How to think about mistakes

Being afraid to make mistake is NO way to play this game. You'll get eaten alive. The ball will find you, probably sooner rather than later, you'll make a mistake. Then you'll feel horrible because you made that mistake you were so afraid you'd make. Then because your fear came true you'll be all bent out of shape and the ball will continue to find you and you're very likely to keep making mistakes (which is definitely not a good thing).
One thing I tell players every single season is that I really don't mind mistakes much. Mistakes happen. We will certainly do our best to minimize them as much as possible, but if you're playing all out and giving your best and you make a mistake, I honestly don't have a problem with that.
How could I? If you're laying it all out on the line and giving your absolute best there's no way I can get upset about that, it's exactly what I want. It's all I ever ask for as a coach, best attitude and best effort. If you make a mistake, no problem, just keep going hard and keep moving forward - get the next one. But if you're slacking and you're half-a**ing it, I have a BIG problem with that. That does not fly with me. Mistakes in themselves aren't that big a deal. Yes, it stinks when it happens, but so what? Keep playing. What you do after the mistake is so much more important than the mistake itself and believe me, playing afraid to make errors is practically an error waiting to happen. Not only that, it's just no fun playing with that mindset. It can be downright stressful!
Have fun. Play all out. Enjoy the game. It's the only way to play. It's the only way to become the best you can be.
I honestly don't think people remember the mistakes I made as a player (a few of which I remember with quite some clarity). The reason I say that is because when I mention one major mistake in particular, people just tend to look at me like I'm fabricating some crazy story out of thin air. I know it's been a while, but no one seems to remember. You may think that it's just because it was a long time ago, but I know that's not the case because my Brother-in-Law, who is a few years older than me, made a state championship game losing error and he tells me that still to this day when he introduces himself to people, some actually say things like, "Oh.....Are you the guy that missed the ball and lost the state championship?" He's over 30 years old and people still remember a mistake he made in high school! I think no one really remembers the mistake I made because what happened after was that I kept playing, my team kept playing and we won the championship game.
So I really do believe that if you come back from your "big" mistakes and do positive things afterwards, no one remembers you by that mistake...the once "big" mistake magically becomes a glimmer of a memory (or completely forgotten altogether) instead of becoming the defining moment that brands you as a "failure." Typically, there are two types of players. The first makes a mistake and then thinks, "I really hope the next ball doesn't come to me." The other type wants the ball even more. When I made mistakes (and I'm only saying this to illustrate a point because I never make mistakes, haha) I really, really wanted the next ball to come to me. I used to think things like, "Go ahead. Try it again. Let me see you hit the ball to me one more time-you're dead meat."
But not all players are like that. The ones that aren't are usually the ones that will tend to make one error and then another and another and the ball just keeps rolling down hill. It's usually not a mechanical problem, it's a mental problem. If you need help with strengthening your mental game and learning how to bounce back from errors more quickly, check out www.GetSoftballConfidence.com - there are a bunch of great free resources over there than can help. A change in mindset and approach to the game can make so much of a difference in performance. So don't forget to train your brain as well as your body.