Watch as Coach Leah Campbell explains and shows practice video of the In and Out Game. This is a hitting and defensive drill that is very competitive and that the players enjoy playing. The team […]
Athletes’ Stressors & Resilience with Dr. Peter Ormsby – Univ. of North Carolina at Pembroke
Watch as Dr. Peter Ormsby discusses athlete stressors and resilience. Nearly 33% of athletes report mental health symptoms which is higher than general population samples. He will explain some of the types of stressors that […]
Developing Athletes at Practice
By: Adam Sarancik Author of: Coaching Champions for Life “The best athletes have the most potential to be the best players.” Prior to, and possibly including 8th grade, I think all players benefit from playing […]
Pitching Warmups: Walkthroughs with Lonni Alameda – Florida State Univ.
Watch as Coach Lonni Alameda explains, and a pitcher demonstrates these walkthrough pitching warmups. The purpose is to work on rhythm and timing by breaking the pitch down into step. Start with the one step […]
Character Development: Be a Hope Dealer with Stephen Mackey – 2Words Character Development
Watch as Stephen Mackey explains that in today’s world there are a lot of influences that can have a negative impact on your kids. He encourages coaches to offset this negativity by being hope dealers. […]
Incline Beam Pitching with Sahvanna Jaquish – Colorado State Univ.
Watch as Coach Sahvanna Jaquish explains, and a pitcher demonstrates the use of an incline board that helps keep them on their power line and works on driving the backside into the front side. Coach […]
Pocket Drill for Catchers with Lee Murphy – Berea High School (SC)
Watch as Coach Lee Murphy explains, and a catcher demonstrates this pocket drill that focuses on preventing a catcher from having a sore thumb. The drill works on catching the ball in the pocket, starting […]
Our Mission Coaching/Leading/Teaching Girls with Meghan Orgeman – Alexandria Area High School (MN)
Coach Meghan Orgeman discusses the mission of coaching, leading, and teaching girls. The highlights include these key points: Socialize our girls to be imperfect within a supportive network of people who care deeply for them. […]
Nine Ways to Develop Accountability in Your Program
By: John Klessinger – South River High School (MD) Accountability is a modern-day buzz word. It is thrown around team locker rooms, business meetings, and in schools. But what is it really. I am not […]
Infielder’s Timing Hops Drill with Josh Bloomer – Univ. of Arizona
Watch as Coach Josh Bloomer explains that the infielders should be in motion prior to the pitch reaching the batter. This drill focuses on timing the hop out so that the infielder is landing as […]
9 Questions to Help Athletes Achieve Their Full Potential with Jamie Henk – Splendora High School (TX)
Watch as Coach Jamie Henk discusses the 9 questions for reaching full potential that she has her players fill out before the season starts. The player will write down in their own words the answers […]
Setting Effective Goals
By: Colleen M. Hacker Originally Published in: Achieving Excellence Provided by: Human Kinetics Olympic athletes, like most high achievers, commonly set goals to guide and motivate performance. These elite performers would not engage in action […]
Pitcher’s Bungee Balance Drill with Marissa Young – Duke Univ.
Watch as Coach Marissa Young explains, and pitchers demonstrate these bungee balance drills that address a pitcher’s posture, balance, and finish. Using the bungee drills, Coach mentions “feeding the mistakes” to help correct them. Use […]
Tools For the Short Game with Karen Weekly – Univ. of Tennessee
Watch as Coach Karen Weekly discusses the short game and explains that you need to use all of the tools in your toolbox. Factors that can determine what tool a slapper must use include: what […]
Hitting Timing Drill with Josh Bloomer – Univ. of Arizona
Watch as Coach Josh Bloomer explains and shows clips of this timing drill. The drill incorporates color cones usually used by slappers. Coach asks the hitter for feedback on where the ball was (cone) when […]
6 Part Bunting Progression with Vicki Corn – Greenville Senior High School (SC)
Watch as Coach Vicki Corn explains, and players demonstrate this 6 part bunting progression that uses tennis balls simulating catching a raw egg on the end of the bat. The progression starts with a toss […]
How to Build Integrity with Stephen Mackey – 2Words Character Development
Watch as Stephen Mackey explains how to build integrity in athletes through sports. He discusses three exercises that can build integrity muscle: tell the truth, make commitments count, and take 100% responsibility for your actions. […]
Developing a Thriving Culture
By: John Klessinger – South River High School (MD) Being a successful organization is all about developing a thriving culture. An organization without a positive culture may thrive in the short term but hardly ever […]
Common Inhibitors to an Efficient Swing with Mike Candrea – (Retired) Univ. of Arizona
Watch as Coach Mike Candrea discusses these common inhibitors to an efficient swing. He will explain and give examples of the following inhibitors that have a negative impact on hitters: #1 – Sway, #2 – […]
Great Teams Don’t Happen by Accident with Robert Grasso – La Jolla Country Day School (CA)
Watch as Robert Grasso discusses La Jolla Country Day’s leadership programs for athletics and how developing a culture is the key for a successful team. He explains great teams don’t happen by accident and although […]
The Mental Side of the Game
By: Adam Sarancik Author of: Coaching Champions for Life With regard to athletic and sport skill development, what a player does with their mind, both on and off of the field, is at least as […]
Tire Hitting Drill with Tim Walton – Univ. of Florida
Watch as Coach Tim Walton explains and shows video clips of this tire hitting drill using a 15-inch wheelbarrow tire. The hitter is in her stance with a good stack position looking at herself in […]
Building Relationships Is Key with Athletes with Christa Williams-Yates – Kingwood High School (TX)
Watch as Coach Christa Williams-Yates explains that her players perform better and buy in when she is more personal with them and shows that she cares. The goal is for each player to be the […]
High-In Low-Out Hitting Drill with Garland Shirley – Clarke Univ.
Watch as Coach Garland Shirley explains, and a hitter demonstrates the High-In Low-Out Drill that is good for hitters struggling with inside and outside pitches. Coach covers the tee placement, and then the hitter will […]
PVC Pipe Middle Infield Drills with Colby Corn – Greenville Senior High School (SC)
Watch as Coach Colby Corn explains, and infielders demonstrate these PVC pipe middle infield drills. The Step-Over Drill helps the players when moving through the ball and throwing to 1st base. After working on footwork, […]
2-Plate Machine Hitting Drill with Leah Campbell – Rockwall High School (TX)
Watch as Coach Leah Campbell explains and shows practice video of this 2-plate hitting drill. The 1st plate is set up from the machine at 39-40 ft. and the 2nd plate is 4 to 5 […]
Managing Conflict
By: Teri McKeever – Former College and Olympic Swim Coach Originally Published in: Winning Ways of Women Coaches Provided by: Human Kinetics If you aren’t having conflicts on a team, then the athletes and those […]
Top Hand Tee Drill with Larry Wooten – Wade Hampton High School (SC)
Watch as Coach Larry Wooten explains, and a batter demonstrates this unique top hand tee drill. The batter will have a ball in her hand and be in a throwing position making sure to raise […]
Mental Toughness: A Skill That Can Be Developed with Dr. Colleen Hacker – Team USA / Pacific Lutheran Univ.
Watch as Dr. Colleen Hacker explains that mental toughness is a skill, and it can be developed. It is about how an individual responds to adversity, difficult situations, setbacks, and failure. Mental toughness is not […]
You Have Served and Served Well
By: Adam Sarancik Author of: Coaching Champions for Life There are very few certainties in life. In coaching, one of those certainties is that no matter the season, no matter the league, no matter the […]