Connecting Coaches, Parents and Players
Finding a gift for a dad can be pretty tough. But if you have a baseball dad, don’t worry, I got this. This is my wheel house. Every year I list a few things that I would enjoy receiving, call it Rusty’s Favorite Things..move over Oprah. Here are a few ideas that will bring joy to your baseball dad….trust me! (as always, I don’t get paid or perked by any of these products) Hey Lefty! Keep…
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If you’ve read my blog before, you’ve probably figured out by now that Lefty plays for a travel ball organization called MIT. What you might not know is that while MIT officially stands for Mentoring, Instruction and Training, my wife and some of the other MIT moms often joke that it should really stand for “Men in Training” (because of the important life lessons our kids are learning through baseball.) Looks like the MIT moms…
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Having a sore arm is a part of baseball. Throwing a baseball is an inherently difficult and unnatural motion. And if you have a baseball player, there will most likely be a time when you hear, “My arm is sore.” We can spend hours (if not days or weeks) discussing important topics like prevention, training and overuse. As a parent of a youth baseball player, I know it’s my responsibility to be well-informed and his…
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Mother’s Day is Sunday May 10 this year. I know because I Googled it. Here is a little something to show mom the love. Happy Mother’s Day to all the baseball moms! This is one of my favorite gifts for moms. Made by a small home business TwentyandBelow on Etsy run by mother-daughter duo Sylvia and Stephanie. Item Details: Take me out to the ball game! These necklaces are made out of actual leather baseballs. Each ball has been…
MoreLefty and I recently had the opportunity to review The Swing Bat. The Swing Bat is designed to improve swing mechanics by giving an immediate three-phase feed back; hear it, see it and feel it. Lefty enjoyed using it and we had fun filming this review. Check out our review in this video and read below for more information. Product Information: The Swing Bat is an excellent training tool that gets your swing on…
MoreI have a new favorite podcast called Youth Baseball Talk with Jim Cromer. One day while scrolling through iTunes I decided to look for a podcast related to a subject I think about everyday, youth baseball. I found Jim Cromer’s Youth Baseball Talk and gave it a listen. The intro music began (John Fogerty’s Centerfield – the best baseball song ever, right) and I was hooked. If you are the parent of a young ball player,…
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Over the past few months, I have reached out to NCAA and NAIA head baseball coaches and asked one question that has intrigued me for some time. The response to this question has been tremendous and some times even stunning. Over 100 coaches have provided their perspective to my question. As I am compiling their answers, I wanted to share one response from current head coach at California State University Northridge, Greg Moore. Coach Moore…
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When I reached out to Coach Hause and asked if he’d be willing to sit down for a chat about youth baseball he replied immediately and said he’d do anything he could to help. Coach Hause is the pitching coach for California State University San Marcos, which gained NCAA status last summer and was recently approved for Div II candidacy. He is one of the best and most knowledgeable pitching coaches in the region, known for…
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Okay, I know it is not as entertaining as a nasty curveball. Batters won’t bail, duck and swing like a corkscrew out of the box. Most fans in the stands won’t ooh and aah when they see it. It is not widely used especially in youth baseball. It takes time to learn a grip that works and most of all, trust it. But, done right…it is awesomely nasty! It is the changeup. Lefty has been working…
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Interesting pitching philosophy by coach Butch Thompson at Mississippi State. He believes that using more pitchers during a game not only gives every pitcher a key role but also creates a more effective staff late in the year instead of suffering from dead arms. By LOU PAVLOVICH, JR. Editor/Collegiate Baseball (From Feb. 21, 2014 issue of Collegiate Baseball) MISSISSIPPI STATE, Miss. — Pitching coaches have always utilized different strategies to maximize the pitching talent they…
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