25 - Doug Little; Potomac State CC "Practicing the physical and mental side"

Doug Little

 

Bio

• Beginning his 24th season at Potomac State College
• 746-325-1
• 18th seasons of 30 or more wins
• ABCA Regional Coach of the Year 10 times
• 4 time NJCAA East District Coach of the year with FOUR trips to the D1 JUCO World Series
• 2016 NJCAA Hall of Fame inductee
• Has produced 5 Region XX pitchers of the year
• Numerous players drafted and signed to professional baseball.  
• Outstanding teacher of the game!

 

Show Notes

• Different style of learning. You can rank 1-25 physically, but mentally the range is much larger
• 2-3 things a week to be sure we don’t information overload
• If you have to motivate in a game your team is in trouble. You need to motivate a lot more in practice.
• We need to practice more intensely and in a game like atmosphere to be prepared for the game
• JUCO guys are hungry to go to the next level and creates buy in
• Emphasize full speed to make game speed smooth
• Kids are basically the same they have always been, but our approach has changed in terms of information overload.
• Review the game on Tuesday from the weekend
• Wednesday: team defense, bunt D, 1st to 3rd, PFP
• Thursday: position defense and hitting, P&C pens and conditioning 
• Friday: BP on the field
• Skill meetings with hitters and pitchers and catchers
• Telling guys what our philosophy is with 0 outs, 1 out, and 2 outs
• Taking care of what goes into your body, and be educated on your nutrition and how to get in shape
• Do a lot of background checks to see if the guy really likes to compete, work ethic, body size, good kid, and mental makeup
• We pound away at the mental side 
  • We force them to grow up because we count on them so fast (as fresh/soph)
  • We put them in tough situations to get them mentally stronger
  • Mini sessions to discuss how people show mental toughness
  • Take all players and teach them how to be mentally tougher
  • We see something in you, don’t take it personally, we are just trying to make you better
  • We take situations in games to praise the mental toughness we want to help guys learn from the failure
• We spend so much more time on the mental toughness than we do physical side***
• The teams that can handle the adversity better will be in much better shape
• We try to take the umpire out of the equation! Not reacting
• Email - dalittle@mail.wvu.edu
• Cell - 304-813-8438 (text me)
• If the players know they can come to you and you will be open then it lends itself a great opportunity for them to grow.