Avoiding the Hit

My daughter got whacked by a pitch a few weeks back. She plays fast-pitch softball, and this pitcher was particularly fast for the 9-10 year-old league. The count was full and the pitch came in high and tight. Amelia managed to turn her back a bit, but not get out of the way. The thwack of the ball hitting the meat of her back made the crowd gasp. After about a minute of quiet tears at the plate, tended by 2 coaches, she trotted down to first base and the game continued.

The hit left a fist-sized welt, with seam marks where the bruise formed.

A few days later, when we are playing catch and warming up for her pitching practice, I noticed that she is catching like she’s afraid of the ball. She’s doing that thing where she puts the glove where the ball is coming, but she sort of moves her body out of the way so that if the glove were not there, the ball would sail past and not hit her.

I knew that she was unconsciously trying to avoid being hit. It’s a perfectly reasonable response after being hit by a pitch, but I don’t want her to play afraid. So, I trieded this approach:

“Why are you moving away like that? Are you afraid it will hit you?” I asked.

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Do you trust yourself?” I asked.

“Huh?”

“Do you trust yourself? To you trust yourself to catch the ball?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Good. Then you don’t need to move out of the way. You control whether you get hit by the ball. Trust yourself to put the glove in the right place, like you always do. Your glove will protect you from getting hit.”

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In recent cash-game sessions, I find that I am not trusting myself. I am not acting according to what my instincts tell me.

A typical example is where I am heads-up, the player had raised pre-flop, and is now leading out on the flop. My instincts tell me that this is a standard continuation bet and he did not connect with the flop, and he would fold to a healthy raise. But I also did not connect on the flop, and so I probably don’t have the best hand.

My instincts say “raise.” The logical part of my brain says, “Save your chips. You will find better opportunities later.” So then I fold. Or even worse, maybe I just call. The poker equivalent of sticking my glove out where the ball is coming, but moving my body out of the way to avoid getting hit and injured.

Trust yourself. Trust your reads. Act on your instincts. If this leads to a bad result, then pay more attention next time and follow your instincts. Your opponent will almost always give you enough information to make the correct decision.