Ahead Of The Curve with Jonathan Gelnar
Host Jonathan Gelnar and an array of guests from differing backgrounds discuss how to develop the complete baseball player. This will be your source for the most up to date coaching strategies for baseball player and coach development.
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Thursday Sep 05, 2019
Thursday Sep 05, 2019
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During this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I interviewed Peter Fatse, MiLB Hitting Coordinator for the Minnesota Twins. Peter shares a wealth of information about how to execute decision training, ways to remain competitive during training, the importance of building an adjustable swing, and techniques to implement individualized training for players.
Episode Highlights:
How did Peter Fatse get involved in baseball coaching?
What should we focus on in the off-season?
What questions does he ask players to address deeper learning?
What does an average week of training look like?
How do we train an adjustable swing?
What are some ways that he trains for decision training?
How do they like to compete during training?
What are the things that Peter looks for that he thinks that really good players do?
How does Peter issue a plan that maximizes individual development in a team environment?
Is there something that Peter Fatse has learned lately that has him really excited?
What is something that his players do in training that they love?
What is something that Peter believes that other coaches may disagree with?
What are things done during Peter’s training that would stand out to people?
What are some of Peter Fatse’s favorite books and resources that have benefited his coaching?
3 Key Points:
Be honest about your weaknesses, strengths, and areas of development.
Adjustability swings are a trait of elite hitters.
Stay open-minded to learn from various other people.
Tweetable Quotes:
“We have a lot of information. But you have to be hungry to apply it and you have to be hungry to learn and dig in for yourself, because, ultimately, it is your career.” – Peter Fatse (02:49)
“Make a realistic evaluation of your previous year and really take the time to look and say, ‘what are the attributes that I possess that right now are strengths for me?’” – Peter Fatse (04:06)
“When I think about competitive design, there are two ways that we as hitters compete, the internal and the external.” – Peter Fatse (21:48)
“When I have guys in the training center, one of the first questions I will ask is, ‘are you right-handed or left-handed?’” – Peter Fatse (30:05)
“A lot of the times, the drill passages, from a bat path perspective would change depending upon their dominant hand and then ultimately, how the barrel created early excerration.” – Peter Fatse (30:10)
“Be able to utilize bat and ball information to create a plan, because the ball, ultimately, is going to give us the best depiction of what is happening.” – Peter Fatse (32:57)
“Every player’s career is extremely important, especially to myself and the rest of the staff.” – Peter Fatse (34:26)
“I think you want to kind of look to layer on stress so that when a guy gets to the game, the idea is more about execution and they are not worried about being prepared anymore.” – Peter Fatse (40:45)
Resources Mentioned:
Ahead of the Curve Podcast
Twitter: @AOTC_podcast
Peter Fatse: Twitter Instagram
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Sunday Sep 01, 2019
Sunday Sep 01, 2019
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Medium Link
https://medium.com/@jgelnar7/starting-with-why-creating-offseason-development-plans-that-increase-player-buy-in-f47911b36500
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Thursday Aug 29, 2019
Thursday Aug 29, 2019
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Suggested Title: Developing Players and Coaches with Ryan Phillips
During this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I interviewed Ryan Phillips, Head Coach for baseball at Sante Fe High School in Edmond, Oklahoma, who became the 2019 Oklahoma State Champs. Ryan shares how he helps develop team culture, improve the confidence of players, his passion for developing coaches, and how he adapts and makes the most of the one-hour practice limitations.
Episode Highlights:
How did Ryan Phillips get involved in baseball coaching?
What does an average week of training look like?
What are some of their training methods and drills for stealing bases?
Which types of fundamental training do they offer for all of their players?
How does Ryan handle developing their team culture?
Ryan Phillips takes us through his process of coaching coaches.
What are some different things they do to train for a competitive game situation?
How does Ryan adapt to one-hour practice training restrictions?
Are there any questions while interviewing staff that he asks to figure out who the person is?
What are the rules and standards that they have for their program?
What does training look like in the spring?
How do they go about handling their bullpens?
Ryan Phillips talks about batting practice and lifting.
What do post-season meetings look like?
What advice does he have for first-year head coaches or assistant coaches that want to be head coaches?
How does Ryan Phillips respond to parents asking questions about their kid?
What is something that his players do in training that they love?
Is there anything about Ryan’s training that would stand out to people?
Is there something that Ryan Phillips has learned lately that has him really excited?
What is something that Ryan Phillips believes that other coaches may disagree with?
What are some of Ryan Phillips’s favorite books and resources that have benefited his coaching?
3 Key Points:
Learn how to adjust as the season progresses.
Mental stability, mental toughness, and not pressuring kids about their mistakes is important to build confidence.
Communication is key between coaches and players.
Tweetable Quotes:
“As a high school coach, once your season is over, seniors are gone, and then you start evaluating your next year’s class or next year’s team.” – Ryan Phillips (04:08)
“We base our fall off of our next year’s team. It’s not the same every year.” – Ryan Phillips (04:27)
“When the players see that we love each other and that even though sometimes we disagree we can get on the same page, I think that is the backbone of the culture.” – Ryan Phillips (14:26)
“When I’m trying to help a coach, I try to give him more responsibility. When it comes to responsibility, a lot of the times they surprise me and they do a really good job.” – Ryan Phillips (18:30)
“Everything we do you have a winner and a loser. So, it starts with the catch.” – Ryan Phillips (20:24)
“The hour-long practice, a lot of people don’t like it, and of course you would like to have a little bit longer. But, it’s made us more creative and more efficient.” – Ryan Phillips (24:22)
“Our first standard is you’ve got to do what’s right. That’s for your family, at school, that’s in baseball.” – Ryan Phillips (28:51)
“We learn from failure.” – Ryan Phillips (29:13)
Resources Mentioned:
Ahead of the Curve Podcast
Twitter: @AOTC_podcast
Ryan Phillip’s Email: Ryan.Phillips@EdmondSchools.net
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Sunday Aug 25, 2019
Sunday Aug 25, 2019
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Full Episode Here
http://www.aotcpodcast.com/e/34-shaun-larkin-coordinator-of-skill-development-for-the-los-angeles-dodgers/
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Thursday Aug 22, 2019
Thursday Aug 22, 2019
This episode is brought to you by baseballcloud.
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During this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I interviewed Michael Earley, Assistant Coach and Hitting Coach for the Arizona State University. Coach Earley shares his typical training drills, how he approaches batting practices, how he handles players of various skill levels and, the types of tech that he finds useful. Michael Earley also discusses decision training as well as self-scouting.
Episode Highlights:
How did Michael Earley get involved in baseball coaching?
What does a typical week of training look like?
What do you decide to work on during training with the smaller groups of players?
Coach Earley provides a review of working with first-year players and laying down the groundwork for them.
Are their training drills that all players can do every day?
What types of angle tosses do they do?
What kind of culture does Coach Earley work to build and how do they do it?
What is Michael looking for when they start training in the fall?
How does he work with players to prepare them for harder game situations without overwhelming them?
How does he go about ‘decision training’ for his players to make better swinging choices at the moment?
What are qualities that he sees in elite players that he tries to recreate in his team?
What types of tech is beneficial to players?
How does Coach Earley approach self-scouting?
How does he set up batting practice for his players?
Is there something that Michael has learned lately that has him really excited?
What is something that his players do in training that they love?
What is something that Coach Earley believes that other coaches may disagree with?
Is there anything about Michael’s training that would stand out to people?
What are some of Michael Earley’s favorite books and resources that have benefited his coaching?
3 Key Points:
Coaches need to know when to listen to players, when to dictate instructions to them, and when to hold them accountable.
Build a baseball team’s culture starts with recruiting.
Have a plan before you step into the game instead of relying on other people’s reports.
Tweetable Quotes:
“We do it a little different I think, just because we have the weather and we have two fields. So, we are always able to hit on the field. We hit outside every day. We start in the cage, but we are always outside hitting.” – Michael Earley (02:40)
“I can’t coach 15 guys at once. So, when I can get them down to groups of 3 or 4, it makes it more personal, you learn the guys more.” – Michael Earley (03:22)
“You lay down the foundation of the daily stuff, and you’ve got to be willing to make adjustments. You’ve got to be willing to listen to them and you‘ve got to be willing to tell them to be quiet, this is the way it’s going to be.” – Michael Earley (06:58)
“We bring in guys that live and die baseball. If you come to Arizona State you are going to get a great education. But if you come here, you love to play baseball.” – Michael Earley (15:48)
“I think that the best way to train is to train as close to game-like as possible. I think there is room for the easy stuff because that stuff makes you feel good, and confidence in hitting is everything.” – Michael Earley (20:24)
“I think as a coach, you have to be willing to sacrifice some of your life and your time just to make them better.” – Michael Earley (21:45)
“My biggest thing that I look for in every guy is how their back leg works.” – Michael Earley (33:39)
“I want to say quote-unquote we are data-driven, it’s more of like data-supported.” – Michael Earley (39:00)
Resources Mentioned:
Ahead of the Curve Podcast
Twitter: @AOTC_podcast
Michael Earley: Twitter Arizona State University
Michael Earley’s Email: mearley1@asu.edu
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Sunday Aug 18, 2019
Sunday Aug 18, 2019
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Full Episode Here
http://www.aotcpodcast.com/e/trent-otis-co-founder-of-zona-baseball-instruction/
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Thursday Aug 15, 2019
Thursday Aug 15, 2019
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During this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I interviewed Dave Turgeon, Coordinator of Instruction for the Pittsburgh Pirates. This thorough and expansive discussion covered training and transfer, techniques Dave learned while playing in different countries, his “Training the 15 Seconds” concept, how to hit the breaking ball, and the debate between block training and random training. Dave Turgeon also talks about the importance of training players to be adaptable and competitive.
Episode Highlights:
How did Dave Turgeon get involved in baseball?
Are there any things that come to mind from the different countries he played in?
What does Dave mean by training and transfer?
What are the things that Dave Turgeon has changed to improve baseball drills?
What is ‘Training the 15 Seconds?
How does Dave Turgeon train for fundamental play?
Dave explains to deliberate practice and what he means by ‘Respect the Rep?’
Is block practice relevant?
How can players hit the breaking ball better?
Which ways does Dave Turgeon integrate competition into practice?
Baseball players have to be competitive and adaptable problem solvers.
What is something creative that Dave Turgeon has tried lately with his players?
Keep searching for the truth.
Is there something that Dave has learned lately that has him really excited?
What is something that Dave believes that other coaches may disagree with?
Is there anything about his training that would stand out to people?
What are some of Dave Turgeon’s favorite books and resources that have benefited his coaching?
3 Key Points:
Body control directly correlates to ball control in the zone.
The difference between block training and random training is practicing movements versus practicing how to think and move at the same time.
Learning and skill acquisition need to be put at a premium and made part of competition during practice.
Tweetable Quotes:
“Through the art of show, a little bit of tell and mostly do, it’s an amazing equation for acquiring skill to help you perform better.” – Dave Turgeon (10:54)
“Your best pitches thrown with conviction have a really good chance of having success.” – Dave Turgeon (11:52)
“Wherever you are playing, you have to learn to assimilate into that culture to win at that game, not at the one that you play. You have to figure, ‘How are they trying to beat me.” – Dave Turgeon (12:38)
“The player resides in the man.” – Dave Turgeon (17:32)
“It is not about feeling good as it is about performing because acquiring skills is not a feel-good exercise. It is hard, it is slow, messy, and it takes a while.” – Dave Turgeon (18:11)
“You’ve got 12-15 seconds between pitches. The average major league game is about 2 hours and 55 minutes. There are about 75 minutes off in between pitch time. There are about 13-15 minutes of total action.” – Dave Turgeon (30:22)
“There is some value to a block blend. But for me, the higher you go, the lower the blend of block and the more there is to the challenge variability and randomness.” – Dave Turgeon (52:46)
“Number one, we’ve got to hit off the fastball to be able to adjust to hit the hanger. That’s the game. That’s the game from where you are at to the big leagues.” – Dave Turgeon (59:44)
Resources Mentioned:
Ahead of the Curve Podcast
Twitter: @AOTC_podcast
Dave Turgeon: Twitter Linkedin
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Sunday Aug 11, 2019
Sunday Aug 11, 2019
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During this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I interviewed Kevin Davidson, CEO of BaseballCloud. Kevin discusses how BaseballCloud was developed, the problems that it solves, and how data in baseball is not only beneficial, but Kevin also shares the ways in which the game has embraced data.
Episode Highlights:
How did Kevin Davidson get involved in BaseballCloud?
What does BaseballCloud provide to users?
Baseball doesn’t get enough credit for being a fast adapter to data.
What was Kevin process for finding the right team to develop BaseballCloud?
What made Kevin realize that BaseballCloud could fill a void?
How are teams using data?
What is Kevin’s advice for amateur teams using affordable options?
How far back does BaseballCloud capture data on players?
What different routes can you go in with data as a player?
Have players been intellectually curious about their personal data?
How many schools is BaseballCloud working with right now?
3 Key Points:
BaseballCloud is integrating players with data.
BaseballCloud has data going back five or six years of game data on many different baseball clubs on different devices.
As BaseballCloud is capturing data on players, they see the data that represents their performance and go back and see historically where success has been found with that data.
Tweetable Quotes:
“I’m not your prototypical data guy. That’s for sure.” – Kevin Davidson (01:24)
“Essentially, I owe Wes Johnson the core credit for the evolution of BaseballCloud.” – Kevin Davidson (04:43)
“What if I created a centralized software system that takes all this data from all of these different sources and automates it, filters it, consolidates it, and turns it into visuals?” – Kevin Davidson (3:45)
“I blame the disconnect between the old school and the new school on the selling of it by the new school guys. The new school guys do a poor job of selling what data really is.” – Kevin Davidson (5:29)
“Data is not a philosophy. Data is just a result of a philosophy.” – Kevin Davidson (5:59)
“Which set of data produces the most optimum results? That’s all that is really happening and that is where data becomes valuable, once you understand, ‘hey, what did I do to create that result?’” – Kevin Davidson (6:35)
“I knew that if we just put together some quality visuals and allow the data to interact with each other and tell the story, we were going to be on the right path...and so far so good.” – Kevin Davidson (17:06)
“One of the things that we really take a lot of pride in is our database of data. We have one of the largest databases of amateur data in the United States.” – Kevin Davidson (18:17)
Resources Mentioned:
Ahead of the Curve Podcast
Twitter: @AOTC_podcast
Kevin Davidson: Instagram
BaseballCloud: baseballcloud.com
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Thursday Aug 08, 2019
Thursday Aug 08, 2019
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This episode is brought to you by baseballcloud and Axebats.
Go to axebat.com and use our code AOTC at checkout to save 10% on your purchase of Axe Bat training products including all of the Axe Bat Speed Trainers and wood bats!
During this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I interviewed Steve Dintaman, Head Baseball Coach at Sinclair Community College and an Associate Scout for the Texas Rangers. Steve Dintaman shares what he has learned as a head coach at Sinclair for 12 years, what it takes to maintain the team culture with young players constantly coming and going, and what he looks for in players and coaches.
Episode Highlights:
What is a Tartan?
Why did Steve Dintaman get involved in baseball coaching?
What is the fall training program over at Sinclair Community College like?
How do they indoctrinate new players into their program?
What are some things that Coach Dintaman does to build the team culture?
How do you balance team chemistry with players coming and going?
What does the team do to instill a sense of competition?
How is he getting to know his players?
How does Coach Dintaman develop coaches?
Does Coach Dintaman hire his own coaches?
What would make ideal hires for the Sinclair Tartans?
How does the typical spring practice plan look like at Sinclair?
What does his batting practice setup look like?
What are the after-season meetings look like when talking to players?
What advice does Steve have for someone who wants to be a head coach one day?
Are there things that they do in practice that the players get excited about?
What is something that you believe that other coaches might disagree on?
Which books or resources does Coach Steve Dintaman recommend?
3 Key Points:
Don’t go into a team bragging about how good you are. Let your play do the talking.
The core values of the Sinclair Tartans are: sacrifice, confidence, character and brotherhood.
Join the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) if you want to become a coach.
Tweetable Quotes:
“Just lifting during the season, there are still some guys in high school that haven’t done that before. So we are lifting two or three times a week” – Steve Dintaman (09:68)
“We are probably practicing anywhere from five to six times a week with an off day built in.” – Steve Dintaman (10:03)
“I think my advice for any student athlete going in the fall is: be ready to go and keep your mouth shut and go to work.” – Steve Dintaman (11:43)
“The number one emphasis for our program is always going to be player development and the guys understand that our goal is their goal. We want them to reach the highest level they can play.” – Steve Dintaman (22:44)
“We are all part-time coaches too. No coach here is a full-time coach.” – Steve Dintaman (33:43)
“I think the first thing I would do is if I bring someone in obviously they have had some success and they have some nice pedigree with some references, but that we have the same philosophies.” – Steve Dintaman (37:15)
“There is nothing worse than a center fielder trying to track a ball and he’s going near the wall, about to make a catch, and all of a sudden his pitcher just catches it, and your like, “Come on Bro, get out the way.’” – Steve Dintaman (43:44)
“The thing I have always told people is, ‘surround yourself with good people and good things will happen.’” – Steve Dintaman (50:20)
Resources Mentioned:
Ahead of the Curve Podcast
Twitter: @AOTC_podcast
Steve Dintaman: Linkedin Twitter
sinclairathletics.com/sports/bsb/index
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Sunday Aug 04, 2019
Sunday Aug 04, 2019
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Go to axebat.com and use our code AOTC at checkout to save 10% on your purchase of Axe Bat training products including all of the Axe Bat Speed Trainers and wood bats!
Full Episode Here
http://www.aotcpodcast.com/e/36-brett-kay-head-baseball-coach-jserra-catholic-hs-ca/
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