“Pressure is a Privilege”

By Ty Denham Apr 11, 2026

Why pressure is a privilege.

On Saturday, April 11th, we were entering game two of our spring season. With a game opening win on Tuesday, I had an important question for the team. After stretches, dynamic warm ups, and throwing warm ups, I gathered the team together to have a pregame talk before it was our turn to hit the diamond. 

As we gathered, the first question I asked was “who’s feeling the pressure today?” Shortly then, everyone raised their hand. Then I asked, “what pressure do you feel?” Some answered with, “the pressure to win,” “the pressure to not strike out,” “the pressure to play like we did on Tuesday when we won.” All of these are valid answers and as a coach, I was feeling the pressure too. During our winter workouts and going through our 12 week mindset workbook, one week talks about how pressure truly is a privilege. 

While I explained that all their answers were valid and that it does feel like there’s more pressure today than there was Tuesday, I broke it down so that we can change that pressure into excitement, courage, and most of all, STRENGTH. Pressure is a large part of everyday life. We feel pressure on so many levels of our lives, but for these players, today’s pressure was a heavy weight that needed to be taken off of their shoulders and placed on mine. 

During Tuesday’s win, these players put their heart and soul into that game. I’m not saying we played that game to perfection because there were strikeouts, errors, and miscommunication, but the one thing they didn’t stop doing was playing THEIR game. Because they played their game through every inning, it placed a lot of pressure on today’s game. Today I brought up our week that we went over how pressure is a privilege, especially in these types of situations. 

I explained that during our win, there was one thing we didn’t stop doing and that was playing OUR game. The pressure to continue our win streak was there, but asking these players to focus on playing better than they did before only places more pressure onto those players. Their job today is to go out and play baseball like we have been for the past six months. They already know I don’t pull players for making an error or for striking out multiple times. These are literally statistics tracked in the game of baseball so putting pressure on them to not make these mistakes doesn’t allow them to work on their mindset and push through to the “NEXT PLAY.” 

I went on to tell them that today doesn’t decide whether or not we’re competing for the championship, or that if we don't win, we have no chance of making the playoffs. Today is just a game like the last one and that we just have to keep playing OUR GAME. If we stop playing our game then the pressure will only continue to build and our mindset will not allow us to perform at the level we know we can. Today is just another game of baseball and baseball is meant to be fun! If we go out there and play our game, we will win!

Game Update

When they hit the field, you could tell that the pressure of winning that game was off. They were loud, communicating, and ready for the next pitch. Unfortunately, the game was rained out (well it actually started hailing). We were only able to play 47 minutes of our first game of a double header, but they were ready to play their game no matter the outcome. When the game was called, we were down 7-1, so there was still work to be done. All but one run was earned. The other team was hitting balls into gaps and down the line allowing multiple runners to score. But when the ball was hit in a playable area, they were there to make the play. No errors had occurred and their mindset was in the right place, and that’s what we are striving for!

“How we handle pressure will determine whether we stand or break.”

— Ed Hindson