ATHLETE INTERVIEWS: Mackenzie Hudson (Batbusters 18U Gold Athlete)

In order to cultivate mental toughness, I often seek advice from those around me and those who I look up to. I've found that hearing the experiences of others can make me feel better and I can learn new methods and strategies that I can apply to my own game. As a result, I decided to create a series of posts on my website dedicated to interviewing athletes (titled ATHLETE INTERVIEWS) so that anyone visiting my site can potentially use the words of others to better themselves.

In this fifth installment, I interviewed Mackenzie Hudson:

Tell me about yourself.

Hi, I’m Mackenzie. I started playing softball when I was 10-- right after my 10th birthday-- because my brother had started playing baseball about two or three years before and I wanted to try something new, and sort of try out what he was doing (not baseball; softball).

How has softball impacted your life?

Softball has impacted my life because, if I’m being completely honest, I would not be in the space that I am today without it. I’d be in a completely different path, like not in a good space. It’s been an outlet for me, and it has helped keep me focused and motivated. I would not be going to college without it. I don’t want to go to college; I really don’t want to; I don’t feel the need to; I don’t have that type of energy and motivation to keep going through school and stuff like that (and I would not be willing to pay for college) so softball can get me some kind of scholarship and would be able to keep me going.

Has it been easier to focus on the physical or mental challenges in high school?

It’s been easier to focus on physical challenges in high school. I don’t really focus on mental stuff, I’m more just [thinking] about physical things, and always focusing on the physical [aspect] about everything, and, I mean, I definitely work more on practicing rather than sort of having the right mindset. When practicing or playing, I’m more just like, ‘oh, this pitch isn’t working,’ or ‘my footwork isn’t good on that,’ or ‘I need to change this about my swing,’ rather than my mental approach, and thinking about how my mental approach might be affecting how I’m pitching and why I’m not performing as well as I’d want to.

Many people are afraid to talk about their own mental health issues, what advice do you have for them?

I know a lot of people are afraid to talk about their mental health issues; my advice is don’t bottle it up. Because, from personal experience doing that has literally turned into one of the worst things of my life-- and I still do it-- and it is very uncomfortable to talk about, because I don’t want that type of attention on me or the stigma that comes with it, but I definitely think it should be talked about more and like, taken more seriously. So yeah, just find someone or something that you can do, or talk to, to sort of help you with that, because I know for months, I had a lot of big issues and my friends tried getting me to go to the school counselor and it was only when a teacher notice there was something up with me, that that teacher had the counselor call me to her office, and I started going every two weeks for the last three months of the school year, and that did help me. So like, even if it sounds dumb, or doesn’t feel right-- you’re not used to it; you’re not comfortable with it-- even sharing small things, and talking through [it] a little bit, can help.

How do you stay motivated to continue playing softball?

I’m very competitive; that’s the only reason I stay motivated to keep doing softball. Because, a lot of people have talked a lot of [trash], and I don’t really have a big ego, but since I don’t really have a lot of motivation for school and I’m really just going through the motions-- sorta just getting through school just because I have to-- then, I feel like, softball is something I’m actually good at, and I enjoy doing it, and because I’m competitive, that’s like, why I keep playing. And, I know it will help me to have a college degree I just don’t really want to. . . so like, softball, because it’s the only [thing] getting me to college, then I feel like, that’s why I do it. It’s because like, they tell you not to put your whole worth and personality into what you do; like, softball: you have to have something outside of the sport because you can’t play a sport forever. But, I feel like softball is that thing that’s like, inside of me, and is sort of like the rock in my life, and whether or not I’m gonna be playing it, ‘till the day I die, I will definitely have some sort of involvement because of the impact it’s made in my life.

How has the college recruiting process been?

I mean, the recruiting process has been extremely stressful, and I, as of September 1st-- literally in like two months or something, a month and a half-- literally in a month and a half, colleges will be able to come directly to me, and talk to me*. So, I am very anxious. I’ve been a hot mess this entire summer, stressed out, lots of traveling. I am on the best team in my area [that] I could be on, ranked nationally; we’re in the top 30 or something like that, and literally tomorrow (July 23) I’m actually going to be leaving for Alliance [Fastpitch] Nationals, so I definitely think it’s a lot of pressure, but I perform well under pressure most of the time. I like the challenge, because I am competitive, but the recruiting process has definitely built a lot of extra pressure, but I think it’ll all be worth it in the end, and come September 1st, I feel like it’ll be a lot easier because I can talk directly to college coaches.

If you had to choose one skill to improve, what would it be and why?

Okay, so, people tell me I have a natural, god given ability; I’m just athletic, and I’m good at softball. I definitely think that if I had gone into any other sport, I could’ve been as successful as I am now, with that-- like, if at 10, I had chosen to basketball, or I’d chosen to do tennis, or swimming, I think I would’ve been as successful at it, at this point, as I am with softball now. So, I think it’s just, the skill I’d want to improve is definitely my confidence. Because, I’ve been confident; I’ve always been the #1 pitcher on my team; I’ve always been (I don’t mean this egotistically) sort of the one that stands out the most, or like, the quote unquote “best one on my team,” for years. So, [when] I started off, obviously I was really bad, but after that-- after my first rec ball season, my first travel (club team) season, I was literally, from then on, (fall of 2018 up through this past fall of 2022) I was like, that type of person. Beginning on this team, I definitely feel like my confidence has a hole-- it’s decreased. This school year was [awful]; high school season was [the same], and I feel like it had to do with my confidence, because my mental health was affecting that. So I definitely think it’s mental, like that’s the one thing I want to improve: mental. And that’s why everyone says that your mental game is so important, because that’s what it is. If you have the gift, that’s worth nothing if you can’t tell yourself that you’re good, or if you can’t make it through the game without getting upset, and staying upset after one walk, or after one strikeout while batting or something like that. So, I definitely think like, the mental [side] and having confidence is the skill that I’d want to improve.

*NCAA mandates that colleges can only start reaching out to players after September 1st of their junior year or June 15th after their sophomore year depending on the sport