Caleb Longley was previously a coach at Texas A&M Univ.

Watch the full ABCA Q&A session with Jason Jackson free here.

By: Adam Sarancik

Author of: Coaching Champions for Life

"When evaluating your team, look first in the mirror with honest intent."

What is your mental approach to coaching? By your mental approach, I'm not asking about the approach you take to coaching the mental side of your player's game. I'm talking about your mental approach to your own coaching and the approach of your assistant coaches to their own coaching.

All good coaches know the critical importance of the mental side of training, competing and, in fact, for everything in life. It is both an essential component to elite development and the edge and difference maker in competition. All good coaches pay regular and very specific attention to developing the mind of their players, e.g., mental toughness, tenacity, focus, relaxation and positivity. Those coaches constantly address the "mental approach" that will best handle the moment, e.g., the game situation, an opponent, etc.

I wrote a book, Coaching Champions for Life, which discusses in great detail the general mental approach to coaching. Specifically, what I am asking here is when mistakes happen in a game, for example, what are the very first thoughts that come to your mind and to the minds of your assistant coaches?

We all see and hear coaches immediately bark rebukes at their players when mistakes happen. Why do they do that? Is it as simple as their coaches did it to them when they were players so they have been conditioned to do it to their players? Is it a release of anxiety on their part for some self-imposed pressure such as their need to "win"? Do they actually think it will immediately translate to better mechanics and play of their players? Do they really believe telling is teaching? (It's not.)

Here's my philosophy. There are only two types of games; well played and a failure of coaching. When mistakes happen, they're the fault of the coaches - period. When a player makes a physical error or when the team fails to handle a situation properly; it is the fault of the coaches, not the players. No other "mental approach" to coaching will lead to optimum results in the short or long-term.

Championship coaches, teams and programs are built by coaches who recognize the importance of "looking first in the mirror with honest intent."  When mistakes happen, coaches must immediately and intently reflect upon the ways they failed to properly train the player(s) so that the error would not happen.  What are the weak links in our training of preparation, anticipation, reaction and action of that player and of our team?

The philosophy of "get better every day" applies first and foremost to the coaches.  The mindset of our own accountability for every mistake our players make must be trained into our psyche to be not just a habit; it must be an instinct.

Players are required to have and can be held immediately accountable for having these things: a teachable spirit, their best effort, a growth mindset and an unfailing commitment to the maximum development of themselves and the team.  They can and must be held accountable for all of these things.  But failing to do these things are not mistakes.  They are matters of character. Coaches can exemplify, train and mentor these things too, of course, but players should be called out immediately for failing in any of these areas.

What I am advocating here is a change in the long-standing custom of coaches being reflexively, vocally critical of their players when mistakes happen rather than recognizing and considering that the primary cause of the error was a failure of coaching methodology. It is sadly too easy for a coach to use their position of power to criticize a player for their mistakes. This habit will not change the mechanics of the player in the short-term and will not set an example of how to handle problems in life in the long-term outside of the sport.

During games, we see coaches keeping several notebooks of meticulous data about the play of their team and their opponent. Who is keeping book on the performance of the coaches? I think if coaches put as much effort into evaluating their own methodology and approaches as they do their players, they would win more championships and, more importantly, they would develop more Champions for Life.

Adam Sarancik is the Author of Five Amazon Top 100 Best Selling Baseball Coaching Books:

Find them on Amazon here

• Coaching Champions for Life – The Process of Mentoring the Person, Athlete and Player
• Takeaway Quotes for Coaching Champions for Life – The Process of Mentoring the Person, Athlete and Player
• Teacher, Role Model, Mentor – Lessons Learned From a Lifetime in Coaching
• A Ground Ball to Shortstop – How and Why Coaches See Their Game Differently Than Anyone Else
• The Car Ride Home – Respecting Youth at a Vulnerable Place and Time

  ]]> https://coachesinsider.com/baseball/the-mental-approach-to-coaching-10/feed/ 0 118770 https://coachesinsider.com/baseball/hitting-weighted-bats-with-with-joe-kelch-northern-illinois-univ/ https://coachesinsider.com/baseball/hitting-weighted-bats-with-with-joe-kelch-northern-illinois-univ/#respond Tue, 16 Jun 2026 07:03:47 +0000 https://coachesinsider.com/?p=123190 Watch as Coach Joe Kelch discusses how the weighted bat program has improved his hitters' exit velo. The program lasts six weeks, three times per week, with 45-minute sessions. Each session consists of three sets of 10 swings using five different weighted bats (78 oz, 66 oz, 48 oz, 24 oz, and 16 oz). The sessions can be done off a tee or with flips.

Billy Boyer was formerly at Univ. of Washington

By: Rainer Martens & Robin S. Vealey

Originally Published in: Successful Coaching

Provided by: Human Kinetics

Let's face it, everyone would prefer fewer meetings, but they are necessary at times, and you need to be thoughtful about making them efficient and effective. Let's first identify what we don't want to happen in a meeting:

The meeting occurs just because it was scheduled. The leader (you in this case) or the loudest, most extroverted, most senior people do all the talking. It starts late, and goes long. Groupthink occurs, where people don't feel free or safe to disagree or share alternative ideas. The conversation goes off-topic, and people are inattentive and on their phones. No tangible outcomes or action plans are identified. Thus, another meeting is scheduled.

Okay... let's rewind and identify some ways to run a more effective meeting:

1. Determine whether you really need a meeting. Don't just meet because it's been scheduled at the same time each week. Also, don't meet if the only purpose is to share information. You can do that via email.
2. Provide an agenda before the meeting. That allows attendees to prepare for the meeting. It provides structure, and it avoids surprises. Describe what you'll be doing in actionable, results-oriented terms.
3. Start and end on time. This sets the tone for your commitment to time management. It also demonstrates to your colleagues that you respect their time.
4. Request focus and engagement. If someone is necessarily busy on their phone or laptop, suggest they go somewhere else to multitask, and they can read about the meeting results later (Goff-Dupont, 2021).
5. Invite divergent thinking. Attendees need to know it's safe to voice opinions, even if they're not adopted. Explicitly explain this. Ask questions like, "Is there another way we should think about this?" or "Can you talk more about that?" And when you ask questions, such as "What are your thoughts?" be comfortable with even 60 seconds of silence as people consider ideas, collect their thoughts, and are ready to explain them.
6. Slow things down and proactively remind attendees of process when conflict erupts. Interrupt chaotic conflict by gaining attention (you may need to raise your voice) but then slowing your pace of speech (Grenny, 2017). You can say something like, "Hey folks, let me take a moment to point out what I'm noticing here. We've talked about this for about 15 minutes, but it seems we're upset about the problem as opposed to brainstorming possible solutions. I understand, but do you feel we can now move forward to talking about ways we can respond to this problem? Does that make sense, and will that work for us?"
7. Create visuals to capture ideas. Always have a whiteboard handy to jot down key points or illustrate connections and ideas. Have a separate whiteboard to the side of the room that becomes the "parking lot." When people start off-topic, but feel their comments are important and should be discussed, write these topics on the "parking lot" board. This calms down the person who wanted to be heard and keeps the meeting on task with the main topic at hand. These issues or topics can be included in a future meeting (if you need it!).
8. Always end with concrete, shareable results and action steps that will happen next. These are the validating outcomes of everyone's participation, be definitive and positive in saying what's next.
9. Adjourn the meeting with a sincere smile, upbeat attitude, and thank people for contributing their valuable time and energy. And mean it!

Don't forget that managing relationships also involves your skills in coordinating meetings between different groups of people. Show your colleagues that you value their time and thoughts by directing meetings that are truly needed and result in useful outcomes.