INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Before pitching in fast-pitch softball practice or doing any drills on your own, warm up your body by slowly going through the motions of pitching. That way, your muscles will get warm and will remember the motion once you start to speed things up, which will help you avoid unnecessary injuries. When pitching in fast-pitch softball, you use more force than in soft pitch softball, which puts a lot of pressure on your muscles to perform. Therefore, it's important that you warm up your muscles, particularly those in your arms and shoulders. Going for a quick jog or doing some jumping jacks is also a great way to warm up your whole body to avoid injury. To help you make sure the ball reaches home plate every time you pitch in a fast-pitch softball game, practice pitching at different distances and aiming for home plate each time. Start by throwing a few pitches from the pitching plate. Then, move back about 2 feet (0.61m)after you pitch, staying at each distance until you can consistently pitch the ball fast and accurately to reach home plate. Once you get far enough away that you can't reach home plate at all, start moving back towards the pitching plate. Once you get back to the pitching plate, the pitches should feel easy by comparison. Instead of using 6.25-ounce regulation softballs, try practicing with 9-, 10-, 11-, or 12-ounce weighted balls. This will help build up your arm strength, which will allow you to pitch regulation-weight balls faster and with ease. It's particularly important that you warm up when using weighted balls, as the added weight puts extra pressure on your muscles and can cause injuries if you aren't warmed up. Weighted softballs come in the same size as regulation-weight balls, so you can still practice with your 4-seam grip. Weighted softballs are available online and in most sporting goods stores and generally cost about $15 USD. First, make sure that your arms and shoulders are completely warmed up. Then, with several softballs on hand in a basket or pile next to you, go through about 15 pitches as quickly as you can. Your goal is to do all 15 pitches in less than 1 minute so that your body gets accustomed to the quick motion. While accuracy is always important when pitching in fast-pitch softball, for this drill, concentrate more on speed than distance or accuracy. Once you can do 15 pitches in under 1 minute consistently, make this drill more difficult by doing 15 speed pitches, resting for 1 minute, then pitching another 15 pitches in under 1 minute if you can.

SUMMARY: Warm up every time you practice pitching to avoid injury. Increase and decrease your distance to practice your aim. Practice with weighted softballs to increase your strength. Do a speed-pitching drill to help speed up your pitching motion.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: If you're not hungry, then getting outside and taking a brisk walk around your neighborhood might be enough to squash your craving. You could also try taking an exercise class, going for a bike ride, or going swimming if you have time. Even short bursts of activity can help to distract you and count towards your daily activity. For example, you could take three 10 minute walks each day, such as before or after each meal. Talking with someone whose company you enjoy is another great way to distract yourself. Call up a friend or family member and ask them about their day and what's new in their life. Having a pleasant conversation might help to distract you from your craving and relax you as well. Try calling a friend in the evening if you are having carb cravings, or invite a friend to go on a walk with you during your lunch hour. Avoid talking with someone who is unsupportive of your diet or who you don't enjoy talking to. This might increase your cravings for carbs instead. Chewing a piece of gum may help to reduce cravings for sweets, so this this a great option if you are not hungry and you want something sugary. Get a pack of sugar-free gum and keep it in your purse or pocket. Chew a piece of gum whenever you are craving something sweet. Some people reach for carbs to self-medicate when they are feeling down, so it's important to recognize these feelings. If you notice that you feel sad and suddenly want to eat carbs, then try to distract yourself with a favorite past time. For example, if you like playing video games, play video games until the craving passes. If you enjoy knitting, get out a project you have been working on and knit. Stress may also trigger a craving for carbs, so try to set aside at least 15 minutes every day to relax. You can do anything you like to relax yourself, such as: Taking a hot bath Meditating Doing yoga Reading a book Visualization is a powerful tool and it might also help to distract you from your craving. If you are not actually hungry, then think about why you are on the Atkins diet. What goal or goals are you working towards? Imagine yourself reaching your goals as a result of sticking with your diet. For example, if your goal is to lose 50 pounds so you will look amazing in a bathing suit, then imagine yourself relaxing on the beach at your goal weight.

SUMMARY: Take a walk or do some other form of exercise. Call or meet up with a friend or family member for a chat. Chew a stick of gum. Engage in a hobby or other activity you enjoy to boost your mood. Do something relaxing if your craving is due to stress. Visualize yourself reaching your goal.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: "Showing your work" is usually required on written math tests. Writing out each step when solving a problem is also a way to help you understand each part of the process required. Writing out steps is a good habit to pick up and maintain. Also, when you're doing practice problems or taking notes, write out each step. You'll be glad you did when it comes time for applying steps on the test! Give problem sets careful attention, and do more for practice, if you need it. Even when you've found the solution to a math problem, you may not be finished. Take the solution and plug it back into the original problem to see if it's the correct answer. Word problems are applied math, where you're given a situation and have to find the right way to solve an associated problem. Since you have to both understand the situation and the necessary math concepts, this type of problem can be especially tricky. Read through the entire problem before you begin to solve it. Make sure you understand the situation and what math techniques you'll need to use. Some problems may have associated graphs, charts, or tables. Make sure to read those carefully, too. Select the numbers you'll need to use to solve the problem. Keep in mind that some word problems might have unneeded details designed to make you use your understanding of what you need to solve it. After you've solved the problem, make sure to check your work steps and see whether your answer makes sense in its size and is in the correct units, etc. Your teacher assigns a certain number of problems for homework, but if you don't feel like you fully understand, you might need to study more problems. Look for extra practice sets in your textbook or online, and try some of those until you feel more confident. Often times, the answers to all the odd-numbered problems are in the back of the book. Do the odd-numbered problem, check your answer, and, once you're confident you know how to do it, then do the even-numbered problem next to it. If you're anxious about taking an exam, do one or more practice ones ahead of time. Try to recreate the test environment--keep your study room quiet, and avoid interruptions. Check your work after taking the practice test, and study more if you need it. Ask your teacher if there are practice versions of tests you can use for study.

SUMMARY:
Write out complete solutions, even for practice and homework. Check your work once you're finished. Give word problems extra attention. Do your homework, then do more for practice. Try a practice test. Take advantage of extra help from a teacher or tutor, if you can.