🔥 “Don’t Get ‘Too Big’”

When I was in high school I would get a mailing (this is before the days of social media), from the pre-eminent pitching guru of the day

He preached “don’t get too big” and “work on your flexibility”; and then for a large fee, he would unveil all the secret pitching mechanic drills I didn’t know, that would take me where I wanted to go.

His message resonated with me though because I was very small, and very weak, and to me, the weight room was a scary place where all the big bad high school football players lifted

So my fear combined with my lack of knowledge, and as a high school Junior, I weighed 125 lbs

I got exactly what I wanted: I didn’t get “too big”

The problem was that I wasn’t nearly genetically gifted enough for super secret pitching drills to overcome my lack of application of the principles of physics, namely F = MxA

So I threw 78-80mph

And it was over

Not done playing of course, as I still won some high school awards, and then mostly sat the bench at a small college; but it was over at that point.

Because unless you’re a genetic freak, you can’t FAIL to do something that you should have done, and still make it

It wasn’t until college, and at a dinky D2 at that, that I was finally awakened to the fact that no matter how great your pitching and execution is, you’re not getting anyone out throwing 78-80. Hitters just moved to the front of the box, and teed off. No amount of secret pitching drills and flexibility was going to help me, and I found my new home, the bench.

What I had needed was me right now to go back in time and tell high school me, “Start training RIGHT NOW. Start changing your nutrition RIGHT NOW. And maybe you’ll have a chance at this sport you love so much”

If I’d had a transformation physically in high school, and gained the velocity I needed to go along with my pitching ability, I might have had a chance at the sport

-Fenske