Coaching Management 11.1 by Momentummedia

Coaching Management VOL. XI, NO. 1

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Promoting Your Camp Setting Goals

ALL EYES ON DECK

A look at how to train players’ vision

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Coaching Management Baseball Edition Preseason 2003

CONTENTS

Vol. XI, No. 1

p. 2

p. 23

LOCKER ROOM

Bulletin Board

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Massachusetts considers changing to wood bats ... The NCAA looks to curb tobacco use ... A new Division I conference spans from Long Island to Hawai’i ... High school rules changes for 2003.

Drill Bits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Tips for organizing your practice sessions.

p. 29

Cover Story

All Eyes On Deck

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Hoops, colored glasses, and computer-based exercises are just some of the methods athletes are successfully using to improve their vision.

Promotion

Calling All Kids! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 College coaches are finding new ways to promote their baseball camps and clinics in a highly competitive marketplace.

Goal Setting

Q&A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Mark Gjormand, Head Coach at Madison High School in Vienna, Va., talks about his coaching philosophy, the importance of building relationships with his players, and his team’s perfect record in 2002.

Reaching For The Top

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In the coaching profession, continual growth and achievement depends on setting goals. A veteran coach outlines his steps for success.

ADVERTISORS DIRECTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

PRODUCT PAGES Nets & Cages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Infield Mixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Uniforms & Apparel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 The Baseball Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Practice Aids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Injury Prevention & Treatment . . . . . . . . 37 Team Equipment Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Catalog Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Web Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 44

Cover photo: Georgia Tech Athletic Communications.

Publisher Mark Goldberg Editor-in-Chief Eleanor Frankel Associate Editors Jim Catalano Guillermo Metz Assistant Editors Kenny Berkowitz David Hill Dennis Read Laura Smith

Circulation Director Mark Shea Art Director Pamela Crawford Art Assistant Dina Stander Business Manager Pennie Small Administrative Assistants Sharon Barbell Daniela Reis

Production Manager Kristin Ayers Prepress Manager Adam Berenstain Asst. Production Manager Kristi Kempf Production Assistants Jonni Campbell Hildi Gerhart IT Manager Mark Nye Special Projects Dave Wohlhueter

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Mailing lists for Coaching Management Baseball are provided by the Clell Wade Coaches Directory.

The Coaching Management baseball edition is published in February, September, and December by MAG, Inc. and is distributed free to college and high school coaches in the United States and Canada. Copyright © 2003 by MAG, Inc. All rights reserved. Text may not be reproduced in any manner, in whole or in part, without the permission of the publisher. Unsolicited materials will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Coaching Management is printed by Banta Publications Group, Kansas City, MO. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Coaching Management, P.O. Box 4806, Ithaca, N.Y. 14852.

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

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bulletin board Massachusetts Votes for Wood The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) made national headlines last fall when its Baseball Committee announced that, beginning in 2003, only wooden bats would be allowed in high school state tournament games. The Baseball Committee, which sets the rules for the state tournament, consists of 16 athletic administrators and principals from around the state.

MIAA’s Sports Medicine Committee were unconvinced that wood bats would enhance the safety of the game, while many administrators and coaches argued the opposite. In December, MIAA President Jeffrey Long formed a special task force to examine the issue. At its January 23 meeting, the task force voted 7-1 not to switch to wooden bats for the regular season. This decision was unanimously supported by the MIAA Board of Directors. The ban on non-

spokesman Paul Wetzel told the Boston Globe the night after the vote. “There was no compelling evidence that indicated that aluminum bats are significantly more dangerous than wooden bats.” The task force consisted of four members of the Baseball Committee, three members of the Sports Medicine Committee, a member of the Massachusetts State Baseball Coaches’ Association, and a member of the MIAA Board of Directors who served as the Chair. The talks began with the Sports Medicine and Baseball Committees on opposite sides of the issue. “President Long indicated that, because those two committees had different opinions, he would like them to come up with a consensus,” says Wetzel.

Agawam (Mass.) High School player Matt Rheault holds a wooden bat and a metal bat. The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Baseball Committee has voted to allow only wooden bats to be used in state high school tournament games beginning in 2003, with a regular-season ban possible in 2004. But a similar move to mandate an emergency switch to wood bats for the entire 2003 regular season aroused more controversy, although it was ultimately defeated. Members of the

COACHING MANAGEMENT

wood bats still applies in the state tournament. “The board was mostly impressed by the concept that there was no compelling safety issue involved,” MIAA

The January vote doesn’t mean the issue is settled yet, however. The task force also voted to revisit the issue at its annual rules meeting on May 6, and will reconsider a move to wood for the 2004 season. That potential rule change will make its way through the MIAA’s usual legislative process. “It was a 5-4 ruling to support the permanent rule change for the 2004 season,” Wetzel told the Globe. “And that recommendation will be considered, along with those from all the other committees that make recommendations

The debate has been raging for several years, but reached its current level after two pitchers were severely injured by batted balls in 2001. The most well-known incident occurred in May of that year, when Wellesley High School pitcher Billy Hughto took a hit to the head from a ball hit off an aluminum bat. A piece of bone spiked an artery, quickly turning things life-threatening. Hughto spent three days in a coma, but eventually recovered fully. Hughto’s father, who testified at several MIAA meetings, has been a primary mover in the fight to outlaw aluminum bats in Massachusetts high school play. “The entire incident was caught on video tape, and it was later played back on the news,” says Wetzel. “People saw it over and over.” That prompted an initial request for the MIAA to look into the issue of aluminum bats. The request was given to the Sports Medicine Committee, which initially voted to change the rule to allow only wooden bats, but later changed its position because of the lack of research supporting the claim that wooden bats would be safer. But the Baseball Committee had already started its review process. Even though Massachusetts’ statewide tournament ban on aluminum bats is the first in the country, other states and municipalities are considering similar rules. For example, in New York City, a bill was recently introduced to the City Council to require wood bats for all scholastic and youth games. The NCAA Division II Northeast 10 Conference has chosen to use wood bats this season. And four leagues in Massachusetts that experimented with wood bats last season will stick with them this year.

The task force subsequently reviewed existing information and collected new information relevant to the issue. On January 15, the task force heard from more than 25 interested parties expressing views on the issue during five hours of public comment. Among the speakers were parents, coaches, representatives from bat companies, athletic administrators, directors of leagues and governing bodies, an umpire, and several scientists. The task force voted the next week.

to the Board of Directors on a proposed rule change.”

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bulletin board NCAA Looks To Curb Tobacco Use Players and coaches caught using spit tobacco during college baseball games in 2003 won’t get a second chance, thanks to passage of a new zero-tolerance policy by the NCAA Division I Baseball Rules Committee. Approved in July, the rule requires umpires to immediately eject any player or coach using the substance. The use of tobacco by players, coaches, administrators, and officials during practices and competitions has been illegal for nearly a decade under an NCAA bylaw already on the books. But enforcement has focused on warning rulebreakers and giving programs time to comply, says Dave Yeast, NCAA National Umpire Coordinator. The new policy will force umpires to toss players and coaches out of contests for infractions.

According to Staff Liaison to the Baseball Rules Committee Ty Halpin, the crackdown may be the biggest change coaches and players see in the upcoming season. “This is the thing people are talking the most about right now,” he says.

Association’s convention in January and the NCAA is making an instructional video and brochure available to coaches. The NCAA will also rely heavily on umpire clinics to get the word out on the new policy.

equivalent of telling them it’s okay,” he says. “Coaches typically command a great deal of respect, and it doesn’t matter if they’re head coaches or assistant coaches—they’re seen in the same light by their players.”

In a 2001 NCAA study of student-athlete drug use, 41 percent of college baseball players reported using spit tobacco. This is down from nearly 57 percent in 1989, but the committee would like to see the numbers drop further. “The time for warnings has expired,” Yeast says.

Some evidence suggests that coaches’ and umpires’ attitudes toward spit tobacco use may be part of what’s keeping the problem hanging around. Fifty percent of the studentathletes polled by the NCAA last year said their coaches use spit tobacco. “Umpires who are sympathetic or users themselves often look the other way, and that has definitely been a problem,” Yeast says.

Coaches who stop using tobacco—at least around their baseball programs—can send an equally strong signal. “If I was a coach who used, and my players saw that I stopped, I would expect that to have a powerful effect on how seriously they take the issue,” Schoenig says.

Still, the NCAA hopes that relatively few ejections will be necessary. “We don’t want to get into the business of throwing everybody out of games,” says Halpin. “We’re hoping to avoid that by doing a good job of educating coaches and players about the new policy.” Presentations were made at the American Baseball Coaches

DRILL BITS To have a successful practice, a coach must be organized and have goals and objectives each day. By setting the team’s goals and objectives each practice, the student-athletes will know what is expected of them. Here is an outline of our team’s practice plan at Tahanto Regional High School. Team Gathering: All players report to left field prior to the start of practice. The entire team takes one lap around the facility (about 1/4 mile). Warmup & Stretching: My captains will lead the stretching; the players line up in rows of three. Throwing Drills: All players play catch by position; for example, a catcher throws with another catcher. Our first drill is playing catch on one knee about 15 feet away. We work on proper four-seam grip and elbow position. Next, we stand up and put our throwing elbow in our glove, working on snapping the wrist.

COACHING MANAGEMENT

Those actions may be sending a message that is coming through louder than anything the NCAA does, says Montclair State University Head Coach Norm Schoenig. “[Tobacco use by coaches] has a direct effect on players. It’s the

With the crackdown may come some tough decisions for head coaches, since avoiding sanctions may depend on their willingness to police their assistants who use tobacco. “If you have an assistant coach who’s outstanding and the kids really respect him and learn from him, and yet he continues to chew around them, it’s

BY NEIL GREENWALD Head Coach, Tahanto Regional High School, Boylston, Mass. The quick-hands drill is next. We increase the throwing distance to about 60 feet and count how many times we can get it back and forth in one minute. Next, infielders and catchers work on a four-corners throwing drill on the infield grass with two balls. Outfielders work on the crow-hop and relay drills. Basic Fundamentals: Infielders work on six different ground balls and throws to first (see Drill Bits in CM 10.1). Next, shortstops and second basemen work on feet and pivots on double plays. Third basemen do slow-roller drills. First basemen work on footwork and in-the-dirt drills. Catchers work on receiving, throws to all bases, blocking drills, pop-ups, passed balls, and intentional walks. Outfielders execute the following drills: routine fly balls, line drives, ground balls (conservative and aggressive), gappers (in between outfielders), and the drop-step drill. Skill of the Day: We work on a particular skill, both offensively and defensively. For

example, one day we’ll focus on sacrifice bunts. Offensive Drills We are very fortunate at Tahanto to have indoor and outdoor batting cages. This enables us to break into six stations: batting cage, tee work, solo hitter, toss machine, live bunting, and pepper.

Play Like You Practice

Conditioning: To conclude practice, we work on conditioning. We run Burmas, which are sprints, from home to first, home to second, home to third, and home to home. We also work on short, explosive movements, high knees, skips for height, skips for speed, butt kicks, and carioca drills, before cooling down. It may take a bit of time to design a wellorganized practice, but the benefits of such an investment will prove their worth over the course of a season.

really sending a mixed message,” Schoenig says. “You have to address that, as hard as it may be.”

PLAY IT SAFER!

This season, the NCAA has decided to put more emphasis on enforcing its anti-tobacco rules. This follows similar efforts by the National Spit Tobacco Education Program. Last summer, Gruen Von Beherns (at left), 25, who suffers from the effects of spit tobacco-induced cancer, paid a visit to an Arkansas Travelers minor league game on behalf of NSTEP.

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Getting players, coaches, and umpires to comply with the new policy may involve more than monitoring their mouths, however. Evidence suggests that at least half of studentathletes who use spit tobacco started long before they stepped onto a college playing field. Estimates of use by high school baseball players vary widely by region, but average around 20 percent. “It doesn’t start here,” Schoenig says. “It starts in high school, or in summer baseball camps, or any time kids have an opportunity to play with older men.” For many athletes, it’s not that they don’t want to quit, it’s that they’re addicted to nico-

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The NCAA will assess the effectiveness of the new zerotolerance policy as the season progresses, Yeast said. While reports on ejections for spit tobacco use aren’t mandatory under NCAA rules, he has requested that NCAA umpires make an informal report to him whenever an ejection occurs. “It’s going to be interesting to see what happens this spring,” Yeast says. “I don’t think most people really expect much to change. The proof will be in March and April.”

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bulletin board New Conference Spans U.S. Student-athletes in a nascent NCAA Division I baseball-only conference may get more than an opportunity to compete for a league title starting in 2004. They may also get a quick lesson in geography. That’s because schools that are planning to join the United States Baseball Conference are spread from the East Coast—the New York Institute of Technology, on Long Island —to the middle of the Pacific —the University of Hawai’iHilo. But coaches and athletic directors who are exploring the possibility say that as independents, they already have to travel a lot, anyway. And besides, it’ll be worth it to be in a conference. “The kids want something at the end of the season,” says New York Tech Director of Athletics Clyde Doughty, Jr., whose baseball team is NYIT’s only squad that competes in Division I; the rest are in Division II. “And it gives some of the teams a chance to get their RPIs up and get in postseason play. Down the road, maybe they can get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, or at least an opportunity at a play-in situation.” The United States Baseball Conference is the brainchild of Dave Schmidt of Celina, Ohio. Schmidt has worked for years as a part-time athletics organizer, statistician, and publicist, providing logistics for tournaments and helping set up the postseason for the National Christian College Athletic Association. Two years ago, he helped found the United States Small College Athletic Conference as an organizational alternative to the NCAA’s Division III and the NAIA for very small schools who wanted a low-fee, lowfuss way to organize national championships and playerof-the-week recognition pro-

COACHING MANAGEMENT

grams. He still serves as its commissioner. Schmidt says he began the U.S. Baseball Conference project by compiling a list of independent Division I baseball schools and contacting them. By this past fall, his list of probable members included, in addition to NYIT and Hawai’i-Hilo, Pace University, Morris Brown, Indiana University-Purdue University of Fort Wayne, and the University of Texas at Corpus Christi, also known as TexasPan American. Other schools that have expressed interest include some transitioning from Division II to Division I. “Northern Colorado, probably as an associate member, may come in as soon as all their DI games count,” Schmidt says. “So we’ll have at least seven schools by 2005 for sure. And you have to have six to get an automatic qualification.” The travel, while difficult, isn’t as much a challenge as it might seem, says Schmidt, as long as it’s approached with some creativity. With some careful planning, made easier by working together, the travel need not necessarily be much more than some schools do now, particularly those in the Midwest and Northeast that have to travel a lot anyway to get in early-season games. “We have to be a little different,” Schmidt says. “We can’t have a regular conference schedule where we play games on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week. It would have to be like we plan our spring trips. A lot of our schools would go down to Texas, maybe, and we’d have a bunch of them for a week or two. And we hope to work with some airlines and make some arrangements to get some corporate sponsorship. “I told everyone to look at that ‘U’ in USBC as the ‘unique’ baseball conference. I said to them, ‘Guys, if this were a perfect world, you wouldn’t be in this conference. So

The New York Institute of Technology will soon be joining the United States Baseball Conference, a new NCAA Division I conference whose membership spans from Long Island to Hawai’i. Pitcher Tom Park hurls one for NYIT last season. there are some things we have to do a little differently.’” But Schmidt says there are more positives that make it worthwhile, such as making each school more attractive to recruits. “Can you imagine someone from New York, say from Pace, telling a recruit, ‘We’re probably going to go to Texas, Georgia, and Hawai’i this year. We can just about guarantee you that because they’re all in our conference.’ So there’s some incentive there.” Recognizing that an immediate berth in the NCAA Tournament is unlikely, Schmidt and member schools are planning a postseason tournament for invited teams from within and without the new conference. Though he’s careful to not use the word “invitational” for copyright reasons, Schmidt says it would be a sort of NIT for college baseball, a chance for teams that don’t quite

make the NCAA to keep playing and showcase the sport. It would be held after conference tournaments and before the College World Series. Already, he’s identified the minorleague stadium in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, Ill., as the venue, for its central location and proximity to a major metro area. “We would do the drawing just like they do the NIT in basketball, where as soon as the 65 NCAA Tournament picks are done, each conference would say, ‘These schools didn’t get in, so they’re eligible from our conference.’ The Mid-American Conference would say, ‘Ball State got in to the NCAA, so we’re sending you Ohio University.’” Schmidt understands that bigger conferences may not be so interested in what would be for them a consolation tournament. But for other schools, its opens up a new opportunity.

“I don’t care what conference you’re in, sometimes you get a team that has a bunch of young kids who are just a scratch away from making it to the NCAAs,” he says. “This would give them maybe a year to tune-up for when they finally do get to Omaha.”

used only for scorekeeping. This addition to Rule 3-1-1i recognizes the usefulness of PDAs and similar devices, says Hopkins. Another rule change involves the expansion of dugout areas. Rule 1-2-5 recom-

mends that when either dugout area is extended, it should be extended toward the outfield on a line parallel to the foul line. The recommendation is a response to concerns over liability and greater chances for unsportsmanlike conduct from the extended areas.

Appeal Plays Top NFHS Rules Changes An addendum to the year-old rule returning the onus of appealing missed bases to the defense led the changes made by the National Federation of State High School Associations’ Baseball Rules Committee for 2003. To match high school baseball with other levels of the game, the NFHS brought back the appeal play for the 2002 season after it had been eliminated in the early 1980s in favor of having umpires directly call runners out for missing bases. Clarifying the rules in regard to appeals of base-running plays was a major focus. The major change for 2003 is language in Penalty Articles 1-5 of Rule 8-2 specifying that the defense must appeal before an intentional base-on-balls is granted. The rule now says that the defense may appeal during a live ball before a pitch is thrown, before granting an intentional walk, or before the next play.

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NFHS Assistant Director Elliot Hopkins, who is also liaison to the Baseball Rules Committee, says that some coaches were finding ways to exploit the rule unfairly. The changes also prevent the defense from attempting a pick-off play and then appealing a missed base. But they also preserve the defensive team’s right to appeal if the offense initiates a play, such as stealing a base. It further stipulates that a defensive coach may appeal only during a dead-ball situation—wording designed to prevent coaches from disrupting the umpires while the ball is live. A related new rule is 2-29-6, which specifies that the defense appealing a missed base or failure to tag up is not considered a play. Meanwhile, the committee specified that coaches may have personal digital assistants in a coach’s box provided they’re A complete list of rules changes for 2003 is available at www.nfhs.org/ sports/baseball_rules_change.asp.

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Q A

Mark Gjormand Madison High School

Heading into his eighth season as Head Coach at Madison High School in Vienna, Va., Mark Gjormand has emphatically put his stamp on the program. Sporting a team batting average of .389, the Warhawks finished the 2002 season with a record of 29-0, outscoring their opponents 249-38 and taking the Virginia Class AAA championship for the first time in 30 years. A runner-up for the National Federation Coaches Association’s Baseball Coach of the Year, Gjormand has been coaching high school sports since 1992, when he left a job working as a Security Escort in the CIA’s Office of Security. For the next nine years, he worked as a Health Awareness Assistant at nearby Marshall (Va.) High School, where he was an Assistant Coach in baseball, basketball, and football. Since transferring to Madison, where he works as a Safety and Security Assistant, Gjormand has divided his school year as Head Coach of the baseball team and Assistant Coach of the football squad. Outside school, Gjormand runs the year-round MVP Baseball Camp and spends his summers directing the Greater Vienna Sports Camps. In this interview, Gjormand talks about his coaching philosophy, the importance of building relationships with his players, and the challenges of achieving an undefeated season. CM: When did you think your team had the chance to go undefeated? Gjormand: From the start, I knew we were going to be good. So we didn’t waste any time—we went to work right away. We had a lot of kids returning from the year before, and when they came back from the summer, I said to the seniors, “Tell me where we’re going this year.” And they had only one goal: “Win every game.”

give my kids is that they treated every day like game day, whether it was a practice or just a conditioning session. That’s why it all fell into place.

How did you deal with the pressure of winning game after game? We’ve got a saying here that there are two things you can do with pressure— you can apply it, or you can feel it. And we didn’t want to feel it. Most seasons, you’re always looking for a new way to motivate your kids. But last year, it was different. We’d find time to meet and talk about the next game—not about how to stop this player or that player, but about how to play baseball. We don’t try to play against these other teams; we just try to play the game. We know that we work hard, and that’s something to be proud of. Before every game, I tell the kids that if somebody beats us, that’s all right. Just make sure we don’t beat ourselves; that was the thing we focused on. I remember one day, when we’d just cracked the Top 25 in USA Today, and I was worried it might make the players unfocused. One of the kids in school said to my assistant coach, “I see you’re ranked number 23. That means there are 22 teams that are better than you. You guys had better get busy.” That’s the story I told the players that night, and that’s the way we started approaching it from that point on. Instead of feeling cocky about being in the Top 25, we started looking at those other 22 teams, and realized we had to keep earning our place with every game. What’s your philosophy of coaching? Relationships. I’m big on relationships. We have one big rule in our program—

We chose to stay focused, and no matter who we were playing, we approached it the same way every night. It sounds kind of corny, but we stayed with that onegame-at-a-time, one-practice-at-a-time mentality. The greatest compliment I can

COACHING MANAGEMENT

Madison High School players surround teammate Joe Lewin, whose double drove in the gamewinning run in the 2002 Virginia Class AAA championship game. The win capped a 29-0 season.

ANN COSTELLO (2)

Honestly, when I first saw that posted on the wall, I was a little skeptical, because baseball is not a sport where you go undefeated. But it wasn’t just cockiness. It was something they really believed in. So I told them, “If that’s what you want, then you’re going to have do everything the coaches tell you.” And that’s what they did.

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Q A

trust each other. Nobody lies to each other, no matter the subject. It’s important to communicate honestly, and to listen. High school kids are very smart. They don’t always make the best decisions, but they’re very smart, and you have to listen to them. The wins will take care of themselves. What’s one time this season that trust made the difference between winning and losing? There are so many of them. Here’s one: We were playing Hickory in the first round of the state playoffs, in front of 4,000 people. J.J. Hollenbeck, who ended up as the Player of the Year in Virginia, had just given up a home run in the sixth inning, and we were down for one of the few times all year, in game 27. The kids came back into the dugout, we huddled up, and instead of feeling sorry for himself, J.J. looked around and said, “Guys, don’t worry about me. Let’s just win this game.” So we turned it right around, came back in the bottom half of the sixth and took

the lead again. Our leadoff hitter, B.T. Good, gets on first, steals second. Then Matt Foley triples off the wall, and Alan Wimmer drives in the go-ahead run. And instead of going with the bullpen, I stuck with J.J., because I asked him how he felt, and he wanted to go back and finish it. That’s one of those situations where if I didn’t trust my instincts, if I didn’t trust my pitching coach, if I didn’t trust J.J., we could have been in trouble. We had four tremendous pitchers and a full, fresh bullpen. But I’ve watched J.J. since he was 10 years old, I knew what he was made of, and in my world, he is the baddest man on the planet. I stayed with J.J., and he ended up striking out the tying run with a man on third base, and we went on to Richmond for game 28. That’s where trust comes in. What’s the best part of your job? I just love teaching baseball. I’m not a teacher in the school—I work security, so I deal with the kids who have a lot of issues, and I enjoy the heck out of that. People tease us about the country-club

atmosphere here, since we don’t have a whole lot of problems at Madison. But the kids who need you, those are the ones you can really make a difference with, and they let you know it. For the past seven years, every kid who has graduated from my baseball program has gone on to college. That’s something I’m really proud of. And over 15 years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with two guys who’ve gone on to play professional sports, and I’m still very close with them. Keith Lyle used to be with the St. Louis Rams, and now he plays with the San Diego Chargers. And Nick Sorensen, who plays with the Rams, spoke at our preseason banquet. He’s made the NFL, after hearing people tell him he wouldn’t play much in college. The kids here know exactly who these guys are, because they’re Vienna guys, and that’s a big deal. One of the things I tell my kids is, “Don’t be afraid to dream.” Because that’s what I used to tell Nick: “I believe in you, I know what you can do, and I know you can make it.” A lot of these kids, that’s all

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Circle No. 9 COACHING MANAGEMENT

Q A

they need, to know that somebody out there believes in them. When did you know you wanted to be a baseball coach? I was in high school. I was 15 years old, and my brother’s Little League team lost its coach. So I agreed to step in, and it was unbelievable—we ended up going to the town championships. From that point on, I was hooked. So instead of going away after high school, I went to Northern Virginia Community College and started studying the game like crazy, because I knew I wanted to be a head coach. I met up with a coach, Chuck Welch at Langley (Va.) High School, who took me on as a j.v. assistant. I ended up coaching softball, and I just loved it. It’s in my blood. My older brother told me, “This is what you can do. You’ve got a way with kids.” When I walked away from the CIA, I had no idea if I was going to make a living. I just knew that I had a passion to teach, to make a difference with kids. And my wife has been a really big influence on

me. She’s an athletic trainer down the road at Flint Hill School, and she understands the commitment you need, because if you’re going to do this job right, you’ve got to put the time in. Is it hard to juggle her time constraints with yours? It gets a little crazy at times. We’re fortunate because both of our parents live right here in town, so they take turns watching our children after school. There are days when I don’t get home until 7:30 or 8 o’clock, and there are nights in the basketball season when she doesn’t get home until 9 o’clock. But it works, because we coordinate our schedules, and it gives each of us quality time alone with our kids. When do you start preparing for the next season, and how? People think we’re crazy, but we’ve been working since September 1. We started with two days a week in the weight room, and now we’re putting in between six and eight hours a week, in the weight room and on the track.

We’ve got a tremendous off-season program, and you don’t have to ask the kids to do anything—they know exactly what it takes. We’re not a one-year wonder. We know that everybody wants to get a piece of us, and we want to be ready. What challenges do you have left? If I coached for wins, it would be hard to top last year. But I coach for relationships, for making a difference in kids’ lives. You know, I may have just seen the greatest season I’ll ever have as a coach, but I’m okay with that. We don’t have to go 29-0 ever again. What’s more important is that we keep developing great studentathletes. I love where I’m at. I think it’s the best school in the country. A minority of the people here will play professionally, but the majority of my players will be successful in life, whatever they decide to do. They’re going to make a difference, either in the work force or in the community, and when you sum it up, that’s what this is all about. It’s about committing yourself to excellence and being successful in life.

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800-747-5985 Circle No. 10

Circle No. 11 COACHING MANAGEMENT

Announcing the 2003 Hammer Strength Baseball Player of the Year Award This third annual awards program honors high school baseball players for not only making a difference on the field, but off it as well. Last year, Will Reynolds of Brownsburg, Ind., was honored as the winner of the Hammer Strength Baseball Player of Year Award. At a pre-game ceremony conducted last August at Yankee Stadium, Reynolds was presented with a trophy by New York Yankees All-Star first baseman Jason Giambi.

“The event was one of the greatest experiences of Will’s life—the chance to go to New York City, stay in a hotel in Manhattan and meet Jason Giambi,” said Reynolds’ high school coach, Pat O’Neil. “The weight equipment that our school received as part of the award has been great for our baseball program. I would encourage all high school coaches to nominate their deserving players for the Hammer Strength Award.”

1st Place Winner Receives:

Up to 5 Runners-Up Receive:

• A trophy presented personally by a top Professional Baseball Player

• A certificate of achievement and Hammer Strength T-Shirt

• A profile in the September issue of Coaching Management and the August/September issue of Athletic Management • A free piece of Hammer Strength equipment for the player’s school

• Recogntion in Coaching Management and Athletic Management magazines

The deadline for receiving your nomination is April 1, 2003. The winners will be announced on June 1, 2003. The Hammer Strength Baseball Player of the Year Award serves to honor a high school baseball player who exemplifies qualities in the following three areas:

• Work Ethic: exhibits a devotion to the game, commitment to conditioning, and strong practice habits.

• Leadership: sets examples for teammates, takes charge on the field, and boosts team morale.

• Consistency: delivers in clutch situations, productive on the field. • Academic Honors: achieves excellence in the classroom. WINNERS will be selected by Hammer Strength and MomentumMedia.

To nominate your player for the award*: Please complete the form below and attach a 500-word description of the student-athlete’s qualities and achievements, including why you feel your athlete stands out from the crowd in terms of work ethic, leadership, consistency and academic excellence. * See contest rules at the bottom of this page

2003 Hammer Strength Baseball Player of the Year Award NOMINATION FORM Name of Player: ________________________________________________________________________________________ Player’s Hometown: _____________________________________________________________________________________ Your Name and Phone No.: _______________________________________________________________________________ High School: __________________________________________________________________________________________ Street Address: ________________________________________________________________________________________ City: _______________________________________ State: ________________________ Zip: _______________________ Send nominations to: 2003 Hammer Strength Baseball Player of the Year Award MomentumMedia 2488 N. Triphammer Road Ithaca, NY 14850 Or fax your nomination to (607) 257-7328. If you have any questions, call (607) 257-6970, ext. 11. Thank you.

Nominations are due by 11:59 P.M. (C.S.T.) on April 1, 2003. By entering, all participants agree to be bound by the official rules. Prize winners will be selected on or about June 1, 2003 from among eligible entries received. Winners will be notified by mail or phone. Prizes will be delivered to verified winners. The decision of the judge(s) is final. Limit one prize per school. Employees and immediate family members of Brunswick Corp., Life Fitness, Hammer Strength and MomentumMedia, (collectively “Sponsor”), are not eligible to win prizes. All applicable taxes on prizes are the sole responsibility of the winners. All prizes claimed will be awarded. If any prize goes unclaimed, there will be a random drawing to award such prize to an alternate winner. Prizes are non-transferable and no substitutions or cash redemptions will be made. Sponsor is not responsible for incorrect or inaccurate information. Each winner will be required to sign and return an affidavit of eligibility and a liability/ publicity release within 10 days of notification or prize will be forfeited. By accepting the prize, each winner agrees to release Sponsor, its partners, affiliates, officers, employees, representative and agents, including, without limitation, its advertising and promotion agencies, from any and all liability, loss, damage or injuries of any kind sustained in connection with their participation in the contest, promotion or from their acceptance, use, misuse of any prize. Each winner further acknowledges that said parties have neither made nor are in any manner responsible or liable for any warranty, representation or guarantee, express or implied, in fact or in law, relative to any prize, including, but not limited to, its quality or fitness for a particular purpose. By accepting a prize, winners agree to the use of their names for promotional purposes without additional compensation except where prohibited by law. Entries and all materials submitted therewith become the property of Sponsor and will not be returned. If any prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, the prize will be forfeited and awarded to an alternate winner.

BY DAVID HILL

isitors to baseball practice at Frostburg State University may see some strange sights that make them think they’re living in a time warp. In addition to batting practice and fungoes and pitching machines, they’ll see players tossing what look like small Hula Hoops back and forth. The hoops have weird spinning plastic balls of various colors attached, and the players toss them back and forth, trying to catch them by the ball of a specified color. At another time, visitors might see players stepping into the batting cage carrying hard-plastic bats with a flat hitting surface and a hole cut in the middle. The aim is to swing perfectly but make the ball go through the hole— that is, to make contact by not making contact. These drills may look strange, but there’s a method to them, says Frostburg State Head Baseball Coach Chris McKnight. It’s all part of vision training, which McKnight credits with helping keep his squad’s team batting average, year in and year out, among the top in NCAA Division III. “Mechanics are important, without a doubt,” McKnight says. “But if you can’t see the ball and you can’t concentrate on the ball, you can have the best mechanics in the world and you’re still not going to be a productive college hitter.” It’s the same halfway across the country in Iola, Kan., at Allen County Community College. There, vision-training drills comprise one of the half-dozen hitting stations players go to at each practice. The techniques range from gazing at a specially printed card until a three-dimensional image emerges, to an electronic batting helmet that punishes players who turn their heads while taking their cuts. Head Coach Valis McLean swears by vision training. “It’s something I’ve been involved in since I started coaching 25 years ago,” McLean says. “I think it’s as important as swinging a bat 200 times a day.” Should you incorporate vision training into your program? Chances are you

COACHIING MANAGEMENT

already do, in some fashion. Any handeye coordination drill is, in a sense, vision training. Many elite-level programs have used vision training for years; it was part of the famous Kansas City Royals baseball school that helped the franchise to its late-1970s heyday. But in the past five years or so, a plethora of new products and services have hit the market. And vision training is not just for hitters anymore—coaches, optometrists, and others say fielders and pitchers can benefit, too, and that it may even help players in the classroom. Could it be time for you to join the trend? Or, if you already have, to give your vision-training regimen a boost? In this article, we’ll explore recent developments in baseball vision training, and outline some of the basic concepts you need to make your decision. More than 20/20 When talk arises about improving vision, the first and natural reaction might be: “Well, I have some nearsighted players, but they have corrective lenses, so what’s the problem?” But there’s more to seeing well in sports than acing the eye chart on the wall. “That’s not really vision. [The concept of] 20/20 was developed in 1853 and that’s just where it belongs,” says Sue Lowe, DO, an optometrist in Laramie, Wyo., and Chair of the American Optometric Association’s Sports Vision Section. Lowe adds that while sports vision-training products have only recently begun to be advertised, the field dates back at least 75 years. “It’s all based upon the fact that vision is learned, just like walking and talking,” Lowe says. “And because vision is learned, it’s something that can be rehabilitated. If a person has a stroke and sees double, we can teach them to see single again. If a person has a head injury and loses half their vision, we can teach them what to do with what they have instead of letting them flounder around on their own.” Lowe says any athlete who’s struggling—a hitter who fouls off balls in one direction most of the time or consistently swings late or early, or a fielder who has inexplicable trouble with a par-

ticular type of ball hit at him—should have a thorough examination, preferably by a practitioner who’s board certified in sports vision. In addition to catching any problem that can be addressed with corrective lenses or treatment, this exam will create a baseline from which a vision therapy or enhancement program can be built. Think of a pyramid, Lowe says. At the base is eye health, including structural integrity and basic neurological function. If those are okay, there’s good input into the system. The next step consists of how well the eyes function— depth perception, fusing what each eye sees into one image, focusing precision and quickness, and the ability to fixate on an object and to follow it if it’s moving. Finally, there are perceptual skills and the integration of those skills—in other words, how the brain puts all the input together to actually see. This final component, the cap of the pyramid, may be understood more clearly if a malfunction is considered. In a cross-eyed person, the brain has to choose from two very distinctive images. If the condition is severe, the brain ignores one image and uses only the other. The same happens in less extreme cases, when the eyes don’t look at one spot at the same time. The brain’s ability to compensate for that works, but it may lead to poor depth perception—and, in baseball terms, trouble judging the speed of a pitch at the plate or a fly ball in the outfield. Full Perception There’s more to perception and integration than depth perception, however, and there’s more to vision training than bringing a deficiency up to par. Optometrists have helped train pilots who must judge distances in the sky or in space without the help of visible surroundings, Lowe says. Without trees, buildings, or other objects around to help suggest perspective to the brain, the only cue comes from focusing on the object itself. But with practice, pilots can learn to judge such distances quite David Hill is an Assistant Editor at Coaching Management.

COVER STORY

ALL EYES

Hoops, colored glasses, and computer-based exercises are just some of the methods athletes are successfully using to improve their vision.

ON DECK Frostsburg State players are shown practicing vision-training drills, which Head Coach Chris McKnight credits for contributing to the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s league leading batting average. PHOTO BY MARK SIMONS/FSU.

COACHIING MANAGEMENT

COVER STORY

well, she says, because it’s a teachable skill. They learn to rely on other inputs that aren’t normally tapped. “When something’s coming at them out there in space they have to rely wholly on vision information from the focal system, what they used to call the central system, and not so much on the ambient system, because it’s all empty space,” Lowe says. “It’s like pop flies,

which are totally different from line drives or ground balls. With a ground ball, you’ve got so much more background, you’ve got so many more clues as to how fast it’s coming, when it’s coming, where it’s coming. With a pop fly, depending on whether it’s day or night and where the lights and distractions are, it can be different.” Therapy and enhancement begin by

THE AIR FORCE PROGRAM

t’s one thing to improve your vision for hitting a change-up or handling a rightat-you line drive. It’s another matter altogether when you’re trying to get better at telling enemy jets from friendly planes on the horizon. “The generals who come down here think all our cadets should be doing this,” says Lt. Col. Mike Zupan, Director of the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Human Performance Laboratory. “But we just don’t have the money.” Baseball players at Air Force, along with athletes from most other sports, engage in a program of 10 vision-training exercises three days a week. It takes 30 to 35 minutes at first, but once the athletes learn the exercises, the routine typically takes about 20 minutes, Zupan says. The exercises are conducted after baseball workouts because they tire the eyes, which can diminish performance at practice, he adds. First-year athletes’ vision is tested to establish a baseline and determine their needs. After that, they begin the program. Here are main vision skills the program addresses: ■ Convergence and divergence: Athletes look through prism devices that cause images to appear out of focus. “When their eyes are converging,” says Zupan, “the images are crossed over each other so you have to relax your eyes to bring them back together. In the other exercise, the images are apart and you have to bring them to the center.”

The accommodative process: Players must quickly alternate between letters printed on a paper 20 feet away and fine print held about six inches away. “Your eyes are going through kind of a weight-training program where they’re contracting and relaxing the lens,” Zupan says. “If they’re in the outfield and the ball’s coming at them, their eyes can track it better because their lenses are responding better.”

■

Circle No. 12

COACHIING MANAGEMENT

■ Hand-eye coordination: Players stand before a poster-sized board and touch the 120 red lighted dots that are programmed to appear at random. “If we put them through a pre-test and find the upper-right quadrant of their vision is the slowest, we can program the board to emphasize the upperright quadrant,” Zupan says. The drill can be enhanced to build concentration by instructing players to not touch any dots when a green dot in the middle of the board lights up. “It’s like when you see that slider coming and you’re not going to swing at it because it’s headed out of the strike zone,” Zupan says. “Freshmen will come in and might be getting five or six penalties. They’re so focused on those red dots coming up that they lose focus on the central dot. What we want them to do is refocus on that central dot and still be able to hit those red dots.” ■ Tachistoscopic vision: A device flashes images for two seconds to a hundredth of a second, and players must write down what they saw. Another machine resembles a record player turned on its side, with letters attached with Velcro. As the “record” spins faster and faster, players must learn to concentrate to find the letters.

Zupan says there’s no hard proof that the vision training has resulted in better in-game performance, but that after a year in the program, Air Force led the NCAA in batting average. The baseline testing has consistently shown that better athletes have better vision, and that the exercises improve athletes’ scores on later tests, Zupan says. “We can’t say that by doing sports-vision training your batting average is going to go up by .2 points or anything like that. But they are quicker in the lab, their eyes are responding better, and they’ve got better eye-hand coordination, quicker reflexes, and better peripheral vision. So we’re saying that it is helping them; we don’t know how much.”

COVER STORY

loading the system, Lowe says. It’s like weight training—you load the muscle or muscle groups, which then adapt to the added demand. The muscle or musclegroups become stronger when the load is removed. In vision training, the adaptation may be in the eye muscles, but it will more likely be in the brain. Harvey Ratner, a Silver Spring, Md., tennis coach who has worked extensively with baseball teams and other athletes to develop their sports-vision skills, imposes an adaptation designed to test and improve how well athletes’ eyes work together, which can affect the ability to track a moving ball as well as depth perception. He has batters don glasses with a green lens and a red lens, and then fires red and green balls at them from a pitching machine. Many players report that they start out seeing, say, the green ball just fine, but then it suddenly turns black and virtually disappears. It happens, Ratner says, because each color of the spectrum can be canceled out by its opposite. Red and greens are opposites in this way, so that a green ball can’t be seen, at least not effectively, through a red lens. When the player sees a green ball only through the green lens—through only one eye—he has a problem following it and making contact. “When the batter says it changed and became black, that indicates both eyes weren’t seeing the ball all the way on its track,” Ratner says. “Their eyes have to work together to keep the ball the same color.” With training, players learn to see with both eyes and can hit with the Christmas-colored glasses on.

Circle No. 13

See Fast, See Depth Depth perception may be affected by the eyes not working together. And that can lead to other baseball-specific problems, particularly the inability to recognize a change of speed on pitches, says Bill Harrison, OD, a former college player and current Southern California optometrist and founder of the sports vision company Performance Fundamentals. “The brain tends to pay attention to both eyes at least as far as peripheral vision,” Harrison says, “but when both eyes are seeing the same thing, the brain will tend to use one eye or the other. And when that happens, depth perception is reduced dramatically. “Let’s say, for example,” continues Harrison, “you have two lamps with light Circle No. 14 COACHIING MANAGEMENT

COVER STORY

bulbs capable of 100 watts. You want them both working at 100 watts. The tendency for the brain is to say, ‘Ah, heck, let’s let this other one fade out at 70 watts,’ and to ignore it. When that happens, people see clearly, but they lose the sense of being able to read velocity because the depth perception is reduced. The simplistic goal of the training is to get both eyes working at 100 watts. When that happens, depth perception improves, and when depth perception improves, so does the ability to see change of velocity.” Loading the system can take other forms. Harry Seiller, a Chicago optometrist and consultant to several Olympic and national teams, and director of the sports vision program at Georgia Tech’s Human Performance Center, has created software that, among other things, flashes arrows on a computer screen and requires the user to press the keyboard arrow keys or respond with a video-game joystick. This trains tachistoscopic vision, the ability to respond to images seen for a very short time. The obvious applica-

tion to baseball is learning to read a pitch in the fraction of a second available to a batter. Many techniques use images flashed on a wall for a fraction of a second, or place batters before a pitching machine in a darkened cage lighted with a strobe. Harrison advocates gradually moving a pitching machine closer and closer. When a batter returns to 60 feet, six inches, he’ll feel as though he has an eternity to read a pitch. Focus & Visualization In addition to the skills of seeing, another component of vision training is concentration, or the ability to shut out distractions. One part of the natural biological fight-or-flight response humans experience when threatened, Lowe says, is that the brain ignores peripheral vision in order to focus on the threat straight ahead. With practice, this ability can be called on at will. In tests, Ted Williams was able to tell the number painted on balls pitched to him, and with training, lesser athletes

can learn to laser-beam in when appropriate, such as on a pitched ball. “We say, ‘When you look at the golf ball to hit it, I don’t want you to look at the dimple on the ball,’” says Lowe. “‘I don’t even want you to look at the middle of the dimple on the ball. I want you to look at the middle of the middle of the dimple on the ball.’ The smaller the point that you look at, the more accurate your fixation, focusing, following, and fusion will be. When you look at the baseball in the pitcher’s hand, you don’t look at the ball; you look at the stitches or the print.” Finally, some forms of vision training bypass the eyes altogether in favor of the mind. Lee Yeager, Head Baseball Coach at Mary Carroll High School in Corpus Christi, Texas, has a set of preseason and in-season vision-training drills that work on focus, eye coordination, quickened reaction time, and depth perception. But his seniors have told him that visualization is most effective. “We teach them to imagine success,” Yeager says. “If you get a 3-1 fastball

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Circle No. 15

COACHIING MANAGEMENT

COVER STORY

EXERCISES FOR THE EYES

everal companies now offer computer-based or video-based vision training aids. Some kits come with colored glasses or low-tech devices like beads and string that train for depth perception and eye coordination.

In some programs, a computer-linked projector flashes numbers on a wall or images of a baseball in various locations on a screen in fractions of a second, and the player must identify the number or location. Other companies offer middle-ground approaches, such as the Hula Hoop-like devices used at Frostburg State University (see main story). Some versions are designed for entire teams working at a campus work station, and others may be used individually at home. But cost can be a factor for many programs, so coaches turn to less technical drills. “The things that we do just kind of break the monotony of being indoors,” says Chris McKnight, Head Baseball Coach at Frostburg State. “You can take them on the road with you, too. Before games, we bring the rings with us and just do the drills when the other team’s taking batting practice. We’ll get the guys on the other side of the dugout and we’ll do some tosses with the rings.” Here are some other possibilities: Place balls painted various colors in a batting practice bin and have hitters either identify what color they saw or hit, or to hit only a certain color, or hit balls painted a particular color in a specified direction.

■

A pitcher goes through his motion at regular speed but does not throw a ball. Instead, he holds up one, two, three, or no fingers, and hitters have to say how many fingers they saw.

■

A sheet of paper with numbers written on it in no uniform manner, and sideways or upside down or backwards, is flashed

before a hitter, who must read them while being timed. A teammate holds a straw horizontally and an arm’s length away from a seated player, who, while looking at the straw, must insert a toothpick into the straw. The same thing can be done with two ballpoint pens: You insert the point of one into the closed end of the other.

■

■ Players stare at a specially produced card until a three-dimensional image emerges. The cards are like those printed in many Sunday newspaper comics pages. When this is mastered, the card is moved and the player must maintain the 3-D image. “You have to train the eyes to do that, and you have to concentrate,” says Valis McLean, Head Baseball Coach at Allen County Community College, in Iola, Kan. “You can cross your eyes or you can put your index finger in front of your nose and move your gaze gradually toward the paper. It’s hard, but then your eyes are trained to work together.” McLean gets the images from Performance Fundamentals, a California company founded by sportsvision optometrist Dr. Bill Harrison, OD.

Move a pitching machine at full speed gradually closer to batters, starting at 55 feet, then 50. You may wish to start with bunting. Some coaches don’t like this drill, however, as they believe it may simply train reflexes without addressing see-andreact time. McLean, instead, keeps the machine set at full speed but moves it back to 70 feet. “It forces you into timing. It’s still high heat, but you must track and time it.”

■

To improve hand-eye coordination while under stress or in motion, learn to catch and toss a bean bag while bouncing on a trampoline, then to a metronome or other source of a steady beat, and then, to practice shutting out distractions, to taped game noise.

■

On the Web:

■ Toss balls at a batter from behind him and require him to hit them into a wall or net.

American Optometric Association Sports Vision Section: www.aoanet.org/conditions/sports_vision.asp

■

Dr. Bill Harrison: www.performancefundamentals.com

■

Dr. Harry Seiller: www.vizualedge.com

down the middle, what will you do with it? We tell them that when you get up there, it might be the first time you’ve actually done it in a game, but you’ve done it thousands of times in your mind before.” McLean, who has a PhD in counseling, believes one of his most effective techniques is teaching relaxation, mental focus, visualization, concentration, and confidence. His players take a class he teaches in sports psychology, and he also provides instructions on cassette for use back in their dorm rooms. While they work on their relaxation and visualization, they’re also taught to practice various eye movements. “I consider vision training and sports psychology to go hand in hand,” McLean says. Part of the Program Whether part of a sports psychology program or simply a rainy-day alternative to outside practice, vision training is changing how some coaches teach the game. “The ‘see it and hit it’ idea is not valid,” says Ratner. “You see it, you identify it, and then you decide what you’re going to do to it. The brain is the integral part of hitting, throwing, and catching.” Seiller says 77 percent of Georgia Tech athletes who went through the vision-training program reported an improvement in their sport performance—and 88 percent reported better academic performance. “They say, ‘I can take notes better because I’m looking at the board and I’m looking at my notes at the same time.’” Skeptics remain, Harrison notes, but that has less to do with vision training itself than with the nature of science, with its emphasis on controlling for variables, and sport, with its innumerable variables. “Doctors are trained to look for the double-blinded studies,” he says. “But the reality is, in sport, it’s pretty hard to prove.” And even though most coaches are probably only touching the surface, McLean predicts vision training will someday become nearly universal in baseball. “I don’t think there are a lot of people doing this stuff,” he says. “It’s kind of like a new frontier. But 30 years ago, nobody used weights for baseball. My team is often in the top 20 nationally for hitting. I know we’re doing something right.” ■

COACHIING MANAGEMENT

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Training Tips Coaching Management and Power Systems have teamed up to provide you with the following baseball training tips from the nationally recognized strength & conditioning specialist Vern Gambetta, president of Gambetta Sports Training Systems. Note: This is a version of an article that appeared in the Preseason 2000 issue of Coaching Management Baseball. That article can be accessed by going to our athleticbid.com website and typing in the keywords “fast path”.

Speed Training for Baseball by Vern Gambetta Gambetta Sports Training Systems Baseball is a speed game of quick starts and quick stops. The components of speed are straight-ahead speed, lateral speed, and agility. The greatest distance that is run in a straight line in baseball is from home to first; therefore, there must be a balance in speed development with more emphasis on lateral speed and agility. Each position in baseball has unique movement demands that can be effectively trained. Speed can be significantly improved through proper drills, manipulation of the workload, and evaluation of the individual player’s strengths and weaknesses relative to his position. Using the Wheel Principle Lateral Speed and Agility (LSA) is the ability to react to the proper stimulus, start quickly, move in the correct direction, change direction if necessary, and stop quickly to make the play. All lateral speed and agility training is based on the "Wheel 6 Principle." Think of the player as the 5 4 hub of the wheel with eight 3 spokes coming out from the 8 center. Spoke 1 is 12 2 1 o’clock, and the spokes move clockwise from there. These 8 spokes define the eight different possible directions of movement he may go in. The idea is to train the player in those directions he will be moving in the most during competition. Starting with the catcher and pitcher, moving out to the first and third basemen, then to the middleinfielders and then to the outfield, the range of movement need for each position increases proportionally. The purpose of the wheel drill is: 1) teach correct mechanics of the stance and first step; 2) develop functional strength in the legs at the correct angles required by the respective positions; and 3) teach correct stopping mechanics. Baseball Wheel Drill Procedure - Beginning - First Step 1) Start with correct stance with the hands and arms in the appropriate position. 2) Step out low and fast, holding that position for a three count. Return to the starting position. Stay low when returning to the starting position. 3) Repeat two times at each spoke of the wheel. Procedure - Advanced - Wheel Drill Extended 1) Start with correct stance with the hands and arms in the appropriate position. 2) Start by driving out low and fast for three steps, then progress to five steps and break down into a fielding position, and hold for a three count. 3) Walk back to the starting position and repeat. 4) Add a ball.** 5) Add reaction to the ball.** ** Do not progress to step four and five until the previous steps are mastered.

Position Specific Emphasis Catchers - Start in a catching stance. Simulate throwing off the mask on spokes 4, 5, and 6 for pop fly situations. Spokes 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8 for blocking ball situations. Middle Infield – Emphasize spokes 3, 7, 1, 2, and 8 in that order. First Base - Emphasize spokes 1, 3, 7, and 6 in that order. Third Base - Emphasize spokes 1, 7, 3, and 4 in that order. Outfield - Emphasize spokes 4, 5, 6, and 1 in that order. Other Speed-Training Drills The following are some specific activities to help to improve speed: Jump Rope – This is an oldie-but-goody and is still very effective. A basic routine that the player can use daily as part of a warm-up is: double leg jumps, stride jumps, crossover jumps, single leg jumps, and finish with combinations. You can do these in a series with a prescribed number of jumps for each exercise, or for a set time period for each exercise. Speed Ladder - This is a great footwork tool where the player is challenged and rewarded by correct technique. The emphasis should be on getting the feet 7 back down to the ground quickly. Time in the air is time wasted! This will make your infielders a step quicker. Ball Drop - Use a ball. The partner stands arm’s distance away. The partner drops the ball from head height. The player executing the drill must react and catch the ball before the second bounce. Make the drill more difficult by lowering the distance of the drop or moving the partner farther away. Reaction Ball - This is a small rubber ball with round protrusions that cause the ball to take unpredictable bounces. An athlete can work solo against a wall or with a partner. It is very challenging! Harness - Harness resistance emphasizes back-side mechanics, which is the pushing or driving phase of acceleration – this phase in baseball is six to eight strides. Using the Harness resistance training will help players cut down their time running to first base, and in base-running situations. Parachute – This is a great tool for improving running posture and arm action. It will help players improve their ability to shift from the driving/pushing phase of running into a position where their hips are under them. When you are designing a program, choose three to five drills daily. Have a specific objective for each of the drills relative to the specific player’s strengths and weaknesses. Speed work should be done when the athlete is fresh to obtain optimum results. The total time devoted to speed development should be about 15 to 20 minutes per day. Be sure to allow enough rest between drills so that quality is maintained. In the beginning stages, technique is more important that speed. Organizationally, it is best to alternate emphasis so that one day you emphasize straight-ahead speed, and the next time you emphasize lateral speed and agility.

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PROMOTION Area youths flock to the University of Portland’s Hitting Camp to learn the proper mechanics of swinging a bat.

Calling All Kids! STEVE GIBBONS

BY JIM CATALANO

In the highly competitive world of baseball camps, college coaches find new ways to promote their programs.

ust about every college or university baseball coach runs a camp or clinic. But even the beststaffed and the most-organized camps can’t be a success without the key ingredient: kids. “We run several clinics throughout the year, and we’ll have more than 500 kids pass through,” says LeMoyne College Head Coach Steve Owens. “It provides a good service to our community. It provides revenue to help

us fund things in our program that the budget doesn’t cover. And it also helps with future recruiting—we’ve had a lot of campers eventually play for LeMoyne.” But those kids won’t come to your camp or clinic in the first place unless they know about it. So what are the best ways to promote your camps to ensure a Jim Catalano is an Associate Editor at Coaching Management.

COACHING MANAGEMENT

PROMOTION

full-capacity attendance each year? Several college coaches relate what has worked particularly well for them. Building Word of Mouth Many coaches who run camps agree that word of mouth has proven to be the most successful means of promotion. But how do you help build that word of mouth? Besides keeping a database of previous attendees and sending out regular mailings to keep them notified, many coaches also target high schools by sending out brochures, posters, and registration forms. “I don’t spend a whole lot of money on advertising,” says Connors State Head Coach Perry Keith. “I have a mail-

postage costs and decrease response time to queries. Web sites can offer lots of information, too—everything from schedules and biographies of staffers to downloadable application forms. “The Internet has been a big help to us,” says East Stroudsburg Head Coach Roger Barren. “We can respond to inquiries much more quickly, and it also saves us time and expense. I don’t think it will ever replace mail, but it’s certainly supplementing it tremendously.” Fox has seen similar benefits. “We’re able to publicize our camp on tarheelblue.com, the university’s main sports Web site,” he says. “We’ve really cut down on our mailing costs. Since we put our summer camp application on the

“I could promote this and ask Troy to come out, but I don’t think that’s what camp is all about. I’ll ask him to come by and say hi to the kids, and Phil Nevin and Mark Kotsay do the same when they’re at home. But that’s just an extra perk for the kids.” That’s why many coaches prefer to play up the benefits of collegiate baseball. “We promote college baseball and the academic side of it,” Fox says. “For our older campers we spend time on NCAA eligibility and the recruiting process, and how to determine what level they’re best suited for. We try to give the kids as much information as we can.” Barren also promotes the camp’s link to college baseball. “We tell them after

“We have 20 leagues in the area, and they’re always looking to do fund-raisers. So we donate a camp session to each league, and they use it as an auction item or promotional giveaway. That’s been a huge way of getting notice.” ing list and I send out fliers to every high school in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Southern Missouri. I also send fliers so we can get listed in the bulletin-board sections of newspapers’ sports pages.” Jim Sherman, Head Coach at the University of Delaware, also relies on the radio to build the buzz. “I have a talk show on the local radio station, so we put blurbs about our camps on there,” he says. University of North Carolina Head Coach Mike Fox invites high school teams and their coaches to attend TarHeel ball games. “We’ll send out a schedule to all the coaches in the state, telling them to come to our games and bring their teams,” he says. “After they’ve been on our campus and seen our facilities up close, we hope they’ll encourage their best players to attend our camp.” Cal State Fullerton Assistant Coach Rick Vanderhook, who directs the Titan Baseball Camp, says he doesn’t print up brochures or try to recruit campers through high school coaches. Instead, he works with area Little Leagues. “We have 20 leagues in the area, and they’re always looking to do fund-raisers,” he says. “So we donate a camp session to each league, and they use it as an auction item or promotional giveaway. That’s been a huge way of getting notice.” Many coaches are also using the Internet. E-mail can help cut your 24

COACHING MANAGEMENT

Web site people don’t have to call in to leave their names and then wait for the brochure to be mailed to them.” Scott Connelly, former director of Arizona State’s baseball camps and founder of a new Web service called CollegeBaseballCamps.com, notes that the Web can allow camps to draw from a larger geographical area. “For example, Arizona State’s winter camp has seen a wider scope of applicants, ranging from Texas to Illinois to Louisiana,” he says. “It’s all because the Internet makes it easier to get information.” Standing Out Once your camp’s presence is known, it’s important to establish some selling points to help it stand out from the crowd. At Connors State, Keith plays up that pro scouts attend the camp. “Scouts can talk to kids about what they would look for, as opposed to what a good college or high school player is,” he says. “They can tell kids what tools are needed at the pro level. It also provides a setting where kids can put a face to the name of a pro scout versus when they just show up to watch high school games and then leave without meeting the player.” Other coaches prefer not to overplay connections to professional baseball. “The Angels’ Troy Glaus works out at our place all winter,” Vanderhook says.

we put them through the workouts, we’ll be glad to pass along that information to other colleges if they want,” he says. “I’ve already gotten a few calls from other colleges interested in one of our campers. He’s not going to come to East Stroudsburg, but that’s okay—we don’t need everyone to come here.” Fox agrees that being seen by college coaches is important to campers. “That’s what drives the majority of them, especially in older kids such as ninth through 12th graders,” he says. “Most of us now are having what we call our showcase camps or skills camps, where we’re basically telling kids they can come on our campus for several days and get looked at by coaches. That’s big for a lot of kids.” Parents to Please Once you’ve sold the kids on your camp, you’ve also got to convince their parents. Many of them want assurance that the camp will be a safe and educational experience for their children. “We try to put a lot of that stuff on our Web site, especially regarding safety and housing arrangements,” Fox says. “Parents also want to know about the quality of the instruction and the camper-to-counselor ratio,” he continues. For example, his camp’s Web site states, “We make every effort to have an excellent camper-to-counselor ratio.

PROMOTION

This ensures quality instruction and individual attention.” Many camps also list the credentials of camp instructors in their brochures and on their Web sites. Sherman says parents want to know the backgrounds of the counselors who are working with the kids, and how closely the children are supervised. “We tell them our camp is pretty well contained, so kids can’t just wander away without anyone knowing,” he says. “We also stress that we have lifeguards for the kids during their mid-day swimming break and medical coverage for the entire camp.” Still, it’s important for parents to realize that the camp experience shouldn’t substitute for day care. “We always advertise our clinics as being for kids who want to get better at the game,” says Owens. “We try to prevent people from dropping off their kids here as a baby-sitting service. We tell parents, ‘We’re going to work them hard, and if they want to get better at baseball, we’d love to have them and they’ll benefit from the experience. But if you just want to

get them out of the house for the day, it’s not the place to come.” Owens encourages parents, especially of younger kids, to come to LeMoyne’s clinics. “They’re allowed to follow the kids from station to station,” he says. “It’s important that the parents see what their kids are being taught, so they can help them after the clinic is over. I also try to answer all the parents’ questions, which can range from specific ones, like ‘How do you throw a two-seam fastball?’ to general ones like ‘What kind of glove should I get my kid?’” Barren also takes a similarly proactive approach with parents. “We tell them in advance what we plan to do, and that they are very welcome to watch everything we do in camp,” he says. “I also tell them if there’s anything they’re not satisfied with, to speak to me immediately. If we can’t rectify the issue, we will refund any money they’ve paid, because we want them to be pleased.” Return Trips Of all the ways to promote your

camp, though, coaches say the best way is to make it a great experience so that kids want to come back. “We probably retain 80 percent of our kids from year to year,” says Vanderhook. “They bring a new group of kids with them and it helps us to grow. That’s really important to us since we’re based in Southern California, and there are a huge number of camps to compete with.” Fox agrees that customer satisfaction is an important factor in building buzz. “That’s why it’s important to give the kids a good experience,” he says. “Then they’ll go back and spread the word, talk up the camp. If you start with the younger ones, that spreads throughout middle school. We’ve had kids who have come all the four years since I’ve been here at North Carolina.” Owens stresses making sure the youngest kids have a good time. “We really focus on the 8-12 year-olds, which is the key,” he says. “They’re the ones who will continue to come back if they have a good experience.” Giving them that good experience

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Circle No. 18 COACHING MANAGEMENT

PROMOTION

entails many factors, but starts with a high counselor-to-camper ratio. “One thing we’re really noted for here is individual attention,” Barren says. “We keep our camps at a size where we can give a lot of one-on-one instruction. If I have more campers sign up, then I bring in more counselors. We’ve never looked to bring in as much money with the camp as we can. The indoor facility we use for our winter camps can hold more than 100, but we keep it to 60 and break them down into five groups of 12. That way, they get a lot of hands-on instruction and repetition, and they’re never just hanging out or off playing by themselves.” “Don’t bite off more than you can chew,” Fox advises. “The most kids we take is 65 to 75 at a time, which is enough. Some camps take in hundreds of kids and bus them from site to site—that’s okay for some sports, but in baseball there’s only one guy at a time at home plate, so you can’t effectively accommodate mass numbers.” Vanderhook also hires a lot of coaches and players to staff Fullerton’s camp.

“We probably overspend by hiring people to make the camp better for the kids and make it more efficient and easier to run,” he says. “We’ve doubled our enrollment in the last six years, but that’s as far as we’re going to go.” Owens says that he tries to keep things moving quickly at his camps and clinics. “I know that kids, even college kids, do not want to listen for long,” he says. “So we’ve structured our clinics to have a lot of participation with feedback given during the repetitions, as opposed to a group sitting down inactive for half an hour and then doing five repetitions. We’ve always done it that way—short segments that cover lots of different things.” Structuring your camp with ageappropriate activities is very important, especially when dealing with younger campers. “You have to balance the amount of instruction with games and other fun activities,” says University of Portland Head Coach Chris Sperry. “Those little ones have to be entertained.”

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Sherman agrees that it’s important to offer an enjoyable and fun environment. “You want to turn kids on, not off, to baseball,” he says. “So you want to make it a lot of fun rather than a boot camp type of setting. “We always have a swimming break in the middle of the day, which is appreciated since it’s usually in the mid-90s here during the summer,” Sherman continues. “It’s funny that when you ask young kids what the best part of the camp was, they’ll say the swimming. For me, that tells you that they’re kids at heart and they just like to have fun. They’re so regimented at school and on the home front, it’s important to have fun with them when they’re here.” The rewards of running a successful camp or clinic are often immediate— you can tell by the smiles on the kids’ faces when you’re doing things right. “Baseball is a sport where kids can have fun practicing it,” Owens says. “If you can help kids to do something just a little bit better, you can see how excited they get about the game.” ■

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Circle No. 21

GOAL SETTING

Reaching For The Top

C ROB BARBER

In the coaching profession, continual growth and achievement depends on setting goals. A veteran coach outlines steps for success. oaching can be an immensely satisfying profession, particularly today. With more extracurricular options for students, increased academic demands, and a greater need to channel energy in a positive direction, the importance of coaches in shaping young people increases with each passing year. But coaching, like a lot of things, is an activity of love and, over time, the luster that drew us to it can wear off. Coaching is like a marriage: It can be the most beautiful experience in the world, or it can sour and create a lot of heartache and hurt. Like a marriage,

coaching requires continual hard work and the desire to improve while maintaining flexibility and adaptability. This is especially true when things beyond our control build to create a negative situation and force us to ask ourselves why we do it. How do we maintain the enthusiasm and motivation to keep coaching? No matter how long you’ve been coaching, the best way to maintain your motivation is to have goals. Enjoying coaching—and doing it effectively— requires always striving to improve. This means making a serious, critical, and introspective analysis of your objectives—what areas need to improve, and what is a plan of action to strengthen

BY LEM ELWAY

those areas? You must know where you’re going, where you want to be, and how you are going to get there. The Big Picture At the center of this self-inventory process are your goals. Goals are like the rudder on a boat in that they keep you moving in the right direction. Even if your athletic director does not require you to submit yearly goals, you should develop them yourself. It is imperative that the goals are written down on paper, expressed in Lem Elway is the Head Baseball Coach at Anacortes (Wash.) High School and a member of the Washington State Coaches Hall of Fame.

COACHING MANAGEMENT

GOAL SETTING

positive terms, and framed in measureable ways. They can involve professional or personal goals, or both. For example, does your coaching style need to be adjusted? Does the content of your tryouts need to be revised? It’s also imperative to come up with a plan to ensure you evaluate whether you are reaching your goals. For some coaches, this means asking a mentor or administrator to sit down at specified dates to review the goals, while others take time to reflect as a solitary activity. To start the evaluation process, ask yourself the following four basic questions: Why do I coach? To keep ourselves motivated, we need to keep reminding ourselves why we are in coaching. The answer to “why do I coach?” will be a very individual one, of course, but it’s important to know what parts of the job give us satisfaction. Some thoughts: ■ To give back to the game that gave you so much. ■ There are not too many experiences in life where you can spend time with so many people focused on a competitive goal. ■ Camaraderie with people you might not otherwise get to know. ■ The emotions of competition. ■ Getting to know kids out of class and watching them grow and mature. ■ Being able to make a difference in people’s lives—seeing your players turn into productive members of society when they leave. ■ Success of a program through hard work. How do I define success? Success is a relative term depending on your situation and expectations. And it can mean different things to different people. For some, success can mean taking a group of diverse students and teaching them how to be a team. For others, it’s winning the league championship. For most coaches, though, success is a blend of teaching the lessons of sport and winning on the field. The key is figuring out what is most important to you. One way to think about this is to ask yourself, “When I’m gone from the game, how do I want to be remembered?” What is my coaching philosophy? It may initially seem easy, but one of the hardest things to establish and revise on a regular basis is your coach30

COACHING MANAGEMENT

ing philosophy. Your investigation can go as far as you want it to. But it must take you beyond coaching “in the moment” and identify those long-range benefits you expect your players to take with them into the world. Start by looking at how you answered the previous two questions. Your philosophy needs to be personal to you, and it must be an honest and true reflection of why you coach and how you define success. As an example, my philosophy goes something like this: I want to be able to take our players where they would not be able to take themselves while at the same time teaching them successful attitudes, team chemistry, character values, how to deal with adversity, goal setting, and the value of a work ethic. Your philosophy can (and probably should) change as you grow and change—I know mine certainly has. As I have become more experienced, my philosophy has become more about teaching long-term lessons. I still love to win (and I still hate to lose!), but I’ve found that the bigger lessons and values need to be paramount. What is my commitment? From the outside, coaching looks like an easy thing to do. And for those who don’t do a very good job, it is. But the commitment to doing this job the right way can be overwhelming at times. It’s a commitment of time, energy, and emotions—all at the same time—and an endless, continual development of coaching techniques and knowledge of the game. In a lot of cases, coaching the “game” —teaching the sport and managing a team during competition—is the most refreshing part of the job, because the peripheral issues such as logistics and players’ personal issues are so time-consuming. But these aspects of coaching will help define your success and can’t be thought of as asides. It’s critical to think about your commitment to the energy and time it takes to cover all the bases of coaching when you evaluate yourself and your future. After answering these four questions, take some time to figure out if your answers mesh with where you are now and where you are going in your career. For example, if you define success differently than the student-athletes on your team, you may be heading down the wrong road. At the high school level,

most boys and girls say the reasons they go out for sports are: 1) for fun; 2) to improve skills; and 3) to stay in shape. Is that something you can accept and can incorporate into your objectives? If you’re working at a college or university, do your ideas about athletics mesh with the institution’s objectives for its sports programs? Another example: does your time commitment match the expectations of the athletes and parents? If you don’t have time to chat with a parent on the phone because of family commitments and grading papers, maybe you shouldn’t be a head coach. Maybe being an assistant coach is best until you have more time. Or maybe coaching at a school with lesser expectations is the right choice. The Smaller Picture If you find that, overall, you are heading in the right direction—you can define your big-picture goals and they fit your current situation—the next step is to think about evaluating yourself more specifically. What are the small things you need to work on? Here are some areas to think about: Organizational Skills: This is a critical area that leads to success or failure, and it requires maximum effort. The key to organizational success is plan-

WHY SET GOALS?

ll successful coaches need to evaluate themselves and their programs, but sometimes that isn’t easy to do. Remember these positives if goal-setting seems overwhelming: ■

When goals are achieved, they give us personal satisfaction.

■

They give direction and purpose and help us grow.

■

They help us win at things we can control.

■

Goals give us the courage to try new things.

■

They allow us a mechanism to be open to criticism and help us see our short-comings.

■

They help us realize it is okay to fail because we can learn from the experience.

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GOAL SETTING

ning and scheduling. All possible tasks involved with the program must be written down and put into a timeline. In- and out-of-season activities associ-

The following is my checklist of the basic duties of a good coach:

■

Responsibilities: ■

Provide leadership, guidance, and supervision to players.

■

Attend activities to improve coaching knowledge and coaching performance.

■

Be diligent in the purchase, issue, collection, storage, and inventory of equipment and budget preparation. Cooperate with others using your facilities. Understand and follow rules and regulations set forth by state, league, school board, and school agencies.

■

ated with the program must be planned and communicated. This includes practices being organized for skill development and a schedule that allows player

Participate and encourage parent nights, award banquets, and pep assemblies. Write letters for interested college-bound players. Set up lines of communication between parents throughout the year. Form a partnership with the athletic director.

■

Maintain team discipline and control.

■

Be knowledgeable about the sport.

■

Develop lines of communication between sports and solicit other coaches’ input.

■

Make sure your facilities are maintained.

Performance:

■

Develop respect by example —appearance, manners and behavior, on and off the field. Provide adequate supervision at all times.

improvement to occur in a logical, positive direction. The little things—bus schedules, academic concerns, equipment ordering—

■

Be compassionate, patient, and understanding with players. Provide leadership skills and motivation for players and the program. Improve knowledge of first aid and injury policies with medical personnel servicing the community. Teach decision-making skills and the value of athletics.

THE BASICS ■

Be accountable for your team’s performance.

Relationships: ■

Be cooperative with other schools and their coaches.

■

Exhibit enthusiasm about coaching.

■

Cooperate with groups related to athletic programs.

■

Encourage athletes to participate in other sports.

■

Develop good relations with other coaches, teachers, and administrators.

■

Be receptive to suggestions.

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Circle No. 24

GOAL SETTING

must also receive the necessary attention. You will develop trust and a following much more quickly if your athletes, their parents, and administrators have the perception that all the details are taken care of. Instructional Skills: This is a multifaceted task that requires learning the complexities of the game you coach, keeping abreast of new ideas within the game, taking a look at new and different teaching techniques, and perfecting your motivational skills. You need to continually analyze whether your athletes are learning the skills of the game in the most effective and efficient way possible. Leadership: In general, being a leader means having self confidence, demanding goals, good habits, and a positive outlook. It also entails making decisions that are best for everyone rather than just a few. More thoughts: ■ Do whatever it takes to do things right. ■ Always strive to improve. ■ You need to give respect to get it. ■ Stress the positive and eliminate the negative. ■ Be optimistic. ■ Understand the feelings of others. ■ Keep control of your emotions in all situations. Being a leader also means being open to a changing culture. You need to realize players come to your program with different attitudes, goals, and objectives then they did five or 10 years ago. The ability to listen, to be understanding and caring, and to change with the times is imperative when dealing with the young people of today. I believe that rules must be made and expectations spelled out, but each situation that arises with a student-athlete needs to be resolved on its own facts. One point to remember: being compassionate doesn’t mean you lower your expectations of players. It just means the lines of communication are open and you are approachable. Gametime Skills: As simple as it sounds, the key to success in competition is planning. In sports, if anything good is going to happen, preparation must come first. It’s amazing how “lucky” a team is when it is prepared. A good coach will focus on skill and mental development during practices, then at gametime will let the athletes perform. This involves making sure

your team isn’t surprised by anything the other team might do, which allows your athletes to play relaxed and to the best of their ability. And you should prepare yourself for the game in the same way. In your mind, put each player in every possible game situation and anticipate what you are going to do—then you are mentally ready to make the best decision because you’ve anticipated that situation. Your ability to make these quick decisions will be the difference in the outcome of big games.

The most important role of the coach on game day, though, is to be the leader and make sure everything stays under control. The coach should convey the proper state of mind and must remain under control in negative and positive conditions. A Role Model: Every day you must make decisions that may not be popular, but are the right thing to do. These decisions can make a mark on everyone for years to come, so they need to be done with the utmost professionalism

Circle No. 25

COACHING MANAGEMENT

GOAL SETTING

and deliberation. Some players might not figure out the importance of these decisions until a few years later, but that doesn’t mean you stop teaching the lessons. Communication Skills: As a coach, the ability to know when to talk and when to listen can be critical. Some lessons to become an effective listener: ■ Maintain eye contact with the person who is talking. ■ Don’t interrupt. ■ Don’t change the subject. ■ Be responsive verbally and nonverbally. ■ Ask questions. People Skills: From public relations to communication with parents to fundraising activities, more and more of coaching involves interaction with people other than players. People skills can be a big asset when trying to incorporate many different opportunities into your program. These skills will be seen as leadership ability by others. Thus, it is important to understand people, be creative, realize

you need to continue to change and improve, and not waver on tough decisions that need to be made. Getting There After thinking about your organizational, instructional, leadership, gametime, communication, and people skills, you will need to formulate goals and develop a plan for achieving them. To start the process, sometimes it helps to get the feedback of others involved in the program. Ideally, your athletic director will be giving you an annual review, but you can also ask your assistant or j.v. coach and senior athletes to fill out a questionnaire about your performance. To formulate goals, have a game plan. Be aggressive in your thinking, but don’t try to take on too much at once. Just as you wouldn’t ask a player to learn three new pitches in three weeks of preseason practice, don’t try to perfect your people skills in one season. It often works well to have long-term goals and short-term goals. For example, maybe you want to develop better

communication skills with parents. Because this is a leadership goal, it cannot happen overnight. (Changing one’s style is a slower process than changing an organizational skill.) You might want to break that long-term goal into smaller targets, such as revamping your preseason parents’ meeting to make it more communicative or working harder on being a patient listener to parents. Other ways to achieve your goals include learning about coaching and teaching techniques, becoming more knowledgeable about your sport, and evolving yourself to be more effective during practice and games. Developing our coaching goals is not a simple or easy process, but I believe it is critical to staying motivated and giving our students the best experience possible. So, before the next season starts, take the time to think about how you define long-term success and analyze what you need to do to get there. Coaching is a time-consuming endeavor, but its rewards are matched by few other professions. ■

“This is the most innovative catchers mitt ever created” Gary Carter 11-Time All-Star Catcher

APM40 33.5" circumference pattern, Spiral-Lock web, open back, deep pocket, right hand throw only.

Slim-padding

Stress-Wedge

Spiral-Lock Web Finger-Hammocks

973-772-7669 • www.akademapro.com Circle No. 26

COACHING MANAGEMENT

Circle No. 27

NETS & CAGES ATEC (800) 998-2832, www.atecsports.com

OProducts & Features ATEC® offers a variety of netting products for training. Both “FreeStanding” and “In Ground” models of batting cages are available in several sizes with a variety of netting strengths. Multi-use Protective and Practice Screens and Nets give you the greatest degree of flexibility for your training needs. Collapsible and portable Backstop Cages are designed especially for their ease of use. OMaterials All frames feature a powder-coat finish, your best protection against the elements of time and abuse. Whether it’s the heavyduty 2” steel tube frames on the Screens, the 1-3/4” square tube steel or 2 3/8”pipe frames on the batting cages, or the 2” heavywalled aluminum frames on the Backstop Cages, you can count on years of reliable service. Nylon netting is offered in both knotted and knotless weaves in a multitude of breaking strengths. OPrimary Advantages ATEC’s products are engineered with the greatest degree of functionality, durability, and reliability. Quick and easy set-up and knock-down, storage, and transportability is a hallmark of all ATEC products. ATEC is the official supplier to Major League Baseball® for Pitching Machines and other training products. Strength of product warranty, depth of choice in product features and ATEC’s 40 years of service to athletes in every level of performance make ATEC products The Pro’s Choice. Circle No. 60 on Reader Inquiry Card

BEACON BALLFIELDS (800) 747-5985, www.ballfields.com

OProducts & Features Both Custom Windscreen and Fence Cap are used outdoors. Custom Windscreen can be used as a visual backdrop for batters and fielders, to improve appearance and the aesthetic quality of your field, or as a privacy screen. Fence Cap protects both players and spectators from harsh lines of metal fencing and can also provide a field with a pleasing aesthetic look as well. Rail and Fencetop Padding: Perfect for outdoor locations where hard fence cap will not give adequate protection. Fence Guard: Available in a wide variety of colors, fence guard secures with ties included through pre-drilled holes, and has a five-year warranty. Economy Fence Cap: Fully UV protected, available in bright colors, with a two-year warranty, this economy fence capping secures with cable every 2-3 feet. Fence Cap Zipper: Specifically designed to make installation quicker and easier. Receive a free installation tool with orders of 1,000 feet or more of Fence Cap. OMaterials Beacon’s Windscreens are offered in popular types of materials and colors as well as other custom-specific fabrics. Beacon uses standard 1" thick foam without any surface coating for the Rail and Fencetop Padding. For the Fence Guard and Economy Fence Cap, Beacon uses heavy-duty, UV-resistant polyethylene. The Fence Cap Zipper is made of zinc-plated steel with pull cord and handle.

OPrimary Advantages Every Beacon Ballfield’s windscreen panel is custom-manufactured to fit your dimensions. We do not offer off-the-shelf, or do-ityourself products. Instead, we work closely with you to create a sound design that will yield a proper fit and function for your facility. Circle No. 61 on Reader Inquiry Card

M.A.S.A., INC. (800) 264-4519, www.masa.com

OProducts & Features Backstop Batting Cages: portable; indoors or outdoors ... Batting Tunnels: indoor and outdoor installation kits available ... Protective Screens: portable; indoors or outdoors ... Custom Netting: custom netting for any application. OMaterials Cages are constructed of knotless nylon net; Tunnels are available in heavy-duty nylon or polyethylene nets; Protective screens are constructed of 1-1/2 heavy-duty square galvanized steel frames and knotted nylon sewn into a pillow case style slip. All netting is fully weather-treated and UV protected. OPrimary Advantages M.A.S.A. is number one in customer service. M.A.S.A. still believes in old-fashioned values and building lasting relationships with our customers. Our goal in 2003 is to consistently exceed your expectations of enduring service, quality and value while providing the convenience of today's technology. You can now shop our catalog on-line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on our new Web site. Circle No. 62 on Reader Inquiry Card

MASTER PITCHING MACHINE (800) 878-8228

OProducts & Features Master Pitching Machine’s “L” Screens and Protective Screens both feature a heavy-duty, galvanized steel pipe framework and a #60 weight pillowcase-type net. OPrimary Advantages These are the only screens on the market that include a #60 weight net as a standard item. All screens are easily assembled, lightweight, and portable. Circle No. 63 on Reader Inquiry Card

MILLER NET COMPANY, INC. (800) 423-6603, www.millernets.com

OProducts & Features We use industrial grade nylon that can be used indoors and outdoors. We have four grades—lightweight, standard, heavy-duty, and extra heavy-duty. OMaterials We offer black, blue, and green in color. Our netting is weather UV

COACHING MANAGEMENT

NETS & CAGES treated and abrasive resistant. Our treating is environmentally friendly. OPrimary Advantages Our specialty is highest-quality workmanship and building nets to our customer’s specifications. Circle No. 64 on Reader Inquiry Card

OMNI SPORTS TECHNOLOGIES (800) 529-6664, www.omnisportstech.com

OProducts & Features Batting Cage Nets: baseball, softball, or golf; indoors or outdoors; nylon or poly ... Barrier Nets: baseball, softball, or golf; indoors or outdoors; nylon or poly ... Protective Screens: baseball or softball; indoors or outdoors; nylon ... Custom Nets: baseball, softball, or golf; indoors or outdoors; nylon or poly. OMaterials All nets can be made of nylon, braided poly, or twisted poly in gauges of 21 or 36; hung square and UV treated. OPrimary Advantages Omni Sports Technologies offers the best prices on the best nets available on the market today. We are proud to offer our customers braided poly, twisted poly, and the traditional nylon materials in any grade. All of our nets are hung square and are UV treated for a long life.

VANTAGE PRODUCTS INT’L (800) 244-4457, www.vpisports.com

OProducts & Features All screen nets are pillowcase style for double protection and longer net life indoors and outdoors. Our batting cage nets are made of twisted poly that is the best available net for outdoor use and indoor as well. OMaterials We offer our netting in a #21 (2.0mm) or a #36 (2.5mm) polyethylene fiber, which is extruded black, 100-percent waterproof, UV treated, and abrasion-resistant. We also offer custom netting in any other size of gauge needed. OPrimary Advantages VPI’s netting is 100-percent waterproof, UV treated, and abrasionresistant. Our nets are hung on the square “like a tennis net,” which virtually eliminates the sag of the net. Circle No. 66 on Reader Inquiry Card

Circle No. 65 on Reader Inquiry Card

HomePlate

BY SPORTS TUTOR

The Next Generation !

The Programmable Pitching Machine THROW A DIFFERENT PITCH EVERY 7 SECONDS • Simulate opposing pitchers • Fastballs, Sinkers, Curveballs, Sliders to 90 MPH • 80-ball automatic feed system

www.sportstutorinc.com

1-800-448-8867

FREE brochure

Sports Tutor, 3300 Winona Ave., Burbank, CA 91504 Circle No. 28

COACHING MANAGEMENT

THE PRODUCT PAGES INJURY PREVENTION AFP SOFT TOUCH® (800) 965-4690 Soft Touch® “Progressive Release™” Bases are widely accepted in both adult and youth leagues as an effective means of reducing injuries due to sliding. The “progressive release” action allows the base to flex until enough force is applied to “pop” the base free from its mount. To further increase safety, AFP Soft Touch® has added a Ground Plug to its “progressive release” system. This Ground Plug fills the void or opening left when the Soft Touch® base releases from its mount, creating a surface level with the ground, and enabling play to continue. The Ground Plug is available with new Soft Touch® base sets, or can be purchased separately for existing installations. Circle No. 67 on Reader Inquiry Card

CHO-PAT (800) 221-1601, www.cho-pat.com The Cho-Pat Forearm Support is a compression device designed to secure and support forearm muscles that are over-exercised or strained during athletic activities. The support absorbs and dispenses the pain-causing forces to relieve stress on the forearm muscles and their attachments and reduce inflammation. Effective for anyone who repeatedly extends the arm and applies force, such as baseball, tennis, or racquetball players. Circle No. 68 on Reader Inquiry Card

DURA*KOLD CORPORATION (800) 541-7199, www.dura-kold.com Dura*Kold Ice Wraps from Dura*Kold Corporation, in Oklahoma City, Okla., have been used by athletic trainers for over 15 years. The Dura*Kold shoulder products provide coverage of the shoulder girdle and rotator cuff area. The Baseball Shoulder Wrap is available in both adult and youth sizes.

& TREATMENT

More than 30 anatomically designed ice wraps and 10 universal designs provide ice treatment up to two hours without water mess. The wraps can be used on the field, in the training room, or elsewhere to ensure necessary icing to relieve pain and edema. See the complete line at Dura*Kold’s Web site. Circle No. 69 on Reader Inquiry Card Dura*Kold Ice Wraps have been used by athletic trainers for more than 15 years. Dura*Kold offers the Arthroscopic Knee Wrap, Surgical Knee Sleeve, and the CPM (for use in the CPM machine). The wraps can be used on the field, in the training room, or elsewhere to ensure necessary icing to relieve pain and edema. See the complete line at Dura*Kold’s Web site. Circle No. 70 on Reader Inquiry Card

RINGOR (800) 746-4670, www.ringor.com RINGOR has forever revolutionized the way cleated shoes are made. RINGOR increases comfort, safety, and performance with the patented circular 4-spike design, maximizing traction at the ball of the foot and eliminating “point pressure.” The 2-spike heel design increases traction with less risk of twisting injury when stopping. Other benefits include less resistance when pivoting, reduced tripping injuries, reduced bone bruising, and reduced foot and leg fatigue. RINGOR’s 3030 Diamond Ace comes in Black, Navy, and White and is available with toe-guards for pitchers and catchers. Circle No. 71 on Reader Inquiry Card

WEB CONNECTIONS WWW.BATTERUP.WS BatterUp is an innovative soft-toss batting device with a unique return net system designed to give coaches an advantage in improving their team’s batting mechanics, pitching and fielding skills.

WWW.CHOICESPORTSTRAVEL.COM With over 4,600 hotels around the world, Choice Hotels’SM brands— Comfort Inn®, Comfort Suites®, Quality®, Sleep Inn®, Clarion®, MainStay Suites®, Econo Lodge® and

Rodeway Inn®—have a great deal to offer.

WWW.COMPUSPORTSMEDIA.COM The CompuSports Media Exchange brings together all participants in the Coaching Software and e-Book Value Chain, including Authors, Publishers and Sellers of e-Books, Software and other forms of electronic media. The site offers e-Books, Articles and Coaching Software that can be purchased and downloaded immediately.

Circle No. 29 COACHING MANAGEMENT

INFIELD MIXES DIAMOND PRO (800) 228-2987, www.diamondpro.com

OProducts & Applications Infield Conditioner: A vitrified clay product applied to the skinned area to enrich color, reduce rain delays, reduce compaction, and improve safety. Calcined Clay Professional & Top Dressing: A calcined clay product used as a conditioner on the infield. The Professional grade is a more consistent uniform particle size and the Top Dressing is a larger particle size. Calcined Clay Drying Agent: A calcined clay product used to absorb excess water quickly. Mount/Homeplate Clay: A richly colored screened clay, easy to use, binds and tamps into the holes providing greater durability. Mound/Homeplate Clay Bricks: An unfired compressed clay, perfect for building or repairing high-stress areas. Athletic Field Marking Dust: Perfect for marking all athletic fields. It is bright white, improves aesthetics, and meets and exceeds professional and NCAA standards. Infield Mixes: Infield clay used as a base material for the skinned area. Warning Track Mix: Several mixes available for safe, well-draining track material. Soil Additive Products-Athletic Field Conditioner: A vitrified clay product used in the root zone to reduce compaction and improve water, air, and nutrient control. OFields Using Diamond Pro Products Little League World Series (Williamsport, PA), Rosenblatt Stadium (Omaha, NE), Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves

OInformation & Product Support Diamond Pro is a strong supporter of education in the sports turf, groundskeeping field. Along with our knowledgeable staff, we have extremely educated and dedicated distributors across the country for personal assistance. Strong relationships with the true professionals in the industry keep us well informed and up to date on new techniques and ideas. This relationship is also passed on to the customer through our literature and our Web site. Circle No. 73 on Reader Inquiry Card

PARTAC/BEAM CLAY (800) 247-BEAM

OProducts & Applications Beam Clay® Baseball Diamond Mix: Pro infield mix that provides a firm, consistent playing surface with great drainage. Beam Clay® Pitcher’s Mound Mix: Extra-firm mound clay in four colors. Mound and Batter’s Box Bricks: Base for mounds and batter’s boxes. Perma-Mound™ and Safe “T” Matts: Patented poured red polyurethane pads install 2” below the surface, reduce 95% of maintenance, and feel like properly packed clay. 3/16” Red Warning Track: Firm, yet crunchy with great drainage. Beam clay® Infield Conditioner/Top dressing: Uniform red aggregates to firm infield when wet yet, prevents “baking in” when hot and dry. Pro’s Choice®: Calcined clay infield conditioner in four grades and three colors. Diamond Pro®: Vitrified clay

SHOULDER ICE WRAP • ICE

PILLOWS FOR LONG TERM, SAFE COLD THERAPY WITH DESIRED COMPRESSION

•

WITH RIPSTOP NYLON FABRIC WHICH T R A N S F E R S C O L D M O S T E F F E C T I V E LY

• SMALLER

• • •

DRY DURABLE DEPENDABLE

SIZE AVAILABLE

The DURA*KOLD shoulder ICE WRAP for Athletes provides long-term ice treatment for the shoulder, rotator cuff and elbow. The wrap contains pillows of purified water. The unique design and materials used provide compression and universal fit.

DK54 DK51 - LARGE

DK50 - REGULAR

DURA-KOLD CORPORATION • 3525 S. Purdue • Okla. City, OK 73179

Circle No. 30

(800) 541-7199 • Phone (405) 943-8811 • FAX (405) 943-9339

INFIELD MIXES infield conditioner in two colors and grades. Red Brick and Lava Dust: Infield conditioners to firm wet fields and relieve compaction. Stabilizer®: Infield conditioner to firm sandy and dusty infields. Diamond Dry®: The original and most absorbent infield drying agent is now redder and granular—quickly dries wet infields. We also offer regional infield and warning track mixes for every state and climate. OFields Using Beam Clay Products NY Yankees, NY Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, and Toronto Blue Jays, among many others. OInformation & Product Support We sell more than 200 infield products. We find the best value for each customer’s conditions, location, and budget. We offer detailed instructions and are always available by telephone for free consultations. Circle No. 74 on Reader Inquiry Card

PRO’S CHOICE (800) 648-1166, e-mail: proschoice@oildri.com

OProducts & Applications Soilmaster®: This thermally optimized soil conditioner absorbs excess water, manages moisture, and reduces compaction on your infields. Soilmaster® Select: Our premium soil conditioner with small, uniformly sized granules to make the perfect infield top dressing. Rapid Dry®: This drying agent quickly absorbs water and improves soil consistency to keep your field in top playing condition, even after a rain.

Pro Mound®: This unique, durable blue gumbo packing clay forms a solid surface to allow players to establish footing on the mound and in the batter’s box. OFields Using Pro’s Choice Products St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, Florida Marlins, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers. OInformation & Product Support The Pro’s Choice nationwide network of experienced distributors can work with you to select the perfect combination of products to build and maintain your athletic fields. In addition to our staff, we have assembled an advisory board, made up of professional groundskeepers, to keep up with industry trends and share their knowledge at local training clinics. Our clinics provide informal exchange with our staff, distributors, and groundskeepers about product application how-to’s. Application instructions are also provided in our literature. Circle No. 75 on Reader Inquiry Card

SOUTHERN ATHLETIC FIELDS, INC. (800) 837-8062, www.mulemix.com

OProducts & Applications Marmix: A naturally blended material with the right texture to ensure consistent playability with a great red color. Mound Clay: Red in color, used by professionals throughout the country to con-

Distributing Quality Sports Equipment Since 1995

Team Sports For a free catalog: Call: 800-688-6709 Fax: 860-599-8448 www.anthem-sports.com

Sporting Goods • Sports Equipment • Field Maintenance

Training Room

Let The Dog Eat Your Homework We’ve Done It For You! How do you choose between the hundreds of products on the market? Rely on Anthem Sports. Our expert staff has researched the best products and has certified them as proven winners. Anthem Sports is dedicated to making your job easier by providing you with a resource to satisfy all your sporting goods and equipment needs.

The Brand Names You Trust. The Value You Expect.

Circle No. 31

Circle No. 32 COACHING MANAGEMENT

INFIELD MIXES struct/renovate high stress areas. Conditioners/Drying Agents: Mulemix brand of calcined clay conditioners and drying agents. Warning Track and Infield Topdressing Materials. We also offer a full line of field accessories and used turf equipment. OFields Using Southern Athletic Fields’ Products Tropicana Field, Brooklyn Cyclones, Louisville Bats, Birmingham Barons, Memphis Redbirds, Chattanooga Lookouts, and Lexington Legends. OInformation & Product Support We offer both detailed technical information and hands-on direction. Circle No. 76 on Reader Inquiry Card

STABILIZER SOLUTIONS, INC. (800) 336-2468, www.stabilizersolutions.com

OProducts & Applications Hilltopper Mound & Homeplate Clay: A polymer-coated soil, which is dustless and waterproof, easy-to-use right out of the bag. Just tamp and play. OFields Using Stabilizer Products Anaheim Angels, Indianapolis, Ind., University of Southern California, University of Miami, St. Louis Cardinals.

OInformation & Product Support We have a toll-free number as well as regional distributors that give hands-on instructions and help. Circle No. 77 on Reader Inquiry Card

TURFACE (PROFILE PRODUCTS) (800) 207-6457, www.turface.com

OProducts & Applications Pro League: It contains small uniform particles to reduce compaction, absorb water, and improve physical playability. It comes in red, tan, or gray. MVP: An infield conditioner that helps reduce rainouts and compaction problems. Quick Dry: An infield conditioner that eliminates puddles and continues to provide effective absorption after the first use. OFields Using Turface Products Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves. OInformation & Product Support Turface offers a Web site (www.turface.com) to answer sports field questions. Turface also supports Floyd Perry field maintenance seminars across the country and provides national distribution and support by calling (800) 207-6457. Circle No. 78 on Reader Inquiry Card

Now

, you can train with real confidence - it’s safe, effective and delivers real results. The Xvest will transform your body into the superior power-producing animal that you always wanted to be. You will experience a new intensity in your workouts. The Xvest is the ULTIMATE accessory for an XTREME sports training program - It’s time to own the Xvest.

If you want to play XPLOSIVE, you have to train

XPLOSIVE !

Call 800-697-5658 281-693-4034 Email Info@TheXvest.com

www.TheXvest.com Circle No. 33

THE PRODUCT PAGES UNIFORMS DYNAMIC TEAM SPORTS (800) 437-6223 Dynamic Team Sports has introduced its Elite Series of custom uniforms for baseball. All jerseys are manufactured using a heavy polyester, Dyna-Dry™ breathable fabric, or micro mesh. The Elite Series offers a limitless number of color combinations from which to choose. Team names, logos and numbers are dyed directly into the fabric. This eliminates the weight of embroidery and won’t fade, peel or crack the way sticky silkscreens can. Dynamic Team Sports guarantees never to discontinue your uniform style so fill-ins are always available. For more information, contact your team uniform supplier.

A P PA R E L

RINGOR (800) 746-4670, www.ringor.com Get your team outfitted with RINGOR’s innovative sports fabrics for both uniforms and apparel to give you unmatched comfort and performance. RINGOR offers custom team Light Lined, 2-Ply Supplex Nylon, Vneck Windshirts. They feature light polyester lining, a single strip knit collar, cuffs and waistband, 2 side seamed pockets, set-in sleeves, and a full athletic cut. For inquiries on RINGOR’s custom team apparel call the company or visit its Web site. Circle No. 83 on Reader Inquiry Card

Circle No. 79 on Reader Inquiry Card

GREG LARSON SPORTS (800) 950-3320, www.glssports.com Greg Larson Sports and Schutt Sports are pleased to showcase the new Comfort Lite Catcher’s Protective Gear. The chest protectors and leg guards are available in nine team colors and 17 team color combinations. Revolutionary lightweight, washable, and breathable materials make this the Signature Series for the Baseball Catcher. Available in adult and youth sizes.

For more information from these companies check out

www.AthleticBid.com.

Circle No. 80 on Reader Inquiry Card

MOYER SPORTS (800) 255-5299, ext. 3, www.moyersports.com Moyer Sports offers a full line of stock baseball and softball uniforms. Top name brands such as Bike and Moyer’s custom line are offered. A variety of hats with custom styling is also available. Circle No. 81 on Reader Inquiry Card

PRO LOOK SPORTS (800) PROLOOK Pro Look Sports has become the fastest growing team sportswear company in six years for one reason: fully custom, quality uniforms. Most companies limit your choices to a few styles made from sub par materials. Pro Look’s uniforms are made of the finest materials available; cut, trimmed and sewn to your exact specifications. There are no additional costs for embroidered logos or for soft tackle-twill names and numbers. Additionally, all work is backed by an unprecedented two-year guarantee. If you can think it, we will do it for one inexpensive price. Go Pro. Circle No. 82 on Reader Inquiry Card

Circle No. 35 COACHING MANAGEMENT

ADVERTISERS DIRECTORY

Cho-Pat

PRODUCTS FOR ACTIVE LIFESTYLES

All Products Made in the U.S.A.

I.T.B. Strap W NE

Sizes: XS - XL

Applies compression at the area of discomfort, usually above the knee joint or upper thigh, to prevent the snapping or friction of the iliotibial band.

Cho-Pat® Knee Strap

Sizes: XS - XXL

Cho-Pat’s Original Knee Strap is designed to alleviate certain knee discomforts due to overuse syndromes, arthritis, and other forms of degeneration. Nearly two million sold!

Dual Action Knee Strap

(Now Patented)

Sizes: Sm - XL

Strengthens and tightens kneecap mechanism by applying pressure upon the tendon above and below the kneecap and lessens the development of iliotibial band and overuse syndromes.

Achilles Tendon Strap

Sizes: S, M, L

This patented device will reduce stress upon the Achilles Tendon and provide effective relief from pain and discomfort associated with Achilles Tendonitis.

CIRCLE NO.

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PRODUCTS DIRECTORY

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AFP Soft Touch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Anthem Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Bannerman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Batter Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Beacon Ballfields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 BetterBaseball. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 ChartMine (Competitive Edge) . . . . . . 48 Cho-Pat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Choice Hotels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC Decker Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Diamond Pro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Dura*Kold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Dynamic Team Sports . . . . . . . . . . . 9 eFundraising.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 ESPN The Magazine . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Eversan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC Glove Radar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Granada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 JUGS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 M.A.S.A. Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Master Pitching Machine . . . . . . . . 39 Millcreek Manufacturing . . . . . . . . 45 Miller Net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Omni Sports Technologies. . . . . . . 17 Partac/Beam Clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Power Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Praying Mantis (Akadema) . . . . . . . . 34 Pro’s Choice Field Products . . . . . . 26 QHI Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Ringor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Rotor Twin (Funtastic Sports) . . . . . . . 46 Schutt Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Scratch & Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Seating Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Signature Fencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Skillshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Southern Athletic Fields . . . . . . . . 45 Sports Attack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC Sports Motion, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Sports Tutor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Stabilizer Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Stalker Radar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Swift Stik (PIK Products) . . . . . . . . . . . 11 TurboStats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Turface (Profile Products) . . . . . . . . . . 28 Turfco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Vantage Products Int’l. . . . . . . . . . 7 WeatherBeater (Colorado Lining) . . . . 41 WristRipper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Xvest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 ZingBat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

CIRCLE NO.

67. 115 . 98. 60. 85. 84. 61. 86. 116 . 68. 117 . 118 . 119 . 120 . 73. 70. 69. 79. 87. 88. 99. 100 . 101 . 80. 102 . 89. 113 . 62. 103 . 63. 90. 64. 81. 65. 74. 112 . 122 . 121 . 82. 75. 105 . 71. 83. 91. 92. 93. 123 . 76. 106 . 107 . 77. 108 . 104 . 124 . 78. 95. 94. 66. 96. 109 . 110 . 111 .

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Call 800-221-1601 (toll free) or 609-261-1336 or visit www.cho-pat.com to learn more about Cho-Pat’s innovative sports/medicine devices. Circle No. 36

COACHING MANAGEMENT

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COMPANY

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PAGE NO.

AFP Soft Touch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Akadema. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anthem Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ATEC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bannerman (Ballpark-6) . . . . . . . . . . . Bannerman (Diamond Master). . . . . . . Beacon Ballfields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Better Baseball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ChartMine (Competitive Edge) . . . . . . Cho-Pat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Choice Hotels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CompuSports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Decker Sports (PPS Professional Series) Decker Sports (Velocity Development) . Diamond Pro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dura*Kold (Ice Wraps) . . . . . . . . . . . Dura*Kold (shoulder products) . . . . . . Dynamic Team Sports . . . . . . . . . . Eversan (multi-purpose scoreboards) . . . Eversan (portable scoreboard) . . . . . . . Funtastic Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Glove Radar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Granada Pitching . . . . . . . . . . . . . Greg Larson Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . JUGS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.A.S.A. (Cleat Cleaner) . . . . . . . . . . M.A.S.A. Products (catalog) . . . . . . . M.A.S.A. Products (nets and cages) . . Master Pitching Machine (Iron Mike) . Master Pitching Machine (nets & screens) . Millcreek Manufacturing . . . . . . . . Miller Net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Moyer Sports U.S.A. . . . . . . . . . . . Omni Sports Technologies. . . . . . . Partac/Beam Clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . Power Systems (catalog) . . . . . . . . . Power Systems (Power Grip Ball) . . . . Power Systems (Power Throw Ball) . . . Pro Look Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pro’s Choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QHI Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ringor (cleated shoes) . . . . . . . . . . . . Ringor (custom team apparel) . . . . . . . Seating Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Signature Fencing (FenceTopper). . . . Signature Fencing (SafeRail) . . . . . . . Skillshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Southern Athletic Fields . . . . . . . . Sports Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sports Tutor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stabilizer Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . Stalker Radar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Swift Stik (PIK Products) . . . . . . . . . . . TurboStats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Turface (Profile Products) . . . . . . . . . . Turfco (Edge-R-Rite) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Turfco (Mete-R-Matic III) . . . . . . . . . . . Vantage Products Int’l. . . . . . . . . . WeatherBeater (Colorado Lining) . . . . WristRipper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Xvest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zingbat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

37 51 45 35 43 43 35 43 51 37 51 52 52 52 38 37 37 41 43 43 45 45 45 41 45 44 49 35 46 35 44 35 41 36 38 49 52 52 41 39 46 37 41 44 44 44 52 39 46 48 40 48 46 52 40 44 44 36 44 48 48 49

THE PRODUCT PAGES THE BASEBALL FIELD BANNERMAN LTD. (800) 665-2596 Restore your diamond’s luster in 20 minutes or less. Bannerman Ltd. manufactures groomers that will level and care for baseball diamonds, warning tracks, and walking trails. The B-DM6 Diamond Master® has five grooming tools, including: Ripper Blade, Rake, Leveler, Roller, and Finishing Brush. Options available: Extension Wing Brush Kit, Hydraulic Tractor Top Link, 50-gallon Water Tank with spray nozzle, and Long Tine “Fluffing” Rake. Circle No. 84 on Reader Inquiry Card

When your players’ safety comes first, look to Bannerman Ltd., which manufactures groomers used to shape, level, and care for baseball diamonds. The B-BP6 Ballpark-6® model has five grooming tools, including: Ripper Blade, Rake,

Leveler, Roller, and Brush. Accessories available: Extension Wing Brush Kit, Hydraulic Tractor Top Link, 50-gallon Water Tank with spray nozzle, and Long Tine “Fluffing” Rake. Circle No. 85 on Reader Inquiry Card

BETTER BASEBALL (800) 997-4233, www.betterbaseball.com Betterbaseball is a total baseball supply house, specializing in custom cutting of any size net or batting cage you might want. The company provides quick service and charges just $10 for shipping. Betterbaseball supplies everything from bases, plates, mounds, gear, hardware, and it can all be found at betterbaseball.com or by calling the company. Circle No. 86 on Reader Inquiry Card

EVERSAN, INC. (800) 383-6060, www.eversan.com Eversan, Inc., in Yorkville, N.Y., provides a diverse line of multi-purpose scoreboards capable of providing scoring, timing, and all

other necessary information of a chosen sport. Eversan’s advanced technology, multipurpose scoreboards provide the convenience and reliability that is expected from the high demands of athletic programs. With wireless data communications, as well as intuitive operations, this system’s setup time from one sport to another is fast and simple. Circle No. 87 on Reader Inquiry Card Eversan’s advanced technology portable scoreboard provides the convenience and reliability that is expected from the high demands of athletic programs. Eversan’s portables outscore the competition with LED or reflective digits, 099 Home/Guest score, horn, 99:59 Up/Down timing, and a remote control console that provides intuitive operations. Circle No. 88 on Reader Inquiry Card

A SUBSIDIARY OF

In your backyard, on the field, or in the gym, if your players love to hit, the New JUGS Lite-Flite® Machine is perfect for you. No matter if you want slow tosses or challenging breaking pitches, the New JUGS Lite-Flite® Machine promises to deliver lots of strikes and lots of fun.

Left-Handed Curveball Left-Handed Slider Fastball Right-Handed Slider Right-Handed Curveball Pitch for pitch, dollar for dollar, the New JUGS Lite-Flite® Machine will prove to be the most versatile machine of its kind. The JUGS Lite-Flite® Machine throws Lite-Flite® baseballs and softballs and JUGS Poly baseballs and softballs.

Price: $

345

For more information or to order, in the USA or Canada, call toll free: 1-800-547-6843. Or visit our website at: jkpsports.com. Circle No. 38

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THE PRODUCT PAGES THE BASEBALL FIELD M.A.S.A., INC. (800) 264-4519, www.masa.com M.A.S.A., Inc., offers a wide assortment of baseball training aids and field maintenance equipment. The company has introduced The Original Cleat Cleaner. Used extensively by MLB and the NFL, it quickly removes mud, improving footing and mobility, which help reduce injuries. M.A.S.A. also offers the new dark green Poly Cap Fence Guard. The company has an assortment of field maintenance equipment, including rakes, drag mats, bases, and paint strippers, along with various exciting new training aides. Circle No. 89 on Reader Inquiry Card

MILLCREEK MANUFACTURING (800) 311-1323, www.millcreekmfg.com Wet material is notoriously the most difficult to spread because of its tendency to clump and clog spreading equipment. Millcreek Manufacturing Co. has introduced the Turf Tiger™, a large capacity topdresser that applies sand/peat topdressing, compost, infield mix, soil conditioners, and other bulk materials even when wet. The Turf Tiger has a 7,500-pound capacity, and features a patent-pending SaberTooth™ spreading mechanism that applies wet material in a uniform 8’ to 12’ wide pattern, depending on material conditions. Circle No. 90 on Reader Inquiry Card

SEATING SERVICES (800) 552-9470, www.seatingservices.com The University of Wisconsin-Stout needed reasonably priced, low-maintenance stadium chairs. Seating Services provided the solution with its Series 3000 Cardinal Model. These blow-molded chairs are gravity tip. They have no springs and/or pins. This saves money in three ways: less expensive to manufacture, install, and maintain. The chairs have been designed for installation on concrete or

steel/aluminum grandstands. Seat widths can range from 18” to 22”. A wide variety of colors and options make these an excellent way to make the fans comfortable, and provide VIP seating that can be used for fund-raising. Circle No. 91 on Reader Inquiry Card

SIGNATURE FENCING (800) 569-2751, www.signaturefencing.com Protect athletes and visitors against injury from dangerous chain-link fence using the FenceTopper™ extruded chain-link fence cap from Signature Fencing. Each eight-foot section fits over standard chain-link to provide a rounded safety surface, preventing scratches and cuts from collision or from leaning against exposed, sharp fencing. Use standard zip or wire ties to fasten each section to your fence. Once attached, FenceTopper not only provides safety, but is an attractive, professional addition to any field. FenceTopper is available in multiple colors, including safety yellow, green, blue, red, and black. Team colors, facility colors, or themes can be matched, and sections can be alternated for dramatic effect. Circle No. 92 on Reader Inquiry Card

Signature Fencing has introduced the latest advancement in safety for its popular SportPanel® outfield fencing. The new SafeRail™ safety system is a bright yellow rail option that can be added to the standard and blackout SportPanel. In addition to providing added safety, the SafeRail creates a more authentic stadium-like feel. Combined with Signature’s TechnoTip™ system, SportPanel, by Signature Fencing, offers a comprehensive approach to player safety at an economical cost. Circle No. 93 on Reader Inquiry Card

TURFCO MANUFACTURING (800) 679-8201, www.turfco.com The Mete-R-Matic® III Tow Type, from Turfco Manufacturing, is specifically designed for the uniform application of light, medium, or heavy top dressing to fine turf. It was the first top dresser to use the patented Chevron belt allowing it to easily spread all types of materials and moisture content. The Mete-R-Matic III or F12D model, with a six-foot wide, 22.5 cubic foot capacity, can be quickly filled with a front-end loader. Because it is a ground-driven system, there are no hydraulics, pumps, or engines. It can easily be turned into an overseeder with a few minor modifications. Circle No. 94 on Reader Inquiry Card

Unlike traditional rotary edgers, the Turfco Edge-R-Rite’s unique oscillating blade cuts turf without throwing debris, making it safer to use in high-traffic areas and easier to clean-up after. The edger eliminates spade or shovel edging and leaves a professional looking edge. The right angle blade edges golf course bunkers, baseball diamonds, or flowerbeds. Additional blades can be added to edge sidewalks, curbs, driveways, and to cut in drainage or install all sorts of edging. Depth control can be easily adjusted up to four inches. The Edge-R-Rite is built with a solid steel frame and a traction assist drive. Circle No. 95 on Reader Inquiry Card

WEATHERBEATER (877) 448-2777 Rain Coat™ A little lighter... A little less complicated... A whole lot cheaper! Call the company for local distributor or for more information. Circle No. 96 on Reader Inquiry Card

WEB CONNECTIONS WWW.COACHINGSITESONLINE.COM

WWW.SIGNATUREFENCING.COM

Coachingsitesonline.com, is an interactive Search Directory dedicated EXCLUSIVELY to Coaching Web Sites. It includes both category-based and keyword search capabilities. Coachingsitesonline.com also includes a series of articles from a wide range of coaching and sports professionals.

Signature Fencing offers a wide range of portable fencing systems that are ideally suited for any type of facility.

WWW.DIAMONDPRO.COM On this site, Diamond Pro features a section called “Ask the Pros,” which is an interactive forum with professional groundskeepers. The site also has an on-line “How-To Workshop.”

WWW.SPORTSMOTION.COM Sports Motion has the hardware and software for your Digital motion analysis needs. Use to analyze athletes’ rehab and training techniques. Download a free seven-day trial version of our software.

THE PRODUCT PAGES PRACTICE AIDS

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FUNTASTIC SPORTS (877) 375-0315, www.funtasticsports.com The Rotor Twin, from Funtastic Sports, is a swing trainer/hitting station that players enjoy using because it provides a realistic hitting sensation and feedback on every swing. With proper swing plane and solid contact, it spins like a top. Poor swing or contact produces an erratic spin. Use it indoors or outdoors and take it anywhere. The height is adjustable. It’s durable, safe, and affordable. Find out why many coaches agree that it’s the best swing trainer they have used. Circle No. 99 on Reader Inquiry Card

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cuts a day. Granada has been improving hitting for more than 40 years. Circle No. 101 on Reader Inquiry Card

JUGS (800) 547-6843, www.jkpsports.com In the street, on the field, or in the gym, if your players love to hit, the new JUGS Lite-Flite® Machine is perfect for you. No matter if you want slow tosses or challenging breaking

P.O. Box 18787 • Memphis, TN 38181 1-800-423-6603 • Fax: 901-743-6580 Email: miller@millernets.com Website: www.millernets.com Our Nets Are Custom Built of 100% Industrial Grade Nylon IF YOU WANT TO BE THE BEST, BUY FROM THE BEST Circle No. 40

Southern Athletic Fields... ...your complete source for all athletic field needs! • • • • • • •

Mar Mound Clay Infield Mixes Field Conditioners Drying Agents Warning Trac Infield Topdressing Various Field Accessories

800.837.8062 www.mulemix.com Circle No. 41

Scarify and level infields in one step ■ New Millcreek Spin Groomer™

spins as you pull it. Self propelled, works like magic. ■ Moves material sideways to fill

in low spots automatically. ■ Ideal for conditioning tough,

rock-hard infields. ■ 7' or 8' sizes, no power needed

GLOVE RADAR® (800) 589-3805, www.gloveradar.com Turn any ball glove into a radar speed gun with Glove Radar®, featuring improved sensitivity, from Sports Sensors, Inc. Glove Radar is easily attached to either a baseball or softball glove and is worn by the receiver of the ball—or by multiple partners in non-game situations. Unlike most “radar speed guns”, a long-range capability is not required— Glove Radar performs accurately at any throwing distance. It operates utilizing Doppler radar, like conventional handheld radar speed guns. It is not an impact sensor or timer. Glove Radar “sees” through the glove and measures the speed of the ball as it approaches the glove. It’s the ideal aid for developing the throwing skills of infielders, outfielders, pitchers, and catchers.

GRANADA PITCHING www.battingpractice.com, granada@battingpractice.com Granada baseball and softball pitching machines offer a true pitch indoors and outdoors. No nets are needed. The Granada system has been proven to increase a batter’s hitting on the field and in laboratory testing. Good batting practice should include at least 200 cuts a day without fear of the ball. Aggressive hitters will get 1,000 or more

ANTHEM SPORTS (800) 688-6709 Anthem Sports offers the hi-tech Bushnell Radar gun for $245. Measuring speeds from up to 60’ away, the Bushnell radar gun is accurate and easy to use. Features include self-calibration and average speed & statistic recording. It includes a carry case and strap, and uses six AA batteries.

FA C TU RI N G

1-800-311-1323 Circle No. 42 COACHING MANAGEMENT

THE PRODUCT PAGES PRACTICE AIDS pitches, the New JUGS Lite-Flite Machine promises to deliver lots of strikes and lots of fun. The New JUGS Lite-Flite Machine throws Lite-Flite® baseballs and softballs and Poly baseballs and softballs. Circle No. 102 on Reader Inquiry Card

MASTER PITCHING MACHINE (800) 878-8228 The “Iron Mike” Pitching Machine, from Master Pitching Machine, features a throwing arm that allows the batter to see a full windup before the ball is pitched. This allows the batter to properly develop the fundamentals used when facing a live pitcher. This capability makes the “Iron Mike” the preferred pitching machine of professional and amateur players and coaches. All machines are self-feeding, include an 80-foot remote control, and carry a manufacturer’s warranty. Circle No. 103 on Reader Inquiry Card

SWIFT STIK (PIK PRODUCTS) (877) 845-STIK Swift Stik helps achieve proper swing mechanics through underloading. Unlike

other lightweight training bats, Swift Stik has the drag of a real bat making the hundreds of extra reps game-like swings that produce results fast. Increase bat speed, build muscle memory, and master hand-eye coordination. Patented foam head replicates sweet spot of aluminum and wood bats and gives instant feedback on whether the ball was hit correctly. It adjusts to match every bat size. Great for baseball and softball; lifetime warranty. Use with plastic, tennis or foam balls. Circle No. 104 on Reader Inquiry Card

QHI SPORTS (888) 784-5448, www.qhisports.com Hit like a pro. The Quick-T automated batting tee, from QHI Sports, will better develop the “muscle memory” so critical in the development of a batter’s proper hitting techniques. The consistency of the automatic ball-feeding system will enable the player to enjoy a more focused practice session by maintaining his or her

batting stance, concentration, and rhythm. Each ball feeds on demand as the previous ball is hit off the tee with the 12-volt battery system supporting more than 3,000 hits before needing recharging. At a light 25 pounds, the Quick-T is very portable, yet stable enough to handle the toughest of practice drills. Maximize your practice time while improving your hitting technique. Circle No. 105 on Reader Inquiry Card

SPORTS ATTACK (800) 717-4251, www.sportsattack.com Sports Attack offers the Hack Attack Baseball Pitching Machine. This exclusive design allows the hitter to see the ball clearly all the way through the feeding motion, acceleration and release, just like a live pitcher. This visual arm action signals the hitter when to stride and the angle of release, giving him an actual live arm sense of timing and location. The Hack Attack will throw unmatched right and left-handed major league fastballs and breaking pitches, includ-

Be a Better

Ball Player!

• • • •

The WristRipper is the most effective training aid available to strengthen and condition the hands, wrists & forearms to help add power & precision to your game.

Increase Bat Speed Improve Bat Control Build Arm Strength Avoid Injury

U.S. Patent Pending

Used by ball players of all ages and ability levels 1025 Ridgeview Drive, Ste. 400 Reno, Nevada 89509 info@wristripper.com • fax: 775.826.5510

Call toll free

www.wristripper.com

8 6 6 . W- R I P P E R Circle No. 43

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Why have the most respected coaches in the game said, “The Decker Small Baseball is the best training tool the sport has ever seen”? Why have the old ball companies illegally copied the Patented Decker Small Baseball? We know why. Do you?

On sale now, only

plus S&H for a limited time

(Regular price $39.99 dz., you save $10.00 dz. Order 5 dz. or more now, and you’ll get a free Decker Ball Bucket shipped with your order.)

The Patented Decker 7.5” Small Baseball should be used to maximize any or all of the following activities, EVERY DAY YOU TRAIN!

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THE PRODUCT PAGES PRACTICE AIDS ing curve balls, sliders, sinkers, and knuckleballs. All this is accomplished by simply changing the speed of the wheels with three dials, eliminating time-consuming adjustments of the throwing head. It instantly switches to fungo work, pivoting in any direction, throwing grounders, long fly balls, deep line drives, towering infield popups and popups up and back for your catcher with real game-like back spin. Circle No. 106 on Reader Inquiry Card

SPORTS TUTOR (800) 448-8867, www.sportstutorinc.com The new HomePlate machine from Sports Tutor is the first programmable pitching machine designed for both batting cage and on-field use. The HomePlate machine can simulate almost any pitcher you are likely to face. It can throw a 90 mph fastball, followed by a 75 mph curve, followed by a change-up, followed by a slider, with only seven seconds between pitches. You can store up to eight different pitches in each of eight different pro-

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

grams. The programmed pitches can be thrown either sequentially (for specific hitting drills), or randomly (to simulate game conditions). HomePlate sells for $4,995. Circle No. 107 on Reader Inquiry Card

STALKER RADAR (888) STALKER The ultra-high performance Stalker Sport Radar Gun, from Stalker Radar, precisely measures the speed of a baseball when it leaves the pitcher’s hand, and it also reads the speed as it crosses the plate (these speeds can be up to 12 mph different). The Stalker is three times more powerful than any other sports radar gun, and can accurately clock pitches from over 300 feet away. A new double capacity battery handle is available that provides 7-40 hours of use between charges. About 90 percent of the major league baseball teams use the Stalker. Circle No. 108 on Reader Inquiry Card

WRISTRIPPER (866) W-RIPPER, www.wristripper.com The WristRipper is a new wrist roller exercise device designed to strengthen and condition the hands, wrists, and forearms— areas that are very important to baseball players. It helps improve bat speed and arm strength, and prevent common arm injuries. It is currently used by hundreds of high school, collegiate, and pro ball players. The WristRipper is available with five pounds of adjustable weight ($39.95) or without weight ($29.95). 10-lb weight limit. Call for quantity discounts. Circle No. 109 on Reader Inquiry Card

XVEST (800) 697-5658, www.THExVest.com “I have found the X Vest to be an excellent tool for providing overloads in both plyometric and strength training, conditioning and rehabilitation programs. The fit and adaptability are excellent. The X Vest allows

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CATALOG SHOWCASE

THE PRODUCT PAGES PRACTICE AIDS

Power Systems, Inc.

for freedom of movement and doesn’t interfere with any of the agility, bounding or running programs that I write for a wide variety of athletes, both collegiate and professional. The X Vest has proven itself in my programs! Thank you for all your efforts and help in improving my capability as a strength & conditioning specialist.”—Donald A. Chu Ph.D., PT, ATC, CSCS and author of “Jumping into Plyometrics” Circle No. 110 on Reader Inquiry Card

ZINGBAT (866) 946-4228, www.zingbat.com As the mechanics of the baseball swing are broken down and studied and analyzed with more sophisticated equipment all the time, the simplicity of the swing itself is revealed. There’s not a lot to it, but there’s a lot to go wrong. Certain fundamentals of the swing are constant, regardless of age, size, level of play, or style. And those fundamentals are the basis upon which the “Zingbat™” was developed. The new Zingbat is a seemingly simple, yet sophisticated, training device with which to isolate and train those very crucial mechanical moves. This product trains the hands to stay inside the ball and arms to follow the correct path to the ball, and to be in the proper athletic position at the correct point of contact.

(800) 321-6975, www.power-systems.com Since 1986 Power Systems has made it a number one priority to become a leading supplier of sport training, health and fitness products. Its new 2003 catalog is reworked to provide the best possible resource for all your training needs. Included areas are core strength, medicine balls, speed, plyometrics, agility, strength equipment, strength accessories and flooring. You’ll find the catalog full of new products as well as some products that we've improved upon. Not only will you find these changes, but you will also find that the company has lowered some of prices enabling the customer to get premium products at great pricing. Go online or call Power Systems to request a FREE 2003 catalog today. Circle No. 112 on Reader Inquiry Card

M.A.S.A., Inc. (800) 264-4519, www.masa.com Check out the 2003 M.A.S.A. catalog for all your athletic field maintenance equipment and training device needs. M.A.S.A.’S new catalog is better than ever, with 72 color pages, over 100 new items, and some of the lowest published prices in the country. M.A.S.A carries a wide assortment of baseball, softball, soccer, and football equipment. Call M.A.S.A. or visit its Web site to receive a free catalog.

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Netting And More

On The Web

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Q&A

C O M PA N Y

Brian Parker is the Director of Sports Marketing and Sales for Choice Hotels International®. Brian created the sports marketing division in 2001 and his goal is to establish Choice as the leading lodging provider in the sports travel industry.

CM: Who is Choice Hotels International? BP: Choice Hotels International is one of the world’s largest lodging franchisors, marketing more than 5,000 hotels open or under development in 46 countries under the Comfort Inn®, Comfort Suites®, Quality®, Sleep Inn®, Clarion®, MainStay Suites®, Econo Lodge® and Rodeway Inn® brand names. More information can be obtained by visiting our Web site at choicehotels.com. CM: How long has the sports travel market been a key focus for your company? BP: Since 2001. Two years ago we created a sports marketing and sales department to aggressively focus on this market segment. Prior to the creation of my department, if we got sports business it was because it fell into our laps. Sports travelers spend over a billion dollars on lodging annually and my job is to ensure that we capture our fair market share. CM: Do you think that your company is positioned to be a leading lodging provider for sports travelers? BP: Most definitely. I say this for several reasons. We have eight brands at different price points for teams, athletes, and fans to choose from. We have over 4,000 hotels throughout the world, so regardless of

where a team’s schedule may take them…more times than not we’ll have a hotel there. We offer a streamlined reservation service, which can save coaches and travel coordinators both time and money. The majority of our hotels offer complimentary breakfast, which is very important to many teams. Most importantly, we’re in the business forming long-term partnerships with different teams, conferences and leagues, which will ultimately ensure our success. CM: How can teams make reservations at your properties? BP: We give sports teams three distinct ways to make reservations at any of our hotels in the U.S. and Canada. Teams can 1) Call our toll free sports travel line at 877.240.AWAY; 2) Fax us their entire away game schedule to 877.249.AWAY; or 3) Visit our new sports travel Web site— choicesportstravel.com and make reservations online. CM: When did choicesportstravel.com go live and what makes it different from other travel Web sites? BP: Choicesportstravel.com launched in May of 2002. It’s the lodging industry’s first Web site designed exclusively for the sports travel market. Unlike other travel websites, choicesportstravel.com enables

teams to make hotel reservations for all of their away games at once. Fans can also utilize the site to secure hotel accommodations when they hit the road to attend sporting events. The site’s content and graphics all have a sports theme. The site also has real time sports news from the youth, collegiate, and professional levels. CM: Do sports teams get discounted rates at your hotels? BP: Yes. All teams receive a discount of up to 10% at all of our hotels in the U.S. and Canada. Reservations must be made through one of the three channels that I mentioned earlier. CM: You mentioned earlier forming partnerships with sports leagues and conferences. Do you have any now? BP: Yes. We are the official hotel partner of the National Association Of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and three NCAA college conferences, the Northeast Conference, America East Conference, and SunBelt Conference. We also have partnerships with several National Governing Bodies and youth leagues.

Choice Hotels International

(877) 240-AWAY

10750 Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20901

www.choicesportstravel.com

C USTOMER T ESTIMONIAL

TEAM EQUIPMENT GALLERY

Akadema’s Tacktion Wood bat

While Akadema has largely built its reputation on its innovative gloves, some new entries in the company’s bat line are now making some noise as well. The latest breakthrough is the Akadema Tacktion wood bat (patent pending) line. The brand new Tacktion Bats from Akadema incorporate a mix of ground sunflower and other nutshells to provide extra grip. This slurry mixture is painted onto each bat to provide a pretreated grip. Call (973) 772-7669 or visit www.akademapro.com for more information. Circle No. 115 on Reader Inquiry Card

Competitive Edge’s ChartMine

COUNT DELIVERY

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DIAMOND PRO FOR BULK AND SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS

Worldwide lodging franchiser Choice Hotels International® has made booking rooms for high school and college athletic departments a little easier with the launch of choicesportstravel.com. Designed exclusively to accommodate the lodging needs of sports travelers, this site allows secure online booking for guestrooms at more than 3,500 Comfort Inn®, Comfort Suites®, Quality®,

The rich red color of Diamond Pro’s infield conditioner not only creates a natural look that enhances the appearance of the entire ballfield. This high performance infield conditioner also improves drainage and safety, reduces rain delays and compaction, and creates an all-around safe and professional infield playing surface. Diamond Pro infield conditioner is available in earth-tone (gray) for a darker appearance. Order Diamond Pro infield conditioner in 50-lb. bags or bulk deliveries of 10, 15, and 23.5 ton truckloads for greater cost savings. (Suitable for outside storage.)

TURBOSTATS TM

for Windows

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The Fastest, Easiest Way To Keep Stats Endorsed by Ken Griffey Sr.

startin g

69 95

plus sh ipping

Print Score Book Pages

Now With

Pitch Charting

“Saving money without sacrificing quality or service is important to me. I purchase Diamond Pro Infield Conditioner in bulk, because I know the product will be delivered when I need it and will save me time and money.” Sean Congdon Grounds Superintendent Baseball USA, Houston, Texas

and

Spray Charting

TXI Diamond Pro Professional Groundskeeping Products

Works on any Palm OS PDA

Works with ProSeries on your PC to Provide...

Not Available for Pocket PC

1341 W. Mockingbird Lane Dallas, TX 75247

800.228.2987 www.diamondpro.com

Developed in conjunction with Dean Stotz (Associate Head Coach, Stanford Baseball), ChartMine is the most advanced pitch/hit-charting program available. If you want a Competitive Edge, you have to go beyond paper charting and simple electronic score keeping. You need to mine the wealth of information that is hidden in your pitching/hitting charts. Currently used by nearly 25 percent of D1 teams including UT Austin (National Champions). Named a “best product” by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper in 2000 and 2001. Call (888) 329-0722 or visit www.edgedec.com for more information.

MONEY BACK GUARANTEE

1-800-60-STATS 2609 Technology Drive Plano, TX 75074 www.stalkerradar.com Phone (972) 398-3760 • Fax (972) 398-3781

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TurboStats Software P.O. Box 144 Towaco, NJ 07082

973-334-7828

Basketball, Football, Soccer and Volleyball Avail.

Computerized Batting Orders 300 Righty/Lefty Batting, Pitching & Fielding Stats Practice Planner Pro Package with PC Software $159.95

CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITE: www.turbostats.com

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TEAM EQUIPMENT GALLERY Sleep Inn®, Clarion®, MainStay Suites®, Econo Lodge® and Rodeway Inn® brand hotels in a fast and streamlined manner. Through this easy-to-navigate site, Choice HotelsSM provides athletic departments an online travel solution that meets their specific booking needs along with realtime sporting news from youth, collegiate and professional levels. For more information, visit choicesportstravel.com. Circle No. 117 on Reader Inquiry Card

Easy-Recruiter, from CompuSports, helps college coaches and recruiters manage Athletic Recruiting data. Easy-Recruiter can operate in both single-user and multi-user (network) environments and adapts to virtually any sport. A collection of reports is included and the user can easily modify (customize) these reports and then save them for future use. Easy-Recruiter saves time, ensures up-to-date information, and makes it quickly and easily accessible to coaches and athletic support staff. Call (800) 691-4555 or visit www.compusports.com for more information.

CompuSports’ Easy-Recruiter

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Decker Sports’ PPS Professional Series Baseball

Decker Sports USA offers the only baseball that more than 250 high schools and 25 D-1 programs use for practice. The Decker PPS Professional Series Baseball is on sale for a limited time. The sale includes a free Decker ball bucket with any order of five dozen balls or more. The cost is only $29.99 per dozen plus shipping and handling, and they’re 100-percent guaranteed. Call (800) 431-5128 for more information or to place an order. Circle No. 119 on Reader Inquiry Card

The new Decker Velocity Development Package consists of an underload, load and overload baseball and also features an in-season and off-season throwing schedule. The real baseballs’ weights and throwing protocols were designed using the most up-to-date research available (April 2000) and have been proven to increase players throwing velocity up to 7 m.p.h. or more. The Decker VDB’s easily incorporate into your current throwing routine and all position players as well as pitchers will improve this critical performance skill. To order, please call Decker Sports toll-free at (800) 431-5128 today or visit the company’s Web site at www.deckersports.com. VDP with player protocol only $19.99 +S&H; Team dozen (4 VDB sets) with player protocol only $49.99 +S&H.

Decker Sports’ Velocity Development Package

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Power Systems’ Power Throw Ball

Power Systems’ Power throw Ball is a great tool to perform strengthening and rehabilitation exercises. These weighted balls are offered in baseball and softball sizes as well as 7, 14, 21 oz. weights. Additionally the company's new and improved design makes the balls squeezable. This enables the user to not only strengthen their rotator cuff, but also their grip strength. For more information and a free catalog, call (800) 321-6975 or visit www.power-systems.com. Circle No. 121 on Reader Inquiry Card

The Power Grip Ball offered by Power Systems is a medicine ball with a built in handle that gives the user the added ability of performing a different movements that you wouldn’t be able to do with a traditional ball. Perform forehand, backhand, side arm, over the head and between the leg throws. The ball is made of sealed latex so it can handle being thrown indoors or outdoors. For more information and to request a free catalog call (800) 321-6975 or visit www.power-systems.com. Circle No. 122 on Reader Inquiry Card

Power Systems’ Power Grip Ball

Free Subscription Offer until June 15, 2003. Skillshow has the largest selection of prospect videos that are, or can be, professionally edited so that College Coaches & Scouts can save time and money while reviewing new and previously-seen prospects. Do you know prospects that could use more visibility or a College Coach that could benefit from seeing more players...contact Skillshow today: 610-687-9072 or visit www.skillshow.com. Circle No. 123 on Reader Inquiry Card

TurboStats Software celebrates its 10 year anniversary with the release of Version 11.0 for Baseball/Softball, which combines the same proven stat tracking technology used by over 10,000 teams, with innovative new features like spray charting, stats by count and pitching history reports. TurboStats can make any coaches job easier by combining a practice planner, scorebook page designer, league scheduling, computerized batting orders, and a drag-n-drop lineup card designer with live game scorekeeping on a Palm OS handheld PDA. New with version 11.0 coaches can now view stats by pitch count, pitch type and location and can even print color coded spay chart diagrams. The statistical information can be manually entered or imported in minutes directly from TurboStats Scorekeeper for the Palm OS. TurboStats also released version 6.0 of ScoreKeeper that now includes pitch charting along with live game scorebook style data entry and spray charting. TurboStats ScoreKeeper has been helping teams win championships for several years since it has been introduced and is endorsed by Ken Griffey Sr. For more information visit www.turbostats.com or call (800) 60-STATS. Circle No. 124 on Reader Inquiry Card

COACHING MANAGEMENT

Skillshow

TurboStats’ Version 11.0 for Baseball/Softball

A Difference You Can See ™

Now you can have it all with the NEW Hack Attack!! Better than a two-wheel machine for vision. Hack Attack has a three wheel design, the hitter never loses sight of the ball.

Better than an arm machine for a sense of timing. It’s almost human; life-like ball release follows the path of the pitcher’s arm, giving the hitter a realistic sense of timing and location.

Better than an arm machine for a variety of pitches thrown. The throwing head stays in place requiring only the changing of the speed of the wheels to throw any series of breaking pitches with extreme accuracy and speed.

Better than a two-wheel machine in ease of operation.

No cumbersome adjustments!! Moving to fungo work takes only seconds; pivots instantly for ﬂyballs, line drives, grounders and pop-ups Sports Attack creates professional performance using 35 years of pitching machine design experience. If you want to be the best next season…buy the best.

Call for more information and a product demonstration: 1-800-717-4251 www.sportsattack.com

With the three-wheel design, the hitter never loses sight of the ball

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Choice Sports Travel is the one-stop source for booking your team’s hotel accommodations on the road. And it doesn’t matter if you’re booking an entire season or a single game, Choice offers over 3,500 locations with a variety of amenities and services to meet your team’s budget and travel needs. Just call, fax or visit our Web site, because the only thing better than winning is winning on the road.

Book your entire away-game schedule at once. Ready? Break.

Phone 877.240.AWAY Fax 877.249.AWAY choicesportstravel.com Discount code: 00058813

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