I have been hosting The PBSCCS Podcast for quite a while now (in fact, the podcast just reached its 7-Year Anniversary not too long ago). I reached out a long time ago to the appropriate people with a small vision. My goal was to help our society (The Professional Baseball Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society aka “PBSCCS”) to put out good content, and to give the strength and conditioning coaches in professional baseball a chance to have their voices heard. Back then, when I listened to podcasts from the field, you could hear interviews with coaches from football, soccer, basketball, and hockey (both from the professional and college ranks), but there was rarely anyone from baseball. I wanted to create a space that provided that opportunity.

Along the way I have met some great people (many who I consider to be good friends) and some great coaches as well. As I reflected on the last 7 years of the podcast, I wanted to write about some of the lessons and takeaways from all these interviews.

Coaching Advice and Finding Success

In the interviews, I always ask coaches to provide advice for others and how they define “success”. Some of the common answers are below:

–Be adaptable. This is relatable to life in general, but specifically in the professional baseball setting you have to be able to adapt on the fly. Schedules change, weather changes, injuries occur unexpectedly, busses break down, weight rooms get flooded…you name it and it has probably happened in professional baseball (especially in the Minor Leagues). Being able to be levelheaded and calm in the face of change and adversity goes a long way in being successful.

–Communicate effectively. You will interact with a ton of people on a daily basis in professional baseball. Being able to not only speak well but to listen well too is incredibly valuable. This can be a topic for another article, but most people think they are “effective communicators” when in fact they are not. Active listening is an important skill to master in this setting.

–Take care of yourself. Professional baseball can be grueling. The days are long and the schedule is relentless. Taking time each day to take care of yourself, whether that be your physical health with training, sleep, and proper nutrition or mental health with meditation and quiet time, is extremely important. You are expected to give your best self to others on a daily basis. If you are not right with yourself it makes it that much harder to be right for others.

–Let your passion drive you. I have spoken with a ton of people who are “strength and conditioning coaches” by title. However, many have unique interests within the broad scope of the field. Some want to dive deep into sport science topics, such as force plates and player monitoring. Some want to keep it “old school” and focus on program design and how to effectively manipulate training variables. And some want to focus more on “sports performance” and focus on the collaboration between skill development and strength training. No path in our field is right or wrong. The key point that has been made to me is that if you follow your passion and you put in the work, at some point a lane will start to carve itself out for you. The game is evolving and is always looking for people with a unique skillset and a passion for helping others to improve (however that may be accomplished).

–Be a good person. Personally this is the most important point that has been brought up. There are people who are incredible practitioners but are hard to be around. In my experience, even the elite of the elite who are “good” at their job will not stick around if they are not good people. You spend so much time together in the professional baseball setting; the last thing anyone wants is to be around someone they don’t want to spend time with. You can eventually learn (or teach others) the skills to be a good practitioner, but it’s hard to change someone into a good person.

Also, on a personal note with this point, when I reach out to coaches to do interviews, I am always appreciative of those who give me their time and energy. It isn’t always easy to find a free moment for someone who works in professional baseball (whenever you aren’t at the field, you are trying to spend any amount of “free” time that you have with family). The fact that these coaches are willing to give me their time is never lost on me.

Conclusion

These are just five of the lessons that I have taken from others during my time hosting The PBSCCS Podcast. Having done probably a hundred interviews over the years, there is PLENTY of content that can be sifted through to find more lessons. If you haven’t yet checked it out, The PBSCCS Podcast can be found on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube (Start HERE). Despite being only “baseball strength coaches”, you will find plenty of content that can be applicable in any setting (including, but not limited to, interviews on topics such as: force plates, Functional Range Conditioning, mobility training, program design, etc.).