Fred Corral

The Mound is the Mountain thought:
While climbing Camelback Mountain, I would make a point to think about things that were heavily on my mind. This was a thought from Trail Marker #28.

Don’t Fix What Hasn’t Failed Yet

I struggle when I hear, “His fastball’s dead zone. It won’t play at the next level.”
Maybe.
But maybe not.
If a young pitcher is having success and believing in his stuff, why pull the rug out before he struggles?
Stuff doesn’t exist in a vacuum. A fastball is only one part of an arsenal, and deception, release, conviction, and how it plays off his other pitches matter just as much.

If we change him now and he loses trust, we might lose the student altogether. Let him compete. Let the hitter tell us if it’s not good enough. Then, when he’s ready, we teach.
We don’t have a crystal ball, but we can keep a young man’s belief intact until he’s ready to grow.

Great leader. Great coach. Great man. Pumped for Collierville. 👊.

Many years ago, I received a letter from “The Game.” I never forgot it.
Over the years, my experiences and pitching philosophy have shaped how I would write that letter today.

This is my version in audio.

A Letter From “The Game” to the Pitcher.

Find Victory.

Psalm 144:1

Thank you Brother. A lot of wonderful mentors and friends contributed a great deal to it. You included. Glad you liked it. I hope it impacts others in the same manner a shorter version of this did for me long ago. 👊

The Mound is the Mountain thought:

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT - ME vs ME

We spend too much time trying to become perfect before we allow ourselves to compete.

The perfect delivery.
The perfect swing.
The perfect pitch.
The perfect thought.
The perfect feeling.

But competition doesn’t ask you to be perfect.
It asks you to be better than another human being for this moment.

And never forget:

Your opponent is human, too.

He has doubt.
He feels pressure.
He gets tired.
He questions himself.
He fears failure.
He is trying to trust his preparation just like you are.

So stop competing against the image you’ve created of your opponent.
Compete against the person standing in front of you.

Before there is Me vs. You, there is Me vs. Me.

Can I trust my preparation?
Can I stay with my process?
Can I compete with conviction?
Can I accept what I have today instead of searching for what I wish I had?
Can I stay present when something goes wrong?

I don’t have to feel better than you.
I don’t have to be more talented than you.
And I certainly don’t have to be perfect.

I have to manage myself better than you manage yourself when the moment arrives.

One pitch.
One decision.
One moment.

That’s competition.

Perfection isn’t perfect execution.
Perfection is complete commitment.

Trust your preparation.
Trust your process.
Trust your ability.
Make a decision.
Commit to it.
Live with the result.

And then learn.

If it goes well — thank you for the experience.
If it goes poorly — thank you for the education.

Either way, take something from it.

Because if I learn from what happened today, then tomorrow you aren’t competing against the same person.
You’re competing against someone the experience made better.

Conquer Me vs. Me.
Then compete Me vs. You.
Then return to Me vs. Me and grow.

You don’t have to be perfect.
You just have to compete.