Reese Atwood’s mentality shift led to historical 2024 season 

When Reese Atwood first stepped foot in Austin, the expectations for herself were already high. The three-time national champion and PGF All-American with Hotshots Premier knew what it would take to be the best. And she certainly rose to the occasion. Both offensively and defensively in her first season with Texas. Leading the Longhorns with 11 home runs along with 43 RBI, 91 total bases, and a fielding percentage of .986, the rookie was making a name for herself. 

Flash forward to her sophomore season, those numbers increased drastically. She set the program single-season record in home runs (23), RBI (90), total bases (163), and slugging percentage (.862), becoming the 2024 Softball America Player of the Year. Her home runs and RBI more than doubled, her average increased by .132 and her OPS increased to 1.362.

In an insane breakout campaign, clearly, something shifted in Atwood’s routine. She attributes her historical season to creating a better mental outlook and prioritizing comfortability when heading to the plate.

a @atwood_reese HR? say less.

T1 | TEX 3 A&M 0#HookEm pic.twitter.com/9bhCDIatIu

— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) October 19, 2024

“I owe a lot of (the success) to getting stronger mentally,” Atwood said. “I was able to make more adjustments in games and learn what is needed in certain situations. Coming from my freshman year, I was always very tense. Last year, I started going to the plate and would focus on my breath, focus on a calm type of atmosphere and not look at the stadium or the fans around me and be locked into the moment.”

The season had its ebbs and flows for Atwood, but time and time again, she made the correct alterations to come out better than her last at-bat. Shortening her swing and step has shown to help her immensely. She went on to have 21 multiple-hit games, the third most by a Longhorn player throughout the season. As well as an 11-game hitting streak, the second-longest by any Texas player. 

“I am as short as possible with my swing,” Atwood said. “There was a time last year when I hit a bit of a slump and I remember the exact moment when I was sitting in the cage because I couldn’t figure it out and then I found that I was a little too big with my step and after that, I got back into a routine of things.” 

While working so closely with hitting coach Steve Singleton, Atwood has experimented with every type of swing, stance, and load, but never had her practices strayed too far away from the basics.

“It’s funny because you see all the big home runs, all the big stuff, but the things Reese works on are much smaller, much more bat-to-ball skills, finding the sweet spot, short swings, half swings, and one-hand work,” Singleton said. “That’s what a player like her does when you have that much power, that much bat speed, you don’t need to work on more power or bat speed, you need to get the bat on the ball more often and you’re going to get Reese results.” 

The extra work Atwood continually puts in is ultimately what allows her to shine the way she does. She separates her vastly from other hitters in the game. As a former MLB player and coach, Singleton boasts that Atwood is a workaholic and has one of the strongest work ethics of any player he’s ever worked with.

“Her floor of success is very high and she is up there with the most elite athletes I have ever coached or played with,” Singleton said. “Even when times were tough, she was still succeeding more than most people. She came into my office last year during her early tear, hitting in the .500s with almost 10 home runs through a couple of weeks, wondering what had gone wrong and why she was struggling. That’s a quick insight into how she works.” 

On the defensive side of the game, Atwood is just as much a threat behind the plate and frequently uses her catching eye to her advantage when batting. With experience calling pitches and knowing an umpire’s preferred strike zone, the position has given her a leg up when batting and plays a big factor in her being cemented as the centerpiece of Texas’ lineup.

“Having a better understanding of umpire strike zones and knowing what our pitching coach would call in certain situations can help me when I am up at the plate,” Atwood said. “I know my weakness and how coaches call pitches, and we do a lot of scouting on our opponents so I have a good idea when that comes up.”

Accolades aside, Atwood doesn’t obsess too much on her personal achievements. Finishing runner-up in the 2024 Women’s College World Series championship, there’s a larger fire inside of Atwood heading into the 2025 season that wants nothing but for her team to excel.

“I am trying to keep the same pace as last year, but my goal this year is to win a National Championship,” Atwood said.” I don’t even want to think about any of the accomplishments I had last year because that’s not necessarily my goal. I want to do what is best for the team and come up in big moments and win in big games to get to the championship again.”