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Concrete content for anyone looking to get better. This community is for people who want to grow themselves, and grow the game. We know the game of baseball teaches us so many valuable life lessons!
Episodes
Monday Nov 09, 2020
Monday Nov 09, 2020
BIO
- Indiana Chargers Baseball Academy and Team founder
- Indiana Chargers have become one of the premier travel baseball programs in the Midwest.
- Since 2008, 187+ players have gone on from the Chargers organization to play college baseball.
- Development both on and off the field is the primary emphasis of the Chargers organization.
- Driveline featured travel program in their blog post on October 3, 2017
- One of the first programs ever to have TRAQ due to Driveline endorsing them
- 2005-2011 Westview High School head coach
- Former coach at Glen Oaks CC for 10 years, winning over 300 games.
- Associate scout for the Orioles and Marlins
- A complete developmental coach who cares for kids!
Show notes
- Good compared to what??!
- 3 reasons to start
- College exposure
- Compete with guys like you did
- Play college baseball
- Pitching protocols are not just pitch counts, training is a part of that!
- Driveline helped us build up our pitching protocols and training protocols
- Provide the player with the information and let you decide how you will deal with it (pillar of the organization)
- Coaching is communicating is a less words as possible!
- College weekend series
- Make it feel and be as close to a college experience as possible
- Friday - Sunday - 3 games series between 4 teams
- BP and in and out before each game
- Saturday DH
- Sunday series winners/loser play
- Less coaching, and a lot more athletic!
- Being athletic leads to good mechanics
- If you can become more fluid in your movements and athletic, then your mechanics will be better.
- joeljmishler26@gmail.com
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Bio
- 21st Season as Head Coach of Defiance High School (OH)
- 526-94
- 3 state championships
- 5 state appearances
- 9 players drafted
- 3 big league players in (Jon Niese, Chad Billingsley, Justin Hancock)
- 8 years at Bryan High School (164-44)
- 2012 Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee
- 2014 Defiance College Hall of Fame inductee
- Knows how to teach velo!
- Knows how to teach a curveball!
- A great guy
Show Notes
- 3 ball system - tennis ball, softball, baseball into a net
- Throwing progression 3 days a week
- No matter what you do, you will be judged
- Every kid may think they are throwing with intent, but until you put the radar gun up they always have more
- Correlation is the most athletic guys are throwing the hardest
- Youtube Defiance throwing
- Curveball progression everyday
- 45 feet just spinning it
Monday Oct 26, 2020
Monday Oct 26, 2020
Bio
- Current HC at Cookeville HS in Cookeville, TN.
- 34 years in baseball
- Has spent the last 14 years with USA Baseball
- Spent 4 years as an assistant coach at Tennessee Tech
- 3 years was a special assignment scout for the Kansas City Royals
- National speaker/clinician
- Truth spreader of the game
- Just a dude!!!
- Preacher of the game
Show notes
- I yearned for consistency
- “Rebuilding year” insults everyone in your program
- We are going to work as hard as we can, we will find that line, and then work a little harder
- I am going to try and find a way to get everyone in the game except the next game starter
- The other team is just feedback to see if what we are doing is working or not
- If you are talking development, and about development, then your seniors as coaches!
- You cannot rush athleticism.
- The secret sauce to development is maturity. We push maturity A LOT!
- Maturity is a decision.
- Make your bed
- When you go in the classroom you be respectful
- When you get done with lunch throw trash away
- Raise your hand and be responsible
- Teaching manners
- Best gauge of your culture is behavior
- Players only offer words of encouragement, not criticism
- Mature kids learn faster, so athletically they will take off
- The elite guys loved being coach!!
- No wasted reps, and guys who make national teams don’t waste reps. They don’t make them accidentally
- If you don’t have success, how will you recover? Recover after the strikeout.
- Parent manual given to my parents at first meeting
- Need to be ok with people not liking you and being on your side
- Systematic approach to how we develop
- Make it more than an activity
- As a coach I can’t strike out
- Simple is a skill
- chaffinb1@pcsstn.com
- Great follow on twitter (when he gets it figured out) @Gawbage29
- It's not about me, but it is about me leave fingerprints all over the place
- Guardian of the game!
Monday Oct 19, 2020
Monday Oct 19, 2020
Bio
- Current Head Coach at Eastern Mennonite University to become the 11th HC in the programs 52 years
- After graduating from EMU in 2014 he came on the Royals staff to become the first full time assistant coach.
- Serves the Fellowship of Christian athletes
- A leader among the faculty and staff at EMU that aligns to their Christian values.
Show Notes
- Fall has more focus on development and built individual development plan due to given more days with the team
- Assistant coach has title of director of player development
- Baseline testing - on base u (mobility), blast, hitting/pitching rapsodo
- Comparison to the team to develop a plan
- 3 things to accomplish in practice: compete, mindful, and fun!
- You are the bowling ball, we are the guide rails!
- Be your best coach!!
- Getting strength coach certification to help tailor strength programs
- Access google drive for ind development plans (IDP)
- Freshman/soph (younger guy) teams development mode in the spring, starters will focus on more approach
- Changed the focus of practice from time, to feel and environment!
- Fast paced practice, music, and shortened time of team practice
- All teaching is done before we get on the field
- Guided meditation has been a big success, and is built into practice
- Use a guided meditation app, players can pick the GM of the day
- Heads Up baseball by Ken Ravizza!!!
- I didn’t get physically better, but my mind got sharper!
- The breath is the biggest skill that most guys coming into college baseball need!!
- What does your routine look like?
- What is your release to get your back into green light mode?
- Script out the routine, and you don’t get to practice until it is written out
- ****3 Pillars; Compete for championships, Graduating, and Giving back to the community
- What is the process, everyday discipline to get to that point??
- If the actions are not aligned with the processes/behaviors we need to switch it up
- Get guys to buy into that everyday process (how we take care of our guys)
- Week 1 goal and habit assessment
- Goals - what do you want to achieve
- Habits - what does your day look like
- The best players for EMU have been people who are about giving back to the community.
- adam.posey@emu.edu
- @adamposey
Monday Oct 12, 2020
Monday Oct 12, 2020
Bio
- Current head coach at Gardner Webb University
- Former Head Coach at Barton College
- 2019 Carolinas Conference Coach of the year after leading Barton to the biggest turnaround in D2 baseball
- Former Head Coach Lock Haven University where he lead the program to another turnaround from 13-28 to 32-18
- He left the Penn State Greater Allegany as the winningest each in their programs history and led them to 6 World Series appearances
- Prior to PSGA he was the HC of Mercyhurst Northeast college for 2 seasons (his first HC gig), and was the assistant at Seton Hill University for 2 seasons.
- Man of faith serving heavily in the FCA
- Always willing to share and help grow the game
Show notes
- Program turnaround/success is NOT about me!
- Its about our players and coaches
- Passion about everything outside of the boxscore
- Being selfless, relentless, and blue collar as a leader of the program
- Selfless - community service
- Relentless - we are about 110% and figure out a way to make it happen, no bad body language
- Blue Collar - hard work, get yourself dirty and make it work
- Delegate by mapping out responsibilities of each person on staff. Have the coaches tell me “I got it.”
- More concerned with AB and approach (charting QAB, barrels, AB)
- Love flow and function (a lot of people on the field working together)
- Practice plan
- Team prayer
- Warm up band routine
- Dynamic warm up
- Speed segment
- Everydays - position drills
- Throwing program - position specific
- 3 man PFP and lead into pickoffs
- Bunt D or 1st/3rd defense
- BP, extended I/O,
- Repetition is huge!
- Ron Polk's playbook!!
- We created a playbook of everything we like to do at practice
- Skeleton of the week (use the prior weeks plans to plan out)
- Everyday meeting detail/refine each day
- Go against the checklist and see what we need to do
- Map out to the minute and groups organized
- Culture and makeup trump so much!
- Don’t give up on a kid, be passionate about them, and know they will make mistakes, be there at their best and their worst.
- Hold kids accountable, tell them what they need to know, and they may not like it, but they need to hear it.
- Don’t give up on the kid, and show them you are invested.
- Practice is about the coaches preparing the players. The game is about the players performing, and going out as a cohesive unit doing something they have never done before.
- If a player messes up a coach needs a mirror
- 3 inning games - play the 7th, 8th, and 9th
- Play at least 2 and most 4 - that is where the game is lost/won
- Ed Chief article -
- Competitive BP - points per rounds, live
- Bunt game
- Consider myself a great thief and taylor it to myself
- Email - jchester1@gardner-webb.edu
- Twitter - @coachjchester
Monday Oct 05, 2020
Monday Oct 05, 2020
Bio
- Entering 8th season at Glenville State College WV
- 2015 MEC coach of the year
- 10 All conference players during his tenure
- Served as an assistant coach at West Virginia State (Under Cal) for two years and was a player at WV State
- Also serves Salem Community College and Davis & Elkins College
Episode Notes
- Cal Bailey really knew how to connect with players
- As a baseball coach was a continuous learner, books on the bus, asking questions
- Negatives in the office, praise in front of the team
- Promised a good college baseball experience, serve the community, care!
- Competition is our number one priority (cages, weight room, everything!)\
- Barrels in the cage
- Attacking our irrational beliefs
- When an action happens (ump bad call) you react negatively with bad self talk
- “Are you that bad of a player that everything needs to go right for you to win?”
- Marketing your brain (whiteboard on a mirror, seeing your intentions)
- A - Activating Event (bad circumstance)
- B - Belief system (my perception of the event)
- C - Consequence
- D - Disputing those beliefs (do I have to have everything go right for me?
- E - Executing the new belief (positive self talk)
- Have players create their own processes and release (ownership)
- If I talked to you the way you are talking to yourself you wouldn’t like me very much! ~ Cal Bailey mound visit
- Classroom sessions are as needed, and sometimes may be just for a player
- “Social stretching” - time to just stretch and relax and get the talking out of our system
- Use Google Drive to drop in resources for each player, and their specific needs
- Given a goal during a practice or consequence after practice (pants in the weightroom)
- Daily task during BP
- Goal jersey for web gem of the day
- Individual skills with start foundational and then work to give players choice to what they need
- “Balloon breathing” with trainer that incorporates better movements.
- james.mullins@glenville.edu
- Twitter @jmullins85
- 304-549-2952
Monday Sep 28, 2020
Monday Sep 28, 2020
Bio
- Current Head Coach at Shenandoah University
- After being hired in 2003, in 2004 he guided the Hornets to their best second best season (at the time)
- Since 2009 season SU has won nearly 400 games
- four regular season titles in the USA South and Old Dominion conferences and
- Conference championships in both the USA South and ODAC (2015, 2018, 2019)
- 3 regional titles.
- 2009 and 2010, Anderson was named as Coach of the Year by both the ABCA and the VA State Sports Information Directors.
- Former HC at James Madison University where he won 150 games and had two CAA Tournament championship appearances at JMU.
- His 1995 team was an NCAA Tournament participant and the Dukes had the second highest RPI improvement in the nation behind Rice University.
- Incredible baseball mind!! A Baseball savant
Show notes
- We never do video unless it is live!!
- Try to use as many senses as you can
- Competition everyday!
- Written tests, QAB, and posted results everyday
- Everything we do we chart objective data and talk about it with the kids
- Team AB, Individual AB, intersquad rule - walk, HBP, sac bunt and last guy who made out is on first and he gets
- Stat/chart - how many times did you win??
- Objective data to help discuss their role
- What a player can do, rather than what he can’t do (what can he bring to the table).
- 1-6 starters play, 7-9 we are going to play situational baseball
- Why we do things first, how the second.
- “Coach on the run” - tactical strategy to think on their feet when their are playing.
- We want kids to play the game like they are playing whiffle ball!
- We play for the big inning with no outs
- We get a little aggressive with one out
- Have the player color in the field where they hit the ball best
- Shade the strike zone to see where they hit the ball best
- Our job as coaches is to put them
- ****P+E+E = R (around 19 minute mark)
- ****Performance + execution + effort = Results!!
- ****We emphasize the process!!
- We don’t make the first out on the bases unless its a force play
- Written tests are huge for us (NCAA rules, explain infield fly rule, history of baseball, etc)
- Practice schedule emailed the night before or before practice, and kids should be prepared for practice, we post nothing.
- Hitting coach give player What drills work for them need
- Pitchers given individual drills to get ready and warmed up to see what works for you
- ***Warm up (coach em up), form up (coach up a little), time up (shut up) (around 29 minute mark)
- Pitchers given questionnaire on their arsenal and how they warm up
- Starters 3 different pitches at 3 different speeds
- 1 inning guy has a elite pitch and let them work with it
- Start them off with the worst pitch and get them out with their best!
- 3 C’s in life - Control, Confidence, Compete
- Good kids attract good kids, bad kids attract bad kids
- I don’t bring on any kids who I don’t talk to the parents
- If they don’t have a disciplined, organized, family value it will be very tough for them in our program
- A word we don’t use is CHANGE, we are constantly making ADJUSTMENTS, small adjustments daily.
- kanders2@su.edu
- Go on www.SUhornets.com to read more about the program
- Prospect camp on October 17th at
- Register on SU Hornets or kevinandersonbaseballcamps.com
- “It's what you learn after you think you know it all that matters most” ~quoted from Earl Weaver’s Title of his book!
Tuesday Sep 22, 2020
Tuesday Sep 22, 2020
BIO
- Current Head Coach at Frostburg State University
- Prior to FSU he was the HC at Clarion University
- Prior to Clarion he was the HC at University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg (winningest coach in program history)
- Was a manager in the Coastal Plain League for the Fayetteville Swampdogs
- Worked for the Pittsburgh Pirates analyzing video for the Advanced Scouting Department
- Was a former assistant coach at UMBC where he specialized in baserunning and infield play
- Started his coaching career at Frostburg as a GA, and this has been a coming home for him
- AWESOME GUY!!
Show Notes
- Started building the engine of the team, and don’t want to overcoach our team
- Do not want to make wholesale changes before we give them a chance to see what they have
- Individual plans as we go through the fall
- Setting individual goals to help us championship
- “GEL” - GRIT, ENERGY, and LEADERSHIP!!
- Values of the program - recruiting, practice, and in games
- Take scores and test to be sure people reflect and see where they are
- Coaches and players take it
- I will not ask them to do or be that I would not do or be
- Data on different types of groundballs to help them with their plan of weaknesses
- Use huddle to use video at practice and share with the players
- Foundational drills that everyone does as part of daily work, and then player has the ability to create their own routine
- Have a whole day to create their game day routine.
- Foundational steps of teaching is to be able to coach to the individual players needs
- Measure as much as we can!
- Sift through how much we can measure and then to see what correlates
- “Over the rubber” days and “over the plate” days - competition days and mechanics days
- Gotten back to letting kids do what they do well.
- As long as a coach you can check your ego at the door, you can move forward helping kids get better
- Damage approach - 11 inch plate; 1 ball off each side of the plate
- Gap to gap approach - hunt a good pitch (1 strike)
- 2 strike approach - 2 strikes; mental and physical change - look away/react in
- Mental strategies that players can use in the moment
- Compete on the clock a lot with baserunning (speed days)
- When guys know their times it brings out the best in guys
- Looking for recruits who fit in our offensive model (pressure guys who make consistent hard contact)
- Email - anwilliams@frostburg.edu
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Monday Sep 14, 2020
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.
Tuesday Sep 08, 2020
Tuesday Sep 08, 2020
Bio
- The Current and ONLY Head Coach at Jefferson (WV) High School (opened in 1972)
- 3rd all time in High School victories. 1st in active wins
- He has won at least 20 games for 43 consecutive seasons
- State record 12 state championships
- The State Baseball player award is named after him, 8 of which have come from his program
- Coming up on his 50th season as the Cougars Skipper
- An absolute legend! Incredible baseball mind
Show Notes
- Technology and travel teams have really helped players develop but at times they have hindered and took their focus away from what’s important
- Learn the game at this level
- There is a certain level of knowledge needed for our level
- There is a process that you take to get to the next level
- Practice at game speed
- 45 minutes to hour play situational BP - play the game with different situations
- Get on and off the field as fast as you can
- Game winning situation
- As many outs as we can in a row
- You can’t expect kids to do things that you don’t do at practice
- 2 things to teach your players
- What do you do when the ball is not hit to you?
- What do you know?
- Charting rival hitters and keeping history
- Anticipate and see moves and what the other team might do
- 3-2 count, 2 outs = back pick move
- Teaching the team to play outs
- Repetition and being around the game, and be willing to invest the time
- It's hard to get money out of the bank if you don’t put money in it.
- Starts with the fundamentals and repetition.
- Practicing discipline and concentration.
- Execution of those fundamental skills
- Long term goals and short team goals - you need to work through the short term to get to long term
- There have to be values that you take away from the game when we are finished playing
- Play a full JV schedule! Be creative and make them feel value
Monday Aug 31, 2020
Monday Aug 31, 2020
Bio
- Head Baseball Coach of Glynn Academy in Brunswick, GA
- National Elite Infield Camp partnered with Trosky Baseball
- Creator of Mongero Monday’s
- Creator the Dirt Brothers - Elite infielders
- 26 years as a high school head coach
- 2017 he guided North Hall to the first ever state championship in school history
- 3 time Region coach of Year
- 2 Time Georgia coach of the year
- 2017 National Coach HS Coach of the year
- Author of “Winning Baseball” a book and video series of baseball fundamentals
- Incredible teacher of the game!
Show Notes
- Kids haven’t changed!!
- We set the tone and expectations for kids and kids will respond
- If you are organized and they know you care you can build the culture
- The big change has been the parents and travel/showcase baseball with a lot more selfishness
- Teaching the kids what I want them to know!
- What are we trying to get out of this from a personal perspective,
- Constantly trying to reinforce what I want them to understand
- You can’t assume! You need to teach
- Personal goals come behind the team goals
- Have a resume with me so I can share with college coaches
- Brick by brick - how we build our championship season
- Feeling good is overrated!!
- If your behaviors are not matching up with your goals, then you need to change your goals!!
- Commitment, self motivation, and completely driven
- Same consistency on and off the field
- I am not intimidated by people that are smarter than me, I encourage it!
- The big 5 (routines of core drill work)
- Short hops, ozzie drill (knees), 3 step, 5 step, choose your hop
- Check out his YouTube channel!
- Once you build routines then players can execute without coaches being around
- Train them up so they can build their routines
- Throwing routines are huge!
- Each position has a specific routine to help them get better!
- Understand the WHY!! Not just that you saw it on Twitter
- The mental game is hugely underrated
- We define the 6th tool to train the tough mind
- Allow your kids freedom and permission to fail to be free some being tight
- Have a blend of giving freedom and your expectations
- Facebook “Winning Baseball” - Mongero Monday’s; everything involved with coaching
- “Trosky Tueday”
- @CoachMongero on Twitter
- www.CoachMongero.com
- Dirt Brother Baseball
- YouTube channel
- Sirius XM radio show - complete player development
- The dull pencil is better than a sharp mind!
Monday Aug 24, 2020
Monday Aug 24, 2020
Bio
- Current Mental Performance Coach for Philadelphia Phillies
- Creator of the #MentalSweatMonday on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIN
- Former Adjunct Faculty member of John F Kennedy University
- Mental Performance Coach for SportStrata in New York, New York
- Mental Conditioning Coach Intern for the Pittsburgh Pirates
- Was a Rehabilitation Specialist for the North Shore Chiropractic and Rehab
- Mental Training Intern for the International Junior Golf Academy
Show notes
- Who the person is, what works best for them, and how to implement it to help them
- Know what to focus and focus on it at the right time
- If you have the ability to turn on and off what you want to focus on is a big separator.
- It is just as important to turn off as it is turn on
- Reset routines (looking at the foul pole, deep breath, visualize) to help focus better
- When you change the routine you are messaging your body that something is wrong
- Contingency plan (plan when I fail) - being aware of when I am struggling and stop and work your plan
- Be whatever you want it to be as long as it has MEANING
- INTERNAL MOTIVATION is the biggest factor and separator
- Bridging the gap between old school and new school while maintaining confidentiality by creating relationships with players and coaches
- Number 1 is build trust with players
- Be around, be there to help build trust and show you care about the person first (say hello, how YOU doing), baseball player second
- KNOW THYSELF
- Growth mindset and fixed mindset, educate people of where they fall, and which one would help their career, and then work to get/keep that mindset
- Culture, Coaches, and Players are the priority of mental skills to be part of the lifestyle
- Routines, Being in the present moment, Inside your control (process not outcome)
- Being in the present moment - self talk, use deep breath,
- You can't know what’s in your head without being in your head
- Has to be practiced outside of the game
- I work myself out of a job!!!
- Mental skills need to be danced not wrestled to the ground and forced
- Mental skills need to start with the WHY, then HOW, and finish with WHAT
- Use the everyday skills (make your bed, brush your teeth) as foundational mental skills to implement in the game
- Let’s focus on how we studied versus the grade I got (process versus outcome)
- Implementing it on a daily basis
- Not having electronics at the table to instill being present!
- When you are evaluating yourself evaluate what you can control!!
- Refine the mindset to focus on the process not the result - here is why you made an A (I know how hard you worked to get that A)
- Praise the process and be consistent
- Reward the things that people can control!! Attitude, effort, preparation (control your APE)
- Intstagram - HannahHuesman
- Twitter @Hannah_Huesman
- Be your biggest critic and your biggest fan!
Monday Aug 17, 2020
Monday Aug 17, 2020
Bio
- Current Infield Coach for the Baltimore Orioles
- Former Assistant coach for University of Memphis
- 2nd in School History .974 Team Fielding Percentage 65th in Nation
- 53 Team Errors, 2nd in School History for Fewest Errors in a Season
- Former Assistant coach with the Milwaukee Milkmen
- Former Assistant coach at the University of Hartford
- School Record Fewest Errors in a Season (45)
- School Record .975 Team Fielding Percentage, 49th in Nation
- 2 Infielders taken in MLB Draft
Show notes
- Hand shake distance (visual out in front)
- Know your player to know how much they need to know
- Some guys need more, some less
- All about relationships
- Ask guys and open communication
- Just need to talk
- Understanding the learning style - verbal, picture, kinesthetic
- Know how much you care before they care how much you know
- They need to trust me with their career and show them they can trust me
- Have a plan with open communication
- Get feedback after a drill about how they feel and if it work for the players
- Foundation is the relationship with the players, and its not about ME!
- Once base skills are there then go position specific
- Corner guys lower and different groundballs
- Middle guys more lateral and different groundballs
- Base skills
- See it in (hand/eye drill)
- Glove isolation
- Play catch
- Hip hinge and knowing your body
- First basemen
- Cuts and relays
- Pick work
- Approach to bag
- shifting/positioning - every step towards 4 hole you take one step in
- Tags
- Starting double plays with accurate throws
- Good first baseman and good catcher will prevent a lot of runs and will not lose games for you!
- Playing multiple positions to perform different movements to help with athleticism
- Wall drills!
- Throw over shoulder
- Throw bag down and first baseman steps to bag and picks
- Shuffle off bag and catch groundball off wall
- Instruct it first, model it, and be there, and then float and let them go
- Make a checklist of everything you want to cover as a group
- Make a checklist of everything you want to cover as individual (position)
- Spend time on the things that happen in the game more frequently
- Stick to your time and just end it!
- Angles towards the base or ball. Be deliberate on the practice that they do more frequently
- Collect data that will help you design practice and specifically get better
- Pay attention to angle taken
- Pay attention to the time needed to make play
- Where are they consistently making errors? Chart that so you can practice their errors
- Good infielders have:
- Footwork -
- Proper way to play catch
- Develop arm strength and proper arm angle
- Hands
- If there is a problem with their body that is symptomatic of them making errors then you have to put in the time to determine when to work on it
- Foundationally kids catch the ball one handed and we have to teach them to put the other hand there, so let them be free and promote one hand more
- Catcher, pitcher, and first baseman are all one handed catchers.
- High IQ as an infielder
- Keep the game slow, can slow the game down, control their breathing
- Fail more in practice
- Short memory - take glove off, turn around, and then come back to the hitter when you are ready
- Practice each moment and those time you are trying to stay under control
- Practicing even in your life, not just in baseball
- Put a success rate on a drill, high or low difficulty to allow them to push themselves
- At intersquad every batter is 3-2 count to create game like atmosphere and chaos!
- Twitter - @DeJohn_5
Monday Aug 10, 2020
Monday Aug 10, 2020
Bio
- Current Head Coach at Millersville University
- even PSAC Eastern Division Championships,
- PSAC Championship
- 2 NCAA Atlantic Regional titles
- 4, 40-win seasons
- 8 NCAA Tournament appearances.
- The Marauders have reached seven consecutive NCAA regionals
- 2016 Marauders finished as the NCAA Division II Runner-Up
- 2016 ABCA main stage presenter
- Well respected and Amazing guy!!
How did you guys deal with the shutdown period?
How does the fall look for you guys?
What has been a key part of your success at Millersville?
What has changed since you started at Millersville?
What has stayed constant since your time at Millersville?
How do you develop the mental skills it takes to be a champion?
What have you consistently seen in the top players?
Show notes
- App to record approach to generate pitch recognition along with hard hit balls
- Functional batting practice as game like as possible
- Game like in terms in of location
- Kids tell you what their approach is, and go to work on it during BP
- Knowing the hitters weakness and acknowledging it so you incorporate into batting practice
- Groups based on development skills (connection, bat speed, exit velo, etc) in the fall
- In season groups are same skill guys (bunters, mashers, ballplayers)
- What is symptomatic and asymptomatic to a swing. He could have bad hip mobility but he rakes
- Know your players really well to see if a change is truly necessary. Have the data available
- Be slow in order to make a mechanical changes
- You can be clearly uncertain, especially in term of mechanic
- Develop an assessment of pitcher. Take an iphone video to check red flags and mechanics
- Full Reps in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania partnered to work and take on assessment and work on pitchers
- Stick to our values “make it better” - start with the staff
- Find kids who fit your mold and your values
- LOVE the game!!
- Player values and coaching staff values
- Coaching values - we do what we expect the kids do and then some (more values, higher standard).
- Be very clear on what it looks like to be selfless and relentless.
- Purposeful groups (veterans and rookies)
- What do those values look like in the classroom, practice, and games to be CLEAR
- Full week talking about culture
- FIRED and HIRED happens due to your VALUES!
- The guys will know if a kid fits your team before the coach will!
- We read two books every year
- 5 dysfunctions of a team - Patrick Lencioni
- Ideal team player
- Veterans reading it find truths and see what guys are the dysfunctions
- Keep the service part at the forefront when managing the staff
- Create clarity within the staff just like we do with the players
- Stick to our guns from a values and standards aspect, but give room for our assistants to work
- Scrimmage each day to put them into game like situations (20 minutes to and hour 30)
- Game like reps!!!
- Play up for the first round of BP
- Skills based groups help with training for what the game needs to do
- Traits of good players that have stuck out - BASERUNNING & COMPUTING A SIMPLE, EXTERNAL PLAN!
- 6th month objective - what do we need to improve on
- Email: jshehan@millersville.edu
- Twitter - @coachshehan
Sunday Aug 02, 2020
Sunday Aug 02, 2020
Bio
- Mental Skills Coordinator for the Baltimore Orioles
- Licensed mental health professional
- Was the mental skills coach for the University of Rochester men's soccer team
- Masters Degree in counseling and sports psychology at Boston University
- Played soccer and graduated from University of Rochester
Show Notes
- Weekly skill focused
- Monday mindfulness
- Friday guest speakers
- How to teach the mental skills
- What the mental skill is
- Example
- Exercises
- Incorporate the skill within a game/activity
- Homework related to baseball and in everyday life
- A lot of skills can be taught and helpful outside of the game
- Switching to scenarios (responses)
- Preparing for adversity that is going to happen and plan for our response
- Having a deep breath and helps them to reset
- Kicking the dirt to reset and breath to get back to compete
- Identifying your growth mindset voice and fixed mindset voice
- Self talk
- Triggers - coach yelling, good pitcher (to find a trigger do a daily checklist of when you were fixed or open to find reoccurring events)
- Trying new skills - “neuroplasticity”
- Recurring theme is self awareness - if you are not aware of yourself we can’t make changes
- Daily notebook/journal reflecting on the day and how they are successful
- “Ideal” mindset to incorporate self awareness
- When you are playing your best versus not playing your best, and then attack skills and build behaviors to get you closer to playing at your best
- Mental routines part of the players plan to know the player
- “Not thinking” may be a bodily feeling (relaxed, pre game routine, etc)
- What happens when your routine gets messed up? Have a response!
- Why are you doing the routine? Own the routine, not just do it because someone says
- Mindfulness and being aware in the moment of what you can and cannot control have helped beyond
- Mindfulness meditations to help be in the moment and be aware. Guided and practiced
- Around 10 minutes of guided meditation
- Started with the coaches and then the players to get buy in
- Give real life examples as to why mindfulness is so important.
- Golf
- Driving and thinking where you are going not where you are
- Examples in their game/area
- Guided deep breathing visuals on Youtube
- kvrowe23@gmail.com
Monday Jul 27, 2020
Monday Jul 27, 2020
Bio
- Current Head Coach at Hagerstown Community College
- Over 600 wins at HCC averaging 32 wins a season in his 20 years
- 2008 made a World Series appearance at Grand Junction going 2-2, and finishing top 5 in the country
- Winningest baseball coach in HCC history
- Over 1000 wins in his career as a coach
- in 38+ years of coaching he has never had a losing season
- Hall of Fame member of the Maryland State Association of Baseball Coaches
EPISODE NOTES
- Parental influence and delusion is a lot higher now
- Never hand out guarantees, a lot can change, and what motivation is that going to give them
- Be true to yourself, don’t try to be someone else
- Be fair and have standards and hold guys accountable
- Each player accountable and coach needs to hold the best player to the standard to the weakest
- Believe in the baseball gods where if you take care and do the right thing, the game will reward you!
- Day to day do the right thing will reward you
- Some guys need longer rope, and some guys you need to be on. Need to understand the kid
- How they adjust to failure will dictate their successful
- Learn how to channel the frustration of the failure into understanding of how to handle themselves and respect themselves and not draw negative attention
- You need to take something valuable away from them to get the point across
- The longer you coach you understand how other coaches manage - get on umpires, small bunt, big inning, etc
- Treat each game more special than the other, treat each game the same and on an even keel
- Press those buttons when it is necessary to get the team going.
- You can do everything you can do as a coach, but if the kid doesn’t perform, there is nothing we can do
- Trust your gut, and be willing to live with the consequences
- You play the odds, but you can’t be consumed by the odds (surprise factor)
- Baseball teaches life lessons
- Kids maturity not only shows up in athletics but in life or academics, and just handle themselves better
- Good players have allowed us me to be consistent
- You try to get good player, good kids, and academics, and hopefully we get 2 out of 3.
- Success breads success - expect to win, teach players to win. NOT hoping to win
- Don’t fear your opponent, Respect your opponent!
- Have to have a formula (standards) and hold your guys accountable
- I have to be able to trust you (the player) to give you the ball
- If we know the result won’t happen, then it is dumb to go with the play
- Email sbjennings@hagerstowncc.edu
- www.leaguelineup.com/hcchawks
Monday Jul 20, 2020
Monday Jul 20, 2020
BIO
- Current MiLB Hitting coach for the Baltimore Orioles
- Owner of Patrick Jones Baseball where he specializes in player development
- Host of the Patrick Jones Baseball podcast
- Hitting coach for the Lima Locos, of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate league
- Served as an Assistant Coach at Madeira High School in Cincinnati, Ohio
- Spent time as a player in the Pecos league and Empire League
- Played collegiately at Xavier University
- Follow on Twitter @pjonesbaseball
- Check out his website - www.patrickjonesbaseball.com
Show notes
- So much of coaching is timing
- When to get on more, less based on who they are
- Send the client a questionnaire to know the player better
- Before you have a relationship with a player a player does not feel comfortable, so the questionnaire helps that relationship
- Making visuals for players - gifs, powerpoints,
- Video is still the best place for players to see what they are doing
- Ask questions about what happened in the game to get context because that matters most
- Helping kids get recruited because no player of mine should not have to hire a recruiting service
- Game footage of hitter from a good angle
- Coach needs to help and be honest with the college coach
- PBR (prep based reports) is good for a baseline sophomore/junior year
- Good fit and best fit rather than getting hung up on division
- Grades are super important to make it easy on yourself
- Killer mindset #1 tool for a good hitter
- With a killer mindset it will get you out of a slump earlier!
- Coming up with content for clients to be able to access to get into their headspace
- Be less negative instead of more positive when you are struggling so you can “get to neutral”
- Anything time you say out loud it is 4 to 5 times more impactful!
- ~Don’t say stupid stuff to yourself out loud!
- Are we giving guys time for the player to get ready, guys need freedom to find what works for them
- Better to incorporate killer mindset in team setting
- Leaderboards
- The great players have a plan, approach, and not freaking out, and not giving away at bats
- In the cage they are clearly working on something
- Fixed mindset versus growth mindset players
- “It takes what it takes” by Trevor Moahwad
- Quick tuneups don’t work - it takes time to be great! You have to practice way more than seeing a private instructor or team practice
- Deliberate practice
- Locked in and focused
- Have a purpose
- Accomplishing a specific task
- It's not about how much time, it's about the quality of time spent!
Follow on Twitter @pjonesbaseball
Check out his website - www.patrickjonesbaseball.com
Monday Jul 13, 2020
Monday Jul 13, 2020
For all the show notes - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kiFmVfuBTI6R9z2Y5wvVaRiRuZ7Q2EEI1q19XJ59nNA/edit
SHOW NOTES
- Consistency of people involved to get some great people around
- Intentional about our standards and values
- Behaviors are congruent to the values
- Continuous improvement
- After action reviews
- Exit meetings
- Courageous conversations
- Helping you
- Hurting you
- Get away from the “feel” questions to can you teach it to someone else (Accountability partners)
- Vulnerability and trust allow us to have conflict and get through it to get more commitment rather than compliance
- Am I holding my teammates accountable, peer leadership tend to better results
- Veteran intentionally invited, had dinner, made good decisions with a rookie as a person to hold accountable
- Spreadsheet of kids to check in on partners to see if everyone is trying to include everyone
- Exit interviews to see what the kids learned from and gained from relationships
- Don’t commit “assumicide!”
- DWYSYWD - Do what you say you will do!
- Feedback from student athletes more frequently, not waiting for just exit interviews or until they are struggling.
- BP sides - go on the side to work defensive skill work, warm up to what will happen during BP
- Pre work opposite of BP side
- Post work after practice
- Charting our defense work from sides, BP, and then put up on team board to show
- Has not changed in coaching tenure
- Attention to detail. Small things always matter.
- Fundamentally sound with sound pedagogy
- Continuous learners!
- Daily lesson plan
- Lifelong reader!
- Go to a non baseball practice to see how we can coach baseball better
- Clock work (giant timer) to help with transition, periods in practice,
- Serve and clean breakfast to the homeless and have seen a big transformation of attitude
- Theme each year - player of the game will sweep the dugouts
- Classroom sessions to talk about it, show it, ask questions, and then do it
- Confidence comes with skill acquisition and demonstrated performance (results)
- If a kid asked you what is going on then you need to look at yourself as a coach. Frontload and prepare them so they never ask.
- 45 minutes of early/pre work
- Know your why - tell your players
- Email - rrsiers@salisbury.edu
- Twitter - @rrsiers
Monday Jul 06, 2020
Monday Jul 06, 2020
Coach Brian Femi Bio
- 33 seasons as Head Coach of St Michaels HS in St. Michaels MD
- 5 State Championships
- 10 regional championships
- 2 Bayside Championships
- Maryland State Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Class of 2011
- National Regional Coach of the year twice
- National HS coach of the year finalist for BCA and ABCA
SHOW NOTES
- Kids want structure, discipline, and teamwork
- Consistently stay on kids about grades, behaviors, citizenship
- High expectations of our kids
- Demand 100% attendance and be good people
- The sign of character is how you act when no one is watching
- Classroom sessions during rainy days
- Motivational videos
- Florida and oklahoma when coach pulled number 4 and had a great at bat and the starter was the first one to congratulate the sub
- Mindfulness
- Rehearsal procedure during BP - at bat, on deck, and in the hole
- 3 types of players
- Average player who competes
- Great ability that goes through the motion with average work ethic/mentality
- Great ability with great work ethic and mentality
- 1B, 2B, 3B baserunning
- 1B - steals, returns, 1st/3rd, delays, how far can you get in the OF
- 2B - groundballs (island reads), vault leads
- 3B - reads, contact, squeeze, tags
- OF - flyballs and getting reads from the OF (0 outs, 1 out)
- Competitive BP
- Hitting group, baserunning group, shag/defense
- 1st team INF, 1st team OF, 2nd team INF, 2nd team OF - always need INF and OF on defense
- Points for offense, defense, and pace of play
- Every Saturday (once or twice a week)
- Quality at bats - no average, just QAB
- “Family first” AB - AB for the team!
- Bunting has stood the test of time.
- Bunt on a little league field
- Baserunnig read while they wait to bunt
- 1st and 3rd safety squeeze
- Points the bunting game
- Get them to love to bunt
- Batter signs to the baserunner to let them know bunt is on
- Practice planning
- Stretch
- Baserun
- Play catch with positions
- Throwing work
- Position group
- Defensive breakdown (from what coaches want to do from the day before)
- Inf, of, catcher, and pitcher bullpen
- Team drills (1st/3rd, double cut, etc)
- Play of the day (defense) - getting something done at 90%
- BP or competitive BP
- Pressure time! (offense) - one thing with something on the line
- Kids need to know how to compete, not just showcase.
- Kids pick teams of who to pick for the pressure time!
- Baserunning times to 1B
- Pressure on the defense!!
- In game data
- QAB
- Baserunning at 1B
- 1st pitch K, leadoff batter out, BB strikes, FB strikes
- Changed to 1 of 2 first pitches for strikes - no less than 1-1.
- Verbal for a pitch out - need to rep it out!!
- Baserunner goes and then stop when he sees a slide step
- Stealbases.com baserunning reads
- The beat coaches are open minded and build relationships with their kids
- 3 things I want kids to believe (Are we doing those 3 things??)
- Believe in us
- Trust us
- We will always be there for them
- Contact - bfemi@talbotschools.org
Monday Jun 29, 2020
Monday Jun 29, 2020
Bio
- Current Coach at Auburn University
- Former pitching coach and associate head coach at Mississippi State College
- Coach Thompson has turned 31 pitchers who went undrafted out of high school into MLB draft picks, including the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, Casey Mize.
- 2006 Fellowship of Christian Athletes SEC Coach of the Year
- 2014 Baseball America and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) National Assistant Coach of the Year
- serves as the large-school representative for the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association, and is the All-American committee member representing the South region for the ABCA.
- Servant leader who is a mentor to many.
- Just an incredible person
Show Notes
- Pitchers pitch 2 out 3 phases, big rest on the 3rd phase
- Start on yourself before helping others (put your mask on first when they fall)
- Ethos (their character) to build up
- Bring in speakers to help build guys up
- 3 new words after listening to the speakers
- Confidence -
- Committed -
- Unified -
- Book studies
- Attack, Legacy, Vision
- Attack - offensive, be our default
- Legacy -
- Vision -
- Legacy by James Kerr
- Change while you are on top to avoid decline and extend growth
- Evaluate yourself as a coach when your player no longer needs you after they leave you!
- Ask why, so the players own it and empower the players.
- Experience has taught me that I did not give them enough skills to be their best coach
- This has taught us balance, and perspective on what really matters. Good time to pause and reflect
- Do as good a job with a balance and perspective as possible
- Went to see Chad Bradford to learn about submarine pitching
- Peacock feathers of a pitching staff (all different arm angles)
- Same ratio between arm and shoulder/elbow, it is just a bend at the waist (hinge)
- Do a ton or core and stability because you go to weaker position (bent over)
- Stay down and stay in it
- Body organizes itself
- Back spike in the ground, no weight in the toe
- Have a plan to get the opposite hitter out!
- Not always mechanical, but sometimes just pitch sequence (change up after a slider)
- Autograph a piece of paper 50 times and you can’t sign your name the same twice
- Repeatable mechanics are not obtainable
- I’ve had success in a certain flaw so I will pair and look for that.
- The mind is the most important tool
- Overboard on mechanics and takes away from developing the mind (BALANCE)
- Mechanics improve by working your guts out
- You take a big step when you pitch who you are! (IDENTITY)
- Your working to get to auto pilot (no thought)
- It is important but if it dominates your thought you can never get to that autopilot moment
- Know where you are trying to get to. Where the AHA land is!
- My focus is on taking off yourself, and focusing on taking away from the hitter
- Video behind them to show what really matters. Let’s go find your game!
Contact
- Email - butchthompson@auburn.edu
Tuesday Jun 23, 2020
Tuesday Jun 23, 2020
Bio
- Drafted out of Smithsburg HS (MD) in 2009
- Drafted by the Chicago Cubs out of Coastal Carolina in 2012
- Played in the Cubs organization from 2012-2017
- Finished his degree at Coastal Carolina and assisted in daily pitching work where he got to see how to manage the pitching staff, and was the bullpen coach.
- Hired as a developmental coach for the Baltimore Orioles where he developed advanced reports, and acted as the bullpen coach, and helped the pitching coach.
- Currently the pitching coach for the Frederick Keys A ball affiliate in the Carolina League.
- Wise beyond his years!
Show Notes
- Its not about what just worked for you, but what works best for the player!
- If you let the guys have a identity you get the most out of them
- The Orioles do a great job not only with player development but coaches development
- Advanced reporting done through trackman and learn how to attack hitters
- Can’t be information overlord, and let the guys have a plan to help them move forward
- There is not one way of doing it, and do what works for!
- I need to do what I am good at, but chip away of the things I am not good at
- The player needs to be his best coach!
- Its about creating the relationship to build trust!
- Pitchers labeled by color based on who they are (yellow guy)
- Put my ego aside, and ask about what other guys did to help them succeed.
- Progression takes years
- Player plans are fluid and need tweaked as necessary
- Identify what the pitcher has
- Movement profile
- Location
- Best Combination of pitches
- Stand behind the guy and shoot some clips to show him the action
- Arm at release
- Combination of everything based on the pitcher
- Arm action will tell you a lot about what the ball should do
- How is the body moving
- Do you have success horizontally or vertically in the zone? That will help you find what will be good sequence of pitches
- Work from the plate backwards - if you aren’t landing it on the plate, “is it useful?”
- Buckets of pitcher
- Vertical guy - up in the zone with high spinning BB.
- Sinker guy - two seam guy who lives in the bottom of zone with sweeping slider
- Who you are, Who the hitter is, and attack with your strengths
- Where you are at physically, and what pace you are growing, not only physically but mentally.
- Have to have the internal drive to put the work into it, and make it happen
- Working hard won’t guarantee you to play in the big leagues
- Best players:
- Have a routine
- Huge sense of detail
- Know how to take practice and translate it into the game
- Self confidence that cannot be touched
- BIGGEST thing - they learn from mistakes and get better! STOIC
- See the difference between the high rising fastballs by studying video with the data
- Test yourself with the data to see if your eyes are seeing what it really is
- Common Language between you and the players to when a players “feels good” when he does something well
- We need to get it to where YOU (the player) understands it. The player needs to own it and be his own!
- Lessons have given me an opportunity to give players what they need. Foundational work, and movement profiles, and get coaching reps, and be a better communicator.
- Contact by email - joshconway0211@gmail.com
Monday Jun 15, 2020
Monday Jun 15, 2020
Show Notes
- After you win a championship no one cares
- Servant club called WAR - Christmas time going and volunteer, doing something for veterans
- Who are you going to serve?
- We need champions for kids
- I can’t find a good story, nothing positive.
- Kids follow the model that we set for them
- Going to a Unified sports meet
- 2 minutes at the beginning or end of the practice to set the mood (mentality)
- 2 hour vacation from life
- Make an error, take your hat off, and when your ready put it back on
- The kids changed me as I discovered their stories
- RELATIONSHIPS
- Its not black and white - its not
- Restorative justice
- Normal is what you know
- Each week is a theme
- “Season of Life” book by Joe Urman
- Why do I coach
- Why do I coach the way I do?
- What is it like to be coached by me?
- Two other questions
- How can you project a kid ability?
- Everyone is a pitcher until they are not
- Be unusual - usual gets SMASHED
- Most guys are not 90 mph kids so they should
- Power, crafty, funky, arm plane (sidearm, submarine), hide the ball, timing wrecker, one pitch guy
- Know your kids and the better relationship with the kid the easier it is to put them in a role
- How are the kids feet? Good feet and footwork = good arm plane guy
- When the pitcher shows you their pocket, hitter shows you their pocket
- Sidearm - be quick, great movement, emulate the hili paddle (throw with a bent arm)
- Keys of pitching - Location, velocity, movement, deception
- How well do you know the kid?
- Go find good coaches, and study them!
- 2 worst things are pop ups and strikeouts
- More games are lost than won
- Slashing is helping give us a chance to stay out of the air and not strikeout
- Ball, close, and a strike and you better be swinging at 2 of them!
- Mindset that is self made and self motivated, and have to want to do it! Finding ways to make himself better. I want to be better!
- Contact info:
- coachfranklin@yahoo.com
- www.mike-franklin.com
- Twitter - @AuthorCoachF
Monday Jun 08, 2020
Monday Jun 08, 2020
Wes Brooks
Bio
- Current HC at Oxford High School in Oxford, Alabama for 16 years
- 21st year coaching baseball
- Started coaching at alma mater Wellborn. 2002 became head coach in 2nd year
- Jacksonville state college
- USA Baseball Coach
- Brian Cain Mental Performance Master
- ABSOLUTE STUD!!
Contact info
- Twitter - @OldGoldSports
- wbrooksOH@gmail.com
Notes
- Do things the right way the wins will be there
- Individuals zooms with each player to evaluate each player
- Indy score and team rank
- Each coach has a comment about a kid and join in with the evaluation
- STUD Day - non mandatory days
- Faith, Family, Fun - 3 Pillars of the program
- Culture has a heartbeat
- The Oxford Way
- Same mission for 4 years to give consistency for HS
- Telescope and microscope goals
- 2 days of speed work in the weightroom - do everything as fast as we can do it
- 2 days of max effort day
- Different percentages of swings to feel the differences
- Increase max speed to increase average speed
- Stimulate the nervous system
- Good relationships with the summer coaches, and vice versa (if its about the kids)
- 70% strike zone command
- +1 -1 for swing decision.
- Specific days for their principles “Accountability Day”
- Break it down - team on 3, tell someone you love em on the way out
- When the kids can teach it, we are in a good environment (Know it, do it, and own it)
- Your best players are the hardest workers
- Define what it means to “play the game the right way”
- Find out what works for each kid to become leaders of themselves
- Old School, New School, Hyrbrid - old school still wins, but showing guys why
- Winning the day starts the day before when we prepare for the next day
- “Opportunity Clock” not an alarm clock
- Older guys need to know the program inside and out to know what to expect and been taught
- Go back to the first step! Fundamentals and paying attention to details
- His last guy is better than your last guy
- Helping create a players toolbox so when he is in the game he goes and make it whatever way he can
- Bernstein principle - the body will organize it based on the goal
- Friday 5-0 - every friday a copy comes in to talk to the team
- Wednesday - FCA
- Community day where a speaker comes in to talk to the team that is successful
- Person over the athlete and the person has a little more buyin
- The game of life, of baseball, and God will reward you when you are ready to be rewarded
- Get it and make it your own
- Alpha at bats - big time at bats
- Met with people all over the program to go over the processes
Monday Jun 01, 2020
Monday Jun 01, 2020
How have you gotten better during the quarantine?
- Trying to connect with a lot of people
- Training online/classes online
- Zoom calls
You came up with a goal of connecting a million people
- Wanted a crazy goal for people to say wow!
- Put it on the board in 2017 and hasn’t changed yet
- Connections will get me the results as effect of those
- Kind of became my mission and learned how to treat people due to it
How are you working on your Communication
- Oklahoma accent
- Being conscious and self aware of my accent and being vulnerable of it
- Growing as a coach - when to yell and how to cue
- Self reflecting on how to teach better and figure out how to use visual verbs
- Sticky language (language) - short to the point analogies
- Create stories and tell stories about people
Story from a guy you have motivated and helped develop.
- “Stretch” LHP
- Project kid who wanted to get better
- Picture in january freshman year, and transformation january sophomore year
- Developed in all 9 areas!
RE 1-9 - relentless effort through 9 areas of life - faith, man, son, teammate, academics, game, practice, S&C
Growth toolbox (Growth U) - classroom session hourly weekly session to discuss the 9 areas of a person’s life.
- Improving our program with what we can control
- Taking program to the next level
- Fall of 2015 - January 2016 ABCA speech
- Start with Goal setting (telescope and microscope)
- Telescope - big goals (north star)
- Microscope - daily habits/routines
- Players make them, and then send them to coach
- If there is a discipline issue we pull out the goal setting exercise to put it back on the kids to hold them accountable
- Pre-hab instead of rehab
- Time management always comes up as one of the best days of growth toolbox
How do you balance the life of being with the bananas and at South Mt?
- Just take things off the plate of the head coach
You have 9 years of being an assistant coach, and have a staff of your own with the bananas, so what do you feel makes a great assistant coach?
- Loyalty
- Doing more than what you are paid for
- Learning from other coaches and being self aware of what the team needs
- Flexibility and adaptability
- Keep improving
- Be the good cop
What is the green light special?
- Bucket leads (old school, lean, momentum (new school), walking)
- Teach one of them a day and rep it (3 at the most)
- Bucket pitcher tendencies
- Courtesy runner in charge of tendencies or running subs and they spread the news
How are you communicating your baserunning system so clearly that each year with a new bunch of guys they can jump right in the system?
- Good players that buy in
- Great coaches who I have stood on their shoulders
- Play fast, be aggressive, nothing has ever been achieved by being passive
- Educate kids every day
- Create the environment for them to thrive (Talk to kid and not yell at him and see his thought process)
- Windows of opportunity
- Working on it daily
Offensive System
- Hit
- Work within an offense (bunt, hit and run, manufacturing runs)
- baserunning
What have been your top takeaways from all of the Infield U happy hour zoom calls?
- Simplicity
- Having one liners
- Creating systems!
- Vision verbs!
- Catch play! Game like and increase body awareness
What traits have you seen in the best players?
- Internally motivated
- Big vision goal
- Discipline themselves
- Hold themselves to a higher standard
- Hate to lose
- Daily habits
- Never have to get on the guys to get their reps
- Confidence and positive self talk
What is the best way for people to contact you if they have any more questions for you?
- Twitter @Gillum13
- tyler.gillum@southmountaincc.edu
- 602-370-7649
- www.gillumbaseball.com
NOTES
- Where can I grow and make the most connections?
- Transition from senior to first year of college are extremely important!
- Groups that compete all throughout the fall
- Grand junction challenge where there is 30 events to compete
- “Can you guess the telescope goal based on the logged activities for 3 days?” Do your daily habits match your telescope goals.
- Hero, highlight, hardship - share your hero, share a highlight of your career, and hardship in your life
- Learn from highly successful people
- Pressure bursts pipe
- Forgetting curve - map it out to teach it multiple days
- 2018 ABCA green light special
- USA baseball virtual clinic on green light special
- Daily vitamins - knee work, groundball progression, picks with different hops, start with blocked and move to random
- Infield camps
- Quit listening to yourself, and start talking to yourself
Monday May 25, 2020
Monday May 25, 2020
What advice are you giving your players during this pandemic?
- Building the next team
- Group me chat to build rapport with current commits and returners
- Build the team through the summer
How have you been growing yourself during this time?
- On the phone so much that its hard not to
- Asking what guys are doing with their staff
What are some of your best strategies for connecting people?
- Fighting for empathy with the other person - get on the other side of the conversation and see where they are coming from. Try to see it through their eyes
- At the core of feel is empathy and living in the other people shoes! ***
- Invest time, energy and focus into other people
- Don’t let 15 seconds feel like 15 seconds!! ***
- Work on it with the gas station attendant
I hear you saying my name consistently, communicating effectively, How are you helping create better communicators?
- Traveled around with my dad who was a motivational speaker
- Control a crow and flow of good conversation
- Funny moment, right into serious moment - that’s where you know you are in control
- Test the room, and see where you got the room, and hammer on what has them and find how to get them.
- Be more efficient with my words
- Feel, constant evaluation mode
- Shifts in body language, eye contact
- Recruiting - get closer and engaged when they were hearing the speech
- More concise and crystal clear - eliminating grey talk, no assumptions to control the narrative.
- Deliberate choice with your language
You have interviewed and been around coaches of all levels from around the country, what are the top things that you took away from the thousands of hours of interviews/conversations you have done?
- There is a system, and figured out what works for them
- Tough thing to build a great team, and to do it consistently in incredibly hard
- We are all chasing elite greatness, and we need to work at being really really good today!
How do you prioritize what are the most important things to implement into your program?
- Always listening and always intrigued and curious
- You take it and your rooted philosophy and take the information boil it down to the simplest form
- You can’t change your philosophy every year
- These things work for me, for our kids, and for our program
- If your trying to build consistency then coach needs to be consistent
What is your system?
- Still building ours
- What got you to the middle point? Still good and bad
- It's been really good. What are the missing points?
- Where can I fill the gaps. Empowering the coaches
- 3 year system, less gaps year 2 and 3 -
- Does not stray away from trust and love
How are you developing the culture of trust and love at GCC?
- You can never land on being short sighted!
- Call all 30 players and have 30 different conversations
- Build back the exact same message
- Deliberate message - get on you at 10, but love you at 20!!**
- You don’t have to be perfect but you need to be deliberate **
- Culture is a measurement of the environment you have created**
- Championship teams do it this way…
- Be the example of those expectations
- Willingness to be vulnerable! **
How are you developing your players both menally and physically at GCC?
- Meet in the classroom and teach
- Call me “Sheets”
- Use the classroom to make a big impact
- Be mindful of helping each player rewrite their own story - rewire and give them responsibilities
- Talking about stuff other than baseball
Do you believe that if you players are better people they will help you win at GCC?
- 100%
- The kids knew when I was making selfish decisions to get a better job
- Servant leadership and not about me, it's about the players
- The person, the student, the player and in that order of development
Do you look for specific traits in recruits? Turn ons and turn offs?
- Live in the transfer world
- Want people to leave who feel they are GCC guys
- Vetting them on the phone
- Talking with prior coach
- Who is he? Baggage?
- Talking with prior coach
- Get who you want, but get who we are! ***
- What is important to you? Winning, being on a great team? Personal development?
- Specific measurables we are looking for
- Being coachable
You have seen great players from all over the country at all levels. What do those great players have in common?
- Same as coaches, open minded and wanting more
- Every championship team has a good catcher, arms, defense, and hitters that came through in certain moments (situationally executed)
- They did not hate each other, generally they like to be together, and no dysfunction
- Intrinsically motivated, desire to figure out the best version of themselves
- They want more
- Sacrifice is required!
You have also seen so many great coaches from all over the country. What do those great coaches have in common?
- Curious
- There thoughts are always moveable
- Always willing to test their theories/processes
- Open minded to hear it for what it is
- Listened to get better, not to respond
What is the best way to contact you?
- @coachsheets3
- sheets@stickandballtv.com
- 502-767-7680
Notes:
- Come from a centered place! Can’t make a decision from the highs and lows, and always come back to center to make decisions
- Stay away from recruits who blame others and wired from young age
- The person, the student, the player and in that order of development
- Find the courage to act on their own thoughts and ideas
- At the core of feel is empathy and living in the other people's shoes! ***
- Don’t let 15 seconds feel like 15 seconds!! ***
- The people change the game!
Monday May 18, 2020
Monday May 18, 2020
BIO
- Currently assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at University of Maryland (8th year overall)
- First 5 years he was Director of operations for the Terps
- During Swope’s time in College Park, Maryland has boasted nine All-Americans, two academic All-Americans and 32 Major League Baseball draft picks.
- The Terrapins advanced to their only two Super Regionals in school history (2014, 2015) and advanced to two conference tournament championship games.
- The UMD Alum was drafted in the 2002 MLB Draft by the Montreal Expos after a great career at Maryland
- A great follow on twitter for some great hitting content
- A very loyal Maryland guy who breathes crabcakes and Old Bay!
How are you still helping your guys during the quarantine?
- Zoom calls, facetime
- Talking weekly or specific info
- Find ways to workout and challenge based on what they have
What is something you have been learning during the quarantine?
- Professional development - over 80 hours with over 200 slides on hitting
- Being clear and concise
- Driveline certification
- 108 certification
What lessons do you think will come from this quarantine?
- Break it down just in the slides
- Film myself to be clear
You have been a part of Maryland getting better and better, what do you think has made you guys successful?
- My heart is in MD
- Fully funded, over 200K fundraised
- Super regional and upgraded facilities
- Consistent people who are personally invested and passionate
- Good senior leadership and compulsive competitor
Describe the kind of players who have helped you along the way.
- Competitor
- Care about the details
Describe the kind of players who you have gotten in the way of your guys success.
- Bad senior/junior leadership
- Non-competitive
- Complaining about things instead of encouraging to keep moving forward
How are you developing competition?
- Brought in “The Program” & Brian Cain
- Growth Mindset, Toughness, and Ownership
- Pillars are reinforced consistently
- We have standards not many rules
- Last 5 minutes weightlifting competition
- Outside time is compete time
- Team practice competition
- Games with hitters
- Forcing competition
How are you keeping the focus on the team while individualizing?
- Better talent, recruit better players
- First 3 weeks - collect data, film, some constraints,
- After 3 weeks - individual program
- 3 exercises per day - every day for 2 weeks for 5 weeks
- Help you become your best coach
What has changed in the way you teach hitters since you started coaching?
- Timing and balance - speeding up may not be best for the athletes movement pattern
- Specific way to load the machine to get the guys on time and be sure to promote good movement pattern
What are you doing to promote good movement pattern?
- Philosophy is timing and balance in a good movement pattern
- Start slow to get on time with your movement pattern
- Control your timing and how you start your move
- Categorize loose and tight movers -
- Loose movers - most athletic, high leg kick, lot of movement in swing
- Know why you leg kick and how you leg kick
- Front foot under the front hip
- Tight mover - super efficient and tight, small moves at the plate
- Tight turn - trunk and pelvis closed to provide force to middle of field
- Hinge position
- Loose movers - most athletic, high leg kick, lot of movement in swing
How do you program the decel, next move after contact?
- Frisbee
- Exaggerated scissor - striding closed and back foot comes in front of front foot
- Blocked med ball toss - constraint to throw med ball
- Reciprocal movement
You have been a part of some great teams, and great players, what are the traits of the best players you have been around?
- Self motivation and an internal drive with a competitive edge
- Guys like to be together
- Recruiting classes are organizing their own zoom calls
What do you look for in recruits?
- Look for the position and how they move and do they have a certain movement pattern
- Characteristics of guys at certain positions
- Cross decisions and collaborate on all recruits - get judgment from each coach
- No such thing as a one man RC
- Competitive!
- Multiple sports, how communicates, social media
How much are you working on the mental game?
- Meditation at the start
- Write down the routine - know all the routines so know what kids needs at that time
- Release routines to get out of red lights (when umpire makes a bad call)
Has there been some mental skills that have helped with the transition to college?
- We need failure
- Be consistent
How do you hold that line and be an example for your players?
- Be authentic so players know what to expect
- Be clear and consistent with how you handle yourself
Best way to contact you
- “Maryland Made Hitting” on Twitter/Instagram
- Go to UMterps.com for all Coach Swope info!
Notes
- We are playing offense, not hitting. We are playing offense to score runs
- Write down each players routines
- Loose and tight movers
- Good teams don’t have rules, they have standards
- movements/mechanics off the field, competition on the field
- Recruiting classes doing their own zoom calls
- Being vulnerable allow to build relationships
Monday May 11, 2020
Monday May 11, 2020
Joey Miller Notes
Bio
- Current trainer for Crucible performance in Frederick, MD
- Has a full time (40 hour) hitting lesson schedule full of loyal clients
- Played and graduated from Frederick Community College
- National Player of the year runner up while at D2 Concord University
- Set individual records at Concord University 28 HR’s and 140 RBIs
- Played professional independent baseball for 4 years from 2014-2017
- Overcame knee surgery after second season to become a 2X All Star
- Played independent ball for:
- Roswell Invaders
- Washington WildThings (frontier league)
- Trois Riveries Aigles (Can Am) “Twa Rivi-air Egg-lays” - French for 3 Rivers Eagles (Quebec)
- Windy City Thunderbolts (Frontier League)
- Salina Stockade (American Association)
- Check out his ‘Heavy Hitter” Podcast
- Player made career!! Knows what it takes to get better!!
How are you encouraging your clients during the quarantine?
- Group Zoom meetings - up to 60 kids
- Tuesdays and thursdays
- Indy zoom meetings based on the hitters needs
- Making us better coaches, and players opportunities to connect with other people
What is your process when taking on new clients?
- 5 tools to develops
- Interview - What do you want to do with this game?
- 2 years ahead of the age level
- What does that athlete need 2 years from now?
- Create hitting logs and personal logs
- 6 questions at beginning of the month
- Calendar where player writes down notes of how they got better each day
- Log the results of their game
- Some video analysis based on the person needs
What is your program all about?
- Don’t rush growth
- Trust their coaches, but be a person clients can lean in
- Want to give that kid inspiration to go dominate it!
How do you assess your hitters?
- Figure out the mindset I can help develop
What is something you used to do that you no longer find value in?
What is something you have done since your first lesson?
What mechanics of the swing you try to teach?
Do you teach your clients about approach?
- Know your job and be prepared to do your job
- External goals based on the kids
- Internal goals based on the kid
- On deck, in the hole, this is how we prepare
What is the mentality of a great hitter?
- Based on where they are developmentally and then grow that need
How do you challenge your clients?
- Present challenges through the adjustments we are trying to make
- Work through feel and exaggeration
How do you teach kids to play one pitch at a time?
What trait have you seen in the best players you have played with or clients you have helped?
- Perseverance - kids who have dealt with a challenge and be able to keep moving forward
What is the best way for people to contact you?
- Social Media - Facebook and Youtube - @CoachJoeyMiller
- Instagram & Twitter - @CoachJoeyBats
- Crucibleperformance.us
- coachjoeybats@gmail.com
- joey@crucibleperformance.us
Wednesday May 06, 2020
Wednesday May 06, 2020
BONUS EPISODE!!
4 of my former players who are currently playing college baseball discuss their perspective on the quarantine, the difference between high school and college, recruiting, and so much more!!
Big Thanks to:
Joey Schwartz - Shepherd University
Ryan Bywaters - Radford University
Noah Allen - Flagler College
Cameron Kutchey - Lock Haven University
Click here for the NOTES on the episode!
Monday May 04, 2020
Monday May 04, 2020
What is the best thing you do to create better men in your program?
- Combination of things
- How you do anything is how you do everything
- Culture - standards set and standards met
- Everything you do - everyday relentless job
- Core covenants - every decision is based on those
- Model behavior with having our families around
When do you start implementing your Success Leaves Clues program?
- Helps instill our core covenants
- Classroom for his athletes
- Monday, tuesday, and friday
- Teach life skills and leadership skills
- Advisory board - faculty rep and student rep
- Fall - speakers, Winter - MVP, Spring - baseball
- Mentor program - extend invitation to mentor program and honor mentors at a game
- Intentional seating with veterans surrounding rookies
How do you teach the mental side of the game?
- Introduce in the fall
- Practice routines and releases
- 5-10 minute at the start of practice: breathing, visualization, self affirmation
How do you manage all your staff members?
- Understand the standards and give them parameters and let them coach
- Coach my coaches (sit it on meetings, etc)
- First thursday of the month touch base at IHOP
- Give them a research project
What is the best thing you do for your staff?
- Get together as a family
- Give them gear
What does your toughness coach do?
- Toughness program
- Fire academy special forces branch
- 12 week curriculum every friday starting in the fall
- 6 weeks - individual oriented; last 6 weeks - team oriented
- Each lesson had a theme
- Tshirt made up with tough friday
How have your practices changed over the years?
- Building failure into practice
- Charting everything
- Game like competition
- Practicing things that really matter
- Weighted vest to wear during Bad Body Language
- Rivalry team to go run poles to create chaos and make them slow themselves down
What is something that you have never stopped doing to develop your players?
- Playing catch - throwing progressions and drill it
- 20 minutes to practice - MOVE AND PLAY CATCH
- Attention to detail
What would you consider your biggest strength as a coach?
- Putting it all together, attention to detail
How were you helping your players during this quarantine?
- Still coming into small groups
- Sent them a plan
- Sunday night Zoom call
- Bring in former players
- Call or facetime each player
- Provide them with resources (character coach, toughness, etc)
How do you develop players while still keeping the focus on the team?
- Indy work before practice
- 230-315 early work for individuals
Development plan? Phases?
- 10 Phases
- Phase 1 - strength, speed, movement, toughness, assessments (6 weeks)
- Phase 2 - fall skills incorporate throwing program and hitting program (6 weeks)
What have you noticed between the great players and the average players during your time?
- Young guy has not developed the mental side (how to fail)
- Resilience - in their training, routines, game, consistently show up
Other points
- Grade players every 11 games
- Shell practice schedule on Sunday
- Detail out the night before
- Quality at bats and OPS for hitters
- “Quality control” - walks, HBP and strikeouts
- Walks, HBP, opponent errors (plus or minus) - big innings happen with those walk/HBP/errors
- 8 categories offensively -
- Dirtbags - team game goals
- Email you at cbox@hartfield.org
- Find him on twitter - @chuckbox1969
BIO
- Currently the Head Baseball Coach at Hartfield Academy in Flowood, Mississippi
- 700-321 career record
- 10 Years coached at Jackson Prep in Mississippi
- He spent eleven years as a college head coach at Freed-Hardeman University and Itawamba Community College compiling 363 wins
- Inducted into the Freed-Hardeman Hall of Fame in 2010
- 13 players selected to play professional baseball
- Served as an Assistant at Mississippi College
- Been a guest on multiple national podcasts - ABCA and Dugout Chatter
- Always willing to share and help
- An absolute DUDE!
- Email you at cbox@hartfield.org
- Find him on twitter - @chuckbox1969
Monday Apr 27, 2020
Monday Apr 27, 2020
Another great interview PACKED with information. Coach Tom Eller, hitting coach with the Baltimore Orioles, discusses how he has grown from a college coach to working with professional hitters in the Baltimore Oriole organization.
Coach Eller's main talking points:
- How he and the Orioles are getting better during the quarantine
- The differences of when he worked and build great college hitters to how he is building great professional hitters
- What hitters spend too much time on, and what they should spend more time on
- What he would look for in the best recruits
- Traits he has seen in all of the best players
- SO MUCH in our conversation!!!
How are you getting better during this quarantine?
- Weekly themed zoom meetings
- Book club, Navy Seals, special guests
- Calls with certain hitters and specialists
How are you helping players during this quarantine?
- Hitters meeting
- Go over player plans
- Based on last years stats and assessments based on what I knew about them
- Swing decision and swing characteristic and mobility
You were a great recruiter at Hartford, what were the things you looked for in your recruits?
- Single tool that stood out
- Ball player who can do a little bit of everything
- Want to move on and have a growth mindset
- Willing to learn and get better
- NO EGO!
What mental skills, qualities in a person, have you seen in the best professional players?
- Growth mindset - wants to learn
- Why things are happening, and be sure to ask why it is happening
- Deliberate practice - why are we doing what we are doing?
- Reflective and self awareness
- Don’t know everything. Humble and know when they need to get better
How much programming of individuals do you do on your team?
- Swing decision
- Swing characteristic
- Movements
- Train fast - rack used to move body fast and stop body fast
- Kinetic Chain
- Check swing - promotes decel
- Different bats to train fast
- Mobility test and work on deficiency
- Tight mover assist to open the up
- Lose mover assist to brake and stop movement
- Buckets of deficiencies - bat speed, bad movers, bad direction, etc. Be creative in your groups and work
How has your hitting system changed throughout the years?
- Clean up problems (not rotating)
- Clean up path and fine tuning
- Too steep
- Scap too early
- Head moves forward too much
- DIRECTION
- PVC
- Skip stone
- Dissociation from hands and hips
- Not everyone can do the same moves
- I have to teach every guy differently
- Individualized plans
- What do hitters do well
- What do hitters suck at
What do you think kids should spend more/less time doing as hitters?
|
More |
Less |
|
Write it down on what went well and what did not. -what you hit well -write down your results -challenge yourself and making it more game like |
-Swing less! -worrying about feeling good during BP! |
What do you think coaches should spend more/less time doing with their hitters?
|
More |
Less |
|
-failing more! Game like Blocked versus random practice |
-worrying about feeling good in BP |
What people don’t know is how well you guys stole bases at Harford. How were you guys so successful on the bases?
- Hitting and running works together. When you worry about baserunning you force bad pitches, and when you hit really well you lose focus on the run game
- Leads! Knowing where you are and how many steps it takes to get into the lead
- Who is good at running - label runners and go off the pitchers time. Didn’t worry about catchers because most are the same.
- Pick up pitchers tells, counts (3-0)
What is the best way for people to contact you?
- Twitter - @CoachTomEller
Saturday Apr 18, 2020
Saturday Apr 18, 2020
This week I get to interview Brian Cain, an international best selling author, a professional Master of the Mental Game. He discusses several ways how to live your best life. You will hear a number of concrete ways to better men and better ballplayers.
Please see the show notes below!! There are so many takeaways that I am sure you will find some value!
- Corona Season - How will you come out of it?
- For me , not to me
- NO BCD - Blaming, Complaining, Defending
- Have a plan and execute it (where confidence lies)
- Gratitude is the antidote for negativity and entitlement
- ETE - Entertainment to Education ratio. How much of your day is spent on your ETE?
- Confidence comes in execution
- 4 optimal ways of living - Eat, sleep, move, mindset - set a plan to get them done each day
- Success Hotline Dr. Rob Gilbert - 3 minute call to get the JUICE flowing - 973-743-4690
- Preference vs Principle life - the boy lives out of preference, the man lives out of principle
- Mission and Vision - they work together
- What do I want (resume) is the VISION
- Who do I need to be (gravestone) is the MISSION
- Core principles - no right or wrong just choose one and start living it (choose discipline, you will be more disciplined.
- Athletes - 3 areas of vision are baseball, school, personal
-Baseball - Go Division 1 or become all conference
-School - get at 3.5
-Personal - make my bed everyday - Adult - 3 areas of vision are energy, service, family
-Energy - exercise at least 30 minutes a day
-Service - do one podcast a week to spread value
-Family - spend undisturbed QT with my wife and kids each day - FREE Athletes course on www.briancain.com
- FREE Coaches Course on www.briancain.com
- 30 days to mental master course for athletes at www.briancain.com
- Mental Performance Master Coach’s Certification at www.briancain.com
- Athletes - 3 areas of vision are baseball, school, personal
Monday Apr 13, 2020
Monday Apr 13, 2020
Jimmy Jackson, the Associate Head Coach of James Madison University, just gave some incredible advice to being your best coach, and getting yourself prepared to get recruited, as well as what you should be doing during your weekly throwing. We exceeded all my expectations for this interview and I know you will get something valuable from it.
**CORRECTION from the episode. Jimmy coached at Archbishop Spalding. He graduated from Old Mill High School.
Sorry about that.
Sunday Apr 05, 2020
Sunday Apr 05, 2020
The first podcast we will give concrete content about:
- Elite and Average mindset
- how to track it
- growth plan
- Arm Care routines
- activation
- throwing
- recovery
I hope you find value in it.
Keep getting better!