<![CDATA[Coaching Champions for Life

<![CDATA[Coaching Champions for Life - Hot Stove]]>Fri, 02 Oct 2026 03:10:27 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[stay true to yourself]]>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 12:47:40 GMThttps://www.coachingchampionsforlife.com/hot-stove/stay-true-to-yourselfThe journey to becoming an effective coach is not unlike the journey of becoming an accomplished player. It takes years of work, study, practice, reflection and a willingness to learn from those who have traveled the road before you. You must study the fundamentals of your sport, but you must also study the fundamentals of coaching: how to teach, communicate, build relationships, lead and, most importantly, understand the people entrusted to your care. There is no shortcut to mastering the craft.

Many coaches begin at the youth level and eventually aspire to coach at the high school or collegiate level. That progression often requires serving as an assistant coach, working within an established program or coaching at a lower level. Each position provides opportunities to learn, but each also presents a temptation to believe that moving forward requires becoming someone else.

Early in my career, I encountered that challenge while coaching a high school junior varsity team. Compared with youth sports, the junior varsity environment offered many advantages. The athletes were generally more developed. The competition was stronger. Equipment and facilities were often better. Perhaps most valuable, I had opportunities to observe, work alongside and learn from varsity coaches. Being close to experienced coaches can be a very valuable education.

But junior varsity coaching also presents challenges that can test a coach's identity. Rosters can change as players move between the junior varsity and varsity teams. More significantly, the junior varsity coach may have a different personality, communication style or coaching philosophy than the varsity head coach. When that happens, it is easy to begin changing who you are in an effort to satisfy the varsity head coach or make your players fit seamlessly into the varsity program.

There is an important distinction between learning from another coach and becoming another coach.

A junior varsity or assistant varsity coach should understand and teach the varsity head coach and program's fundamentals, principles and philosophy. Players should be prepared for the expectations they will encounter when they move to the next level. Consistency throughout a program matters. But consistency does not require every coach to have the same personality or communicate in exactly the same way. It certainly should not require a coach to abandon the values that shaped his approach to leadership.

Every coach develops a philosophy over time. It is formed through mentors, experiences, successes, failures, relationships and lessons learned along the way. It becomes part of who we are. When we abandon that identity because another coach has a different style, we risk losing something more important than consistency: authenticity.

Players recognize authenticity.

Before we can effectively teach an athlete, we have to connect with that athlete. We have to understand the person in front of us, validate that person's experiences and demonstrate that we genuinely care. Trust is not created by a title, whistle or clipboard. It is earned through relationships. Once players know their coach sees them as people, they are more willing to listen, accept correction, take risks and respond to difficult challenges.
That responsibility also makes coaching much bigger than the game itself. Every practice and competition provides opportunities to teach lessons players can carry into the rest of their lives. We are teaching athletes how to respond to adversity, treat people, handle success, accept responsibility, work with others and persevere when circumstances do not go their way. Those lessons will ultimately matter far more than anything that happens on the scoreboard.

Years later, when former players contact their coaches, the messages of appreciation are rarely about a particular win or loss. They are more often about how the coach influenced the person they became. Players may forget a particular drill, practice or game, but they will remember how their coach made them feel. They will remember whether they felt respected, valued, challenged, encouraged and believed in.

The best part of any coaching day should include seeing our players smile and laugh and allowing them to see us do the same. Enjoyment does not diminish accountability. High standards do not require constant tension. A demanding practice can still be fun. A difficult competition can still be meaningful. A coach can challenge athletes while making sure they know they are valued.

One of the simplest and most revealing questions a coach can ask after a practice or game is this: Are my players excited to come back tomorrow? That question reaches beyond wins and losses. It asks whether the environment we have created makes athletes want to continue learning, competing, improving and being part of the team.

Ultimately, while we are mentoring athletes to become better people, training them to become better athletes and developing them into better players, we should give them lessons they will want to pass forward. We should want our players to teach their friends, siblings, teammates and, eventually, their children and the people with whom they work what they learned from us about life.

The lesson should be that character matters. Integrity matters. How we respond to adversity matters. Who we are when circumstances become difficult matters.

That is where staying true to yourself becomes essential.

Learn from the coaches above you. Respect the program. Understand its expectations and teach its fundamentals, principles and philosophy. Prepare your athletes to succeed within that system. But do not surrender your identity to do it.

The goal is not to become a younger version of the head varsity coach. The goal is to become the best version of yourself as a coach.

Your players will eventually leave your program. Their playing careers will end. Statistics will fade. Seasons will become memories. What remains is the influence you had on the people they became.

Your players' lives as people, not their accomplishments as players, are your legacy. To please the head varsity coach, stay true to the program's coaching fundamentals, principles and philosophy. But to accomplish your ultimate mission as a coach, stay true to yourself.
]]><![CDATA[Physical and Mental Considerations for Helping Pitchers Perform at Their Best]]>Tue, 01 Sep 2026 15:31:27 GMThttps://www.coachingchampionsforlife.com/hot-stove/physical-and-mental-considerations-for-helping-pitchers-perform-at-their-bestPitching is one of the most demanding skills in baseball. It requires strength, coordination, mobility, stability, concentration, confidence, and the ability to repeat a highly explosive movement over and over again. The challenge for coaches is not simply to help pitchers throw harder or get more outs. It is to help them perform at their best while developing bodies and minds that can withstand the demands of pitching over time.

We know considerably more about how to optimize pitching performance than we know about how to optimize pitching health. Good mechanics matter, but mechanics alone do not prevent injury. A pitcher’s physical condition, workload, pitch selection, environment, recovery, and mental state all contribute to performance and durability.

The best approach is therefore holistic. Coaches need to look beyond the delivery and consider the entire pitcher.

Physical Considerations: How Pitching Injuries Occur

Mechanics
There is a tendency to blame poor mechanics whenever a pitcher experiences pain or injury. Mechanics can certainly contribute to injury, but they should not automatically be the first place we look.
As one sports-medicine principle puts it, “We know a lot more about how to optimize performance than how to optimize health.” Even if we completely understood what constitutes perfect pitching mechanics, good mechanics would not eliminate injury risk.

Pitchers are reaching velocity levels that place tremendous stress on the arm. Research has suggested that injury risk increases significantly as velocity increases, with estimates of approximately a 15–20 percent increase in risk for every additional mile per hour. That concern applies to younger pitchers as well, whose bodies are still developing.

This creates an important coaching dilemma. Changing a pitcher’s mechanics may sometimes be necessary, but mechanical changes can also take away from what makes a pitcher effective. A pitcher may have an unusual delivery that is highly effective and comfortable for that individual.

Coaches should therefore be cautious about using a mechanical adjustment to solve what may actually be a physical limitation.

“Be careful doing mechanical solutions to physical problems.”

Before changing a delivery, ask whether the pitcher has the strength, mobility, stability, coordination, recovery, and physical capacity to perform the movement being requested. Poor mechanics may be part of the problem, but they are not necessarily the starting point for understanding why a pitcher is struggling or hurting.

Systemic Factors
The body is a system, and the arm does not operate independently of the rest of it.
Nutritional deficiencies or insufficiencies can affect a player's ability to perform and recover. Blood work, when appropriately evaluated by qualified medical professionals, can identify certain nutritional or physiological issues that may otherwise go unnoticed.

Accumulated fatigue is another major consideration. So are poor sleep quantity and quality, recent illness, dehydration, medications, and travel. Congenital laxity or hypermobility—naturally loose joints—can also affect how a pitcher handles the stresses of throwing.

Travel deserves particular attention. Crossing time zones can disrupt sleep, recovery, hydration, nutrition, and normal routines. A commonly used guideline is that the body may require roughly a day to adjust for each time zone crossed.

For female athletes, the menstrual cycle may also be a relevant consideration when monitoring wellness, recovery, and performance. Coaches should approach these issues appropriately and work with qualified medical professionals rather than attempting to diagnose or treat them themselves.

The larger lesson is simple: sometimes the reason a pitcher is not performing well has little to do with pitching mechanics.

Pitch Type
Every pitch places a different demand on the body, and learning a new pitch is itself a stressor that requires adaptation.

New pitches should be introduced gradually rather than immediately becoming a major part of a pitcher's workload. The pitcher needs time to learn the grip, movement pattern, release, command, and physical demands of the pitch.

Any pitch thrown incorrectly can become a source of stress. Coaches should be especially cautious with pitches or grips that require excessive manipulation of the wrist, particularly with young athletes whose bodies are still growing and developing.

For example, rather than teaching a young pitcher to aggressively snap the wrist to create curveball movement, a coach may prefer a motion in which the hand works more naturally toward the target, with the ball flipping over the middle finger. The exact technique should be individualized and taught by qualified coaches and medical or performance professionals when appropriate.

The important principle is not that one particular pitch is inherently safe or unsafe. It is that new pitches should be introduced thoughtfully, progressively, and with attention to the individual pitcher.

Environmental Factors
Sometimes the environment creates additional stress that has little to do with the pitcher's ability.
Heat and humidity can contribute to dehydration and fatigue. A pitcher who begins a game already dehydrated or fatigued is not starting from an ideal physical position.

The mound itself matters. Mounds can vary considerably in height, firmness, and condition. A mound that is too soft, uneven, or has developed a large hole in front of the pitching rubber can change how a pitcher interacts with the ground and may affect movement patterns.

Even the baseball matters. Differences in seam height, ball condition, and grip can alter how the pitcher interacts with the ball. Using consistent baseballs whenever possible can help minimize unnecessary variables.
Coaches should understand that the pitcher is not operating in a laboratory. The environment becomes part of the physical equation.

Structural Pathology
Pre-existing injuries and underlying structural issues must be considered before increasing a pitcher's workload or making significant mechanical changes.

One of the greatest concerns in youth baseball is that pitchers are throwing too hard, too much, and too young. The desire to develop velocity can sometimes overshadow the need to develop the athlete.

Pain should not simply be treated as something a pitcher has to work through. Persistent or significant pain requires appropriate evaluation by qualified medical professionals.

The goal is not merely to keep a pitcher on the mound today. It is to help that athlete continue to throw tomorrow, next season, and for years to come.

Usage
Velocity and workload are closely connected to injury risk. Generally, the harder a pitcher throws, the greater the physical stress placed on the body.

Overuse can occur in a short period such as throwing too many pitches in a game or too many innings in a short span or over a much longer period through years of excessive throwing without adequate recovery.

The appropriate workload differs according to age, development, training history, and level of competition. Coaches should follow established age-appropriate throwing guidelines and individualize workload based on the athlete.

One concept is especially important:
“The arm does not know whether you are pitching or not. It only knows how much, how well, how hard, and how often you are throwing.”

A pitch count that includes only game pitches may therefore provide an incomplete picture of a pitcher's total throwing workload. Bullpens count. Warm-up throws count. Long toss counts. Throws made while playing another position count. Pre-game throwing counts. Practice throws count.

A pitcher who throws 80 pitches in a game may have thrown considerably more than 80 times that day.
Pitch Smart provides useful general guidelines for managing pitching workloads, but coaches should remember that game pitches are only one component of total throwing exposure.

Alignment
A pitcher needs a body capable of efficiently transferring force.

Symmetrical development and appropriate alignment provide an important foundation. Coaches should pay attention not only to the throwing arm but also to the legs, hips, trunk, shoulder girdle, and non-throwing side.
Neutral positions and balanced development can help the athlete produce force while controlling movement.
Pitching is a full-body activity. The arm may deliver the pitch, but the entire body contributes to how that pitch is produced.

Strength, Stability, and Motor Control
Strength is the foundation for power, stability, and agility.

Young pitchers should not simply be trained to throw harder. They should be trained to become stronger, more coordinated athletes who can control their bodies through increasingly demanding movements.
Proprioception—the body's ability to sense its position and movement—is particularly important. Developing motor control at every age and stage gives pitchers a better foundation for executing complex movements repeatedly.

A properly designed throwing and arm-care program should be introduced progressively and maintained consistently. Arm care should not suddenly appear when a pitcher develops pain. It should be part of the athlete's normal preparation and development.

Tissue Extensibility
Soft tissues—including muscles, tendons, and fascia—must be capable of stretching, lengthening, and deforming without sustaining damage.

Mobility and tissue quality are therefore important components of a comprehensive physical program. Appropriate stretching, recovery, massage or manual therapy when indicated, and techniques such as foam rolling may help athletes maintain mobility and manage normal training demands.

Again, however, these are pieces of a larger system. No single exercise, treatment, or recovery technique can eliminate pitching-injury risk.

Mental Considerations: Helping Pitchers Perform Beyond Physical Limitations
Physical preparation is only half of the equation. A pitcher can be physically prepared and still struggle if he or she cannot manage pressure, respond to adversity, or maintain confidence.

The goal is not to eliminate pressure. The goal is to teach pitchers how to function effectively when pressure is present.

Keep Pitchers in a Positive Mindset
A pitcher's mindset should be developed just like a pitcher's fastball.

Coaches should be careful not to overuse technology. Video, radar guns, analytics, and other tools can be extremely valuable, but too much information can cause young pitchers to become overly analytical and lose their feel for the game.

Positive self-talk should be practiced every day—not introduced only after something goes wrong.
Teach pitchers to recognize the difference between useful and destructive thoughts. A pitcher who says, “I can't believe I just walked him,” is focusing on what already happened. A pitcher who says, “Next pitch—compete,” is focusing on what can still be controlled.

A simple Green Light, Yellow Light, Red Light system can help.
Green Light: Everything is working. Stay aggressive, maintain tempo and trust yourself.
Yellow Light: Something is beginning to go wrong. Take a moment to slow down, e.g., step behind the pitching rubber, breathe, make an adjustment, and get back to the process.
Red Light: The pitcher is losing control emotionally or physically. Step away, e.g., off of the mound, regroup, and determine what needs to happen next.

This system gives pitchers a language for recognizing their mental and physical state before a small problem becomes a major one.

Coaches should also reinforce a team-first attitude. The message is that a pitcher is not responsible for being perfect. The pitcher is responsible for contributing to the team.

That distinction can remove tremendous pressure.

Pitch Well When You Do Not Have Your Best Stuff
Every pitcher will eventually have a day when the fastball is not as sharp, the breaking ball is not breaking, or the command simply is not there.

The answer is not to panic.

Pitchers should practice all of their pitches regularly during flat-ground throwing and bullpen sessions. They should also use all of their pitches in games, even if a particular pitch is used only once during an at-bat.

Why?
Because a hitter should never be allowed to believe that a pitcher is afraid to throw something.
A pitcher who establishes that every pitch is available creates uncertainty for the hitter.
Pitchers should also learn to pitch to contact. There is no reason to get cute with a No. 6, 7, 8, or 9 hitter when the pitcher has an advantage count. Make the pitch. Trust the defense. Get the out.

Off-speed pitches require the same confidence. Pitchers should regularly practice at least two changeup grips. Start with one grip during a game, but if that grip is not producing the desired result, do not automatically abandon the changeup. Try the second grip.

And do not overthrow an off-speed pitch.

The objective is not to throw the changeup as hard as possible. It is to create a speed differential from the fastball while maintaining good command and deception.

The best pitchers learn that having their best stuff is not a requirement for pitching well.

Teach Pitchers to Perform Under Pressure
Pressure cannot be effectively taught through lectures. Pitchers need experience.

The best way to prepare pitchers for pressure situations is to expose them to pressure throughout the season in controlled and progressively challenging ways.

Game-like situations should be incorporated into practice. At the end of practice, pitchers can face one or two hitters with specific situations created for them:

A runner on first with a bunt situation.
First and third with one out.
A runner in scoring position with less than two outs.
The winning run at third base.
A runner on first base who represents the tying run.
A hitter with an advantage count.
The final hitter of a simulated inning.

The purpose is not to manufacture anxiety. It is to give pitchers opportunities to experience pressure while coaches are present to help them learn how to manage it. The more often pitchers experience meaningful situations in practice, the less foreign those situations become in games.

Competitions should also be incorporated into virtually every phase of practice. Players who compete under pressure often in practice handle it better in games because performing under pressure becomes a norm not an extraordinary circumstance. Handling pressure well becomes momentum and changing momentum often leads to victory.

The Complete Pitcher
Helping pitchers perform at their best requires much more than teaching them how to throw a baseball.
Coaches must consider mechanics, workload, pitch type, strength, stability, motor control, mobility, recovery, nutrition, hydration, sleep, illness, environment, and previous injury. They must also develop the mental skills that allow pitchers to remain positive, compete when they do not have their best stuff, and perform when the pressure is greatest.

Most importantly, coaches need to see the pitcher as an athlete and a person—not simply as an arm.
The goal should not be to maximize velocity at every opportunity or win every game at every cost. The goal is to develop pitchers who can compete effectively today while building the physical and mental foundation necessary for tomorrow.

A healthy pitcher is not necessarily one who never experiences discomfort, fatigue, failure, or adversity. A healthy pitcher is one whose development is being managed thoughtfully, whose workload is appropriate, whose physical needs are addressed, and who is learning how to respond mentally to the challenges of pitching.
When coaches take this comprehensive approach, they do more than help pitchers throw strikes. They give pitchers a better opportunity to perform at their best, protect their development, and enjoy the game for years to come.
]]><![CDATA[what baseball players should do in the off-season]]>Sat, 01 Aug 2026 11:24:34 GMThttps://www.coachingchampionsforlife.com/hot-stove/what-baseball-players-should-do-in-the-off-seasonAssumption: You want to play baseball for more than just fun, i.e., at the highest level
General Recommendations:

Put your phone down!
Have an extended off-season - 6+ months – DO NOT PLAY FALL BALL!

I. Create and maintain a calendar that includes II-VIII below – organizational skills are critical for success in school and in life
II. Play other sports on a limited, part-time basis outside of school – swim, martial arts, rock climb, golf, i.e., anything that requires using your upper and lower body in sync
III. Explore other areas of interest outside of sports, e.g., music, art, theater, robotics, coding, etc., Use your hands for something other than holding your phone or tablet, e.g., build something, repair something, paint something, etc. OFTEN!
IV. Work (particularly a job that you had to interview for) – you will learn that good grades are not enough and are maybe even irrelevant. Do you have “marketable skills” to help the company make money and a personality to fit with their culture?

Volunteer
Job Shadow
Intern
Work for pay with other employees to learn social skills and small group dynamics
Work at home, e.g., pull weeds

V. Become a Better Person

Limit your phone time!
Volunteer to help the less fortunate
Join a church group
Read books about leadership and people who are very successful in sports and in life generally – “readers become leaders”
Talk to/interview people who you admire and/or are where you want to be and find out their path to get there, including what they would do differently
Learn how to meal prep, inc. healthy “grab ‘n go” snacks and to cook
Learn how to clean and do laundry
Learn how to change a tire
Eliminate distractions and non-working/unhealthy relationships in your life

VI. Become a Better Student

Read a book every day not required by school – it will make you more creative and a better critical thinker
Practice outlining
Write paragraphs and essays – both informational and argumentative
Listen to podcasts, Ted Talks and other educational media and take notes summarizing what you learned. Then without looking at the notes, verbalize what you learned.
Learn Spanish – it will give you 33% - 40% more job opportunities and make you 25% more money at the job.

VII. Become a Better Athlete

Improve your nutrition and sleep habits. Time to add supplements? To keep food and sleep diaries? Add healthy snacks for after school and pre-game and post-game meals?
Find/hire a reputable and experienced people to design and train you in strength and conditioning for a minimum of 4+ months , 3-4 days/week
Find/hire a reputable and experienced people to design and train you in your proprioceptive skills – your ability to move quickly, efficiently and powerfully in all planes of motion with coordination of your upper and lower body in sync, e.g., dynamic movement and plyometric routines, sprinting, shuttles runs, etc.
Improve your mobility, stability and fascial system routines, e.g., at a minimum, know how to do a thorough and proper foam rolling routine, but also learn massage and manual manipulation routines.

The fascial system is a that surrounds and supports every structure in the body, including muscles, organs, and nerves. It plays a crucial role in movement, stability, and overall health by allowing tissues to glide smoothly over one another and providing structural support.

Improve your arm care routines for the off-season and in-season at practices and pre-game, e.g., bands, plyo balls, etc.

VIII. Become a Better Player

Get an objective skill assessment from at least two reputable and experienced coaches at higher levels who do not know you and to whom you did not pay to attend their clinics or camps.
Take 30-60 days off completely from throwing a baseball. DO NOT PLAY FALL BALL.
On-board your throwing a baseball very gradually and systematically with help from someone knowledgeable about how to do it.
Improve your mechanics. Throw well before you throw a lot or with a maximum intent to throw hard.
Learn how to throw a tight spiral with a football
Do not play baseball games; improve your skills.
Watch in-person and documentaries about how elite athletes train and take care of their bodies to achieve their results. Pay attention to the process, not just the results.
Increase your sport IQ by studying the rules of the game. Go to umpire clinics; listen to podcasts and interviews of coaches to learn about their coaching methodology, strategy and tactics.
Coach someone else. When you teach someone else, you find ways to improve your own mechanics and ways to learn.

]]><![CDATA[How to Get the Best Out of Your Players and Team Without Crossing That Line]]>Wed, 01 Jul 2026 13:02:22 GMThttps://www.coachingchampionsforlife.com/hot-stove/july-01st-2026In the pursuit of winning, it is very common to see, hear and witness coaches verbally and sometimes physically abusing players and teams attempting to motivate them to do what the coaches want them to do. There are definitely better ways to motivate and develop players and teams than by intimidation. Here are some essential guidelines and principles to follow.

Coaching Begins with Who You Are

Players watch far more than they listen. A coach's actions, attitudes, and behaviors communicate louder than any speech. Young athletes often forget the exact words their coaches say, but they rarely forget how those coaches made them feel.
Players may not always be good listeners, but they are exceptional imitators.
Every day with the team provides an opportunity for coaches to model respect, accountability, patience, self-control, and perseverance. When coaches consistently demonstrate these qualities, players begin to reflect them in their own behavior.
Years after a season ends, former players rarely reach out to talk about championships or statistics. Instead, they remember the coach who believed in them, treated them with dignity, helped them overcome adversity, or taught them lessons that shaped who they became.
That is the true legacy of coaching.

Remember Why You Should Coach

Sports are simply the classroom. People are the curriculum.
The purpose of coaching is not merely to teach a sport. It is to teach responsibility, resilience, teamwork, humility, perseverance, integrity, and respect through the sport.
At the end of a season, the quality of the people your players become matters far more than the number of games they won.

Look First in the Mirror with Honest Intent

Every team experiences setbacks. When practices become unproductive or players struggle, effective coaches resist the temptation to immediately blame effort or attitude. Instead, they first ask themselves difficult questions.

Am I communicating clearly?
Have I created an environment where players can succeed?
Have I taught the skill effectively?
Am I leading the way I expect my players to follow?

Honest self-reflection often reveals that coaching adjustments, not player punishment, produce the greatest improvements.

Inspiration Builds Better Athletes Than Intimidation

Every coach wants to get the best out of their players. They want athletes who compete hard, respond to adversity, and reach their potential. Unfortunately, many coaches still believe that yelling, humiliation, intimidation, reverse psychology, or even physical punishment are effective ways to motivate athletes. While these methods may produce short-term compliance, they often damage confidence, trust, relationships, self-esteem, mental health and a player's long-term love for the game.
The most successful coaches understand that the greatest motivation comes through inspiration, not intimidation. They recognize that coaching is about influencing people first and athletes second. Winning games is important, but developing confident, resilient, compassionate young people is the lasting victory.

Catch Players Doing Something Right

Many coaches spend much of their energy correcting mistakes. Great coaches spend more energy recognizing progress.
Positive reinforcement is one of the most powerful motivational tools available. Players who know their effort is noticed are more willing to continue working through mistakes. Confidence grows when athletes believe their coach sees both their potential and their improvement.
Rather than constantly searching for what players are doing wrong, intentionally look for opportunities to acknowledge what they are doing well. Encouragement does not lower standards, it raises them.

We Coach People Not Sports

One of the greatest mistakes a coach can make is assuming every player learns, responds, and develops the same way. The standards and culture may be the same every season, but the players are different.
Players process information differently. Some are visual learners, while others learn best through demonstration, repetition, or conversation.
Motivation also varies. One athlete may respond to challenge, while another needs reassurance. Some players thrive on public recognition, while others value quiet encouragement.
Likewise, every team develops its own personality. What motivates one year's team may not motivate the next.
Successful coaches adjust their leadership to fit the people they are leading rather than forcing every player into the same mold.

Discipline Should Teach, Not Punish

Discipline is necessary. Punishment is not always effective and is usually an easy, reflexive attempt to achieve an outcome that could be handled better with a method given more thought.
Too often, coaches use excessive running or physically demanding drills as punishment. While conditioning certainly has its place within athletic development, using it as a response to mistakes or behavioral issues rarely teaches the lesson the coach intends.
Similarly, punishing an entire team because of the actions of one or two players often creates resentment rather than accountability.
Discipline should always help players understand expectations, accept responsibility, and learn from mistakes. Its goal is growth, not fear.

Anger Never Improves Performance

There is never an appropriate reason to yell at an individual player or an entire team.
Anger belongs to the person expressing it, not the person receiving it.
Players perform best when they feel psychologically safe enough to compete aggressively without fear of humiliation. A coach who loses emotional control teaches players that emotional control is optional.
Firmness, accountability, and high expectations are entirely compatible with calm, respectful communication.

Respect Personal Boundaries

Every player deserves emotional and physical safety.
A coach should always respect a player's personal space. Physical contact should be limited to appropriate moments of encouragement, celebration, instruction, or support.
Young athletes should never fear their coach's presence.
Trust grows when players know they will always be treated with dignity and respect.

Never Forget Mental Health

Mental health deserves the same attention as physical health.
A coach can influence an athlete's emotional well-being through both actions and inaction. Words, tone, body language, public criticism, favoritism, humiliation, or neglect can all leave lasting emotional scars.
The effects rarely remain on the field.
A struggling athlete often carries those emotional burdens into school, home, friendships, and future relationships. Anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, burnout, and loss of identity may all be connected to unhealthy coaching environments.
Athletic talent should never be mistaken for emotional resilience. Exceptional athletes can struggle just as deeply as anyone else.

Winning Should Never Cost the Player

Winning is an important goal. It should never become the only or most important goal.
When coaches prioritize victories above player development, character, relationships, and well-being, everyone eventually loses. Physical overtraining, emotional exhaustion, burnout, anxiety, and diminished enjoyment of sports are common consequences of a win-at-all-costs culture.
Ironically, programs that invest in relationships, trust, player development, and healthy team culture often become the most successful over time. They certainly are the ones players are most proud of and will seek to emulate in their adult lives.
Winning is a by-product of doing many important things well, not the purpose of coaching.

Success Is Measured by Lives, Not Records

Some of the greatest coaches in history have average win-loss records. Some coaches with championship trophies leave behind broken relationships and damaged athletes.
A successful coach is measured not only by the scoreboard but by the lives they influence. Your success as a coach is not defined by your wins and losses. It is defined by how many of your players use what you taught them to be great spouses, parents, and community and business leaders.
If your players become better people and teammates, stronger leaders, and continue loving the game long after they leave your program, you have achieved something far more valuable than another victory.
That is coaching without crossing the line, how inspiration changes lives long after the final score is forgotten, coaching you and your teams will be proud of.
]]><![CDATA[How to Get the Best Out of Your Players and Team Without Crossing THAT Line]]>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 15:06:13 GMThttps://www.coachingchampionsforlife.com/hot-stove/how-to-get-the-best-out-of-your-players-and-team-without-crossing-that-lineSadly, it is very common to see, hear and witness coaches verbally and physically abusing players and teams attempting to motivate them to do what the coaches want them to do. Here are some guidelines to motivate and develop players and teams by inspiration, not intimidation.

Building Common Ground

Coaches should be role models to their players in everything the coaches say and do.
Players are often not good at listening to their coaches, but they rarely fail to imitate them.
Communications that you will receive from players ten years after you coach them are going to be less about the wins and losses and more about how you made them a better person.
The key to motivating people is to catch them doing something right.
When things do not go well, look first in the mirror with honest intent.
Remember why you should coach. We coach people, not sports. The purpose of coaching is to teach life lessons within the game for beyond the game. It is the quality of the person, not the player, that is the most significant outcome.

Things to Remember About How to Get the Best Out of a Player and Team

Players learn in different ways.
Players are motivated in different ways.
From season-to-season, teams have different personalities.
There is more than one way to discipline a player and a team.
Running a player or a team is rarely the most appropriate and effective form of discipline.
Rarely is disciplining the entire team for the indiscretions of one or a few players the most appropriate and effective way of handling an issue.

Yelling at an entire team or at one player is never appropriate. Anger is always about the person who is angry and never about the person at whom the anger is directed.

Positive rewards are better motivators than negative consequences.
The personal space of a player must always be respected.
Touching a player is only appropriate while giving praise or encouragement.
The mental health of a player can be harmed in direct and indirect ways both in actions and failing to act and verbally and non-verbally.
The consequences of harming a player’s mental health extend far beyond the field to school, home and life in general, now and in the future.
Never assume mental and emotional stability from athletic ability.
Prioritizing winning above all else can be detrimental to the physical development and mental health of the players and the team in the short term and long term.
You can be a valuable, positively impactful, and successful coach without a winning record.

]]><![CDATA[NEW BOOK ! THE CAR RIDE HOME - RESPECTING YOUTH AT A VULNERABLE PLACE AND TIME]]>Fri, 01 May 2026 13:53:20 GMThttps://www.coachingchampionsforlife.com/hot-stove/new-book-the-car-ride-home-respecting-youth-at-a-vulnerable-place-and-timePlease see the New Book! page on this site to read what coaches and coaching authorities around the country are saying about my new book!

NOW AVAILBLE ON AMAZON IN EBOOK, PAPERBACK AND HARDBACK VERSIONS!

]]><![CDATA[new book coming soon!]]>Wed, 01 Apr 2026 10:29:19 GMThttps://www.coachingchampionsforlife.com/hot-stove/new-book-coming-soonHere is the Preface to my fifth book coming soon, The Car Ride Home - Respecting Youth at a Vulnerable Place and Time:

Most coaches and parents believe the game ends when the final whistle blows, the last out is recorded, or the clock hits zero.

In truth, the game never really ends.

It continues in parking lots, in kitchens, in bedrooms late at night. And most powerfully, it continues in the car ride home.

Coaches do not always sit in that seat. They don’t hear the conversations that follow their practices and games. They don’t always see the weight their words—intended or not—can add to a child’s shoulders once they leave the field. Yet their influence travels farther than they realize, carried into the tone parents adopt, in the expectations children internalize, and in the standards that quietly become identities.

Dylan’s story is not about a villainous parent or a broken family. It is about a well-meaning adult who believed continual and immediate assessment produced greatness—and a child who learned to equate love with performance. It is about how easily instruction can eclipse encouragement, and how quickly joy can be replaced by apprehension.

Coaches must remember:

They borrow children. They arrive with identities in the process of being formed.
Their words linger. Especially the ones spoken while in authority.
Joy is not the enemy of excellence. It is often the foundation of it.

The primary goal of youth sports is not to train professionals. It is to mentor people. We coach people, not sports. It is the quality of the person not the player that is the most significant outcome.

If a child leaves the game with confidence, resilience, and a sense of worth that extends beyond the scoreboard, coaches have succeeded—even if the record does not reflect it.

And if a child leaves the game entirely but carries with them a love for their best effort, teamwork, and self-belief, that is the only significant win.

The most important coaching may happen at the moments coaches never witness—during the drive home, when a child decides whether the game made them feel smaller or stronger.

A coach’s responsibility is to make sure the game they teach is worthy of that ride.

Youth sports have never been more organized, more competitive, or more well-intentioned. Fields are lined, schedules are full, and adults show up in record numbers to coach, teach, and support. Most parents and coaches involved in youth sports are trying to do the right thing. They care deeply. They want children to succeed—not just in the game, but in life.

And yet, quietly and steadily, something is being lost.

Across sports, and especially baseball, children are leaving the game earlier than ever before. Not because they lack talent. Not because they don’t understand the rules. But because the game that once brought them joy has begun to feel heavy. Pressurized. Conditional.

This book was written for that space.

It was written for the moments no one puts on highlight reels. For the conversations that happen after the lights go out and the dust settles. For the car ride home.

Who This Book Is For

This book is for:

Parents driving home from games, unsure of what to say
Coaches who care deeply and want to get it right
Former players who recognize parts of their own story
Leagues and organizations seeking healthier sports cultures
And anyone who believes sports should build children up, not wear them down

While the story is rooted in baseball, its message applies across all youth, middle school, and high school sports.

What This Book Is (and Is Not)

This book is not an argument against accountability, discipline, or high expectations. Those things matter in sports—and in life.

Instead, it is an argument for timing, tone, and emotional safety.

It suggests that:

Instruction is most effective when emotions have settled
Love and belonging should never feel earned
Children play freer when they are not afraid of the adults they want to please

It challenges readers, especially parents and coaches, to examine not just what they say, but when and why they say it.

Why This Story Matters

Baseball, by design, is a game of failure. Even the most accomplished players fail far more often than they succeed. For young athletes still learning who they are, those failures are not abstract statistics, they are emotional experiences.

Children between the ages of eight and eighteen are forming their identities. They are learning how to interpret disappointment, how to measure effort, and how to understand their worth in the eyes of the adults they trust most.

What they hear during those moments matters.

Many of the most lasting lessons in sports are not taught during practice or competition, but immediately afterward—when emotions are raw, defenses are down, and young players are searching for reassurance that they are still okay.

This book asks a simple but important question:
What influence are coaches and parents having on children immediately after games and in the car ride home?

The Heart of the Story

The Car Ride Home is not a book about baseball mechanics or strategy. It is not a coaching manual or a parenting checklist. It is a story about how love, expectation, silence, and words can shape a child’s relationship with a game—and with themselves.

At its core, this is a story about:

How easily good intentions can turn into pressure
How feedback, when poorly timed, can feel like judgment
How children learn to associate performance with belonging
And how cycles—often passed down unknowingly—can be broken

It is also a story about hope.
About the power of awareness.
About choosing connection over correction.
About protecting joy without abandoning standards.

The Invitation

Adults need to care enough about the youth in sports as people to be willing to pause.
To notice the moments that matter most.
To listen a little longer.
To speak a little more gently and at the appropriate time.
And to remember that for a child, the game does not end at the final call.
It follows them all the way home …and beyond.

]]><![CDATA[Your Sports Are What You Do – Don’t Let Them Define Who You Are]]>Sun, 01 Mar 2026 19:25:48 GMThttps://www.coachingchampionsforlife.com/hot-stove/your-sports-are-what-you-do-dont-let-them-define-who-you-areIn 2010, Alysa Liu was 5 ½ years old when her father hired her first figure skating coach. She won the gold medal for the Women’s Singles Figure Skating competition in the 2026 Winter Olympics at age 20. In an interview after the Olympics, she told a reporter that she took two years away from the sport after the Winter Olympics in 2022 “so I could discover who I am. Up to that point in my life, my dedication to my sport kept me from doing that.”

Alysa is not the exception to the path of most youth today seeking to excel as an athlete in our sports-obsessed society. Most sports have Academy, Club, AAU, Select, Premier, Tournament and/or Travel Teams starting as early as age seven.

Mental health professionals now even have behavioral health categories to describe the fallout from focusing on excelling at sports to the exclusion of a balanced life and an exploration of other interests in a person’s life:

Identity Foreclosure: The psychological state where an athlete commits to the role of "athlete" without exploring other potential careers or personal paths.
"Quarter Life Crisis": A term used by researchers to describe the profound struggle of college athletes forced to leave their sport, often experiencing a lack of confidence and sense of self.
The "Hidden" Self: Many athletes report using their sport to hide or avoid dealing with other parts of their lives, leading to a delayed, sometimes painful discovery of their identity.

In high school, most elite athletes never receive proper counseling and never pursue opportunities to discover and develop their interests and skills outside of sports. Ask most elite athletes and they will tell you they had very few, if any, job shadows, internship or work experience during high school to learn about the working world and their prospective place in it. Sadly, their coaches and personal trainers never encouraged and supported this balanced life either.

In fact, they do just the opposite.

It is very common, if not the rule, today that elite athletes are influenced by most adults in their life to play multiple sports so they can be called “multi-sport athletes”. However, unlike generations of the past, they cannot limit their participation in multiple sports to the season of that one sport. If they want to play on the best teams, with the best players and the best coaches they will be required to play, practice and train for that sport during the seasons of other sports, i.e. year around.

The athletes will also attend sports camps and showcases with the hope of having a college offer them scholarship/NIL money with little regard for what college is best for their education to support a career outside of sports even though fewer than 2% of college athletes will play their sport professionally. The prioritization of NIL opportunities not only dictates what college the athlete will attend initially, but how long they will stay there before pursuing more money at a different college.

Unquestionably, playing sports has benefits, physically, mentally and emotionally, that extend far beyond the playing field or court and throughout a person’s life. However, the pursuit of sports excellence year around while in school to the exclusion of similar commitments and dedication to opportunities outside of sports can be equally detrimental to a person’s personal and professional well-being.

A person should carefully plan their involvement in sports, or they risk losing their identity to them. A person should make their sports what they do; they should not let a full-time year around obsession with them define who they are. ]]><![CDATA[training athleticism at practice]]>Sun, 01 Feb 2026 15:11:58 GMThttps://www.coachingchampionsforlife.com/hot-stove/training-athleticism-at-practiceThe best athletes have the most potential to be the best players. If coaches are going to progress athletes in multiple sports, they must train them as athletes during their participation in each sport. A player does not optimize their athleticism by merely participating in a sport. For example, a personal trainer who is an experienced and qualified movement specialist may incorporate elements of the player’s sport into the training, but they certainly would not limit the drills and exercises to the sport skill drills.

Here are the components to a comprehensive athleticism training program at practice:

General Principles

Athleticism training should have its own separate dedicated phase(s) to every practice.
The word coach is a verb, an action word. At least one coach on every staff should be qualified and present every day to properly teach and demonstrate every drill and exercise being taught to the players. If such a coach does not currently exist, a qualified personal trainer experienced in that sport should be hired by the league to design the programs for each level and should teach the coaches how to properly perform the skills.
The players should be assessed every day in their ability to perform the skills and what is being taught should be progressed and regressed to be sure the entire player ability spectrum is being taught.
Leagues and their coaches must be as committed to progressing the players’ athleticism during the season and season-to-season as they are committed to progressing the sport skills of the players.
Coaches must have the ability to mentally, and sometimes literally, take the sport implements out of their players’ hands and analyze the athlete’s movements from the ground up when performing the sport skill. Many times, the solutions to sport skill flaws are in physiology and athleticism and not in doing more sport skill drills.
Train the mental as well as the physical when training athleticism by asking them sport IQ questions or life skill quotes to interpret while they are moving.
Train reaction, as well as action, during the training using auditory, (“Go!”) or visual (point) commands or by using kinesthetic cues such as incorporating ball tosses or placing discs on their heads during the drills.
Athletes need to be continually educated about the importance of proper nutrition, particularly the need to consume enough healthy calories every day, hydration, rest, and quality sleep to support their athletic training. Athletes who want to be elite and optimize their development should keep daily nutrition and sleep journals.

Dynamic Movement

The exercises and drills must be done in all planes of motion – sagittal (forward, backward, up and down), frontal (side-to-side) and transverse (rotational) and they must work on change of direction, too.
Develop proprioceptive skills by being sure that the players are using their arms and legs in a coordinated, synchronized and appropriate (contralateral or ipsilateral) manner for every exercise and drill and do not look at the ground or their feet during the drills.
Specifically, players should be taught to crawl, walk (yes, walk – there are very few players on any team that can walk using their arms properly in a coordinated, contralateral manner because they spend most of the time outside of their sport holding a phone or a device when they are walking), march, skip, bound, run, sprint, shuffle, hip turn, backpedal, jump and hop.
Every footwork pattern a player will be asked to perform when doing position fundamentals later in practice and in games should be taught and trained here first, e.g. chatter steps, power steps, drop back steps, foot replacement, and box shuffle drills.
Every exercise and skill should begin with teaching the players how to properly breathe while performing the drill.
Train the players symmetrically by having them do things leading with both legs, e.g., leading with right leg and then left leg when starting the speed ladder and by moving in both directions – forward/backward and laterally, e.g., when skipping, shuffling and bounding.
Incorporate dynamic stretches into the movements to work on mobility (e.g., increasing range of motion in the shoulder, torso, and thoracic spine), flexibility, elasticity, stability and balance.
Use discs, cones, hexagons, hurdles, and speed ladders for drills and shuttle runs to train agility and quickness. This is a great opportunity to have the players compete by establishing individual personal records and team records and to compete against their teammates individually or in teams.
Train sprinting techniques and skills at the beginning of practice as a basis for baserunning and chasing balls in the air and at the end of practice for building endurance.

Strength Training

This should be trained at the end of practice when the sport skills are done.
All schools and leagues should be sure every team, at minimum, has access to kettle bells, med balls, sleds, bands for the legs and bands for the shoulders to use as equipment for strength training.
The basic movements of push, pull, squat, hinge and carry should be individually assessed, taught and progressed.
Technique should always be prioritized over maximum strength goals.
Design a careful progression of absolute strength with reasonable limits as a foundation for power development and ultimately functional strength relating to sport skills.
Core development is an essential part of strength training and should be taught holistically involving all the joints and muscles of the torso and hips, not just the abdominal muscles. The progression of absolute strength, power, and functional strength are also essential components of core development training.
At the high school level, partners can be used for arm/shoulder manual manipulation and resistance.
Beginning at the middle school level, coaches should work with qualified trainers to design a year around strength and conditioning periodization program to be integrated with the sports the athlete plays and during off-season periods.

Resources for Content and Training

Chris Barnard - Overtimeathletes.com and on YouTube
Shea Pierre - Pierreseliteperformance.com and on YouTube
Eric Cressey - Ericccressey.com and The Elite Baseball Development Podcast
Mike Boyle – BodybyBoyle.com
Nolan Grinstain, Hyperthrive Athletics,
How Movement Frameworks & Foundational Patterns Shape On-Field Success

ABCA Barnstormer Clinic, 11-08-25

Miranda Esmonde-White – essentricstv.com

]]><![CDATA[how to conduct a youth baseball tryout]]>Thu, 01 Jan 2026 08:54:25 GMThttps://www.coachingchampionsforlife.com/hot-stove/how-to-conduct-a-youth-baseball-tryoutThe fate of a defendant at trial may be determined before the actual trial even starts. Most experienced trial attorneys will tell you that if you select the wrong jurors it may not matter what you say or do during the trial itself. The same can be said of your baseball team. Choose the wrong team members and it may not matter what you say or do during the season. Your team may never reach its full potential.

Of all of the things youth coaches do during a season, how they conduct a tryout may be the one thing they copy most from what they have seen other coaches and leagues do and what they experienced when they were a player. Many times there is very little thought, creativity, and planning that goes into the process. Sadly, many times team members are pre-determined for political reasons or are validated as a rite of passage from being a team member the previous season.

Start with Why

I think every team selection should start with a careful consideration of why the team, division, and league exist in the first place. Is this primarily a recreational team, a developmental team or a team expected to compete against teams of experienced and highly talented players? Are the goals of the league, coaches, parents and team members compatible with one another?

Obviously, if the goals of everyone involved are not aligned, conflict in cooperation and deflation in enthusiasm are inevitable. This may lead to not only disappointing results for the current season, but may lead to dissension and disassociation for team members, parents and coaches in the future. The viability of the league may ultimately be in jeopardy.

Select the Persons, Athletes, and Players Most Compatible with Your Goals

Persons- No matter the purpose of the team, recreational, developmental or competitive, what coaches want most are team members with a teachable spirit, i.e., they want to learn and get better every day, and a growth mindset, i.e., they are willing to be challenged to achieve what they initially thought may not be possible and are willing to accept failure as a necessary part of learning and improvement. Yet, during tryouts, I rarely see coaching done throughout the evaluation process so coaches can determine whether the candidates have these qualities or not.

Coaches also must have players who will not miss practices or games and will give their best effort during their time with the team. Coaches should ask players during tryouts such things as what their favorite sport is and what other sports they participate in. This may give coaches an indication of the competitive tenacity of the player, as well as, their availability if participation in those other sports is done concurrently with the baseball season. Parents should be asked about personal appointments and family obligations that may conflict with the baseball practice and game schedule.

Leadership is one of the most prized traits in a player, and yet, rarely are opportunities given for players to lead during tryouts. Coaches should ask for volunteers to lead parts of the tryouts such as the dynamic movement and stretching phase. Throughout the tryout, coaches should demonstrate how a drill should be done and then should ask for volunteers to demonstrate it to the group. Competitive games should be played during the tryout and coaches should ask the players to choose captains so the coaches can see who the players think are the best leaders.

Athlete – The best athletes have the most potential to be the best players. Even recreational and developmental teams should have a daily athletic training component so those players may have the opportunity in the future to play on elite teams in that sport and/or other sports. Leagues should have a system to progress players within a season and from year-to-year as athletes, not just players. Qualified strength, conditioning, and athleticism coaches should be utilized to assess, teach, and write programs for coaches and leagues to accomplish this purpose.

During tryouts, it is common to have players timed in a sprint, but not often enough are players asked to do speed ladder drills, shuttle runs, and competitive games of chase and tag. All types of plyometric skills such as skips, bounds, shuffles, backpedal, jumps and hops in all planes of motion should be assessed. Components of reaction as well as action should also be included in the drills.

Player – The most common deficiency I see at tryouts are too few qualified coaches and evaluators involved in the process. During the season, a ratio of one qualified coach per three players is the goal. During tryouts, evaluators can be used who will ultimately not coach during the season, but have valuable knowledge and experience to contribute. Experienced coaches at higher levels, e.g., high school coaches for whom this league is a feeder program, are excellent candidates for this purpose.

Leagues are many times dependent on parents to coach youth teams and are very grateful for their commitment and hard work. However, these traits and former playing experience, do not guarantee quality coaching. Leagues must provide sufficient equipment, facilities, and training so coaches have the ability to teach the fundamental skills of the game, not just how to play the game itself. Again high school coaches are an excellent resource for these purposes.

One additional point of cautionary advice - do not cut a player with a passion and commitment to your team and sport. Find a supporting role, e.g., at practice, in technology, in administration, etc. for them. The may be your biggest booster now and in the future. They may also turn out to be a “late bloomer” contributor as a player in your program.

Use Your Practice Format for Your Tryout Template

One of the best formats for a tryout is to have it simulate a practice the players will participate in once the season begins. Phase 1 – Dynamic movement, stretching and athleticism training; Phase 2 – Baserunning; Phase 3 – Throwing and Receiving Progression; Phase 4 – Position Fundamentals; Phase 5 - Hitting Fundamentals; Phase 6 – Game Simulation. And just like during the season, coaches should demonstrate and teach during each phase and players should be asked to compete individually and in teams during each phase.

As in any practice environment, all players should be active all of the time, getting as many repetitions as possible, and competing in game-like drills to keep it fun. Multiple stations being run simultaneously and assisted by as many qualified people as possible are the keys. If you have a line of players waiting their turn, you have a design flaw in your tryout/practice plan.

Of course, having adequate time, i.e., days, administrative help, and pre-tryout planning meetings are essential for a successful tryout too.

Parents, players, coaches and leagues should align their goals and should plan with an open mind the content and format for tryouts. Failure to do so may sabotage the season before it even begins.
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