Ahead Of The Curve with Jonathan Gelnar

Chan Brown- Head Baseball Coach, Parkview HS (GA)

This episode is brought to you by baseballcloud and OnBaseU. Summary: In this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I welcome Chan Brown, a coach with 24 years of experience, currently working in Lilburn, Georgia as the Parkview High School head baseball Coach, physical education teacher, and the 15u Team USA coach. During our discussion, Chan Brown walks us through his typical summer and fall training practice procedures, and how things change once the team is formed. Coach Brown graciously gives plenty of useful advice to not just help shape fantastic players, but to make great people out of the young guys he trains.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Deskaheh Bomberry- Pitching Coach, Sacramento City College

This episode is brought to you by baseballcloud and OnBaseU. Summary: In this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I welcome Deskaheh Bomberry, a highly experienced pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Sacramento City College. Our discussion delves into how Deskaheh first became involved in not just baseball as a player, but also his conversion into coaching and the initial moves that brought him to Sacramento City College. Deskaheh provides ample advice for preparing players for strength and mental game training.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dominic Robinson- Former NFL Player (Rams), Founder/Director of 3D Sports Performance

This episode is brought to you by baseballcloud and OnBaseU.
 
iTunes 
Stitcher
Google Play
Spotify
Summary:
In this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I welcome Dominic Robinson, experienced coach, mentor, and Founder/Director of 3D Sports Performance and 3D Gold athletics. During the discussion, Dominic dives into his past experience playing baseball and football at Florida State University, and NFL professional football for the St. Louis Rams. Also, the jewels of knowledge he has learned from playing for some of the worlds best coaches like Mike Martin and Bobby Bowden, and how 3D Sports Performance can bring out the best in young athletes.
Show Notes:
Guest: Dominic Robinson, past football and baseball player, coach, mentor, and Founder/Director of 3D Sports Performance and 3D Gold
 
Dominic fell in love with baseball as an adult
 
He loved basketball growing up and played football professionally
Played football at Florida State University and the St. Louis Rams
Played for some of the greatest coaches ever
 
 
Football player Marc Bulger raised the bar for excellence by wanting passes to hit their intended target, even on successful completions
Pay attention to details that matter
 
3D Sports Performance
Dominic began training athletes about 10 years ago
Speed training isn’t all he has to offer
3D Sports Performance grew into a baseball program
Each training season has a sub-season for preparation for 3D Sports Performance athletes.
Identify: When did an athlete finish? When are they starting back up? When do they need to be their best?
 
Why go to athletic showcases if you have nothing prepared to showcase?
 
Warm-Ups
The warm-up, before the weight room and pre-practice, is a place where you can establish your speed development program, flexibility, and mobility.
Have at least three distinctive warm-ups.
Make sure your athletes know what it is to be fully recovered
 
Advice for Coaches
Have athletes on the clock during sprint training
Sprint full speed
Uphill sprinting
Understanding recovery
 
Favorite Competitions for Training
Pre-game dodgeball
Get players thinking outside of the box with games without structural rules
 
Changes?
Simplifying to get players to automatic levels of movement
Make goals and expectations clear
Customize training to your players
Goal-setting
 
Final thoughts
There is no bad teaching, just bad receptions of the teachings
3 Key Points:
 Being respectful to people, honoring the game, and taking care of teammates all come before winning.
 Attention to detail has got to be the expectation.
 The starting point for every athlete is establishing a foundation of fitness and movement.
Tweetable Quotes:
“At one point I was ranked number one in baseball, and number four in football.” - Dominic Robinson (4:45)
 
“If we say ‘we care,’ let’s show it.” - Dominic Robinson Johnson (13:24)
 
“I’ve now got players from 17 different states, all across the country.” - Dominic Robinson (24:08)
 
“There is no ‘off-season.’ We call it the training season.” - Dominic Robinson (26:03)
 
“I couldn’t tell you how paramount I believe the warm-up is.” - Dominic Robinson (36:03)
 
“You don’t throw to warm-up, you warm-up to throw.” - Dominic Robinson (39:28)
Resources Mentioned:
Ahead of the Curve Podcast
 
@AOTC_podcast
 
3D Sports Performance
 
@3DRobinson
 
@3DSportsPerformance
Website and Social Media sites for the show 
www.aotcpodcast.com
Twitter
@aotc_podcast
Facebook
Ahead of the Curve Coaches Facebook group
Instagram
aotc_podcast
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Max Weiner- MiLB Pitching Coordinator, Seattle Mariners

This episode is brought to you by baseballcloud and OnBaseU.
 
iTunes 
Stitcher
 
Google Play
 
Spotify
 
Summary:
In this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I welcome Max Weiner, a former pitcher who started his own player development center called the Arm Farm. Max is formerly an MiLB player development coach with the Cleveland Indians and is now the Pitching Coordinator for the Seattle Mariners.
Show Notes:
Guest: Max Weiner, ArmFarm creator and MiLB pitching coordinator with the Seattle Mariners
 
How Max improves his pitchers in the offseason  
 
Why it is important to take time off in the offseason
 
Problems high school players are encountering and what they can do about it
 
What is the perfect balance of self-exploration and coaching techniques
 
How data factors into game decisions
 
How does the use of data affect player's confidence
 
How can high school coaches create a bullpen program comparable to those of the pros
 
Why the mental side of the game is just as important as the physical side
 
Advice on how to fit specific drills to certain schemes or to fit certain players´ inefficiencies
 
How can teams incorporate a developmental program into their team and private settings
 
How mobility, stability, strength, and mechanics make baseball coaching difficult
 
What Max has learned after a year with the Indians
 
Why Max focuses on his ability to speak Spanish
3 Key Points:
    Pitching in the offseason looks different for different players.
    Data plays a huge role in factoring into game end decisions and it can affect players´ confidence.
  The mental aspects of players are just as important as the physical. Having a developmental program is beneficial for players.
Tweetable Quotes:
-       ¨You have to assess what's going on. That's the first thing, and at that point, what you can pretty much do is determine what their movement quality is, whatever is present, and then make the prediction of what their general movement capacity would be like, what's their total potential? .” – Max.
-       “You'll hear a lot of mental performance or sports psychology coaches always say, anytime you're going into a game, it shouldn't be the first time you've been there, right?” – Max.
-       “Creating familiarity whether that's at home or on the road is key.¨–Max
-       “You have to be a great communicator. And that means speaking and listening..¨–Max
-       “I think the number one thing to do is humanize the data.¨– Max
-       “If you can coach the environment and pick out the right internal schemes and understand like, what sort of constraints you're looking for, and how you want to tear those out and understand those from like a long term versus short term standpoint, you can almost say, Okay, I'm expecting this player's performance to go down here for two weeks, while we're working on this ultimate goal.¨–Max
Resources Mentioned:
Ahead of the Curve
Max Weiner
Twitter
Website and Social Media sites for the show 
www.aotcpodcast.com
Twitter
@aotc_podcast
Facebook
Ahead of the Curve Coaches Facebook group
Instagram
aotc_podcast
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brad Gore- Head Baseball Coach, Enid HS (OK)

This episode is brought to you by baseballcloud and OnBaseU.
iTunes 
Stitcher
 
Google Play
 
Spotify
Summary:
In this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I welcome Brad Gore, head baseball coach of the Enid Plainsmen. Coach Gore emphasizes the importance of developing competitiveness on his team , the importance of older players leading the younger, and building practice schedules around team energy during the spring. The value of connecting with players as people beyond baseball is noted as something that Coach Gore has increasingly appreciated the importance of over the course of his twenty-five year career.
 
Show Notes:
Guest: Brad Gore, Collegiate Baseball player turned Coach
 
How a high speed of practice at Enid is important and shouldn’t be any different than the speed of games
 
Team dinners and community sports mentoring help build team culture
 
“Playing hard” and leading by example are important to Coach Gore’s ethos
 
How important it is to show players that their coach cares about them as a person as well
 
Players at Enid have to be students first, with older players holding younger accountable
 
The importance of communication within the program
 
Building competition into practice can help build an exciting and competitive team culture; competition can cause quieter players to open up
 
How coaching during the season can encompass things like noting problem areas during games and working on them prior to the next day’s game.
 
What batting practice looks like for Coach Gore’s team
 
How practice timing during the season can be based on team needs because of things like travel schedule and timing
 
The importance of nutrition for the success of weightlifting
 
How the realization of the importance of a relationship beyond baseball grew over the course of Coach Gore’s career
 
How Coach Gore gives Assistant Coaches independence to coach their way as well as responsibility for that independence, and the opportunity to see the non-baseball related parts of coaching
 
21 Outs can be a fun and competitive practice exercise
3 Key Points:
    Competitive spirit in a baseball team can be developed through competitive practice.
 
 Taking the time to understand players on a level beyond baseball has become increasingly valuable to Coach Gore over the course of his career.
 
  A culture of older players mentoring and holding younger students accountable is important to the team dynamic at Enid.
 
Tweetable Quotes:
-       ¨I played baseball at Oklahoma State, my brother played baseball at Oklahoma State, he made it to AAA, so it’s one of those things that’s been in our family for a long time, and after my playing days were over I just didn’t want to get away from the game, and I wouldn’t change a thing.” – Brad (1:15)
 
-       “We practice extremely fast and we move around and there’s really not much downtime, and that’s really one our things: to beat us you’re going to have to outwork us.¨ – Brad (5:20)
 
-       “We hold our kids accountable for everything they do, whether it be on the field or off the field it’s all the same to us. – Brad (11:20)
 
-       “If I have a really talented Varsity 2nd baseman that’s extremely competitive and I’ve got a little young freshman just trying to find his way, we call it peer coaching, and I totally believe in that. – Brad (14:20)
 
-       “[On assistant coaches] I don’t look it as I’m their boss as much as I’m their peer in coaching.¨– Brad (36:30)
 
-     “You can put junk in your body and lift as many weights as you want and you’re not going to get any dividends but if you put the right stuff in there and do the right amount of lifting, it’s really going to pay off.¨– Brad (33:00)
 
Resources Mentioned:
#FridayFielders
Brad Gore
bdkcc18@gmail.com
 
Website and Social Media sites for the show 
www.aotcpodcast.com
Twitter
@aotc_podcast
Facebook
Ahead of the Curve Coaches Facebook group
Instagram
aotc_podcast
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#OBCA Ep. 2: Shawn Newkirk- Union HS, Kris Webb- Vici HS, Breck Draper- Heritage Hall HS, Luke Yost- Edmond Memorial, Ryan Phillips- Edmond Sante Fe

This episode is brought to you by baseballcloud and OnBaseU.
iTunes 
Stitcher
 
Google Play
 
Spotify
This week we've got 2 bonus episodes that I got from the Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association. I’ve broken them up into a college episode and a high school episode. We will still have our regular episode on Thursday and that will be Enid HS Head Coach head coach Brad Gore.
For Bonus Episode 2 we’ve got several outstanding Oklahoma high school baseball coaches from varying levels across the state. We’re going to start with Union head coach Shawn Newkirk who is also my head coach and 2018 state champion. Then we will go to Vici Head coach Kris Webb, Heritage Hall head coach Breck Draper, Edmond Memorial Head Coach Luke Yost, and the closer will be Sante Fe Head Coach Ryan Phillips.
Shawn Newkirk (1:43) on his hall of fame reflection, what his 4 pillars are at Union, and what being a mule means
 
Kris Webb (18:00) on promoting higher level thinkers and what his Big 5 are
 
Breck Draper (28:00) on Pre/Post season meetings and his “baseball test”
 
Luke Yost (45:00 on winning a state championship his first year, and what his 3 C’s are.
 
Ryan Phillips (59:00) on controlling the baseball and empowering assisting coaches
Website and Social Media sites for the show 
www.aotcpodcast.com
Twitter
@aotc_podcast
Facebook
Ahead of the Curve Coaches Facebook group
Instagram
aotc_podcast
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#OBCA Ep. 1: CJ Gillman- Air Force, Tyler Gillum- South Mountain/Savannah Bananas, Matt Talarico- Stealbases.com and Wright State, Ryan Folmar- Oral ...

This episode is brought to you by baseballcloud and OnBaseU.
iTunes 
Stitcher
 
Google Play
 
Spotify
 
This week we've got 2 bonus episodes that I got from the Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association. I’ve broken them up into a college episode and a high school episode. We will still have our regular episode on Thursday and that will be Enid HS Head Coach head coach Brad Gore.
So for episode 1, were joined by Air Force Assistant Coach CJ Gillman, South Mountain Assistant Coach Tyler Gillum, Wright, Stealbases.com and Wright State Assistant coach Matt Talarico, ORU Head Coach Ryan Folmar and Oklahoma State's James Vilade.  
CJ Gillman on getting one percent better in BP every day AND we even touch on bunting…(1:30-32:36)
 
Tyler Gillum on the Growth Toolbox, infield play, and a little bit of green light special (32:40-56:00)
 
Matt Talarico on all things base running (56:06-1:17)
 
Ryan Folmar on building culture in your program (1:17-1:25)
 
James Vilade on a coaches number one job. (1:25-1:34)
 
Website and Social Media sites for the show 
www.aotcpodcast.com
Twitter
@aotc_podcast
Facebook
Ahead of the Curve Coaches Facebook group
Instagram
aotc_podcast
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pat Bailey- Head Baseball Coach, Oregon State University

This episode is brought to you by baseballcloud and OnBaseU.
iTunes 
Stitcher
Google Play
Spotify
Summary:
In this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I welcome Pat Bailey. Pat started coaching right out of college both high school baseball and football. He focused on becoming a part of programs he aligned with philosophically. He took over as head coach at Oregon State and shares with us common practices that make his team successful season after season.
Show Notes:
Guest: Pat Bailey, Teacher and Coach
The transition from assistant coach to head coach and how to make it smooth
Practical ways to reinforce expectations with the players and team
How Pat integrates competition into each practice
The benefits of vision training and why it is emphasized on Pat’s team
How Pat incorporates vision training into his daily practices
The power of using data in baseball practices
How perfecting the launch angle can improve batting
The college recruiting process according to Pat
Individual development tactics at Oregon State
How to build professional relationships with the players
What Pat intentionally does differently than other teams to be better
How to practice being a better decision maker
The practice that the team always loves and how to keep players engaged
 
3 Key Points:
    Pat Bailey has a different approach to coaching than others. Starting young as a coach he shares how he became the coach that he is and emphasizes how his experiences as a student as well as having his own kids caused him to shift his coaching focus.
 Vision training is an important part of Pat’s training program. Just like the other muscles in our bodies our eyes need to be trained to work together and see the fast balls.
  More than anything, Pat recognizes the impact a coach has on a child’s life. He focuses on building character, and in the process the winning piece takes care of itself.
 
Tweetable Quotes:
“I would not have taken an assistant job if it wasn't with somebody that I really felt that were similar philosophically.” - Pat Bailey (4:26)
“We're here to build man of character. And that's number one mission that we have as as coaches. Iit's the most important thing we do.” - Pat Bailey (5:27)
“He introduced me to his vision training staff, and one of the things he said, man, it really made sense and there's a lot more to it than what I'm going to share here, but what he said to me was that, “your eyes are muscles, and why would you not train your eyes just like you go and lift weights?” And, of course, you can get both your eyes to work together.” - Pat Bailey (17:33)
“It's not about you winning as a cause. It's about helping them become men and helping them become good teammates and helping them to really just and enjoying care for one another, then the winning part takes care of itself.” - Pat Bailey (35:35)
“I bet you the time you spent with your players on a daily basis is more time they spend with their parents.” - Pat Bailey (39:24)
“I just hope the coach is really buy into what I talked about in terms of this being a relation building business and we're here to build that because it's going to make our country better. We have coaches buying that because we have a huge impact on young people's lives.” - Pat Bailey (54:49)
Resources Mentioned:
Reach out to Pat: Pat.bailey@oregonstate.edu
 
Website and Social Media sites for the show 
www.aotcpodcast.com
Twitter
@aotc_podcast
Facebook
Ahead of the Curve Coaches Facebook group
Instagram
aotc_podcast
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Roof- Head Baseball Coach, Madison Central HS (KY)

This episode is brought to you by baseballcloud.
iTunes 
Stitcher
 
Google Play
 
Spotify
 
Summary:
In this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I welcome Steve Roof, Head Coach at Madison Central in Richmond, Kentucky. Steve emphasizes the importance of making the team family. At the end of the day, we can lift weights and do more drills, but when the culture rallies around family, there are incredible benefits for the team.
Show Notes:
Why bringing the team together like a family is important
How the team reads a book together
How Steve generates leadership by having the seniors lead weights sessions
Why Steve is intentional about spending time with his team
Doing more drills isn't the only thing that can strengthen your team
Steve shares his multi-prong approach to developing a well-rounded team
Fall schedule includes 5-day a week weight training
Fall is where the team-family starts
Competition is a year-long thing for Steve´s team
Scrimmages, batting practice, and weight training competitions
What a typical practice looks like for Steve´s team
Base running, individual defense, and team defense are huge focuses
The practice plan is there if they need it
Why family, attitude, and hard work are key rules for the team
3 Key Points:
    It is important that baseball players develop camaraderie and a sense of family with one another.
 A typical week in fall will contain 5 days of weight lifting. The fall is the best time to start creating a strong team dynamic.
  Key values Steve keeps in mind while structuring a well-rounded team are family, attitude, and hard-work.
Tweetable Quotes:
-       "Our kids believe in in-season lifting. I think it gives them confidence and it obviously helps them stay strong. We've seen positive gains definitely.” – Steve (15:00)
-       “That's where I use social media and I'll take pics or whatever and just send it to our guys and say, Listen, this is what the best are doing. And it really makes it easy to sell what we're trying to do.¨ – Steve (16:20)
-       “I think it's it's only going to make us better as coaches just because we do have to do our research and not just do what we were taught to do, which may or may not have been the right thing.¨–Jonathan (17:13)
-       “We have three standards, family, attitude and hard work. We're not going to blame the officials. We're not going to blame each other, hey, you might have to overcome my mistake. So a positive attitude and and we're going to work hard. We're going to be one of the hardest working groups around and that's a hard 90 that's running on and off the field.¨–Steve (29:06)
-       “God, Family and the next thing is going to be about trying to learn and get better.¨– Steve (34:02)
-       “You can work really hard and have fun doing it.¨–Steve(40:00)
Resources Mentioned:
Ahead of the Curve
Steve Roof
Steve.roof@madison.kyschools.us
The Carpenter by Jon Gordon
Website and Social Media sites for the show 
www.aotcpodcast.com
Twitter
@aotc_podcast
Facebook
Ahead of the Curve Coaches Facebook group
Instagram
aotc_podcast
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Johnson- Founder/CEO of LegKickNation

This episode is brought to you by baseballcloud. Summary: In this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I welcome Steve Johnson, Founder/CEO of LegKickNation. We discuss Steve’s method of rejecting the model of the ‘teacher king’ in order to foster a curiosity-provoking learning environment in which students take responsibility for their own progress, as well as how he teaches methods to reach the state of ‘flow’. We also discuss the practical details of teaching in this new mode and ways to apply them to baseball.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices