Recently I spent some time with a few great high school coaches —one a performance coach, another a fundamental coach. Over the course of many discussions, the fundamental coach, a head football coach, asked me the following question: Of all the new things you’ve learned and come across lately in this industry, is there anything…
Whether we like it or not, there indeed exists a stigma in athletics that players and coaches must be “mentally tough”, and that discussing mental illness is taboo. As a result, those who are struggling do so in silence for fear that they will be labeled soft, incompetent, or mentally weak. Recently, I posted some…
As most high school coaches have probably noticed, each year travel baseball has taken a greater foothold on the high school baseball landscape. Travel-ball has become a staple for nearly all ballplayers — what was once a summer-only tour for most, for many it is now a nearly year-round endeavor. While the travel circuit has many inherent advantages ,…
In my coaching career thus far, I’ve been fortunate to collect diverse, yet highly concentrated experience in athletics; I’ve spent the better part of 8 years coaching a single population of athletes — baseball players — yet, have done so at various age and competition levels. Between the high school level, the travel-ball circuit, collegiate…
In a professional sense, 2017 was certainly a fulfilling year for me. But, it wasn’t without challenge or struggle. In fact, both in professional and personal terms, this year was also one of the most challenging I’ve gone through yet. Considering all that 2017 had to offer — the good and the bad — I…
Read enough of my writing and you will notice a couple of recurring theme: at the high school level of the game, general training should always precede advanced methods, foundational strength should trump specialization. While this is a vital concept to understand, something that cannot be refuted is that individualization — or the accommodation of a…
This piece was originally written for one of my science writing courses. I enjoy writing and sharing, so I figured why not share this one. I have made some minor edits before posting here. Enjoy! *** For those working in the game of baseball (at every level), these should be exciting times: youth participation rates…
