Any feedback from anyone who attd the Phila convention this weekend? Any new and interesting concepts on BB instruction?
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I know that Coach 'Traub, a regular contributor on the Texas forum, was there. Perhaps he would be willing to share.
This was my first convention. It was very good. Nobody exactly reinvented the wheel, though. Pat Murphy from ASU stole the show on Saturday afternoon with an entertaining commentary. I'll look back at my notes in the next day or two and see what others say and I'll add to it.
Flintoide:
I find it hard to believe participants have not responded to your question yet. I attended [though not every sesion] and came away with some specific insight and some general observations. They are mine alone and should not be construed as trying to take over this topic but only as an observation.
Keep in mind that I was a first time participant at the ABCA conention this year so i have nothing to compare it to as far as any past reference. My general observations:
First, there were a LOT MORE people there than I thought there would be. Second, most of the atendees [unlike me] appeared to be very young. Lot's of young men in their 20's & 30's. Very few as old as i am. Third, several speakers talked about "on base percentage" as being their main statistical concern. One speaker actually spoke the phrases "on base percentage" and "slugging percentage" in the same paragraph. I was comforted to discover that there were no murmurs of disbelief or breathless utterances of "heresy" through the crowd. But even this brave soul could not speak the acronym OPS. Perhaps another time; another place.
All levity aside, there were three speakers who greatly impressed me. I was impressed with the knowledge of almost all of the speakers there about their respective topics but there were three that spoke on different subjects that I found the most interesting to me.
They are Dan McDonnell, Nick Mingione and Rick Peterson.
Dan McDonnell is the Head Coach at the University of Louisville. His topic was "Louisville Base Running". It was announced that Coach McDonnell was the first rookie coach to take his team to the College World Series. Even if that is not accurate, it is still very impressive that he took his team to the World Series and the school had not been there for 20 some years. He spoke, obviously, about baserunning. But the point was how much they practiced it and how they practiced it. Then how they utilized all that practice in games. He talked about stealing second, third and how to get them home [without the need of stealing home, of course]. It was an unfortunate consequence of scheduling that the speaker with the topic "attacking the running game" spoke next. I chose to go to the Q & A post session with Coach McDonnell.
Nick Mingione was probably the youngest speaker I saw at this convention. He was the last speaker on Sunday [the last day]. In 2007 he was an assistant Baseball Coach at the University of Kentucky but this year he is the assistant baseball coach at Western Carolina University. His topic was "How to cause a Defensive Meltdown with the Short Game". He talked about bunts. All kinds of bunts. Kill bunts, push bunts, dirt bunts. But he never talked about the sacrifice bunt. He laid out a diagram of the infield with red rectangles where, in his opinion, if a bunt was laid down inside those rectangles, the defense could not throw the batter/runner out [unless the batter was a really slow buffalo. You just had to be there]. He talked about how EVERYBODY on his team had to practice bunting for hits and the amount of practice they put into it. Apparently, he is taking this game with him to Western Carolina.
However, the most interesting speaker there for me was Rick Peterson. He is the Major League Pitching Coach for the New York Mets and the International Pitching Drector of Frozen Ropes Training Centers. PITCHERS. PITCHING COACHES AND PARENTS OF PITCHERS MAKE NOTES. His topic was Finding and Fixing Red Flags in a Pitching Delivery. According to Mr. Peterson there are three and only three reasons pitcher's arms get hurt. 1) Poor Delivery, 2) Overuse & 3) Poor conditioning. [which means there are no accidents or acts of God involved]. Although he was nice enough not to say this, I certainly think that all 3 of those causes of arm injuries can be remedied with proper and knowledgable coaching.
The cynics among us may say that Mr. Peterson is just trying to sell his "Frozen Rope Training Center" Book or CD or DVD or whatever. I however, got the impression [especially when he said "it makes me sick, and I mean physicaly sick when I watch videos of some of these young kids pitching" that he is also doing this to save some arms.
DVDs of every speakers' presentations are available from the ABCA website which, I believe is abca.org.
TW344
I find it hard to believe participants have not responded to your question yet. I attended [though not every sesion] and came away with some specific insight and some general observations. They are mine alone and should not be construed as trying to take over this topic but only as an observation.
Keep in mind that I was a first time participant at the ABCA conention this year so i have nothing to compare it to as far as any past reference. My general observations:
First, there were a LOT MORE people there than I thought there would be. Second, most of the atendees [unlike me] appeared to be very young. Lot's of young men in their 20's & 30's. Very few as old as i am. Third, several speakers talked about "on base percentage" as being their main statistical concern. One speaker actually spoke the phrases "on base percentage" and "slugging percentage" in the same paragraph. I was comforted to discover that there were no murmurs of disbelief or breathless utterances of "heresy" through the crowd. But even this brave soul could not speak the acronym OPS. Perhaps another time; another place.
All levity aside, there were three speakers who greatly impressed me. I was impressed with the knowledge of almost all of the speakers there about their respective topics but there were three that spoke on different subjects that I found the most interesting to me.
They are Dan McDonnell, Nick Mingione and Rick Peterson.
Dan McDonnell is the Head Coach at the University of Louisville. His topic was "Louisville Base Running". It was announced that Coach McDonnell was the first rookie coach to take his team to the College World Series. Even if that is not accurate, it is still very impressive that he took his team to the World Series and the school had not been there for 20 some years. He spoke, obviously, about baserunning. But the point was how much they practiced it and how they practiced it. Then how they utilized all that practice in games. He talked about stealing second, third and how to get them home [without the need of stealing home, of course]. It was an unfortunate consequence of scheduling that the speaker with the topic "attacking the running game" spoke next. I chose to go to the Q & A post session with Coach McDonnell.
Nick Mingione was probably the youngest speaker I saw at this convention. He was the last speaker on Sunday [the last day]. In 2007 he was an assistant Baseball Coach at the University of Kentucky but this year he is the assistant baseball coach at Western Carolina University. His topic was "How to cause a Defensive Meltdown with the Short Game". He talked about bunts. All kinds of bunts. Kill bunts, push bunts, dirt bunts. But he never talked about the sacrifice bunt. He laid out a diagram of the infield with red rectangles where, in his opinion, if a bunt was laid down inside those rectangles, the defense could not throw the batter/runner out [unless the batter was a really slow buffalo. You just had to be there]. He talked about how EVERYBODY on his team had to practice bunting for hits and the amount of practice they put into it. Apparently, he is taking this game with him to Western Carolina.
However, the most interesting speaker there for me was Rick Peterson. He is the Major League Pitching Coach for the New York Mets and the International Pitching Drector of Frozen Ropes Training Centers. PITCHERS. PITCHING COACHES AND PARENTS OF PITCHERS MAKE NOTES. His topic was Finding and Fixing Red Flags in a Pitching Delivery. According to Mr. Peterson there are three and only three reasons pitcher's arms get hurt. 1) Poor Delivery, 2) Overuse & 3) Poor conditioning. [which means there are no accidents or acts of God involved]. Although he was nice enough not to say this, I certainly think that all 3 of those causes of arm injuries can be remedied with proper and knowledgable coaching.
The cynics among us may say that Mr. Peterson is just trying to sell his "Frozen Rope Training Center" Book or CD or DVD or whatever. I however, got the impression [especially when he said "it makes me sick, and I mean physicaly sick when I watch videos of some of these young kids pitching" that he is also doing this to save some arms.
DVDs of every speakers' presentations are available from the ABCA website which, I believe is abca.org.
TW344
Thanks for the input TW. Clinics are great learning experiences and provide great opportunities for networking/felllowship. I've been reading all weekend to compensate for the missed experience. I plan to attend the Mich HS BB coaches clinic this weekend that will feature coaches from Notre Dame and Univ. of Mich.
It was a good clinic. Last year was a little better with 90 degree temps in Orlando, but site seeing in Philly was great.
As far as the clinic, I really enjoyed the Vandy coaches presentations. Tim Corbin's practice organization topic was solid and Derek Johnson had some interesting information on pitching.
I agree that the baserunning segment by McDonnell was good.
I wanted to see Murphy, but spend Saturday afternoon taking in some of the Philly sites, but did make it back for Mike Martin and Rick Peterson. Both did a good job.
Overall, a good clinic. I thought the speakers were a little better in Orlando last year, but all in all I try to take 1-2 things away from each speaker. If I can do that, it is well worth it.
As far as the clinic, I really enjoyed the Vandy coaches presentations. Tim Corbin's practice organization topic was solid and Derek Johnson had some interesting information on pitching.
I agree that the baserunning segment by McDonnell was good.
I wanted to see Murphy, but spend Saturday afternoon taking in some of the Philly sites, but did make it back for Mike Martin and Rick Peterson. Both did a good job.
Overall, a good clinic. I thought the speakers were a little better in Orlando last year, but all in all I try to take 1-2 things away from each speaker. If I can do that, it is well worth it.