Kirk Cousins Keynote
Kirk Cousins give a great and inspirational speech to those of “privilege”. Having a couple of budding athletes, this is something Sheri and I have worked hard to instill in our kids. Truth told, everyone is at some level of privilege and has a debt to pay no matter your income level or experience. Absolutely [...]
Do the right thing.
Tony Horton nails it again this month and this month “Fail and try again”, along with “Persevere” mean something to me. Vacation, baseball, softball, etc., have all gotten in the way of my exercising and eating right in recent weeks. I guess that’s to be expected at times, but there’s also been an attitude of [...]
Stress
I hadn’t really come to think of Tony Horton (P90x guru) as a philosopher, but his words about stress in this weeks newsletter are spot on and worth a post. I especially liked the responsibility angle… so few folks today accept that they are responsible for their actions. Sure, we all have bad days, bad [...]
Just for today
OK. I guess I’m just a sucker for all these little inspirational tidbits and for some reason they always resonate with me. One of my pals at work has the phrase “Thought – Word – Deed” on his screen saver and I’ve had something similar on a post-it note stuck to my monitor for the [...]
Softball banquet – celebration
What a wonderful evening last night at the softball banquet. From one parent to another, well done junior parents, I know it was a ton of work and in the end it was executed with the same precision the Varsity team executed throughout their season! It was a bit of an emotional night, as most [...]
Coaching online
Imagine communicating and coaching your kids between practices and online… that may take some getting used to, but its an interesting idea. NYSCA recently launch a new tool, Shapestuff, that helps coaches do just that. “ShapeStuff is an easy-to-use tool that enables youth sports coaches to create skill-building exercises for their players to use between [...]
10 things that can help your season
I realize I shouldn’t shares these, but here’s a list of the top 10 things that helped us this season. Never wear a white uniform, not only does it get dirty, but it’s bad karma –burn it instead. Everyone and I mean everyone needs a lucky penny. Never wash your cap. Never drink from the [...]
An approach to baseball
Another tough game this Sunday, you might say another in a long line of anothers this season. I’ve been reading and referring to The Mental Game of Baseball, a lot this season. It’s a great book, chocked full of “what it takes” and then backing it up with several stories from the pro’s who’ve been [...]
WE vs. YOU
I spent this past weekend in Kansas City along with another 217 (some odd) girl softball teams and their parents. And I gotta admit, it’s sorta nice being on the other side of the fence for a change. One game in particular I was watching caught my attention. It was a heated and close game [...]
When lightning strikes
You just never know when it’ll happen, but it happened tonight for our boys on the ball field. We only had about half the team tonight so it was a pretty informal practice. And I mean to tell you, the boys looked like pint sized pro-ballers. Diving plays, across the body throws, well timed double [...]
Parallels of baseball and life
Players make choices, often without realizing they’re doing so. To allow a poor approach to be repeated over and over again — one which greatly inhibits effective performance — is to make a choice, whether it is a conscious one or an unconscious one. For example, a hitter who is confused and fustrated brings the [...]
Hitting mechanics
A great video of Manny Ramirez’s swing mechanics narrated by former MLB catcher Don Slaught. I purchased Don’s Right View Pro software several years ago and it provides insight to a batters swing mechanics you can’t get any other way.
Let kids enjoy the game
Via the Youth Sports Parents Blog comes the following: Gretzky on youth hockey from Youth Sports Parents by Mark Hyman This is a terrific piece from last Friday’s Toronto Globe and Mail in which Wayne Gretzky speaks out about the overheated state of youth hockey. Basically, he advises parents to back off. Let kids enjoy [...]
Athletes need a highlight reel
One of the techniques I’ve used over the years to help a child build self confidence is the highlight reel. Most any child who has watched ESPN or any televised sport for that matter, is familiar with highlight footage. In fact they often look forward to it, whether at the end of the game or [...]
Athletics beyond high school
Over the years and just recently in fact, I’ve written about the importance of perspective when it comes to youth sports. Despite our desires, one must recognize just how unlikely it is, that any one of us is raising a professional athlete. Don’t get me wrong, the last thing I want is to shoot down [...]
I Won’t Cheat Foundation
Their mission: Two-time National League Baseball MVP Dale Murphy launched this foundation with the intent to eliminate steroids and other illegal performance enhancing drugs from the world of sports. Our mission is to bring together the best minds and most influential problem solvers to focus on practical, effective measures that can be taken to get [...]
Understanding the value of Sports
According to Jay Coakley, a sociology Professor who specializes in the sociology of sports and the National Alliance for Youth Sports, parents need to have realistic expectations when it comes to youth sports. Here are a few sobering points: Less than one percent of high school athletes are offered a division one scholarship or receive [...]
Honor The Game
The Positive Coaching Alliance believes the time has come to unite behind a powerful new term, “Honoring the Game.” Coaches, parents, and athletes need to realize that an Honoring the Game perspective needs to replace the common win-at-all-cost perspective. If a coach and his or her team have to dishonor the game to win it, [...]
Double-Goal Coaching
I generally try to be a positive person, but sometimes I’m more successful than others… Anyway, while the majority of my baseball coaching days are behind me, my team building or life coaching are very much a part of what I do everyday. It never ceases to amaze me just how applicable the lessons of [...]
Characteristics of Champions
What exactly makes a champion? Certainly an interesting question to try and answer. Ask 10 different coaches and you’re likely to get 10 different answers. That must have been the frustration of the US Olympic Committee when they commissioned a study to better understand the psychological characteristics of Olympic champions and how they could be [...]
Nine Principles of Baseball and Life
One of our JCBI parents ran across this and shared it with our team. Nine Principles of Baseball and Life by Raymond Angelo Belliotti documents some pretty powerful words to live by, both on and off the field. I felt it’s worth sharing with the rest of you. Baseball is about parents taking their children [...]
Common mistakes made by youth baseball coaches
I ran across an article over the weekend while researching some baseball tips. And while I haven’t read John Reed’s book, I was struck by his list of don’ts. A couple of John’s more philosophical points caught my attention. Destroying player confidence by telling them all the things they are doing “wrong.” It takes ten [...]
David Wright offers a few tips to baseball players
David Wright, 3rd base for the Mets offers some advice for fielding the ball. However, his most important tip for aspiring players… have fun, it’s just a "bunch of big kids playing a game". Good advice!!
Pitching 101
Brad Arnsberg, Toronto Blue Jays Pitching Coach shares some pretty basic, but helpful pitching grips and ball action for those who don’t know. Pretty helpful stuff, but you younger boys need to steer clear of the curve ball, especially if you hope to pitch later in your high school years. The curve is hard on [...]
