Four Weeks until D-Day

After completing my due diligence and investigatory research, I approached my contacts looking to pick their brains on the legitimacy of the American Association and Can-Am League combined tryout. I just couldn’t find any bad or undesirable information on the event so I have indeed registered for the ‘Indy Pro Showcase’ in Fort Myers, Florida on February 9 and 10.

Plus, the early February start date for the tryout just means that more jobs will be available in a month’s time than at any other tryout camp I attend in the spring. 

This very well may be the best opportunity I have to catch on with a team down south or, if I’m unsuccessful, I will know exactly what I need to work and improve on to better myself for other league tryouts in the pipeline.

The ‘Indy Pro Showcase’ taking place in Detroit is not held until July. That’s basically reserved for last ditch efforts to catch on with an independent league team during the second half of their seasons. Hopefully, that showcase never even ends up on my radar.

I’m heading to Fort Myers to play some ball, get noticed by some independent league teams, and enjoy a much-needed reprieve from this nasty Canadian winter. I fly out early
in the morning on Tuesday the eighth and return late on Friday the eleventh with a place to play this summer. Fingers crossed.

Since I will be on a mound in Florida, under the watchful eyes of a handful of scouts and team administrators, in less than a month I really need to get my indoor throwing sessions under control and on a regular schedule to work through the minor mechanical blips in my delivery.

Because of my cruise and the Christmas break I’ve only thrown off a mound three times in the past six weeks, which is not nearly enough volume to ensure that my pitches are at peak velocity and my mechanics are consistent enough to throw the ball wherever I want.

I need to be throwing more. I need to be in midseason form by the time my plane touches down in Fort Myers. There cannot be any question marks in my mechanics nor can my faith waver upon releasing a pitch. I need to have the confidence to throw any pitch in any count and be sure it hits the strike zone in a specific, pre-determined location.

Truthfully, right now I don’t have that. My last throwing session encapsulated this concern perfectly. Some pitches felt incredible; fastballs that just seemed to explode out of my hand with a modicum of effort and curveballs that broke into the zone so ferociously it was like they were attached to a string. Unfortunately, other efforts felt weak and ineffective and just didn’t end up where I wanted them to.

My mechanics just feel off right now and I have no doubt it’s due to the inconsistent reps I’ve had over the past six weeks. Oddly, my mirror drills feel perfect, but, on the mound, I am unable to replicate that consistency.

What are mirror drills? At least once a day since I started my offseason training program, I spend a minute in front of a mirror practicing my mechanics. It’s an invaluable training tool for developing consistency. The more you practice a skill the more the movement pattern becomes ingrained in your muscle memory. So, if I practice my mechanics every day—even at a pantomime level—there will come a time when my delivery becomes second nature and I will be able to replicate my mechanics at will whenever I want.

I am at that point on flat ground. Even while warming up before I climb atop the mound, my delivery is easy and smooth. It feels perfect. Once I start throwing from the hill, that familiarity and comfort level seems to disappear. I need that feeling to translate from flat ground to the rubber or my two days throwing in the Florida sun will feel like a year (and my neck will be sore from watching moonshots reverberate around Terry Park).

Why is this happening? What is the reason for the disconnect?

My guess is that I’m practicing my delivery from flat ground the majority of the time and only spending a few precious minutes every week (a hell of a lot less than that recently) throwing from a mound. I’m not giving myself enough of a chance to fully develop repeatable mechanics from the hill.

That is going to change. Right until I leave for Florida, I will be throwing at least once week at an indoor facility (and in two of those weeks I will be throwing twice). I am confident I will be able to get my delivery functioning like a well-oiled machine by my departure date.