Measure What Matters: An Introspective Examination of our Program Pillars and Defining Success

Posted by Robbie Britt, Head Coach on December 27th, 2021

At the end of every fall, college coaches enter a period unlike any other time of year. Recruiting tapers, our current athletes go home for the holidays and many of the administrative tasks have been addressed or sit unaddressed until spring. This season for baseball coaches is comparable to summer vacation for teachers. For me personally, this time serves as a rhythm of life where I can spend more time with family and reflect on what truly matters. In this reflective state, I often wrestle with the status of our program, what we do well, and what we can do better. No matter where we are at as an organization, I always leave these reflection periods, thinking, "I know we can do better." At the end of this fall, I asked two questions in our morning staff summit: 1. What Do We Value? 2. How Do We Measure What We Value? The following is a brief looking at how we attack those questions and what it looks like for our program.

To begin, the easy answer is to say we value winning on the field, and of course, we do. However, the vision of our program is to build leaders and prepare them for the rest of their life. Competitive nature and winning does have a role in that process, but it takes its rightful place amongst other key measurables that we examine in our program. What we truly value is broken into our three program pillars:

Graduate Leaders = Academics, Personal & Leadership Development
Create Champions = Player Development and Competitive Success
Develop Stewards = Community Engagement and Purposeful Stewardship

Another way to talk about our program is that we want to win in Classroom, Competition, Community. While that is nice and cliche, for us, we are tasked with using these pillars to drive our initiatives forward. If we claim to be "Graduating Leaders", then we must be expecting and investing in those areas, otherwise, it is just words on a sheet of paper. Even more importantly, we must be defining and assessing our performance indicators in those areas to know whether we are achieving tangible success. The following describes how we gauge success:

Classroom: Graduate Leaders
Performance Indicators:
Team GPA 3.0+
Tracking 4-Year Grad Path 
 
Competition: Create Champions
Performance Indicators:
Individual Player Measurables
Specific Team Stats
Win 30+ Games, Conference Championship, Regional Championship, College World Series
 
Community: Develop Stewards
Performance Indicators:
Serve 1000+ Hours in the Community
Host 3+ Community Engagement Events during the Academic Year
 
Above are the indicators of what we value, and more importantly how we measure those values. Some thoughts that we use to ensure we are investing and tracking in the right areas are: What matters to us? How do we define & measure success in that area? Why does that matter to us?
 
Asking these questions and reflecting on those questions in the scope of each area of the program, creates more purposeful direction for our instruction and our program design.

What makes Charleston unique is that our mission is more wholistic than just what happens on the field of play. One of our team guest speakers once shared, "Championship programs don't have to win a championship every year". I've often thought about that line, and its relevance to our environment, the program we have designed for our student-athletes. In the Greek language, Championship means, "in defense of…". Developing and nurturing a championship program means we are defending our mission, our values. This process can be done not just by winning the last game, but by winning every day, by taking steps toward meeting and exceeding the things we value. To know our success and our progress, we must first define what we value, determine how to measure that success and ultimately track that consistently. Our focus is not just about the instructional, but the experiential. 

For us, it is about creating a transcendent student-athlete experience. As we discuss often inside our program walls, these should not be the best four years of your life… Our goal is that our players return when they are 30, 35, 40, 45 and tell us that because of the skills they developed at Charleston, they are currently living the best years of their life. We are the catapult, preparing to launch future leaders into the next chapter of their life. How do we create and promote that environment? Measure what matters.

Robbie Britt, Head Coach, @coachrb6, @culturehousellc


Defensive Positioning

Posted by Pablo Cabrera, Defensive Coordinator on February 15^th, 2021

Baseball is a game of tendencies. With the advancement of technology, we are able to access these tendencies and analyze with them with more ease. This blog goes over our use of positioning cards for our fielders and the purpose they serve on game day.
 
Here at the University of Charleston, we prepare our defensive alignments with the use of 643, a database that allows us to view opponents spray charts. We use these spray charts to help determine hitters' tendencies when it comes to how often they tend to hit the baseball to different parts of the field. 
 

Above is an example of a spray chart for a hitter. Percentages and the shades of color helps us determine how often a certain hitter puts the ball in play in the given direction. 
 
At the University of Charleston, we have a developed a system that allows us to coordinate our defense in a way that will defend against these tendencies. With the use of an 80-20 scale (as pictured below), we are able to be exact when it comes to determining where certain fielders are to be positioned for specific hitters. 

 

This scale helps bring uniformity when it comes to how positioning is communicated within our defense. Establishing the different landmarks will allow our fielders to easily position themselves during the game. On game day, we distribute cards to the fielders that allow them to refer to when deciding the optimal defensive positioning for their specific position. 

 

These cards are designed to easily allow the user to maneuver to the important information. With the use of different colors, players are able to distinguish between left-handed and right-handed hitters along with left-handed and right-handed pitchers. Next to each hitter's name, there are a set of numbers that refer to the suggested positioning when it comes to their tendencies. We explain to the fielders that these numbers are suggested, still giving them the freedom to adapt and reposition themselves when the situation calls for it. 
 
Each card also contains the speed of each runner. The speed number assigned to each batter is determined by the 643 databases. This number takes into account stats such as stolen base success, infield singles, bunt for hits, and extra bases. In order to eliminate subjectivity, we color coated the different speed numbers into three categories labeled as below avg runner, avg runner, and above average runner. As these don't give the fielder an exact number of what their speed is running the bases, the fielders still are made aware of that hitter's ability to use their speed to produce runs. 
 
Shifts give us the ability to coordinate our fielders into the best position to field balls put in play in regard to the hitter's tendencies. Better positioning allows us to ultimately make more plays that will result in more outs. More chances to make outs helps us win more ball games. 

Sitting on the Curve

Posted by Michael Blatchford, Offensive Coordinator on February 9^th, 2021

Offensive Coordinator Michael Blatchford speaks with Robbie Britt (Center) and Pablo Cabrera (Right) during practice on February 6th, 2021.

As a hitter, being on time is crucial for having success at the plate. The pitcher is doing his best to ensure the hitter is off time. A pitcher aims to do this by throwing different types of pitches at various speeds with the hope of inducing weak contact or "swing and misses". The question becomes how as hitters do we put ourselves in a position to be on time more often?

Some believe that the best way to hit off speed pitches is to hit changeups and curveballs to the opposite field, meaning right field for a right-handed batter and left field for a left-handed batter. We do not believe that this approach puts our individual players in the optimal position for success.

Thinking about what speed is from a very basic physics perspective, speed is equal to distance traveled over time elapsed. If a fastball and curveball were released at the same time and location, the curveball will travel the same distance as the fastball but over a longer duration of time. Our approach with our players is to be on time for both types of pitches. In order to accomplish this, we focus on hitting the fastball through the middle and opposite field. By doing this, a hitter will then pull any pitch that is not a fastball. Pulling off-speed pitches allows a hitter's hands to continue to travel along their path over more time while also allowing the hitter to hit the faster pitch at the beginning of their bat path. Because an off-speed pitch is slower, a hitter can then be on time for this pitch and pull the ball.

This approach is something that we see implemented by some of the best hitters in the game of baseball over the last 5 years. We gathered spray chart information on four of baseball's top hitters and compared their spray chart heat maps on fastballs and off-speed pitches. The first batters analyzed are Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera. On the left side are their spray charts over the last 5 years on fastballs and on the right are their spray charts on off-speed pitches. The data shows that these players have greater success on hitting balls to centerfield and rightfield with fastballs. They also tend to have greater success pulling the ball to leftfield on off-speed pitches

 

The next two hitters, Joey Votto and Christian Yelich, are left-handed hitters. Like Cabrera and Trout, Yelich and Votto have had greater success in the past five years when they hit fastballs to the middle and opposite field. As lefties, this would-be to centerfield and left field. In addition, they have greater success on off-speed pitches when they pull the ball to right field.
 

The ability to do this with different pitches is something we practice on a consistent basis. In many of our hitting sessions we will throw our players mixed batting practice. Meaning that we throw them a randomized mix of fastballs, curveballs, and other pitches of various speeds. Every time a hitter steps in the cage, their objective is to hit the fastballs to the opposite or middle part of the field and to pull any off-speed pitch. If they pull a fastball their round is over and must wait until their turn comes up again.

While other factors can dictate success for a hitter, having a plan and approach is something that can help any hitter regardless of the level they are at. With decision making happening in milliseconds, we want to give our hitters the highest chance of success. The data shows that some of the best hitters in the world hit fastballs up the middle and pull off-speed.

Competitive Bullpen Progression

Posted by Anthony Zona, Pitching Coach on February 1^st, 2021

When progressing in the preseason with our bullpen objectives, we aim to challenge the pitching staff on a linear path that will pair up with what they will be asked to do in the game setting.

We first break up the bullpen training into 2-3 buckets on any given year:

• Starters

• Hybrid/Relievers

• Development (Redshirt)

This sets the groups by stating, "Who is training what"? Pitching coaches know that plans may not always get followed to a tee with things that may come up and could interrupt a throwing week or cycle such as contact tracing on campus, quarantines, injuries, on ramp schedules. We must remain flexible with our planning and leave room for unforeseen hiccups, with that in mind, keep the main thing the main thing.

We were lucky enough to have a strong evaluation period in the fall, so our coaching staff as well as the athletes have a clear vision for what their main focus is in training and what they are training most frequently. An example in the image below is of two different groups, a starter on the left, a reliever on the right and their weekly objective in their competitive phase of their bullpens this preseason:
 

How an athlete progresses through this is solely based of how well they can perform these tasks when training them on the mound. For example if an athlete is still struggling in week 2 of "expanding the zone", we will continue to tackle that until they break through the competitive barrier in the competitive phase. On the flip side, we may need accelerate a pitcher who is experienced and needs to have an uptick in challenge from week to week. The data is collected through the tracking of their pitches inside the competitive segment.
 
Performance is the goal, but training performance under pressure will continue to help the body and mind fixate itself on how to execute the objectives at game speed or higher. Building calluses!

Daily Infield Drills

Posted by Beth Woerner, Development Coach on January 28^th, 2021

The infielders at Charleston Baseball have a set of five daily drills to train each of the foundation skills that were explained in the previous post. Defining the infield foundations into five skills allows the coaches and players to be more organized in the way we communicate, train, and evaluate the skills of the players. Isolating each of the skills into a daily drill creates a routine that focuses on improving and training the technique and execution of those skills every day.

Each infield player keeps a copy of the chart with them that explains each of these daily drills along with some execution focus points for each drill.

The players will do most of the daily drills with a partner. The first daily drill trains the foundation skill Prepare with the Prep Step Ball Drop. One partner will toss the ball into the air while the other practices the timing of their pre-pitch movement to try to land at the same time the ball hits the ground. The players will be made aware of their timing to know if they tend to be too late or too early based on video from in-game or as close to game-like reps as possible.
 
To train Approach, the players do a Toe Up Flamingo drill. The player will begin with their glove side leg up, like a flamingo, and their partner will roll them the ball to work on the posture, glove position, timing, and footwork approach to fielding a ground ball. The focus is on getting a wide base and keeping the glove out in front in a good fielding position.
 
The players will do a Pick Series drill to train Containment. They will begin the series without their glove working on receiving the ball with good posture, keeping their eyes on the ball all the way to their glove, and pushing through the baseball. The purpose of training containment without the glove is to emphasize catching the ball with soft hands. After each player gets reps for each glove orientation (straight up, glove side, and backhand) they will put on their gloves and practice a variety of hops with the same focus of containment as without the glove.
 
The only daily drill that does not require a partner is the Varied Transfer drill that trains the Transfer skill. Players will each have their own baseball and start with the ball in their glove as if they just fielded a ground ball. From a variety of fielding positions, the players will then practice how they transfer the ball from their glove to a throwing position. In order to have a good transfer, the players are to focus on funneling to the center of their chest and separate with both hands thumbs down while also moving their feet in the direction of the throwing target. The purpose of this drill is to isolate the transfer to focus on making sure each aspect of the movement is setting up for the player to have the best throw possible.
 
The final foundation skill is Throw. It is not included on the daily drill sheet but is something that our players do train daily. On the training plan that is shared each day before our training sessions, there is a catch play focus specifically for the infielders. As an example, the training plan may instruct infielders to spend the final minute of their time during catch play throwing from a variety of arm slots. The instruction will change often to train different aspects of throwing relevant to infield.
 
The daily drills are designed to last about 5 minutes total while isolating each of the foundational skills. This creates a routine to focus on each skill every single day even if the other drill work during training is focusing on a different foundation skill.

W.I.N. – Creating Early Season Scrimmages that Emphasize "What's Important Now"

Posted by Robbie Britt, Head Coach on January 25^th, 2021

Every year, we struggle to create competitive scrimmages early in the preseason. The combination of trying to install team concepts, work on individual player progressions, and pitchers still in the infancy of their spring ramp up has created challenges, for us as a staff, in attempting to create an environment filled with highly competitive, game-like situations. To remedy this problem, we have created an early season scrimmage format that has allowed us to cultivate multiple, intense, competitive situations while minimizing the pitch-count workload for our pitching staff.

Past Challenges
Using a typical scrimmage setup, we always battled having to "roll the inning" with bases loaded, or an uneven number of pitchers scheduled to throw for the day. Using execution style scoring, we aren't able to adequately replicate the real format used in a live game. We also discovered that execution style scoring didn't necessarily reflect who would've won the game based on runs scored. While we still use this format, we use it primarily in the fall season, and we use it to teach the focus of executing offensively. Another challenge is the structure of the game in an early season format. A pitcher that gives up hits is typically punished more than someone who walks the bases loaded because of his early season pitch count threshold. This dichotomy creates dissonance in what we are trying to teach our pitchers, and punishes the offense that walks or works long counts, which is in direct conflict of some of our offensive goals.
 
Present Solutions
To combat many of the issues previously faced in scrimmages, we've created a format that creates consistent in-game energy, intentional competitive & strategic moments and allows us to combine intense scripted situations with the natural flow of the game. Inside of this activity, each inning has two scripted segments separated by a clean inning in the middle. This format allows us to train in tough to replicate offensive situations, while still giving the Pitcher an opportunity to gather some rhythm and flow during his outing.

Pre-Inning Situation (PRIS)
The first component consists of the "pre-inning situation". This past week, each PRIS consisted of a bunt situation, which was our defensive installation of the week. By scripting different occupants on the bases and specific hitters, we can test guys who might profile a weakness in their bunt game skill set, or give opportunities to those who are fighting for on field opportunities. It allows our defense to work on repeating successful bunt coverages and executing our defensive goals. If the offense reaches base successfully via bunt base hit or defensive error, the offensive team secures 1 point. If the offense advances the lead runner, but the defense records an out on the batter-runner, then the offense records .5 points, and if the offense fails to execute a bunt in play, or the lead runner is thrown out then the offense records 0 points. No matter the outcome, at the end of the play, the whistle blows, and the bases are cleared.
 
Live Inning
Following the pre-inning situation, the inning will start clean and will be played out just like a normal scrimmage. In this sequence, if the pitcher-defense records 3-outs and no runs are scored, then the offense gets 0 points, however, if the offense scores at all, they record 1 point. Even if the offense scores more than 1 run, they will only record 1 point. By scoring the scrimmage in this manner, it creates a competitive atmosphere even if the offense has a multi-run inning. It minimizes the impact of one bad defensive inning impacting the rest of the game, but magnifies the importance of playing clean baseball on both sides of the ball. For the live inning, we revert to our regular lineups that we created in preparation for training (practice).
 
While our pitchers are not on a drop-dead pitch count, we typically look for them to throw 1-inning, between 25-35 pitches. Our initial reaction, was to script our entire early scrimmages. In doing a scripted scrimmage, our next concern became how to give the pitcher an opportunity to create rhythm inside of his appearance. In previous scripted scrimmages, that was our most prevalent feedback from pitchers. Consistently, they felt that while the challenge was positive, it didn't mimic enough of a true game for their liking. By clearing the bases and forcing them to get 3-outs, it allows them to feel their way through a full inning, embedded between two scripted portions. We found that this structure created a "Do Your Job" mentality by forcing the pitcher to focus on recording three outs instead of worrying about his overall pitching performance.
 

Post-Inning Situation (POIS)
As soon as the third out is recorded, the defense remains on the field, and offensive athletes assume their positions on the field for the POIS. Generally, this is a 2-out situation with Runners in Scoring Position, however, you can do any number of situations. (1^st/3^rd, Bunt, 3^rd & 1-Out Execution, etc.) Scoring is based on the situation, however, for 2-out situations, if the run scores, it is +1 for the offense, and if the defense secures the 3^rd out of the inning, then 0 points are allocated to the offense.
 
This post-cursor to the live inning allows for a couple different things to take place. First, no matter what happens in the live inning, it gives another chance for someone to execute in a highly intense situation. If the pitcher struggles in his live-outing, he gets the opportunity to "clear the mechanism" and respond by getting the 3^rd out of the inning, and securing a point for his team. On the offensive side, it allows for a team to execute a big 2-out situation, and earn a final point, which typically leads to excitement from their dugout. In the video below, our batter grounds into an inning ending double play, which secured a clean live inning for the defense. While his spot came up naturally in the lineup, he was also scripted to hit in the 2-out POIS. Now, he has to get back in the box and compete again. This time, he pulled a ball down the left field line, which allowed two runs to score and earned the offensive team a point to secure the inning. That also ended up being the game separating point.

https://youtu.be/zME0zswlG5Y

Final Thoughts
Scoring our scrimmages in this manner, we have worked to eliminate areas that we felt didn't adequately reflect the live game setting, while creating an environment where each element of execution carries an immense amount of value, and those competing inside of that environment are forced to operate with a lot of intensity throughout. With each inning having three separate components, we've created a space where are athletes are focused on winning "the game within the game". We talk so often about process v. results, our "circle of control", managing our mindset, but it is often difficult to create an environment to train those skills organically. This weekend alone, there were three moments where the hitter who ended the live inning with an out, was scripted to come back up and execute the post-inning situation. While those were naturally occuring moments, they were great teaching moments for our team to watch someone who just failed, have to reset, and get back in the box. The same is true on the pitching side, no longer can an arm give in and go hide in the dugout, because even if we "roll the inning", he still has a chance to respond and earn a point for his team. In reflecting on this this past weekend, both games were decided by less than 1 point. Both games had a chance to decide the winner in the final inning. Both games, the team that played a full clean defensive inning won the overall game. By attempting to create, and facilitate competitive moments, we were able to create a consistent, game-like environment for our athletes to train within, while managing our arms in preparation for opening day.
 
Robbie Britt, Head Baseball Coach, @coachrb6

Building Complete Infielders From the Ground Up

Posted by Pablo Cabrera, Development Coach on January 18^th, 2021

As coaches, we can struggle to be on the same page as our players. At the University of Charleston, we strive to avoid disconnection and work hard to build healthy relationships with our players.

The infield staff came together over the break to see how we can create alignment among coaches and players. We believed that establishing a foundation of skills and sharing them with the players would allow them to feel more involved in their development as infielders. Perry Hill's famous 6 F's of Fielding helped guide us in the direction of creating our foundation. Hill's 6 F's are popular among infield coaches because it simplifies such a complex action of fielding a ground ball and throwing into six words. These six words are the same words he uses with his infielders when he works with them. 

In order to promote alignment between players and coaches, we decided to establish a foundation of skills for our infielders that outlines the ideal makeup of skills for our players. 
 

The bottom row of the chart shows the five foundational skills we decided are important. Each column represents a different level for each skill. The top level being more complex with the bottom levels representing the basic necessities of each skill. The lower levels are necessary to support the higher levels of each skill in order to perform in the most effective and efficient way.

We tried to keep the skills as simple and self-explanatory as possible. Let's take a look at each of the foundation skills. 

Prepare is the process of putting the player in the right position to perform before the play happens. This skill includes all pre-contact movements. We want the players to prepare both physically in the best athletic position and mentally by understanding the situation).

Approach refers to the reactionary movements infielders need to perform in order to put themselves in the best position to catch the baseball. Do they need to move left or right? Do they have to come get the ball? Which hop do they want to receive? Is their play still what they originally planned to do with the ball when it got hit to them? These are questions infielders will subconsciously make when a baseball is hit within their vicinity.

Containment focuses on the action of catching the baseball. Are the players eliminating blind spots by getting into a good position to field a ground ball?

The Transfer skill highlights the importance of getting the baseball from the player's glove into their throwing hand and into a position to make an accurate and strong throw.

The Throw skill is simply throwing the baseball. How can the player produce the most consistent throws?  Which arm slot should they use for the situation and timing?

With these different foundations, the coaches are able to communicate with the same words from all coaches with our players so they are hearing consistent language and teaching.

Along with creating alignment in our teaching, we wanted to be able to prioritize the different skills during team training. Creating a system of priority will allow us to schedule which skills we are focusing on for a certain date in order to best prepare our players for the season. Because we have a scheduled plan, we can spend more time coming up with creative and challenging ways to train each skill.

Each day we will challenge and exercise all of these foundational skills. The blog post on Thursday will explain more in-depth how we have planned a set of daily drills that will strengthen each skill in the foundation of our infielders.

We are looking forward to getting back to work and we know the players are too!

Scorecard Visualization

Posted by Michael Blatchford, Hitting Coach on January 14^th, 2021

As the spring approaches, our focus shifts away from offseason adjustments and leans more towards in-game performance. While adjustments can be made, most of our work focuses on challenging our hitters and preparing them for the season.  As a program, we believe that creating a hitting environment in which a player has a higher success rate than failure rate is somewhat paradoxical to the game of baseball. Some training environments are set up so that the outcomes of a player are successful a higher percentage of the time. This is not always an accurate representation of what happens in a game. There is a time and place for these environments, but given our proximity to the season, we try to create an environment that is more realistic to the game by challenging our hitters in many ways. As a result of this style of training, one of our biggest challenges is: how do we create confidence in a hitter when they are more likely to have a higher failure rate in both games and in practice?

To keep our hitter's confidence up we rely heavily on visualization. One of the ways we use visualization is through scorecard visualization. As humans we can trick our minds to change our emotions. Players will often leave a practice or a game unhappy with the outcome of their performance.  In our training and in games our players have a scorecard in which they track their at-bats. After a game or training session is over, we have our players mentally go through their at-bats and recreate a new positive outcome for the at-bats in which they made a mistake.

Sometimes hitters will not swing at a hittable fastball, possibly resulting in a negative outcome for the remainder of the at-bat. While we want to avoid these situations, it is human nature to make mistakes and we teach our hitters to be okay with all outcomes. In the visualization process, our players see themselves hitting that pitch instead of taking it. We tell them to be realistic because they must learn that they are human, not super-human.
 

By using this scorecard visualization, we change the way our hitters view their performance, which allows them to build confidence in future situations. In addition, it makes a hitter believe that they are better than they actually are, which is a confidence boost that many players need, especially given the rate of failure. During a game, one or two pitches at the plate can make the difference between a successful and unsuccessful day. For many hitters, all they know is what they thought about their last game at the plate and what they feel as a person because of those outcomes. It is extremely common for a player to harbor emotions about a past performance which can roll over to the next game both in a positive and a negative way.

Many times, people talk about hitting as an emotional roller coaster, but outcomes do not have to affect the way our hitters think. Hitters beat themselves up based on poor performances and this   can pull a hitter's focus away from the present. This is often how slumps occur because a player's inability to let poor performances pass. Our goal is to challenge our hitters by creating a challenging environment while also providing them with the tools to be confident in the box. We feel the scorecard is just one of the ways we can do this for our players.

Podcast:
https://anchor.fm/michael-eader/episodes/Mental-Aspects-of-Offense-Scorecard-Visualization-Michael-Blatchford--Pablo-Cabrera-ep0171

Our Goal in Recruiting

Posted by Ian MacDonald, Recruiting Coordinator on January 11^th, 2021

Our goal in recruiting is to move our program forward by identifying, evaluating, and recruiting players who are closely aligned with our program's vision, to create a transcendent student-athlete experience by graduating leaders, creating champions, and developing stewards.

For us, moving our program forward means making progress towards fulfilling our vision. 

The player selection process begins with identification. We rely heavily on trusted relationships with high school & travel coaches, alumni, and current players in our program. They have the best feel for the type of player (and person) that will fit what we are looking for. Our identification process starts with our program's present & future needs. Headed into a recruiting cycle we must have a clear idea of how many players we need at which positions. The challenging part is that these needs change regularly. Ultimately, we are are trying to identify players who increase our top-end level of ability and build depth. 

From an evaluation standpoint, we assess a prospect's tools, skills, and makeup. A position player's tools include: hitting (contact & power), fielding, throwing, and running. A pitcher's tools include: velocity, command, and movement. We define skill as how & to what extent a player uses their tools in-game. Such skills include approach, instincts, intelligence, consistency, adjustability, composure, presence, and motor. For us, makeup is defined as: who a player is, what motivates them, and what they have been through. Character traits that we look for in players that we recruit include grit, work ethic, discipline, accountability, engagement, respect, and aptitude. 

In regards to recruiting, our responsibility is to make well-informed, calculated decisions that put the program in a position to achieve long-term, sustainable success. The question that we ask most: "what about this player will make our program better?" We work tirelessly to recruit players who improve our best. Players that we recruit must have the physical ability to help us compete at the national level, meet our standards of character, and have a track record of success (or progress) academically. We seek to excel in recruiting by the way that we communicate — honestly, and the strength of our relationships — built through trust. For our program to be the right fit — we need to know everything there is to know about the player, and that player needs to know everything there is to know about us. 

Players that we recruit have to understand, believe in, and want to live out our program's vision; to create a transcendent student athlete experience by graduating leaders (academically), creating champions (athletically), and developing stewards (through service). To us, transcendent means comprehensive, complete, and one-of-a-kind. Our vision is to create an experience built upon opportunity. Opportunity to earn a degree, while developing a set of life & leadership skills to be successful in life after baseball. Opportunity to play for a championship-winning team. Opportunity to serve, give back, and be a part of something bigger than oneself. 

Bullpen Structure: "Make Them Count" 

Posted by Anthony Zona, Pitching Coach on January 7^th, 2021

Pitching Coach Anthony Zona speaks with Austin Henrich (#25) during a mound visit. 

The goal of this post is to show how we structure our bullpen and mound sessions to not only develop but also prepare our pitchers for what they will face while moving at game speed. There have been countless amounts of coaches across the game I have learned from, who have helped shaped this structure.

Skill Acquisition Model:
This model is where we begin construction of what the bullpen training will contain for our pitchers. Important to note, we evaluate first what skill level the athlete's bullpen training will entail after the evaluation we make from the scrimmages, metrics, velo, stats, video and various data we collect. Dreyfus's model is the starting point for our staff to gauge an athlete on the collected information. Below is an image of Dreyfus's "Skill Acquisition Model":   
 

Much like this image above we need to prescribe an adequate training environment depending on where the athlete's abilities lie. A helpful question to ask can be:

"Is the athlete a low, medium, or high contributor to the success you experience on the mound?"

A commonality among pitching staff's is that pitchers are typically on different timelines when they enter your program as far as development and current ability goes, some will be looking for playing time early, some fighting for innings, some needing a period of development to help their skill on the mound and physically. With those variables considered, we can start to build out the content inside the bullpen structure for the athlete accordingly. Here are the following steps we take:

1. Assessment (Dreyfus Model) - Where is this athlete? Is he a starter, reliever, or developmental arm?

2. Frequency (Days on mound - How many times does this athlete need and can handle on the mound?

3. Bullpen Types (Stress) - Based on their last live day, what CAN we do, NOT what we can't do.

We strive to have athletes touch the mound more, pending the proper rest, and recovery in between, low (little stress), medium (moderate stress), and high (stressful) throwing days.  If allowed, we aim for 3 touches on the rubber per week.

We offer 4 types:

1. Touch and Feel (8-12 pitches) -> Feel for a grip or working to a specific spot/area

2. Mound Work (12-20 pitches) -> Reps based for arsenal work

3. Traditional Bullpen (20-35 pitches) -> Development/Competition  

4. Split Pens (30 pitches rest after 15) -> Simulation of inning or different objectives

The model we use once inside the bullpen session, traditionally follows this outline:

1. Calibrate = No instruction, watching the athlete take their arsenal for a ride, with 12-15 pitches. Much can be learned here, just by watching!

2. Development = The desired objective for the session (12-15 pitches)

   • Examples: Placement, shape, break, depth, specific counts, constraints, lefty or righties, velocity lows, averages or peaks, pitch design etc.

3. Competition = Execution is the focus, while being challenged at or above game speed.

4. Development = The desired objective for the session (12-15 pitches)

   • Examples: Tracking batters, challenge against peers, unpredictable counts or situations.

   • Competitive moments: The last plot of pitches will be stored after the development portion, so at the conclusion of the pen the pitcher will be put into a LIVE situation on field with a defense and an offense, that forces a winner or a loser in our training point system. Example, (Runner on first, 0 outs 2-2 score).  

Above is the structure of our bullpen days, they will consist of those 3 elements, (Calibrate- Development- Competition). Although we can create competition inside the bullpens the "competitive moments" have risen above all in our training as our players have vocalized the value they can get from them in our preparation. The competitive moments provide game like reps, involving as many players as possible and is easy enough to schedule by having a few arms who throw bullpens, throw them towards the tail end of practice and roll right out into the competitive moment for that day's training session, which will be on the training plan sent out that day.
 
Ways we track information in bullpens:

• Training points (competitive segment)

• Rapsodo

• Video

Coach Woerner & I worked together to collect bullpen stats in our competition portions of the bullpens and created leaderboards.

I enjoyed sharing this content as it is a huge part of what pitching coaches must do to prepare their arms, if you want to connect about any of this please do so, my twitter handle is @UCWV_Zona.  

Forged in the Fire: UC's Approach to Developing Efficient Training Sessions: 

Posted by Robbie Britt, Head Coach on January 4^th, 2021

Head Coach Robbie Britt looks on during a Spring of 2020 game against Shippensburg. 

As I type this message, we are two months from our highly anticipated opening day. This time of year is exciting because there is so much newness, hope, opportunity, and it is now that many coaches start to put the first opportunity of assessment in our cross-hairs. For me, personally, I get fired up for the resumption of training! For many programs, when student-athletes come back to campus for the spring semester, there is an increased sense of urgency in preparation for the spring season. Here at UC, we aim to be intentional in the way that we design our training plans in order to maximize the student-athlete's preparedness.

Macro v. Micro Plans
 
The first thing our staff looks at every week is the macro calendar and how we manage our student-athlete's time throughout a training week. The macro-plan helps our student-athlete's organize their "inside 6" and their "outside 18". The "inside 6" are the hours that our players are doing something baseball related whether it is training, strength and conditioning, fueling, meetings, etc. The "outside 18" includes everything outside of our baseball environment. It is important that we are efficient and intentional with our player's time because we emphasize being diligent and navigating time effectively throughout the course of their day. As we plan training for the week, we want to take into consideration a couple factors:

• Do we play this week? If so, when?

• What phase of training are we in? Player Development? Installation? Evaluation?

• What days should be train in order to help our student-athletes obtain optimal performance?

• What needs to be accomplished throughout the week of training?

• What would be the most advantageous day to serve as the off-day?

• Other Factors: Sharing the Facility, Special Academic Events, Holidays

Typically, we aim to ramp up for Gamedays and then wind down toward our off-day. Below is a sample of how we intentionally plan a week of training.
 
        Saturday – Gameday
        Sunday – Gameday
        Monday – Recovery / Weekend Debrief / Cauldron & Corrections
        Tuesday – Fundamentals / Development Squad Gameday
        Wednesday – Off-Day / Recovery
        Thursday – Game Prep / Game Plan Installation
        Friday – Ramp Up / "Prepare for the Octagon"
        Saturday – Gameday
        Sunday – Gameday
 
It is important that we have a purpose in developing the training schedule for the week. In observing college football programs and the consistency of their macro-plans, I'm convinced that as college baseball coaches, we can take a page from the organization and purpose behind how we prepare and value each day in a training week.

 

In developing our micro-plans, we are tasked with collaborating as a staff to provide the optimal environment for our student-athletes to train. Our overarching goal is to create an environment where our players train at a faster rate of speed than what they will face in the game. Typically we are active for no more than 2 ½ hours. We attempt to be detailed-oriented and organized in how we construct our practice plan, so that our student-athletes receive a high number of reps with competitive intensity. As a program we define Quality as Intent + Pace, and it is our job as coaches to foster an environment where we promote high quantity of quality. For our student-athletes, we want training to be like a science lab; an opportunity for them to try, fail, learn and grow. A place where they can develop practical and applicable skills that they will take with them into the arena of competition. For coaches, we want it to be an orchestral practice, where there is organized chaos, different parts playing at different times, a mixture of small group work and large team concepts, all with the goal of playing in harmony on the day of the concert.
 
The blood and guts of training shift and change each day, however, we aim to cover the following in a 2 ½ hour block of time:

• Breathe, Activation (10 Minutes)

• Skill Game / Baserunning (10-20 Minutes)

• Catch-Play (10-20 Minutes)

• Individual Defensive Segment (10-30 Minutes)

• Team Defensive Concept (10-20 Minutes)

• Offensive Segment (40 Minutes to 1-Hour)

• Competitive Moment / 27-Outs

As one can see, with the time frames provided for each activity, the timing may change from day-to-day based on what needs to be accomplished. The overall skeleton structure remains the same. This consistency provides players comfortability in knowing what is next on the training plan, and allows for smoother transitions, which saves valuable time. The subtle shifts from activity to activity based on the day, allows for us to work on different things without overwhelming, or boring our players, and ultimately gives our coaches an opportunity to challenge our student-athletes throughout the training block.
 
Intentionality in training is difficult, but extremely rewarding, and we believe it leads to more consistent results amongst our student-athletes. We like to view our staff as a group of teachers, and our content area, our platform, is baseball. By not creating a detailed curriculum, or daily lesson plans, we would be the equivalent of the US History teacher who isn't prepared to teach his/her class. Designing meaningful training requires collaboration amongst our large staff, organization on both the macro & micro levels, and a detail-oriented approach throughout. By living out these three characteristics, we are able to provide our student-athletes with a competitive training environment where we create champions¹.
 
For more information on how we design training sessions, or anything else within our program, please email us at robertbritt@ucwv.edu.

¹ Create Champions is in reference to the three Core Pillars of the UC Baseball Program. By Graduating Leaders, Creating Champions, and Developing Stewards. The University of Charleston baseball program seeks to create a transcendent student-athlete experience.

Unique Leaders: An Inside Look at UC Baseball's Staff: 

Posted by Isaac Bowden, Director of Baseball Operations on December 31^th, 2020

Members of the UC Baseball staff talk to players before a fall practice outside of Segra Field. 

A typical college baseball staff is structured with approximately four coaches; each with a very specifically defined role. The four typical roles are Head Coach, Hitting Coach, Pitching Coach and a Volunteer Assistant. At Charleston, we are lucky enough to have 8-10 staff members. This staff size gives our program the unique opportunity to excel at a high level. Our staff is unique because of the autonomy we have within our position groups, the professional development opportunities we experience and the clearly defined staff structure.

At the University of Charleston Baseball, our staff model is very unique for the Division II level. There are at least eight coaches on staff with the oldest staff member only 28 years old. Having eight different bright minds to bounce ideas off of is not a luxury many college coaches have. Our Head Coach, Coach Britt, clearly defines our roles, and that allows each individual to have freedom within our individual responsibilities. Our staff responsibilities are clearly outlined in a document that allows us to continue to refer back to them.

As the youngest coach on the UC staff, I have been strongly impressed with the mentorship of other staff members. The professional development opportunities provided are a reason that the program is truly unique. We are encouraged to travel to camps and events that other schools host to help expand our network. Building a strong network of coaches has helped benefit us in talent identification and evaluation as well as allowing us to create and implement new strategies to benefit our program as a whole. There are many opportunities to develop skills off the field as well. All of the staff members get a chance to give presentations, read books and lead meetings during their time at UC. The professional development side give staff members the chance to lead from the front.
 

Every staff member experiences autonomy on our staff. Autonomy is the ability to make informed and uncoerced decisions. Having the ability to make autonomous decisions, allows for maximum growth and satisfaction for an employee. The autonomy allows coaches to lead their specific position groups without micromanagement. According to top management experts, creating an environment that disallows micromanagement fosters growth and satisfaction within employees. The UC staff is a collective group of highly motivated men and women who desire to succeed at the highest level and strive for excellence day in and day out.  Having such a big coaching staff is challenging, but can create a positive environment because everyone on the staff is willing to learn from one another. In staff meetings, everyone's opinion is highly valued, and no idea goes unconsidered. In my opinion, the ability of the UC staff to foster and develop the skills of young coaches is something that is not common in many workplaces.

Young employees with less experience are typically doubted in the professional world. This isn't true at UC, where there are talented bright minds that have the chance to shine in a positive environment. The UC Baseball Staff is a prime example of how the right environment with a balance of autonomy and strong leadership can create a winning culture.

Staff Structure
The staff has 8 different members all with clearly defined roles. From the top down, everyone takes a lead on a certain part of the program and has others assigned to help them with tasks.

Coach Britt primarily focuses on leading and directing every aspect of the program. He delegates tasks to each of the staff members and organizes the team's day-to-day schedule.

Coach Zona is the Pitching Coach and the coordinator of the pitching staff. Coach MacDonald and I work closely with him to ensure that all details of the pitching staff are covered. It is a pleasure to work with Coach Zona because of his great teaching ability.

Coach MacDonald's primary focus is recruiting talent for the future of the program. He excels at his job at the highest level with talent evaluation and acquisition. Assisting Coach MacDonald with recruiting by using recruiting services to the best of the program's ability has proven effective with expanding the reach of the program.

Coach Porterfield is the Director of Player Development and primarily focuses on the programs effective use and implementation of technology. He also focuses on the catcher's development when it comes down to position-based skill acquisition. Coach Woerner works directly with Porterfield with player development and technology.

Coach Blatchford is the Offensive Coordinator for our program. He designs and executes daily plans for our hitters. He also co-plans all of our weightlifting programs with Coach Zona. Coach Cabrera, Porterfield and Woerner all assist Blatchford with tracking hitter's performance.

Coach Cabrera is responsible for working with the infielders. He leads the charge with daily planning and instruction of all infield positions. Coach Britt and Coach Woerner both assist Coach Cabrera with infield instruction.

Coach Woerner heads up all of the individual's development within our program. This responsibility includes the program's academic success and community service efforts. She also leads our daily training point system and assists with the infielders and player development.

For myself, I am the Director of Baseball Operations. While my focus is mainly on the operations side, I also assist Coach MacDonald with recruiting software management and assist Coach Zona with the pitching staff and the bullpen on game day.

As you can see, we all help out each other with day-to-day tasks. Everyone has their field of expertise but, is assisted by 1-2 more staff members. Even our leader, Coach Britt, takes a back-seat role and lets Coach Cabrera lead the infielders. Having a place in the work environment where I am able to lead and follow promotes growth in any role. Each staff member has tasks outlined similarly to the ones I have described previously. With a unique structure, we have the ability to specialize in what we know while learning a wealth of new information from coworkers creates a fully encompassing experience that encourages growth.

The UC Staff is a great balance of many unique things that are not common in college baseball. Having the ability to make decisions for a position group allows the young coaches to grow in their leadership skills. The structure and assembled talent has opened the door for many young coaches to begin to get experience in college baseball. The talented composition of the staff allows many new ideas to be effectively executed day in and day out.

Developing Infield "Feel" with Block and Random Training: 

Posted by Pablo Cabrera, Development Coach on December 28^th,2020

Braxton Boddorf gets ready to field a ground ball on February 11, 2020 against Alderson Broaddus. 

As defenders, our athletes are asked to make decisions on the fly. When the ball is put in play, they are given fractions of a second to make decisions that will ultimately determine if they get the out or not. This process of subconscious decision-making stems from fielders having better "feel" for the position. But what does it mean to have "feel"? This expression is used all the time to describe infielders. One of the measurable tools scouts use when they go to evaluate players, along with arm strength and range, is the "feel" the players have for defending the infield position. What does this tool really consist of and how do we train our players to develop this sought out understanding of a position?

In order to answer this question, we have to dive deeper into the demands of the position. Infielders are part of the fastest moving parts of the game. Outs are determined by their ability to execute the fundamentals of catching and throwing at the speed the situation demands. The speed in which the ball is put into play and the speed of the runners is out of their control. This is when the tool of "feel" comes into context. Since this is out of their control, how can the player slow the game down, allowing them to make the right decisions on the field?
 
At the University of Charleston, we have adopted the idea of putting our players in environments that challenge the decision-making process. We believe that challenging this decision-making process will help our infielders to slow down the game. This is what is called randomized training. Randomized training is part of the Block vs Random training discussion that has been going on in sports for quite some time now. This post will discuss how we use these two methods in an effective way to develop complete infielders.

Block vs Random Training
 
The concept of Block vs Random training is the discussion between the balance of dry reps (repetitions) and randomized game-like reps when developing a skill (Merbah ETAL, 2011). Dry reps, or block training, are the drill work that helps the player develop a certain movement pattern that will help them execute more consistently in the game. These drills focus on helping the players feel certain movements that are new or exaggerated. These "feels" are then "mass repped" in order to instill the certain movement in the athlete's subconscious mind.
 
At UCWV, we use daily drills to help our infielders develop efficient and effective movements when containing the baseball. These "dailies" consist of a pick series that involves the infielders to pair up and feed each other picks without their gloves on. With most of our dry work drills, we try to make the players exaggerate and feel efficiency in their movements.
 
Randomized training is the process of challenging the athlete in a varying environment. This environment forces the player to make a series of decisions that the block training didn't demand of them. Instead of focusing on certain movement patterns, they are focused more on execution. This transfer of focus is what differentiates the two methods the most. Instead of focusing on their technique, they are thinking more about the situation and what the situation demands from them.
 
At UCWV, we value varying the environment as much as possible. If we can effectively change and alter the environment, we can truly challenge the foundation of each infielder. Infielders are thrown different colored baseballs where each color represents a different destination for the throw. These same balls can then be hit with a fungo with each color representing a different speed of runner. These split-second decisions of determining what color the ball is and determining the meaning of the color is not demanded from infielders during a game, but the process of having them think and make decisions on the fly is challenging and training their cognitive abilities.
 
Although these two methods demand different things from the athletes, one can't function without the other. Block training is necessary in order for randomized training to be effective. Fundamentals are necessary for "auto-pilot" to work effectively. Randomized training is also necessary in determining the inefficiencies and flaws in the players fundamentals. This realization will help determine what focus points need improvement. Question is, what is the most optimal balance of the two methods?

Balance of Block Vs Random

At UCWV, the balance between both Block and Random infield training is based mostly on how far away the players are from competitive play. At the beginning of the fall, we focused mostly on developing the fundamentals of the players. This will function as a foundation that will later get challenged during the randomized training sessions.
 
During this past fall, we used the time during Individuals to build and strengthen this foundation. Being able to work one-on-one allowed us to walk through and reinforce the important fundamentals of the game. After these Individuals, we shifted more towards the direction of challenging them and allowing them to discover their strengths and weaknesses. This understanding will then allow them to be aware of their boundaries when it comes to getting creative and making subconscious decisions during the randomized training sessions. The closer we got to scrimmage, the more we worked towards challenging our infielders. The focus shifted from block training to more challenging randomized training.

 

 
The graph above shows the percentage of improvement between groups that focused on the two methods of training. The block training group showed promise in the short term. Their emphasis on particular skills allowed them to develop at a more rapid pace than the group who focused on random training. In the long run, we see that the block training group struggled in continuing to improve their skills. This correlates to making sure there is a good balance between the two methods. Starting off with a strong focus on block training will introduce the skills we see important when wanting to develop a player into a complete infielder. Random training incorporates these fundamentals skills in a more challenging environment.
 
We have found that these two methods used in the correct way have guided us in the direction of using our resources to their maximum potential. Execution of this plan has led us to see short term improvements in the performance of our players. We are excited to see what the future holds. 

#GroundUp

A Daily Model for Tracking Points During Training Sessions: 

Posted by Beth Woerner, Development Coach on December 24^th,2020

At Charleston Baseball, our players are given daily feedback in the form of training points. Training points are a spreadsheet of tallies showing the performance of each individual player during training for that day. It is posted in the team communication at the end of the day for everyone to see. There are several different reasons that we use training points in our program but first, let's look at some examples of training points.
 
Below is an example of a training point page that our players received after training last February. There are several different tallies representing the different parts of training that were tracked that day. In each section, they are shown the amount of opportunities they were given for a specific drill, and were given points for execution of each focus for the drills.
 
Let's take a closer look at the infield ground ball chart to understand a little bit more specifically what information is being presented.
 
The first column shows how many tracked ground balls each player fielded during training that day. The fielding column is counted if the player successfully fields the ground ball. On this example day, all of the infielders successfully fielded the ground balls. The second column is counted if the player made the play from the point of contact to the first baseman's glove in under 4.5 seconds simulating trying to beat a baserunner to first. The third player on the list had one ground ball that he fielded and threw cleanly but didn't make the play in the amount of time so he missed one of the points for making the play in time. The field E and throw E columns are counted if the player makes a fielding or throwing error. As you can see by the point system above the columns, fielding errors are counted as -1 points and throwing errors as -2.
 
Now, let's take a look at our pitcher bullpen training points. These are a little different because they are posted weekly instead of daily due to the fact that pitchers are on different schedules for when they throw their bullpens. At the end of bullpens, the final few pitches will have an objective that is the same for all or most pitchers for the week. The objective changes from week to week focusing on different skills and execution that are relevant to effective pitching. The objective of the week in the example below was to throw strikes on either side of the plate for strikes. Each pitcher was given three pitches to throw gloveside strikes and three pitches to throw armside strikes. The pitches column illustrates the attempts and the strikes column illustrates their successful pitches. The top pitcher only missed one armside strike for the best execution of this objective.

 

Now, you might be wondering why we provide this information to our players? There are several reasons.
 
The primary purpose of training points is to provide daily feedback in a timely manner to our players. They are able to see feedback from the day that gives them an objective look at their performance in training that day. They might be interested to see how they did compared to how they felt or see how they stacked up against other members of the team. Because we are development focused at Charleston, training points could also be used to track individual improvement on a specific skill. For example, if a player has been working on improving their throwing accuracy while fielding groundballs, they could track their errors over time to see if they are improving or if they should try a new approach to making the improvement.
 
Training points can also be used to help us as coaches to determine if the training plans are effectively improving different skills. Similar to how teachers use pretests and retests in the classroom to determine how effective their lessons on a topic are, we can use training points to assess our coaching effectiveness. If our players are making more plays and less errors at the end of the season than they were at the beginning, then something is working to help players to get better. If they're doing the same or worse, we might need to reevaluate how we are training players and the training environment specific to the skill that isn't improving.
 
Another reason we might track something in training is to communicate effort level and what is important to our coaching staff. We have found that players put in more effort and energy when they know that they are being tracked for a skill. Sometimes if we don't think the energy level is high enough or players are not focusing on the correct aspect of a section of training, evaluating that skill and providing feedback encourages the players to focus. This can be tricky to manage because it is also important to not track some training environments that might need to be a little slower and allow for less competition in order to learn the concepts.
 
We are always looking for ways to improve this process and our training points system is always evolving as we find better ways to provide feedback to players. Here are three quick tips for creating training points that we have learned:

1. Keep training points simple but not too simple. If training points are too simple, they don't evaluate anything. If they are too complex, it will be difficult to track during the quick pace of training and be difficult to understand when reviewing them.

2. Make sure that the rules for the points must be clearly defined "rules" and are communicated to the players. If the rules have too much grey area or aren't explained to the players, there will be confusion about what success looks like for each task. Another reason to make sure the rules are consistent is to make sure that different coaches are tracking in the same way. It is also important to consider making the rules easy to track from multiple angles or positions on the field.

3. Be sure that the evaluation that is provided to players is consistent with how the team makes decisions for lineups. If the majority of evaluation and feedback to players is on bunting but the team doesn't consider this as important when making the lineup decision, the training points will be misleading to the players about what skills to improve to earn a position on the field. The feedback that we give as coaches can be used as a tool to inspire development from our players.

A Model for the Development of the Catching Position: 

Posted by Alec Porterfield, Director of Player Development on December 21^st, 2020

Director of Player Development Alec Porterfield coaches up some players during the NCAA Atlantic Regional in May 2019

This game is comprised of 9 defensive positions on the field at one time. Of those 9, there are two of which that stand out, the pitcher and catcher.
 
Why is this? These two positions make up only 22% of the total defense, so what makes the minority stand-alone against the majority in this scenario? The answer is simple, they are not interchangeable.
 
Simply put, the remaining 78% of the defense can be switched around without sacrificing too much defensive integrity. Three outfielders, while center field does play very different than the outfield corners, but if you asked your starting center fielder to move to a corner, they would likely be able to field that position at a high level. Four Infielders, again while the positions do differ, your shortstop should be able to move to a corner in a dire circumstance and be able to compete at a level high enough to win a baseball game.
 
There are two positions where they stand alone on the diamond, the Pitcher and Catcher.

~The Battery~

 
Pitchers in a large program often roughly makes up 50% of the roster, what is known by most as a pitching staff, a stable, a bunch of dudes who throw gross stuff; there is a ton of time and development invested in these groups. Bullpens, technology, pitching coaches, scrimmage innings. The list of development opportunities for pitcher's can almost seem endless. While there are so many pitchers on one baseball club, only one can throw on the mound on a time. This is also the case for the guys squatting 60 feet away…..Only one catcher at a time.
 
Now to the main reason for this blog post. Pitching Staff Development is easily compared to Catching Staff (From here on out referred to as a C Staff) Development. Just like a pitching staff, if your best only runs one or two players deep, you're going to run into trouble at some point. Injuries, slumps, grades; things are bound to happen that negatively affect your staff, you cannot avoid that. However, if your staff runs deep, even if they are not your very best players, you are bound to be in pretty good shape. Not every pitcher is good in every situation, this is why matchups are a thing. The same theory can be applied to catching. It is your job to manage and coach your guys to succeed in the proper circumstance.
 
This process starts with a mindset.
 

Developing the player, to better their physical skill.
Help them understand the pitcher, to then be able to lead them.

Combine the physical skill, and the leadership ability, then comes the true goal. To serve.
Let's go into a little bit more detail as to how and why this became our intentions, what does the process look like?
 
Develop -> Skill transition
This portion is pretty self-explanatory, this is the half of the equation that pursues the physically development of the player. Practice settings, individual work, group skill; things of that matter. Overtime the players ability will grow as you spend the appropriate amount of time training and enhancing their skill
 
Understanding -> Lead
Things become more philosophical from this aspect. Understanding consists of knowing the type of person your battery mate is, to understanding how that same person's pitch characteristics. You need to know how to handle speaking to them appropriately, knowing how they have pitched against repeating batters, the chances of a certain pitch having success in any situation, and everything in between. This information will allow everyone on a C staff to adjust to any situation that could be thrown their way.  Creating leaders by instilling quality information is needed to keep the glue of a battery together.
 
That is our purpose, a staff of selfless individuals willing to sacrifice their time to help the guy on the mound perform.

1 to 7

7 Categories. Our program views 7 categories as what makes up a catcher and what we feel brings value to the battery. Receiving, blocking, throwing, IQ, Potential, Leadership, Hitting; in no particular order. Our C staff was graded and ranked in these categories after the second week of the fall and were then re-graded at the end of the fall semester. You may notice some changes in these rankings, as players developed their skill, they may have surpassed each other in the process. They will be re-graded again when they return for the spring semester, prior to the first game, and after the spring semester. We want to constantly track where we see each member of the c staff and provide them with the knowledge of where they continue to rise and fall among the staff.
 
When the players were graded, they were provided a numerical value for each placing in the ranks, 7 being the top, and 1 being the bottom. All the categories were added up and an overall total point were added. There is a clear separation between the most overall points and the least overall points, it may seem like player with the least overall points provides no value to the staff, obviously that is not the case. Their values are weighted differently each day, before one game our coaching staff may feel that we need to have a jump in offense, so player B or C  may be given an opportunity, another day we may have to do a better job controlling baserunners, so player E may be given an opportunity simply based off the potential we see him having. Everything differs, just like the rest of the game.
 
Obviously, there are the basic requirements that a catcher must be able perform; receiving, throwing, blocking. But the separating; decision making factors consist of the remaining 4. There is no world in which a catcher is able to assess all 7 categories to perfection, to ask that is to ask a man to walk on the sun. It becomes the coach's job, and each individual C Staff member to understand who is the right person for any given situation.
 
Why do we value these, and when do they matter?

Creating Efficiency in the Student-Athlete's Swing Pattern: 

Posted by Michael Blatchford, Hitting Coach on December 17^th, 2020

Hitting Coach Michael Blatchford Iooks on during Charleston's 7-5 win over Shippensburg on March 7, 2020. 

As a program we strive to create swing patterns that are efficient based both upon how our players move and their physical capabilities. Without question, there are players who are not efficient with their movement patterns yet can have a great deal of success. While we often find ourselves in a rabbit hole searching for efficiency, we try our best to not lose sight of the "big picture" of getting on base more often and scoring more runs. People often debate over which concept in baseball is most important: mechanics or approach. While many people are on the opposite ends of this spectrum, we believe the two have much more of a symbiotic relationship. If a player has a matchup that allows them to hit specific zones better than others, their approach will cater to this. Approach can also affect mechanics. If a situation in a game requires a player to hit a ball to the right side of the field on the ground, they will organize their swing to achieve the goal.

However, the question still exists if a player can have success by not being efficient, why is it something we strive for? The answer to this question lies in themes that are consistent in many different sports. Efficiency in the swing allows for an economy of force exertion (easier swing). In addition, having an efficient pattern can increase a player's overall effectiveness and can maximize their performance. Finally, efficiency allows for safety and prevention of injury.

This blog post examines some recent findings into a player's movement patterns and how the team around him increased his efficiency. Before diving into this example there are some key concepts to explain. The first concept is the center of mass. The center of mass is the center of the player's body weight. A player's center of mass is an important factor in determining torque with use of the ground, according to Biomechanistic Dr. Kwon. The player below has two contact points with the ground which places the player's center of mass right around the sternum. The picture below places a circle in this location.
 
In the swing, there must be some method of starting the swing forward. Much of this depends what a player does with their weight and where this is relative to a player's center of mass. The picture below shows the relationship between the player's trail foot and their center of mass.
 
If a player lifts their lead foot from this position, their center of mass will move them to the right, and they will fall forward because their center of mass is not above their trail foot. The question then becomes: what happens if the center of mass is above the trail foot in a player's load? While this position would be balanced because the center of mass is above the one contact point with the ground, a player will often slide their hips forward from this position or lean their shoulders back. Another compensation would be an excessive lateral move forward. This position is illustrated in the picture below.
 
An ideal position for a player is where their center of mass is between their heels. A player then unweights the lead foot which allows a player to apply force into the ground and initiate the swing forward. When a player is in this proper position they can then rotate efficiently. Dr. Kwon explains that 80 to 90 percent of the swing is solved when the pelvis works properly.

In our example, a player was creating an efficient kinematic sequence, but a member of the team noted some problems with his pelvis. As this player initiated his pelvis, we saw a slight deceleration before reaching his peak speed.
 
In the player's most recent physical screen he failed hip internal rotation. However, this was something he never previously struggled with and the screen was conducted the day after he had lifted lower body. This could have contributed to failing this test. The team believed that this deceleration was most likely a result of the players center of mass and not a hip mobility problem given the players history of good internal hip rotation. While force plates were not available, a side-by-side video comparison was done between the player and Albert Pujols.

From the video we could tell the player's center of mass was not between his heels at heal plant. Numbers on K-vest also showed that this player had negative side bend of his torso at heel plant. Dr. Kwon explains that lateral tilt and rotation are inversely correlated. Lateral tilt occurs when one side of the pelvis is higher than the other.
             

                                                                                         
When the team met, we decided to use K-vest to put the player in a position in which his center of mass was between his heels as well as decreasing the amount of lateral tilt this player had. The goal of this would be to rid the player of the early deceleration of the pelvis. Once the player was put into this position, the team saw great improvements in his pelvis rotation and the previous deceleration was cleared. 

At the end of the day, we are trying to make adjustments that will lead to the success of the player. Adjustments like this are made to increase a player's efficiency, while also helping him have more success on the field. It is truly a team effort to make a player successful and it could not have been done without the success of the team. I am extremely thankful for the help of the different team members whose collective thoughts helped the team make these adjustments. Finally, to the player, without the players willingness to listen to the team and trust the process, these adjustments could not have been made.

Resources
Kwon, Y. (n.d.). Dr. Kwon's Golf Biomechanics Instructor Training Program ‐ Level 1. Lecture.
Ryan, C. (2020, February 03). HOW TO START THE DOWNSWING - EASY METHOD. Retrieved December 16, 2020, from https://youtu.be/ClY9LtE3pJU

 

Our Process for Player Evaluation & Recruiting: 

Posted by Ian MacDonald, Recruiting Coordinator on December 14^th, 2020

Recruiting Coordinator Ian MacDonald looks on during the 2019 Atlantic Regional contest. 

 

The purpose of this blog post is to outline our process for player evaluation and recruiting.

1. Identification

2. Digital Evaluation

3. Information Collection

4. Prioritization

5. In Person Evaluation

6. Campus Visit Experience

7. Scholarship Decision

This process is applicable to high school recruits. 

For two-year and four-year transfers, the process is similar but happens much faster.
 
This process is ever evolving. Every year we are adding to, subtracting from, and improving our Process for Player Evaluation & Recruiting.
 
I am thankful for the opportunity to work alongside such talented coaches & recruiters.
 
Without them, there is no way we could execute this plan.
 
For most of the high school players that we recruit, the recruiting process begins in the late winter of their junior year.
 
December, January, February
Identification, Digital Evaluation, Information Collection

• With the help of trusted contacts in the areas that we recruit, social media, and showcase/recruiting services we begin building a list of juniors to follow in the spring and summer.

• When we receive leads on players, the first thing we do is track down & evaluate in-game video, measurables, and Trackman/Rapsodo reports (if available).

• If we have interest in a player, our first contact with them is via phone call. The goal of this call is to get to know them as people. To learn more about their family, interests outside the game, academic interests/career goals, playing experiences, and what they are looking for in a school & program.

• The second contact with players is typically via FaceTime or Zoom. We have created a series of questions that gauges competitive makeup (our definition: passion for the game, work ethic, discipline, accountability, communication, respect, and aptitude) as well as personality. We evaluate more than just their answers, but their body language and communication skills as well.

• After the second contact, if we are still interested in the recruit, we have phone or video calls with these players every other week. Our entire staff is involved with these calls. Between calls we send individualized recruiting graphics, hand written notes, individualized video recordings, and text messages.

• Call assignments are sent to our staff every Monday morning. Coaches have until the following Monday to make their calls.

• We log conversations on our Communication Tracker which keeps track of the date of last contact & notes from every conversation that our staff has with a recruit. The tracker is shared with all members of our staff so that coaches can make calls with context of past conversations.

• We host a winter prospect camp in early February. We try to get as many of our targets there as possible. Many times this is our first in-person look at these individuals.

• We attend showcases, practices (high school & travel), and workouts (indoor facilities) throughout these three months.

• Headed into the spring, we typically have around 100 players on our 'big board'.

March, April, May
Prioritization

• We host Junior Day events throughout the spring where we invite these players and their families to campus for small-group unofficial visits on game days.

• We attend high school games throughout the spring, primarily in-state.

• If/when we identify junior college needs, during the spring months our priority will quickly shift to JUCO recruiting.

• Throughout the spring, I work alongside our Assistant Coaches and Head Coach to identify our 'Top 50' targets headed into the summer.

• We use ARMS, a comprehensive recruiting software, to organize the information that we collect & rank our targets within each position group (outfielders, infielders, catchers, & pitchers) based on priority.

June, July
In Person Evaluation

• Our goal is to be as prepared as possible leading up to the primary in-person evaluation & recruiting period in June and July.

• We finalize our recruiting calendar in May. Where we spend June & July is impacted by who our top targets are and where they are playing. 

• During these two months we see our Top 50 Targets in-person as often as possible. It is rare that we will go to a game that doesn't have at least 1 of our Top 50 targets playing in it.

• Throughout the summer, after seeing a recruit play in 2-3 games (position players) or 1-2 games (pitchers), our staff will file/upload scouting reports on players in our Top 50. Positionally, beyond tools, there are skills/athletic markers that we are looking for. Grades (20-80) are assigned to each skill. Reports are stored, sortable by date and/or grades, and are easily accessible by all members of our staff.

• It is during this time that we request academic transcripts and physical/medical records (if available).

• During this time, prospects that we did not know about prior to the summer will be identified & added to our Top 50 targets list.

August, September, October
Campus Visit Experience, Scholarship Decision

• Beginning in late July, we narrow our Top 50 Target list down to our Top 20-30 depending on our roster size & needs within the program.

• We rely heavily on a quantitative tool called Overall Present Potential to decide on which players we will offer. OPP is a weighted numerical measurement, prioritizing players based on assigned skill grades, and the skills we prioritize at each position. This tool is an adaptation of Overall Future Potential, used by many professional organizations.

• During the late summer & early fall, we make efforts to get these individuals on campus for unofficial & official visits.

• When possible we schedule two-day, overnight visits. Some weekends we may have two, three, or four prospects visiting at the same time. The current players in our program play an integral role in the recruitment of potential student athletes.

• Typically, campus visits (whether one day or two) consists of observing practice, a meal off-campus, position coach meetings, a meeting with the Director of Player Development, a meeting with the Head Coach, a meeting with admissions and or faculty, a full-uniform photo shoot, and spending time with current players in our program.

• How much we offer a player is dependent upon their present role.

In closing, thank you for your time!
 
If you would like to learn more about our Process for Player Evaluation & Recruiting, please don't hesitate to contact me via email or Twitter.
 
Ian Macdonald, ianmacdonald@ucwv.edu, @sowhatnextpitch

Fall Pitching Programming:

Posted by Anthony Zona, Pitching Coach on December 10^th, 2020

Pitching Coach Anthony Zona (center) speaks with Robert Fultineer (left) and Drew Hefner during a mound visit 

 

Navigating the off-season

This week's post is going to highlight how we navigate our training in the off-season with our pitching staff, using gathered information and technology from various platforms while our athletes are away.
 
As coaches we face similar challenges by aiding our player's in navigating their off-season plan. Challenges such as player's with different climates, training facilities and equipment. It is safe to say we know that a coach's responsibility if a player is lacking in any of those areas, to provide him with ideas or the right people, to execute their training. We have a 3-pronged approach shown below to jump start our path to effective training in the off-season.

Resources Survey

First, we have the athlete's fill out a resources survey (Google Forms) of what training facilities they have access too. We filled ours out pre-fall, although it will be necessary to make note that some players may gain updated training resource access nearing the end of fall, such as new facility or weight room access. This guides us in gauging if the player's development plan can be executed to the standard we expect. Below is a snapshot of a portion of the survey:
 

Fall Assessments

Next, the athlete's off-season program will undergo a series of collaboration efforts from our staff and using information gathered from the fall as to the "why" behind their training. We aim to have their training needs clearly identified and communicated to the athlete for their development in their player sheet. These 5 categories below are the indicators that will turn into the following "Post Fall Player Development Plan":

1. Fall Statistics (Isaac Bowden)

2. Rapsodo Report (Isaac Bowden & Alec Porterfield)

3. TPI/OnBaseU Power & Movement Screenings (Ian Macdonald & Michael Blatchford)

4. Mechanical Goals (Anthony Zona & Ian Macdonald)

5. Game Day Role (Robbie Britt)

(Post Fall Player Development Plan)

Player Sheet

Once the 5 indicators above are considered, the construction of the player sheet begins, and it will run from November 30^th-January 11th. One of the driving factors for the creation of the player sheet in our program is that it can create clear cut alignment in training, while also removing the old paper copy plans that could be sent home and presumably found lying in a corner. The player sheet allows for a paperless workspace (Google Sheets) for both the coaching staff and players to collaborate and share more dense information that can be continually updated while away.

Before we go any further, it's important to note that in today's dynamic of pitching development, you could potentially have athletes training remotely with various training facilities. These specific programs usually have their own app or dashboard that we ask our players to share with us, to connect our team scheduling and where we will need the athlete to be physically, upon completion of their personal training regimen. We have athletes who have trained with several outstanding player development facilities across the country, here is a few our athletes have trained with:

• Driveline (WA)

• Tread Athletics (NC)

• Cressey Sports Performance (MA)

• Top Velocity (LA)  

• X2 Baseball (AZ, NC)

• R&D Baseball Academy (VA)

Once we cover their training operations and objectives, we can set sail and begin to execute our plans and hold each other accountable in doing so. Below you will see a snapshot of a player's dashboard:

 

The following are found on this snapshot:

1. Pre-Post Body & Arm Care

2. Daily Guidelines

3. Throwing Schedule

4. Pre- Body Health & Arm Grade

5.  TPI Correctives

6. Med Ball Throws/Tosses

7. Drill & Plyo Throws

8. Catch Play

9. Post- Body Health & Arm Grade

10. Reflection & Notes

11. Videos of Exercises

 
*For a more in-depth showcase of the player sheet please click on the link below for a short video on its functionality. Link: https://youtu.be/2cA5NcbsTbM
 
These sheets can be edited in real time by the player and coach, our goal is to make it dense with applicable content but easily executable with little to no time wasted.  As we met for our fall exit meetings with our position groups I encouraged our athletes to "Be transparent even if we don't like what you record in your sheet, I'd rather take the information head on then see a bunch of fake self-graded 10's". Awareness is one of the most impactful skills that can elevate your career & life by unpacking the reality of your situation. Ultimately being able to be aware and find the most near optimal course of action is a separator we aim to preach to our athletes when given the opportunity.
 
If you happened to miss the link above, I suggest spending a few minutes learning the functionality and tools imbedded in the player sheet, and how we use it. Link: https://youtu.be/2cA5NcbsTbM

Following that, I would love to connect with individuals in the baseball community on how they may be doing this in their program, ways we can improve it, or questions I can help you answer in more detail on the player sheets used at Charleston.
 
Anthony Zona, anthonyzona@ucwv.edu, UCWV_Zona

Introduction to the "Mountain State of Mind" Blog:

Posted by Robbie Britt, Head Coach on December 7^th, 2020

Head Coach Robbie Britt looks on during an early season game against Ashland in 2020
 

It wasn't long ago, our staff assembled for a weekly staff summit and asked the question, "how can we help"? What could we do as a staff that would push the ball down the field, that would help grow our team, and our game. It was during this brainstorming session that Ian Macdonald, our Recruiting Coordinator, proposed the vision of a "Coaches Blog", something our staff could commit to delivering for the growth of those inside our program walls and the growth of baseball at large.
 
Our sport is unique in that manner. Baseball prides itself on being a platform where coaches are willing and able to share ideas and experiences with one another. Where we lift up those ideas that prosper the student-athlete, and hold accountable those that are self-serving in nature.
 
Now more than ever, baseball coaches and teachers are ravenous for thoughts on player development, drills & skills, charts and in-game materials that can make the task of providing assessment & feedback more efficient. While our methods are forever "under construction" always growing and developing, this platform allows us to share what we implement, what we use, in a simple, consolidated manner. Also, with the influx of technology available, prospective student-athletes and their families are taking ownership in the college selection process, like never before, exploring what programs and universities have to offer, and we seek to be at the forefront of pulling back our curtain, and allowing those interested to look inside our program walls.
 
It is that search for valuable, quality content, that inspires our desire to put forth a blog that can be accessed by a wide group of life-long learners. Therefore, twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, our staff, comprised of bright, young coaches, from different backgrounds will be sharing content that is relevant to our organization and hopefully that will be found beneficial throughout the baseball community.
 
We hope that this content will serve a multitude of audiences:
 
For our players… a consistent place, where you can reference back to the "why" behind what we implement during training and skill development.
 
For our alums & supporters… a live look behind the curtain to see what we are doing on top of the foundation that you help create.
 
For prospective student-athletes… a live look inside of our program walls, to see how we operate and what we implement to help our student-athletes succeed.
 
For other coaches… relevant information and ideas that can be quickly accessed and implemented inside of your own program and with your own team.

We are all just travelers through this game, with an opportunity to "leave it better than we found it" At our core, that is what we attempt to do with our players, with our program, within our community, every single day, and it is what we will strive to bring you every week.
 
Strive for Excellence.
 
CRB
 
This game is comprised of 9 defensive positions on the field at one time. Of those 9, there are two of which that stand out, the pitcher and catcher.
 
Why is this? These two positions make up only 22% of the total defense, so what makes the minority stand-alone against the majority in this scenario? The answer is simple, they are not interchangeable.
 
Simply put, the remaining 78% of the defense can be switched around without sacrificing too much defensive integrity. Three outfielders, while center field does play very different than the outfield corners, but if you asked your starting center fielder to move to a corner, they would likely be able to field that position at a high level. Four Infielders, again while the positions do differ, your shortstop should be able to move to a corner in a dire circumstance and be able to compete at a level high enough to win a baseball game.
 
There are two positions where they stand alone on the diamond, the Pitcher and Catcher.