Is there a difference between hurt and injured?

One of the hardest things in this game is knowing, as a softball coach, where the line is between a player being hurt and a player being injured. The longer I’m around this game, and the more amazing young ladies I watch, the harder it is for me to know the difference between her needing to come out of the game, and her being able to push forward.

Just when I think I know the level to which they can ignore the pain, another player comes along and demonstrates to me that I still underestimate the ability for heart and determination to push past physically pain. Recently I watched one of the players that I work with frequently do something that raised my expectations of just how tough a player can really be.

Before I share the specifics about her let me share that I already had high expectations. At a recent National Professional Fastpitch event I had Caitlin Lowe sign a poster for one of my top slappers. When I gave her the poster she said “Coach you have no idea how much I love Caitlin Lowe. As a young girl I watched her run into a fence and break her nose. I want to be like her.” At which point I interrupted her and asked “You want to break your nose running into a fence?” She said “Of course not. She came back the next day and played ball. I want the chance in my career to show the world how tough I can really be, just like her.”

Of course I knew what Caitlin Lowe had done. I had also watched this player gut out 102 fevers and the flu and play exceptional ball. So I had no idea that what I had witnessed from her didn’t even scratch the surface of what she was really willing to go through if need be in order to show the world how much love she really has for the game.

So back to the story … this young lady dove for a ball in the first game of the tournament. The timing was off just a bit and she broke both knuckles on the index finger of her throwing hand as she tried to cover up the ball. The odd shape of her finger, the purplish color of it and the fact that it was about double the size in seconds was the first clue that it was definitely broken. Her coach and the umpires both wanted to do the sane thing and take her out of the game. Fighting through the tears and the pain she refused to leave.

You would have to know her to understand that that battle wasn’t one that her coach or the umpire were going to win so they allowed her to remain in the game. Big deal, seen that lots of times. That's just the background for what I really wanted to share.

By morning her finger was swollen worse and it was obvious that she couldn’t throw. But she insisted on hitting, and in practice, demonstrated that she could still hit despite being down one critical finger. She destroyed the ball all day long. I was there to watch her the first game of the day on Sunday and, honestly, looking at her finger almost made me sick. But she was determined to continue hitting.

Not only did she hit, she ended up in a situation that I’m not sure I’ll ever forget. At my clinics I teach/encourage very aggressive base running. Well here she was on base after crushing the ball, and just when I thought she’d done all she could to impress me she took a huge lead and begged the catcher to snap back to first base and proceeded to do a perfect dive back into first. Broken finger and all.

Macy showed me this weekend that her heart was in fact much bigger than I had previously given her credit for. I’d love to hear from others who’ve seen girls with amazing hearts that shine through the pain and the tears. Those that have demonstrated for you that sometimes the line between being hurt and being injured is sometimes really hard to find.

Guest Post by Dalton Ruer
Dalton Ruer has been using softball instruction to encourage and motivate for the past 15 years. Throughout the year he provides private batting lessons, team based clinics and high energy softball camps. He can be reached for questions or comments through email at CoachDalton @ CrossTrainingSoftball.com. Checkout his blog and other valuable resources at www.CrossTrainingSoftball.com.

What about you? What are your thoughts on this subject?

View Original Post at softballperformance.com

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Smalls3 says:

Mr. Ruer: The purpose of your article was inspiration. However, my take is slightly different. I am a 30 year old former college athlete. I played through pain, broken fingers, and bumps/ bruises in too many places to mention. I also tore my ACLs (three times), broke a wrist or two, fractured a hip, and took a few balls to the head . . . all for the love of the game.

As a result of toughing it out all those years in softball, basketball, golf, soccer, etc, I am a 30 year old female who walks and feels like a I fifty. This is not to say that I don't encourage young women to tough it out and play though the pain. The confidence I gained on the field and the lessons learned have allowed me to accel in the professional world. However, I also wonder whether I will regret at 40 or 50 or 60, all those times that I looked at my coach and said, "don't even think about pulling me . . . I am fine." I hope that I never regret that comment, but as I get older and my body aches a little more . . . it has me wondering.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010 at 2:37pm PST