145: How to Turn Failure into Feedback with Ali Newland

In today's episode, we are sharing our mentorship call with Ali Newland, an LSU Alum and professional softball player in the AUSL for the Portland Cascade. She played outfield and caught at LSU, earned the SEC Volunteer of the Year award as a senior, and is now a utility player for the Cascade. She opens up about her mental performance journey that completely changed her career and life outside of softball.

Episode Highlights:

• How playing gymnastics, basketball, and tennis made her a better softball player
• Why she never stopped working on catching even while playing outfield every day and how that versatility is exactly what got her drafted
• Failure is feedback and not a personal indictment
• The Well, Better, How index card system
• Why confidence is a choice and not a feeling

Connect with Ali:

IG: @ali44newland

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Transcript

AB 0:01

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. All right. Welcome, Warriors. We're excited to have you guys here tonight for our new mentorship call. We're super pumped that we've got Ally Newland here tonight. And just to tell you guys a little bit about Ally, she's originally from Georgia. She played at LSU, uh, graduated in 2024, and she was an outfielder there. But also I was reading today, a catcher, so maybe we'll have to talk a little bit about splitting positions, which is kind of fun. Uh, I, I saw online that both of her parents played a bat sport, so her dad played baseball, her mom played softball, which is awesome, like a legacy player. Um, she currently plays for the AUSL Cascade. So that's over in Portland, correct? That's where it is? Okay. I was... For some reason I doubted myself for a second there. Um, and she just has had an amazing career both in college as well as now in the pros and, uh, we're so excited to have her come chat with us tonight. So welcome, Ally So excited to be here. Thank you guys for having me. Excited to chat with you Awesome. So why don't you go ahead and just give us a quick rundown, like who you are, what you're currently doing, where you come from, um, anything you wanna share with the girls. Yeah. Um, I think, I think you covered a lot of it. I'm definitely a little bit of a legacy bat and ball girl. I, I joke all the time that I think my dad probably had me swinging a bat before I could walk. Um, so been, been a long time coming for me, but definitely grew up in a bat and ball household. My brother also played baseball for a little while. He's a lacrosse player now. But honestly, we grew up doing everything. So I have played... I was a gymnast for a little while, I have played basketball, I played tennis, I played softball, and I think that was so good for me. I loved playing multiple sports. I played tennis until I graduated high school, and still I think it'll probably be, like, my old lady sport. Um, whenever I- I'm retired and done playing softball, I think that's probably what I'll continue doing. But, um, I played those two things all the way throughout high school, and I went to a very, very tiny little high school in Georgia called... The town's called Bremen. And after I graduated from there, I went to school at LSU, um, like Kara mentioned, and absolutely just fell in love with Baton Rouge. I loved LSU. I loved playing in purple and gold, and I'm so thankful that that's the place that God had for me, for sure. I'm just... I can't say enough good things about getting to, getting to spend my career there, and I'm so thankful for it. And then after that, I've been playing professional softball since then. I got my college degree in broadcasting. So one of these days, I'm gonna be working in, uh, Major League Baseball, I hope. That was my first love. And so I got my degree in broadcasting, and I'm now getting my master's degree and playing, uh, professionally. So this will be my second year with AU. I'll be finishing my master's degree in April. And I work a couple of different jobs in the off-season to keep myself on my toes, do a few different things, and then, uh, season starts here in about a month, so I'm really, really excited. Yeah. And will you move out to Oregon then for, like, the three months of the summer and- Yes. So we actually start the year in Florida. We'll do spring training in Florida. We all will go to Vero Beach. Some of you guys maybe, um, have played at, like, down there by Disney. And so, uh, we'll be in, we'll be in Florida for spring training for about two weeks, and then everyone will head to their home cities. That's awesome. That's kind of fun that you guys get to all, like, come together. I bet that feels a little bit of like a reunion party. It is. It's really nice to get to see everyone, and then get to... You know, we don't play for very long, so to get to meet with your teammates and anyone who's new, especially for, you know, the pitchers and catchers to get to throw to each other and pitch to each other and do all of those things is, is awesome. And right now, the coaches are changing year to year, for the most part, and so to get to meet with your staff and get to know them, um, and hopefully, you know, become a team, quote, unquote, before, before the year starts. That's awesome. Um, so I- I gotta pounce on something that, that you said a while ago, is that you played multiple sports. Mm-hmm. 'Cause I am a huge proponent of multi- multi-sport athletes. I think it's so good for, for people to have played multiple sports. So you played gymnastics, basketball, and tennis, that's what you said. Mm-hmm. Um, what do you think you learned in each one of those sports that helps you now in softball? Oh, yeah. I, I tell people all the time, I think that playing tennis made me a better softball player, 100%. Just the, the quickness of it, and in tennis your first step has to be so good. Which you guys know, your first step in softball matters so much. So to have to even more be good at that, because the court is so small, so if your first step is bad, then you're never getting that thing back over the net. I learned that very quickly. And then I think the other thing that tennis, and especially tennis and gymnastics really taught me, was just how to do it on my own. You know? You don't have a team out there to pick you up if you're frustrated, or to kind of pick up the slack for you. So I think I really had to learn how to be really mentally tough, because if I wasn't having a good day, then the game was gonna go bad, or the tennis match was gonna go bad, or I was gonna fall off the beam, which is not fun for anyone. So I think those two sports in particular really showed me how to be really mentally tough, and how to bounce back really quickly. Because at the end of the day, it's on you. So if you hit a bad shot in tennis, 10 seconds later, you're hitting a shot again. You don't have, you know, an inning and a half or two innings to kind of get yourself back together for another at-bat. So those were really important, and I definitely think have made me better along the way. Yeah, it's, it's, it's so good. It's so good to get all the different experiences and to- Mm-hmm and to take all of the things, and it makes you a better softball player. It doesn't just take time away from your sports. Absolutely. It actually, like, makes you better at the sport that you've chosen to play. Did it, did the softball swing not ruin your tennis swing? Because I, I took s- a tennis class thinking I could play in my old age years as well. Mm-hmm. And my co- my teacher just kept saying, "It's not a softball. Stop swinging it like it's a softball." I still, I still have to tell my mom that it's not a bat, so- Yeah. it keeps happening to me all the time. But, um, honestly, no, I think 'cause I grew up playing both, I alway- Yeah I played both from a really young age, so to me- Yeah they're completely different swings. But to people- Yeah who play tennis after, it's definitely a really hard change. Yeah, yeah. That was, that was the hardest part of it. But it is a sport that you can play forever. I also saw that you're into pickleball. Oh, yeah. I love pickleball. There's another sport that you can play into your, deep into your geriatric years, so that's awesome. Um, so your, your LSU experience, I, I'm glad to hear that it was so positive. Um, I, I read that you, in your junior year, you were splitting time as a catcher and an outfielder, which is an unusual split. Mm-hmm. Usually y- you, that's not your second position if you're a catcher, and vice versa- Mm-hmm if you're an outfielder. So talk to me about that junior year. Like, what would you... Are you, an outfielder, is that, like, like, your main, your first choice position, or is catcher your first choice position? Honestly, I've done both for my entire life. I think it's something people don't really know about me, because I did play so much outfield at LSU. Um, I did that the majority of my career there. But I caught pretty much every day at practice, so- Hmm it wasn't necessarily... We had a need my junior year. Um, we had one girl who had graduated early, and we had another who was injured, and then our only other catcher was a freshman who just wasn't quite ready yet at the time. And so we, it was so nice that I had never really stopped working on it, and I was able to, like, roll back there when that's what the team needed. And offensively, really more than anything, we needed to get me and someone else in the lineup, and that bat was better in the outfield. And so I would always tell people, like, don't be so caught up in being the shortstop or being the centerfielder. Mm-hmm. Like, be an infielder or, you know, be an outfielder and a catcher if that's really what you wanna do. You can do anything you want, and I think- Mm-hmm it just gives you more opportunities to be on the field. And now that I'm playing professionally, I'm still doing both. And I still, honestly, I like to take a ground ball every now and again at second base- Yeah just in case, because you never know. But- Right I, I loved it, and I think it both made me... You know, they both made me a better hitter in different ways. I think that- All of the pitches that I caught in the pen and listening to the pitchers talk about how they wanted to attack different hitters or listening to the pitching coach talk about pitch calling, like those things made me a better hitter and made me understand more of, okay, maybe this is the pitch that I'm gonna get. Yeah. Or whatever it may be. And then same thing, having to play the outfield every day, it, it made me a way more athletic catcher. And being a catcher every day, like it made my hands, like my glove work so much better than your average outfielder. So I just, I just never stopped doing both. And I think we try to put ourselves into a box too often and feel like, oh, I have to be one thing. But I definitely am... I'm playing professionally and still doing both. So I don't really plan on stopping anytime soon. That's awesome. And I think more and more you hear coaches talking about what they want to recruit are athletes. People who are- Like, that's what they want on their team, right? They want somebody who's just there to play, and not just- Mm-hmm not talking about like, "Oh, I, if I'm not shortstop, then I don't wanna play on your team." Right. And to, and just be like, "I'm ready for whatever the team needs." Like, that, that's a- Absolutely that's a girl that you want on your team if, if somebody who's able to do multiple positions like that. Yeah. And, and- I would tell you too, like I am, I'm a, I'm a good softball player, don't get me wrong, but so much of the reason that I was even drafted into the AUSL was that ability to play multiple positions. Because the rosters are small. Like, there aren't a ton of professional softball players. And so having somebody who can do multiple things when you need them to, 'cause if someone gets injured, there aren't just professional players on the bench. But being able to do multiple things is so much, you know, of what made me valuable as a player. Yeah. And, and we talk a lot about, in our program, about having an identity that's outside of softball, right? That- Mm-hmm we're, we're not just a softball player. We're so many other things- Mm-hmm and, and developing those other things. And I think you can even then stretch that into, as a softball player, stop pinning your identity to your position. Absolutely. Stop saying, you know, "I'm a pitcher," or, "I'm just a shortstop," or, "I'm just a first baseman." Whatever, whatever your position is, remember that you have a bigger identity as just a softball athlete as well. Absolutely. And that can really help you have that mindset as well. Um, I also saw you had got a really cool award at LSU, uh, that I don't know that I've ever seen before, but the SEC Volunteer of the Year. Uh, you, you were able to win that award, which I think I saw was the first LSU player to ever win it. Is that right? Um, I'm... Honestly, I may have been, I may have been. It was my, it was my senior year. I was the volunteer of the year. And- Mm-hmm um, I made the SEC Community Service Team three times while I was at LSU, and then my senior year was the volunteer of the year. And- That's awesome it, it was really incredible, and is one of the things in my career that I'm honestly the most proud of. Um, the other things are really cool, and I think nobody will remember them about two years from now, but the way that I got to serve Baton Rouge and the community that I lived in, and the people who bought tickets to my games, was really one of, one of the coolest parts of my career, to just be in the community that I lived in, and, you know, to affect change in people's lives. I am so thankful for it, and it made, it made the softball so much sweeter, I think, to me. To, like, look into the stands and know, like, I had, I had been there with those people, and I had been, you know, out where they are, and I had hopefully, you know, affected change in some way in their lives. So I- That was always really important to me, and something that definitely my parents were a big part of. We were always just, like, looking to meet a need or for someone to help, and that kind of carried over into my college career. I didn't even know that there was a community service team or there was a volunteer of the year, but just to be a part, you know, of the community that I lived in and be a part of the people's lives who were watching me play every day was It was incredible and one of my favorite parts of my career. Yeah. Tell us, tell us a little bit about what you did to get involved. Like, what were your projects that you worked on or the, the organizations that you worked with during that time? Yeah. Um, I did a little bit, I did a little bit of everything. Honestly, I So I was the community service director at LSU. There's something called SAAC when you get to college, which is the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, and that group of student athletes gets to kind of decide what the programming for student athletes will be for the year is. And so what I did was I got to decide what the student athletes were gonna volunteer and do. So if I thought that the football team needed to go to Our Lady of the Lake, which was the big hospital in Baton Rouge, the football team would hopefully, hopefully, if they listened to me, um, you know, they would go and make that appearance. Or when I was going out and doing things myself, I, I did a lot of things with the church that I went to in Baton Rouge. So every Thanksgiving we did Hams for Fams. Um, and the weekend of Thanksgiving, um, a few of the softball team, we would kind of We would head up an area, um, of Baton Rouge, and we would hand out the hams and pretty much everything you needed to make for Thanksgiving dinner to a neighborhood that was, like, surrounding, you know, LSU's campus. So that was one thing that I remember doing that was really cool. Um, let's see. I I did some things with, like, local schools. One year I took the softball team, and we did... We, like, painted and cleaned out an old school, or not an old school, like a school that was still being used. But we came in on a weekend one year, and we cleaned out and repainted everything so that when those kids came back on Monday, that, like, school was somewhere that they wanted to be. And that was a really cool... I remember that was kind of the first time that I had done something with a whole team before. And so getting to, like, experience that with them and the people who I was playing with every day was awesome. Uh, those are the two that stand out to me right now. I did some other things, but those are the two that I remember the most. That's great. And what, what great memories that you've, you've created too. Once again, building that identity outside of softball- Mm-hmm and realizing, "I can have an impact. I can matter in ways that don't involve hitting a yellow ball around a park." Mm-hmm. So that's, that's awesome. We did, we did a lot of things. Um, I hosted some free clinics in, in my time there. And then same thing, like I would come home... Almost every fall that I came home from school, I would host a clinic in, like, my hometown, which is really small. Um, but we worked some free clinics, and, uh, we did that as a team a few different times. Uh, just organized, like, how can we get... How can we make softball more accessible to, like, communities that maybe don't have it? And that was, that was really cool too. That's awesome. Um, so before we open it up to these girls to be able to ask you their question, um, what, what would you say... So we're obviously here talking about mental skills. Mm-hmm. That's what we're training and what we're trying to learn. So what would you say, for you, what's been your, like, mental skills journey? Like, have you known about them for a long time? No. Or is it something that's kind of new? Or, like, what, what's your experience that you've had with mental skills and how they've, um, benefited you as you've played? Oh, yeah. I would say that the really buying into the mental performance side of things changed my career, like completely changed my career. I was, in, in no other words, a hot mess for a long time. I just wanted it so bad, and got so frustrated when I didn't get the outcomes that I wanted. Or I felt like... I felt so terrible that I was letting everyone down. And so that was a really, it was really hard for me for a lot, a lot of years. And even into like my freshman year of college, I really struggled with just- Like I'm, I'm working so hard, and I want this so badly that like you're frustrated when you don't get the result. That's anything, and honestly, I was like that at school and when I would fail a test or I was like that in so many things. It just kind of clicked for me on the softball side for even into the rest of my life. Like, this mental performance stuff that you guys are learning and that I'm still learning, as much as it's a softball skill, it's a life skill, and I really, I really believe that. I use my, my breathwork and my Well, Better, How, which we'll talk about here in a second, I, I use that in my regular life too because half the time, you know, it's not necessarily softball related. But we had a guy when I got to college, his name was Brian Cain, and that's who was our mental performance coach at LSU. I love, I love Brian Cain. That's, that's my man. Um, and we started off by listening to his podcast every day. He does a mini podcast that he puts out every morning called the Mental Performance Daily. I still listen to it. Um, but he does like a three-minute mental performance lesson every morning, and as a team, we had to listen to that, and then we would talk about it at practice. And I was like, "Oh, this is, this is kind of good stuff." And so I kind of bought into it, and when I really started using some of those lessons, it wasn't even that my softball got better. It just freed me up to play the softball that I could already play. And I, I really believe that. I really, um, push everyone to... You're just not too cool. I think a lot of people think they're too cool or that they don't need that stuff, like the mental performance things, but even on my best softball days, like those things make me a better softball player. And so just Brian Cain's big thing is control what you can control. Um, and so learning that and really taking that to heart and preparing as best as I could and then surrendering the results to be what they are, that was the biggest change for me and what really... It, it changed my career. It just made softball so much more fun again. Because for me, like, I'm a worker. Like, I'm a swinger. I, I swing all the time. I like to practice. And so I knew that when the weekend came, like, nobody had out-prepared me. Nobody had out-practiced me during the week. I knew that. I was very confident of it. And so then what did I... Like, what did I have to be worried about? You know? Or if I got out and was frustrated, what, what really was I frustrated about? Because I did everything that I could do, and the outcome didn't come, and that has to be okay with me. Like, I have to rest in knowing that I did everything I could do. And really buying into that and knowing that changed so much for me, uh, about everything, honestly. About practice, about games, just about how I felt about myself as a human being. Like, I felt like I was a terrible person when I was playing bad softball. And- Mm-hmm what a rough way to live your life, because softball's really hard, and you're gonna get out a lot. It is. It is. So learning that for me, just being able to separate those two things and understanding that if you've done everything you can do, then the outcome just gets to be the outcome. It's just feedback and not anything else. Right. I, I love how you say that, and I think for a lot of people this is how mental skills really click. 'Cause I think a lot of people come to mental skills- Mm-hmm thinking it's the magic formula or the magic- Right potion. No, it's not. That now, now that I know how to breathe and visualize- Mm-hmm I'm gonna be now the perfect softball player, and that's not it at all. It is not a magic pill. It's not a magic bullet. It is giving you skills so that your preparation that you put in, it's not like now all of a sudden you don't have to practice, but now your practice actually shows up when it's time to play. And so your preparation, it removes that mental barrier that takes away from your preparation. So now your physical preparation can actually show up. And then you're stacking physical preparation versus physical preparation- Yeah as opposed to physical preparation with, like, some mental anguish Yeah, absolutely that, like, lowers your ability. I was so... My, my biggest issue was- And then you just compete. Right? Yeah. My biggest issue was, was post-game. Like, I was never nervous really or not confident or unsure, but after the game, like, if I was bad, I was crushed. Mm. And that's a, you know, that's a really hard way to live, and it, it bleeds into your practice the next day because then practice feels like life or death or whatever it is. So just being able to, to separate the outcome from the prep was really important for me and definitely changed... Like, it changed how I prepared and also just- I was able to get back to the next at bat so much faster, or get back to the next game so much faster instead of still, like, being so mad at myself and frustrated that I had let people down that I couldn't then go do the thing the next time. Right. Well, and it gives you the ability to be able to diagnose what do I actually need to work on. Mm-hmm. Because if, if you're pitching just fine in p- in practice, and then you go and you hit batters or walk people and you're not pitching the way you do in practice, like what do you change in practice? Mm-hmm. Like, 'cause as soon as you walk back to practice, you're gonna pitch like you pitch in practice. Right. And so i- it really gives you, if, if I know that I'm doing what I practiced, then if, you know, okay, now my hands aren't going through like they should, or now I'm not, like, squaring up to the ball like I should, now I can take that back to practice and be like, "I know that this is the physical thing I need to work on, because it had nothing to do with anything else except for these physical issues." Yep. It's physically- And then we can diagnose... Yeah. And then we can diagnose and we can get better. Yeah. As opposed to being like, "Well, as long as it's not raining, and as long as the b- ump hasn't made a bad call, and as long as my teammate didn't make an error- Yep and as long as I don't shake out, I'll pitch well." Like Yeah it just, like, takes away those, those other variables and allows it just to be physical, and that's, that's such a... It's such a powerful tool to have, powerful arsenal to have. We are- talk about a tool all the time. Mm-hmm. You, you teased... What'd you say? You teased the three things that you do. We call... I think it's, like, what we call wins, mistakes, betters. Yes. So we called it, we called it a well, better, how. Okay. So what did you do well, what can you do better, and how do we do it? And the- Yeah the how was so important for me, because I was really good at what did you do well, what did you need to do better, but not very good at getting to, like, okay, like, this is just information. Mm-hmm. And now I have to go back to work. So my sophomore year, like I told you guys, I was a hot mess. So whatever, whatever you think a hot mess is, I was worse. Um, I was worse. So just so emotionally attached to the outcome, and it's not a good way to play. So my sophomore year, I would take an index card, like a li- like a, a three by five index card. I know you guys have index cards at school. And I would write down my well, better, how and drop it off in my assistant coach's office every, after every game. So at, I don't even know, at the midway point through the season, I just was doing that in my head. So not only, like, had... One, I was accountable. Like, I, she... Not she, but I was holding myself accountable by turning that into her, that I actually had to think through, "Okay, I, I've taken the wins and the losses, and now I have to move on to how do we fix it?" And so that held me accountable by actually physically writing that note card and turning it into her, to, like, "Okay, I have to move on." But then also- It gave, it gave someone else an opportunity to be like, "You actually weren't as bad as you thought you were." Because a lot of times that's the case. Or, "You weren't as good as you thought you were." That might be the case too. That, and that's fine. But it just gave someone else an opportunity to, like, pour into me or understand that, oh, like, Ally really feels like this is bad right now. Or, I think this is how I fix it, and Coach Lindsay would be like, "Yeah, no, that's not what we're gonna do. We're actually gonna do this." So just, it, it kept me accountable to moving on from the result into how do we fix it. That's awesome. Yeah, we do the same thing with wins, mistakes, better since. Yeah. I like, 'cause it's like taking your pa- your wins and your mistakes are in the past. You can't do anything about them. Mm-hmm. That's what happened. You're just acknowledging that they happened. And then your betters is how am I g- what am I gonna ch- change? What am I gonna do better next time I have the chance to do it? Mm-hmm. And so if, and that's forward-looking, that's future looking, which takes your power back. Once again, something you can control. Yeah. I cannot control the good things I did or the bad things I did, but I can control how I approach my next opportunity. And so it's really taking that control back, um, and allowing you to really step forward and be like, "Okay, w- next step, let's move forward." Mm-hmm. I, I love it. That's really great. All right. Well let, let's open it up to you ladies. Um, feel free to unmute or you can throw it in the chat. Go ahead and ask any questions you might have for Ally. Yeah. Sophie, you can go ahead. Shout out to you. Go ahead, Sophia. Um, how did you, like, know you wanted to, like, go forward and, like, play softball instead of, like, tennis and, like, gymnastics? Yeah. Honestly, that was really hard. I thought that I was gonna be a gymnast through and through. I remember, um, you guys don't even know about this anymore, but there used to be, like, a computer room at your house. If your parents are listening right now, they'll think that's funny. But, um, there, I remember being upstairs with my dad and just, like, crying because I didn't, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I still wanted to be able to do everything. And, but being a gymnast was so much time, right? Like, it takes more time than everything else. And so my dad finally just kind of said, he's like, "Okay, do you wanna be just a gymnast? Or do you wanna be a tennis player, a softball player, and a basketball player?" And I really wanted to be able to do multiple things, so that's what I picked at the time. And then as I kept going in it, I just, I feel like I really liked softball the best, and I was the best at, I was the best at that one. And my dad had also played that one, so he was my coach for a really long time, and getting to do that with him together was really cool and definitely something I will never forget and I loved doing. So it was really nice to, to get to do that together and it was just the one that I was best at at the end of the day. All right, who else has a question? Ooh, your favorite hitting drill. Julie wants to know what's your favorite hitting drill? Ooh, my favorite hitting drill? Um, I don't know if I have one favorite, but one thing that I definitely really like to do is hit, I call it a flamingo, so hit from one leg. At a t- like I'll s- start just on my back leg, and have to like really control my move forward. I think that if you don't have a good forward move, then you can't have a good swing. Because if you don't get to the ground, it's like when both your feet are on the ground, when your front foot lands after a step, I think if you don't land in a good spot, then you can't swing from a good spot. So practicing your stride and practicing how you land on your front foot is really, really important, 'cause if that's not good, then it's really hard to take a good swing. And then- I'm, I'm assuming with a tee, is that right? One leg with a tee. Actually, this is gonna be really funny. With the tee machine. I hate the tee. I'm anti-tee. Okay. In, in like every way. I ha- hate the tee. So I think there's definitely a place for it, so don't hear me say that. Don't throw away your tees. Yeah. Don't let your, um, don't let your parents- Don't tell your coach, Ally says, "I don't need a tee." No. You can, you can tell them I don't like it, but- Yeah so if you, I'll share my Instagram with, um, with Kara. I post a ton of stuff where you don't have to use a tee for anything. So I call it anything but the tee. And I just- That's awesome I'm just anti-tee. I don't like it. I think at some point if you can hit all these balls off the tee, then we gotta, we gotta start throwing it at you, because it doesn't make you better anymore, right? So, um, I'll have to share my Instagram with her, but I call it anything but the tee, and I love it. But anything like that, anything that's- Is that separate from your normal Instagram? No, it's a separate account. It's a separate account? Okay. And then- All right. Well, I'll look it up and I'll drop it in the chat for everybody yeah. And then I also really like to hit angled toss. So instead of just having front toss or the machine from straight on, where the pitcher normally is, I like to do it from different angles. So you're coming across you or coming towards you, 'cause it just makes you have really good space. So those are a couple of my favorites. Uh, Sophia was asking about a mental performance coach. Does LSU have a mental performance coach? Yes. So we had a mental performance coach. His name's Brian Kane, and he's the mental performance coach for a lot of different schools, but we used him also. So I think the first school that he ever had was Florida State softball maybe, but he works with a lot of other softball schools or programs around the country now, and we used him in a ton of places. We listen to his podcast all the time. He would usually come out to LSU once a year, and then we would meet with him by Zoom like once a month. Yeah. Coach AB's good friends with Brian Kane, actually. Yeah, he's awesome. Yeah. Uh, Chloe's got a question. Go ahead Chloe, unmute. What's your number? Forty-four I was 22 for a really long time, but 44 now. Awesome. What... If you look in the chat, I put in her Instagram ha- handle. So it's @ally44newland. Yep. So that's her, that's her Instagram handle if you guys wanna follow her. Um- I, I post some hitting stuff on there. So if you're ever looking for things I like to do or if you have a question for me, if you wanna leave a comment on it, send me a DM. By all means. Yeah. Do it. Uh, Lily wants to know what is the technique you use to calm down or ground yourself? Oh, goodness. Um, I think your breath is really important. Um, there's a ton of things that we did as far as breathwork went while I was in college, and so there are videos and podcasts of all, all different kinds of breathwork. But I like to do something called, um, like, a box breath. So breathe in for four, hold it for four, out for four, hold it for four. And so- They know box breathing. Yeah. They, they learned that one. Yeah. I use- Yeah, it's a good one I use that sometimes. And then I think just when it comes to, like, a softball perspective, we do something called, like, a routine and a release. Um, we use that a lot. And so I think I am very, very consistent about my routine. That, like, is definitely, like, a, a skill of mine. And so my consistency and my routine keeps me in the moment really well. So I don't ever... I don't play like this. Like, I'm not really a high and low kind of girl. I'm pretty level. But being consistent in my routine is definitely something that allows me to do that. Yep. Routines are important as well. Pet peeves? Like, softball pet peeve or just general? Anything. Anything? Um, I think my biggest pet peeve is when people are inconsiderate of others, so they don't think about others. And so I think that's something, especially as a teammate, like, you guys can understand. Like, if I don't... Like, I should be, you know, I should just be aware of my teammates all the time. Like, do they need help carrying something, or could I bring a bucket to the field, or should I hold the door open for this person, or does someone else need a cup of water? Could I... Like, just being aware of, like, can you meet a need for somebody else? But I think when people, like, only think about themselves or they don't look for somewhere to help, that's really frustrating for me. What other questions do you guys have? Go ahead, girl Sophia Do you have, like, a favorite, like, stress toy, like a squishy or, like, slime or something? Hmm I don't think so. I do have, um, I have a weighted, like, dinosaur, and I'm obsessed with it. I, I love it. And I bring it, like, on travel trips and, and stuff like that. Um, when I... I used to have a weighted blanket that I really liked, and so I couldn't, like, bring that whole huge weighted blanket on trips and things, so I got this dinosaur. Um, I can't remember where it's from now. It's not like the ones that you see all the time from Target. It's not that one. It's not that one. Um, but it... I don't remember where it's from right now, but it's a triceratops, and I love it. How big? It's, like, doll sized or, like... Okay. It's- Like, large stuffed animal sized. So yeah, it's, it's, it's legit. It's a triceratops. And you, like, do you sleep with it on your chest? I like to hold it most of the time. Okay, totally. Okay. That's awesome. Uh, Chloe's asking about your pre-game routine. Hmm. Okay. What's your pre-game routine? Um, I don't really have a super specific pre-game routine. I try to be... I think routines are very good, but you can also be trapped by them if you get, like, too intense with it. So my pre-game routine is not super strict. Because, like, I'm playing in different places all the time, right? Like, every, every game that I play is probably at a different park, so it can't be, it can't be too crazy. But, um, I always watch... So, like, I watch a lot of... I like to watch a lot of film about the pitchers that I'm about to face. And so the... either the night before or the morning of, I like to watch every hit that that pitcher has given up. So, like, I like to watch other people be successful. I think other people like to watch their good pitches, but for me, I really like to watch other people be successful. Or if I have already hit off of that pitcher before, then I'll watch myself get hits off of that pitcher, so I'll watch myself be successful. And- I love that that's important for me. I really like to do that, um, from a film perspective. And then I always hit, um, I always hit early. So if we play, like, a game at 5:00, then we'll probably take BP, you know, about 3:30 or 4:00. But I always hit in the morning. So I'll probably hit at 10:00, like, in the morning before the game, and then I'll come back. So in the morning I get to, like, work... I get to, like, work, and I get to hit the pitches that I'm gonna see, or if the pitcher has a really good curve ball, then I might hit a really good curve ball in the morning. But by the time I get to the field, like, that's... I'm not getting any better, right? Like, by the time you get to the field, you are who you are, and that's, and that's okay. You gotta figure out how to win with what you have. So whenever I get to the field, I like to hit fastballs, just right down the middle fastballs, and feel myself be successful and take my best swing so that in the game, like, I'm used to having taken my best swing. So those are the... Those are, like, two or three things that I always do. But for me, my, like, pre at bat routine is what's really important. And so I do the same thing every time. There's honestly probably videos of it everywhere, but it's the same thing every time I get in the box. It's the exact same. Like, you could, you could bet on it. Like, that's how consistent I am with that. And so when I get in the box, like, I don't have to guess or think or do anything because I'm so consistent with that routine that I know exactly what's gonna happen. I get in the box really calm and really confident. And then another thing that Brian Cain would always tell us was having, um, your keys to keep it simple. So KISS, keep it simple. Um, we'd have our three keys, and so for me, like that was breathe, see, and get my swing off. So no matter what, I was gonna get my swing off. Good pitch, bad pitch, ball, strike, whatever, who cares? But I was gonna get my swing off no matter what. So those are my keys to keep it simple. I would say those as I walked up to the plate, and then get in the box with my, with my pre-at bat routine, take pitch, hit pitch, step out, do my, my pre-box routine again, get back in the box. Um, so those things were really important to me, more than, like, my pre-game day routine. That's awesome. All right, well, I'm sure these girls could just pepper you with questions all evening, but we do want to be respectful of your time. Thank you so, so much for coming. Um, this was really great. I'm really glad that the girls got to hear from you and all of your experience. Um, I'm gonna have you close out with the one last question that we ask- Mm-hmm all the mentors that come. Um, and that is if you were to travel back in time to, like, this girl, these girls'- Mm-hmm ages, um, what would you tell yourself if you were to go back in time- Yeah to your, to your... These girls are 12, 13, 14- Mm-hmm 15, 16, somewhere around there. That's the million dollar question, guys. Um, that's Mr. Cain's favorite question also. What do you know now that you wish you knew then? I think, man, so many things, but- I think just take it all as feedback. Like, failure is feedback, and the sooner that I would have realized that and, you know, accepted that, then things would have been a million times easier for me. I think that my competitiveness and my perfectionism are definitely part of what made me a great player. But it's also a little bit of what held me back once I got to college, 'cause I didn't allow myself to fail with much grace. So take it all as feedback, and if you get out, if you get a hit, whatever it is, just removing that emotional attachment to what happens and taking it all for exactly what it is. Like, "Oh, you got out? Good." Like, "This is how I can fix it. Oh, I got hit? Good, let's do that again." So that's a Jocko-ism for you guys. You're probably too young for Jocko, but that's okay. Um, so that would, that would be, that would be number one. And then number two, and I really, like, want you guys... Like, I know we've been on here for a long time, but you guys lock in for this one. Um, confidence is a choice, and that is, that is for your whole life. So softball, school, relationships, whatever it is. Confidence is a choice. It's not a feeling. Like, if you wait until you feel confident, you're gonna be waiting for a really long time. But you get to choose to be confident whenever you want, and that comes from preparation. It comes from practice. It comes from, like, knowing that you're being who you're supposed to be and doing what you're supposed to do. So that, I think, was... That was like a, a Brian Cain-ism again. But I remember when he told us that, and it finally clicking to me, like, "Oh, I get to be confident whenever I want because it's a choice. It's not a feeling." So what, you got out 10 times in a row? Like, if you did the work, then you have no reason to not choose to be confident in that moment. Or if you got a hit 10 times in a row, whatever, like, you get to choose to be confident in that moment. So that was something that I have, I still do to this day, but I have said to myself over and over and over for the last five years is, "Confidence is a choice." Regardless of what the outcomes say or what the, what social media says or what your teammates say or what your coaches say, confidence is a choice. So you get to be that whenever you want. That's awesome. Well, wise words. Wise words from Ally. So thank you so, so much for coming. We really, really appreciate your time and, and glad that you could share all this wisdom with us. Yeah, absolutely. I'm so thankful for you guys.