposed to be miserable. Like anything worth it is hard and you're gonna go through the grind and you know figure things out. It's not gonna be easy and rainbows and butterflies the whole time. Like, that's not what I'm saying. It's important that you learn how to grind through things. But if you don't love our game, like leave. Like, do not go go do something, and I mean that like with a lot of love. Like, seriously, do not, I don't want you guys or anyone to look back on their childhood and they're like, oh my gosh, I hated softball every day. I don't know why I wasted five years of my life, eight years of my life playing softball when I hated it. And I could have been trying dance or gymnastics or soccer. Like it's just about, or or even something else, pottery, band, like anything. Just finding something that you're passionate about that you enjoy doing is like so, so vital. Like, because I feel like now, you know, I've I feel like you guys have probably understood, like, I'm like softball all the time. And now I'm like 28 years old, and I'm like, I don't really have any hobbies. Like, I don't, you know, like I like to hang out with my family and my husband and and our dog. But like, and outside of working out in softball, like I don't have so I feel like I've really tried now the last like year and a half, two years of like trying to find other things that I like to do, you know, that fill my fill my bucket up a lot. Like I like making sourdough bread now. I'm taking up needlepoint. So just like finding other things that are like other than softball because it doesn't have to be your entire life.

SPEAKER_02

Totally. Andy, did you have another question? Is your hand still up from your other question you asked? Yeah, another one?

SPEAKER_01

What's your favorite position to play? My favorite position to play is is left field for sure, but I'm starting to get involved in first base a little bit again. So I played a little bit of first base my senior year of high of college, and now I'm starting to play a little bit of first base again. So I've been working really hard this fall with learning to, and so that's kind of fun too, because I feel like I've played outfield for so long and like we can always get better. I'm not acting like I don't have things I can get better on in the outfield, but it is something so fun about going to the field every day and like learning something new. So I do love like that part too of learning first base and and trying to get better, but I love playing the outfield.

SPEAKER_02

Good question. So we are right about out of time. So I will go ahead, I'll ask you my final question that we ask everybody if you could go back in time and and say something to younger you, little you, whether that's you know, when you're 12 or 14, younger you, what would you say to yourself? Would you go back in time to say that?

Wearing USA Across The Chest

SPEAKER_01

I would probably tell myself to like take nutrition a little bit more seriously. And also my senior year of high school, I tried out for the junior national team and I did not make it. And I was like really, really like crushed about it for a really long time. So I would tell myself to get over it, and there's much worse things that are gonna happen to you than not making a USA roster, and you do not play for that sole reason. So you do not play to please others, you play because you love it and you love the game and to get better. So would just give myself probably a little bit of tough love sooner because throwing that pity party for myself probably lasted a few weeks too long.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. That's awesome. Great advice. Well, thank you so much, Amanda, for coming. I mean, this is super awesome. We really appreciate you taking the time out of your super busy schedule to come here and talk to these girls. So I know that we all really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01

Well, thanks for having me. Appreciate you guys and good luck. If you guys need anything, like message me on Instagram. Um, and I'd be happy to help with anything. But I think, but thanks for having me. Appreciate it.

Contributor

Amanda Schaefer

Host