Not everyone is suited to this position, as it involves a lot of pressure and high-intensity situations when your teammates will look to you to step up and come through with a clutch performance. However, if you think you have what it takes to be a softball pitcher, here are a few tips to get you started off on the right foot.

- Throw between 250-400 pitches every week, with at least 2 days of rest in between each throwing session. You should build up enough endurance so that you can throw every couple days without feeling tired or fatigued.

- Work with a pitching coach to develop your mechanics and technique. This must be done EARLY in pitching practice; otherwise you may develop mechanical flaws and bad habits that could be very hard to break later on. Work specifically on creating a consistent arm motion, efficient release, and an effective follow-through.

-Work on controlling your emotions on the mound. Regardless of the game situation, you should stay in your head and not lose your cool. Work on avoiding distractions when throwing and try to remain calm when recovering from mistakes. Don’t complain, whine, frown, or stomp around the mound after a few bad pitches. Stay calm, take a couple of deep breaths, and think about where you want your next pitch.

- After you have developed a consistent and efficient throwing motion, start working on speed adjustments. Pick out certain spots over the plate and try to hit the same spots while gradually changing your pitching speed. Also, try to alter your motion as little as possible when dropping down in speed. This will help you out a lot once you start to develop a change-up.

- Once you are comfortable with your throwing motion and have started to experiment with different speeds, get to work on improving accuracy. Pitch placement is the number 1 skill that all successful pitchers have in common, and the ability to consistently throw accurately and really control your location will make you a huge asset to the team. After you can repeatedly groove fastballs right down the middle, start working on hitting the corners- high and tight, low and in, up and away, and down and out. Hitting the corners will allow you to approach each batter with a variety of weapons, and once you learn to recognize certain batters’ strengths and weaknesses, you will know exactly how to work to them.

- As your body adjusts to the workload and you build up some endurance, increase your weekly pitch count up to around 500 pitches