As you’re walking up to the field, do you feel excited, ready to compete (which is much different than winning), and eager to learn? Or do you feel nervous, the fear of being scolded, and ready to be lectured? The feelings that a player attaches to the field have a massive effect on what type of success they will have throughout their career. As coaches (and parents) we greatly influence how players
Read MoreBeing bad! Yes you read that right…be the best at being bad. Everyone is locked in when they’re 3 for 4. Everyone is a great teammate when they’ve pitched 6 scoreless innings. Everyone is coachable when their team is already 3-0 on the weekend. But in a game of FAILURE, how often do we have games or weekends like this, compared to the games with mistakes or weekends with losses? If you haven’t experienced games
Read MoreBaseball can be the most frustrating sport more often than not, especially, IF we’re results driven (yes here we go again)! There are a thousand different ways to have a “bad day” at the ballpark… Losing Not hitting well Not fielding well Losing Not pitching well Getting robbed Losing Bad calls Just to name a few…but in the grand scheme of things, are these truly “bad days”? Well, it really all depends! Did you LEARN
Read More“Baseball is a game of failure”. “Going 3 for 10 will get you in the Hall of Fame.” We’ve all heard these statements before right? Common place in the game. But our behavior on or around the field doesn’t always reflect these sentiments. We have all been there. We haven’t come through in big situations. We have screwed up a routine play. We have missed a sign. Regardless if you’re a teammate, a coach, or
Read MorePlease take a moment to listen to Scott Van Pelt’s short statement addressing a conflict during March Madness… Scott Van Pelt’s Statement Now there is a lot to unpack in this 2:19 long statement, but what really hit me was the phrase, “we should prepare our kids for the path, not the path for our kids.” (this can be found around the 1:50 mark if you want to skip ahead) I absolutely love this part
Read MoreThe vast majority of the time, when we try something new, we are going to look bad. It’s a fact. That’s a no brainer though, right? So what does this have to do with baseball? Too many players choose not to try new drills or make new adjustments because they are embarrassed of looking bad in the short term. Listen guys, we all stunk at that drill you struggled with in the cage yesterday. Whether
Read MoreI often ask players where they play…whether it’s talking to them about college recruiting or during tryouts, the question comes up a lot. One in every few players will give me the old, “I play second base (insert any other single position),” and do not seem open to playing somewhere else. I would recommend that all players be open to being versatile. Here’s why… By only being open to playing one position, you only give
Read MoreOne of the most unfortunate patterns that I’ve seen with youth players (and certainly older playes as well) is how experiencing “success” can negatively affect their work ethic. Whether it’s a player committing to a college, being named “all-conference”, or making the “top” team…players often take their foot off of the gas when they feel like they’ve “made it”. Let me be the first to tell you…don’t. Let’s use the player that
Read MoreNo I’m not about to quote a sappy, pop love song! Players-how many times do you touch a baseball or swing a bat over the course of the year? Thousands upon thousands right? Here’s my challenge to you…get better EACH touch and swing. Train with intent. Move with purpose.The truth is you can use all these reps to get better or get worse…one by one…did you get better or worse? Now, I
Read MoreI get a lot of weird looks when I say that winning isn’t the end all be all at the youth level…especially from people that know me because they know how competitive of a person I am. So why would I say something so crazy!? Because I don’t see “the game” that we need to win as the game that is about to be played on the field this weekend. “The game”
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