Softball pitcher, Angela Tincher, 2008 National Collegiate Player of the Year, third on the NCAA all-time strikeout leader list, and National Professional Faspitch player, was kind enough to take a break from her busy softball schedule to answer questions for Pretty Tough. Six months ago, Angela Tincher led Virginia Tech University to a historical no hit, shut out win against Team USA. Today, Tincher shares some thoughts about pitching, drills, and what it was like to try out for the Olympic team.
What is your strength as a pitcher? Definitely movement.
What was your highest clocked speed? At the World Series, I was told I was clocked at 70 miles per hour. I would say, I tend to throw upper 60’s, but not consistently. I don’t worry about speed.
Did your pitching style change in college? I saw a big difference moving from forty to forty-three feet. It gave me more distance to work on my movement. Instead of throwing the ball past batters, I had to move the ball around a lot more. My rise ball and my drop ball got a lot better in college.
What is the most important thing you do to improve your pitching? Weight training is huge for me. It helped with nagging injuries and to stay healthy.
What’s the best pitching drill? I always spin with either a spinner or a ball with a line on it. I focus a lot on that and it’s helped me with my movement a lot.
Describe what it was like to tryout for the Olympics. I attended the invitational tryout held at the Olympic training center in California last September. They invited thirty to forty players. I’ve attended big tryouts before, but this one was the best of the best. I was sharing the field with Jennie Finch and Jessica Mendoza. The first day they went through some drills and they watched us. But, the next day we were split into teams and we scrimmaged for the rest of the time. The pitchers rotated through. So we had a chance to throw for and against everyone at least once, including Crystal Bustos.
Check out Part 1: The Beginning here. Next Tuesday, Tincher lists her favorite things.
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