AI Answer
To excel in softball, it's important to shift your focus from just the outcome to the process. Try not to put too much pressure on yourself and take it day by day, learning from past experiences and mistakes to grow. Softball involves a lot of failure, so it's crucial to find value in every experience, even if it doesn't go as planned. Balancing softball with other aspects of life is also a challenge, but learning to separate them can lead to success. Finally, giving your best effort every day, being present in the moment, and making each practice count are key pieces of advice for improving in the sport.

Lauren Derkowski | Michigan Softball

And I would say follow that and pursue that route . Some of the things that I've picked up since being at school , uh , for softball has been changing my mentality to not only be outcome focused but more of process focused . So , understanding maybe that wasn't the best pitch ever , but here's a positive that I can take from it or here's something I can learn and understanding that softball is a big game of failure .

Lauren Derkowski | Michigan Softball

And I think that's something that's really , really helped me out is staying ahead , staying on schedule and making sure I know what's going on and what my weekly plan is if I can give my yourself a little bit of advice . It would be to not put so much pressure on yourself and just take it day by day , learn from the past , learn from your mistakes and grow from it , especially in softball where things don't always go your way . And once you understand that you're really able to have a different perspective on the sport and your position , just putting your best foot forward and giving 100% of what you have that day is a piece of advice that I would definitely give myself .

Lauren Derkowski | Michigan Softball

Some of the things that I've picked up since being at school , uh , for softball has been changing my mentality to not only be outcome focused but more of process focused . So , understanding maybe that wasn't the best pitch ever , but here's a positive that I can take from it or here's something I can learn and understanding that softball is a big game of failure . So the more that you're able to learn from it and grow from it , the better that you can be when training and when trying to reach those goals that you have for yourself .

Lauren Derkowski | Michigan Softball

So making sure that I'm fueling myself well enough to perform at the best of my ability . Some of the challenges that I've had to face was finding a balance between softball and regular life outside of it . Um , and understanding that you're able to have that balance , they'll be at your best finding that was really , really important for me , especially when I came to college where athletics is so much a big part of your life .

Lauren Derkowski | Michigan Softball

Um , and understanding that you're able to have that balance , they'll be at your best finding that was really , really important for me , especially when I came to college where athletics is so much a big part of your life . So coming here and being able to separate softball in school and social life has been something really key to me that I feel has helped me just be successful and be where I am today . I was a really early commit .