Olympian Jennie Finch Answers My Ten Questions

by Gary Leland

1. How old were you when you

started playing softball?

I was 5 years old. I have two older brothers who both played baseball and for me I

wanted to be like them, so when I turned 5 my parents signed me up for tee ball

and it was softball at the time. Unlike a lot of others I started out with softball. I fell

in love with it and have been playing ever since.

2. Who in your life helped you

become a great player?I have to give credit to my dad. He was my backbone, he spent all of the time on the bucket

catching me, and he developed the Finch Windmill, the shoulder exerciser I have been on since I

was 12 years old, so I have to give him a lot of credit. He had a catchers mitt on one hand and a

radar gun in the other and he pushed me all the way through. He believed in me when I didn’t

believe in myself, he made me practice when I didn’t want to practice and I’m so grateful. As hard

and tough as he was, it never crossed the line to the point where I wasn’t into the game or didn’t

like the game because of it. It was that fine balance of pushing, motivating, and driving me, but

never did it affect my love of the game. I’m so grateful for him knowing where that line was, even

though when I was that age I didn’t think he knew where that line was. Looking back now, he knew

how far to push and he knew there was more in me and he knew how to get it out of me.

3. How did you get ready

for a game?I’m an athlete who likes to stick with her routines. Basically just be consistent, lay low, do

the same thing I did every single day. For me the preparation happened the week, the

months, the year prior to, so when I did get that uniform on, it’s done, it’s go time, it’s

game time. That, as an athlete, is where the confidence comes from, is that preparation;

the blood, the sweat, and the tears, the hard work that you put in prior to putting that

uniform on. When you get that uniform on, you’re confident, you’re ready to compete and

trust what you have done and go out there and put your best foot forward.

4. What do you like to do when

you are not involved with softball?I have 3 amazing, crazy little kids and I adore every second I get to spend with

them. We live on a ranch and we just got cattle, there is always something

going on out in the country. We love to go fishing. I love being outside and

being active, and really with them anything is good.

5. What factors do you feel have

influenced you the most to become

the player and you are today?So many factors! Hard work, dedication, many, many sacrifices, and that was

one of my biggest reasons for writing my book, “Throw Like A Girl”, was

because everyone sees the trophies, the medals, they see all of the lime light

stuff. They don’t see the blood, sweat, and tears, the heartache, the

disappointments, the losses, the failure, that I had to experience and go

through to help shape and build the athlete and the character that I was. Going

through those hard times made me stronger.

6. Any routines are superstitions

that you implement regularly?Where do I begin, I’m a pitcher! Yeah, for me I like to recite Philippians 4:13 before

every pitch, that started my junior year of college. I put my uniform on the same way.

My roommate, Toni Mascarenas, and I would spray our uniforms with perfume before

we left for the game. I had a spot for my bag, my glove, at Arizona it was the end of

the dugout and that was my spot, and I wanted it to be in the same spot every time.

You learn who has the superstitions, who has the routines and you kind of follow

those. You ride them until you have to switch it up, then you have a new one.

7. What is your favorite softball

memory?How do you pick one? So many, winning a National Championship with the University of

Arizona. We had 8 seniors that year, and to send them out with a championship was such

a thrill. Then playing for the national team, nothing greater than wearing USA across your

chest competing for your country. At the top would be winning gold in Athens with Lisa

Fernandez, Laura Berg, Lori Harrigan, Leah O’Brian-Amico, who I looked up to. I was in

their autograph line 8 years prior to. To be able to play with the women I looked up to was

such a thrill for me, and to do it in Athens, Greece, where it all started was great.

8. How much value do you

place on mental training?The mind is your most powerful tool. Young athletes think it’s their hands, their legs, all of these things, but it all starts

with the mind. You have to believe. If you think you are going to fail, you are going to fail, so it’s a matter of fighting

that negative voice within you. I played for 24 years and still to this day I still have this doubter, this negative voice

within my head and you have to battle it, you have to knock it down as soon as it comes in. You have to trust your

hard work, your preparation, and go for it. I think for me to be mentally tough, it took for me to work and train and build

that preparation because that was my foundation. I knew that I was ready and I had prepared in every way that I

possibly could, so when I had that uniform on, I was ready. Ultimately I could live with the outcome because I gave

everything I had and I think that is where you want to be. It starts with the preparation and building off of that, then you

become confident. There will be times where it’s like, “whose right arm is this”, but you just have to ride it. Like Coach

Candrea says, don’t get too high and don’t get too low. This game will take you through the highs and lows if you let it,

but it’s a game of consistency and average and it’s a matter of plugging away.

9. What is the greatest obstacle

you have had to overcome in your

playing and/or coaching career?I would say staying mentally tough. I think every single day we can give in with our

bodies and our minds or we can fight against it and continually strive to be better. It’s a

matter of every day turning that good to great. We can have a good day or have a great

day and that’s our decision. Especially with three kids now there are some challenging

days, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s about controlling what you can control and

being the best you. That’s one of my favorite sayings. I just heard the other day “your

greatest competition is in the mirror” and that’s so true. It’s how far are you willing to

push, how far are you willing to go, and how good do you really want to be.

10. If you could do anything else in

the world as a profession, what

would it be and why?I would love to work at a zoo, I love animals so just to be around animals. But,

you know I am so blessed I don’t think that I would trade it. This life has been

more than I possibly could imagine and by the Grace of God, it’s been such a

thrill so I’m blessed, extremely blessed. With my family now, I get to experience

the same memories I share with my parents now with them. It’s a good life

that’s for sure.

Thanks For Reading

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