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Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

Now that school is back in full swing time is at a premium for fastpitch softball players. Especially high school age players who are either in-season right now or playing other sports.

The demands of schoolwork and/or other sports/activities make it easy to say "I don't have time to practice." And that's true to an extent — it really is difficult to find the time in the midst of everything else going on.

Yet the fact remains if you're a pitcher, come next summer the hitters you're facing won't care that you had volleyball practice after school or that you were taking three AP classes in the fall. The only thing they'll look at is how fat that pitch is and how hard they can hit it.

On the other side, if you're a hitter, the pitchers won't care if your free throw percentage was 85% or you sat first chair flute in the band. If you're not ready to hit they'll simply blow the ball right by you.

I'm not saying it's bad to have other activities, sports and interests. Personally, I think it's a good thing. But you can't use it as an excuse not to practice softball if you want to play at a high competitive level.

No matter what, you have to make time to practice. It might be when you're dead tired after running sprints, or while you still have a big project due in a few days. It won't be easy, but then nothing worthwhile ever is.

Keep in mind that practice doesn't have to mean spending a half hour or an hour in a practice facility. You can take 15 or 20 minutes to throw a little, or swing a bat, or bounce tennis balls off a wall in the basement to work on fielding. If you're a pitcher working on her motion, a rolled up pair of socks can turn even a 10 x 10 room into a practice cage.

The point is excellence doesn't make excuses, and it doesn't wait until you're not so busy. If you want to be a go-to player, you have to make the time to practice. Not next Spring, but now.

Anyway, that's the way I see it.

Please comment below and let me know... I would really appreciate it.

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