March 1, 2009
Interviewer: The Coach – http://www.MarylandBaseballRankings.com
Interviewee: Jeff Potter – Local Coach, Dad & Author of “Whatever Happened To Baseball”
The Coach: “Jeff, welcome to MarylandBaseballRankings.com”
Jeff Potter: Frank, it is a pleasure to talk baseball with you and give you some insight on what I do.
The Coach: “Can you give us a brief but semi-detailed history of your baseball background? Playing, Coaching, Training, etc?”
Jeff Potter: I always loved the game of baseball, and have played it since I could pick up a bat. I played youth, high school, and American Legion baseball. I was drafted by the Detroit Tigers out of high school in the 6th round of the 1972 draft. I had a very short minor league career with the Tigers.
I have coached youth baseball for the last 8 years. It has been a great experience for me, and certainly one that has been rewarding. The Gambrills team that I started coaching when they were 13 years old had 12 kids on the team. Of those 12 kids that started on the team, 11 of them played ball through high school. Of those 11 kids that played through high school, all 11 have gone on to play college baseball.
In that time frame I have run several summer baseball camps for kids from the age of 8-18. I will continue to do that. In the past most of these camps were run out of one organization. This coming year the camps will be moved around and run out of different organizations.
I have also worked out a lot of kids over the winters in eight week programs. I am just completing workouts this winter, 50 kids at the Batt Academy in Glen Burnie on Saturday mornings, and about 35 kids on Wednesday nights at Extra Innings in Upper Marlboro. These kids also are 8-18 years old. I have worked with complete teams from Arundel High School and St Marys in Annapolis, along with kids from South River, St. Joes, Palotti, and other schools.
And of course, the younger kids……
I also have had an opportunity to put together a bat boy program at the University of Maryland for kids from 10-14 years old. This season, about 60 kids will have an opportunity to be either a bat boy or ball boy for a game. The kids love it, and have a great time with it.
This summer I am taking a group of 12 year old players up to Cooperstown for a week of baseball. That will be a blast.
I am also in the beginning stages of putting together a “Baseball Bus Tour” for the summer of 2010 which I am very excited about.
The Coach: “Last year you published “Whatever Happened To Baseball”. What was your inspiration for this book and where can our readers purchase copies of this fantastic book? Do you have any plans on writing another one”?
Jeff Potter: The inspiration to write the book was nothing more than a deep desire to tell the story of youth baseball, and how it has changed in the last 30-40 years. Unfortunately in large part, these changes have been for the worse. Baseball “back in the day” was fun and innocent and filled with great coaches that taught the right life lessons out on the ball fields. Today, there are serious problems with the game, starting with poor overall coaching, and including a lack of hard work, commitment, good team work, respect, and character. Too often power, ego, and control are the main ingredients in a baseball organization, and decisions and the direction of those baseball programs do not have the best interest of the kids as one of the top priorities.
If there is one lesson to learn from the book it is probably the fact of how much influence a coach can have over a youth or high school baseball player, both good and bad. Coaches need to do a better job, and understand the tremendous responsibility that they have in the growth of ball players, both baseball wise and emotionally.
There are chapters in the book relating directly to some of the problems in the game today; “Winning Isn’t Everything”, “The Perfect Team”, “The Price of Success”, “Be Effective-Not Right”, among others. There is also a chapter titled “Bill Spellman” who was the most respected man that I have even known
He was my coach, my mentor, and most importantly, my hero.
The book is available one of two ways. It can be ordered here –> Buy The Book ….or order directly through me. My e-mail address is jeff@potterbaseball.com. I will send it to you directly.
Yes, I am writing another book. This book, “Saving Baseball”, will be released either late ’09 or early ’10.
The Coach: “After reading your book, I found myself analyzing what kind of Coach I am, and how I could improve. I think you have a lot to offer to not only the kids playing the game, but the men coaching these kids. Do you hold any clinics for Coaches or do you do any speaking engagements”?
Jeff Potter: I have been speaking about twice a week, and I currently have about 30 speaking engagements set up in the next three months. This includes youth baseball organizations, softball organizations, high school baseball teams, sports work out facilities, coach’s meetings, parents, players, book clubs, coffee places, schools, etc. Based on the requests for speaking, the book obviously relates to almost everybody. The discussions geared the coaches are probably some of the most intense and emotional forms of communication to groups. I feel very passionate about connecting with coaches.
I also have been running some coaches clinics, especially for the younger kids.
Coach’s clinics are essential, but I believe the key to the clinics is not necessarily giving the coaches information. Rather than that, the real motivation of these get- togethers should be to teach the coaches HOW to teach the players. Too many people run clinics for THEIR welfare, not the coaches. Some of them come in and let everyone know how much they know, how well they can teach, and what wonderful drills they run for their team. What they should do is communicate and motivate coaches on how to motivate and inspire the coach’s teams, and all of those players. Most coaches that go to a clinic do it for a reason; they want to learn to be a better coach. So much of coaching has to do with communication, motivation, discipline, attitude, consistency, and having fun. Relating to coaches on how to run fancy drills is nothing more than “window dressing”. Coaches need to learn the things of “substance”, and a clinic should provide those answers.
The Coach: Your son Eric is currently playing baseball for Coach Rupp at the University of Maryland. Can you give us an idea of what the college recruiting process was like and do you have any advice for parents who will be going through this in the near future”?
Jeff Potter: The college process is something quite confusing to most parents. There are two reasons for this, the first being that most parents do not have the proper knowledge. Walk up to most parents of an 11th grade athlete wanting to play college sports and ask them about the college “Clearing House” and they will give you a blank stare. On top of this, one needs to deal with different rules and regulations regarding Division, I, II, III , junior colleges, etc, when a college coach can talk to a high school athlete, or have a work out with him, or a visit.
It can be vary daunting.
I was in this category, the parent that really didn’t know what to expect, or what to do. My wife and I learned as we went through the process. There are “organizations” out there that will be more than happy to help you through this process. I will caution you, however, that while you are talking to these companies, make sure you have your eyes on them and one hand on your wallet. Just my opinion, but it is absolutely crazy to hand anyone thousands of dollars to navigate you through this process. There are people out there that will give you the same information and help for a few hundred dollars. If you have any questions regarding this, please get a hold of me. I would be more than happy to steer you in the right direction to someone that will do this at a reasonable price, and be very helpful and professional.
The actual process of my son being recruited was extremely professional. Jim Farr, pitching coach at Maryland, came and watched Eric pitch a few times, and made a determination that he would be a good fit at that school. He took time to actually talk with us. My wife and I both felt that he was concerned about not only our son’s athletic ability but his character, passion, motivation, and attitude. Nothing was ever “over promised’. Our son knew from day one that the amount of pitching he would get would be dictated by his performance on the field. As a freshman at Maryland, he was treated great, and we see no reason to believe that this season will be any different.
My advice to parents is a direct correlation to the second reason that the college process is confusing. The first reason is our lack of knowledge of the process. The second reason is our somewhat twisted perception and realization of the truth.
I do not spend a lot of time around parents of other sports other than baseball, and I have no idea of how they relate to the college process. My assumption would be that the situation is fairly parallel to that of baseball, but I am not sure. So I am only talking to baseball parents directly.
Parents need to understand one basic concept of their son who plays high school baseball who wants to move on to play college baseball. It’s all about the FIT. And fit doesn’t mean just what the baseball program is in college. It means the overall experience, academics, social, and athletic. Way too many kids go to a school because of the baseball program. They end up not playing baseball there because of injury or lack of interest anymore, and they are now enrolled at a school they do not like, or have no business at. Kids should never pick a school because of baseball only. Way too many kids go to a school because it is a “Division I” school and they feel it sounds a lot better than “Division III”.
The truth of the matter is that in 99% of all situations, the baseball player will never advance past college in terms of their baseball career. What that means is that everyone, wherever they attend, will have an opportunity to play four years of baseball, enjoy the experience, meet friends through the game, build relationships, and compete against other teams. So what’s the difference where you play? There is very good baseball at every level, and truth be known, if a player is THAT good, whether he plays Division I or at a community college, a major league scout will find him.
Too many parents get caught up in the baseball side of it, and feel that their child is better than he really is. The fact is that when that “high school star” gets to college, he is now competing against most players that compete at a higher level of ball.
As a parent you need to start early (10th grade, perhaps even 9th) with your son, and find out what type of college he may be interested in. Does he want a big school or little school? Does he want big classes or little classes? Does he want to be far from home, or close to home? Does he want to go to a certain school because his girl friend is going there? Does he like schools in the country or in the city? Do certain schools have a good program in what your son wants to major in? These are all things that need to be considered.
Once you get an idea of the type of school your son wants to attend, go visit those schools. Set up an appointment with someone at the school. Take a tour. Spend the day there. Get a feel of the campus. It will save you a tremendous amount of time and aggravation down the road. Do your work up front.
Do not expect your high school coach to be real active in assisting your son in getting into college to play baseball. You as parents need to be extremely pro-active. Visit the schools, and have your son play some good summer ball. High school ball is good, but you need to understand that summer ball is where your kids are going to be seen. While your son is playing high school ball, that is the same time that colleges are playing ball. Hence, there is very little time for college coaches to see your boy play. Coaches have a lot more time in the summer, and there are a lot more travel teams, showcase teams, tournaments, etc. Get your boy on a team that is going to play some tournaments where he may be seen. When your boy is traveling in the summer, and playing games at colleges, make time to visit the college, and see if your son likes the environment.
There are a lot of good fall “showcases” to attend, but I would caution you to attend a few, not many. It can get fairly expensive. The best advice is to pick out a couple of colleges that your son may want to attend, and go to showcases that they put on.
In terms of different colleges recruiting your son, take the initiative to check the college coach out. Do they have a reputation of over promising? Over recruiting? Do a lot of kids transfer out? How many kids will be returning the next year? Talk to some kids that have graduated from there. Talk to some kids that are currently on the team. Go watch a few of their games if they are local. See how many returning kids play your position. If you are a catcher, and the team has three catchers coming back for a few years, perhaps that program may not be a good baseball fit for you.
The Coach: “You hold a bunch of clinics working with youth baseball players. What are the most common flaws you see both hitting and pitching”?
Jeff Potter: BALANCE………..
Especially in younger kids. Balance in hitting and balance in pitching.
In regards to pitching, most young kids (10 and under) do not know how to wind up when pitching. They always pitch from the stretch because they all say it is more comfortable and easier. The coaches don’t make them wind up because most kids at that age have more accuracy from the stretch, and a lot of coaches don’t know how to properly teach a young player to wind up. It takes time to learn to have the proper balance. When a pitcher winds up, he needs to be able to have the capacity to stop in his motion when he is coming forward in his delivery with his leg. His leg needs to be high and close to his body, whereas the arm has time to catch up with the body. If the pitcher does not find the balance, his leg will plant on the ground much too early, with the arm still behind him, and he will be throwing with his “arm only” and will be in jeopardy of arm problems.
There are some easy drills to do to help in this area, both on a field and at home. On the field, a coach can take the player to a pitching area and practice the wind up, putting emphasis on balance. There are lots of other steps to having the proper pitching mechanics, but balance is a great place to start. Have the player start his wind up, and when he comes forward with his leg, it is high and near his body. Have the pitcher hold in this position. While he is holding this position, adjust his leg to the position it should be. Most kids do not have the leg close enough to the body. You can exaggerate this by having the knee as close to his chin as possible, making the point that the leg needs to be high off the ground. Work with him on this for awhile. After the player has a fairly good idea of what is expected, have him do the same drill by himself, without you moving his leg. This time, tell him to hold his leg in place for a count of three … 1-2-3, then come forward with the final part of the delivery.
This same drill can be done at home. Have the player go through the wind up holding in the balance position for three, then coming forward. This drill should be done looking into a mirror.
In terms of hitting, balance once again is the largest flaw of young ball players. Too many kids have their weight out of position, either too far back or too far forward when they are swinging. Kids in general are reactive to the pitch, not proactive. What I mean by that is that kids get into their stance, and when the ball comes in, they attempt to react to the ball the last minute, and by doing that, they are swinging with their “hands only, and are not using their body at all. You see it all the time. Kids need to be taught to utilize their body in the swing. This is part of the balance and the positioning of their weight….their BALANCE.
A very basic drill is to get the player to “load up”. I use this term with kids. If you just say “load up”, the kids don’t have a clue. If you explain it to the kids…on their level, they understand the concept, and they will do it. I like to use the analogy of a shot putter. If you ever saw a person throw a shot put, they go to an awful lot of effort to put their body behind the throw. They don’t simply stand at the edge of the circle and throw a shot put. The shot put goes a lot farther when you put your body behind it. The same principle with hitting. You want your body behind the swing.
I try to keep it very basic with kids. I tell the kids that when the pitcher’s arm goes back, you go back. When the pitcher comes forward, you come forward. The loading up is just a very subtle move to allow the player to produce energy and get the body behind the swing. The actual correct timing of this procedure will obviously take a lot of practice. The correct weight distribution will obviously take a lot of practice. It really is a lot of practice on balance.
If a young pitcher learns to pitch from the wind up, he will learn better balance in pitching. If he has better balance in pitching, he will automatically understand better balance for hitting.
The Coach: “In your opinion, what can we do as parents and coaches to enhance Youth Baseball in Maryland”?
Jeff Potter: 1. Take baseball back to the way it was as much as possible.
We will never get back to how it was in the 60’s, but there is a lot we can do to move in that direction. Take your kid up to the local field and play catch. Get a group of kids together and let them have a pick up game. Teach them the games that we grew up with. “Throw the bat” to pick up teams. Play one of your league games with wooden bats. Sit your kids down and let an “old timer” talk to him about how real baseball was played. Invite the “community” out to a game. Have more picnics at the field after a game.
Get back to the basics of what makes the game magical.
2. Give the game back to the kids.
Let the kids play the game, have fun, be creative, and make decisions. Do something that you probably haven’t done for a while; ask your kid what he wants. Quit making decisions for him. Make sure that when a decision is being made that is going to affect your child, that your child’s best interest is at the top of the list.
Too many decisions are made without the best interests of the kids being considered. Egos, power, and control are at a premium. That needs to stop.
3. Raise the bar
We need to expect more from the people who are put in charge of our kids. It is a great responsibility to coach, and mentor, our children. That responsibility needs to be put in the hands of people who are out on the fields for the right reasons.
Coaches need to get better. They need to expect more from parents, more from kids, but most importantly, more from themselves. They need to push themselves to hire levels, to motivate more, to communicate more, and set an exemplary example to the kids and parents.
Parents also need to get better….. to support the coaches more, to listen to their kids more, to encourage kids other than their own more.
We all need to expect more from each other, and be out there for the right reasons. We need to be having more fun. Eliminate the mind set of winning at all costs.
4. READ THE BOOK
I guarantee you that if you read the book ‘Whatever Happened to Baseball?” you will do something better for kids out on a ball field, and as a result you will in your own small way improve the great game of baseball.
The Coach: “We love baseball here at Maryland Baseball Rankings; can you describe what baseball has meant to you”?
Jeff Potter: I have always enjoyed the game of baseball. Now, with the book, it seems that it has come full circle. All of those baseball memories as a kid have now been rekindled, and the beauty of it is the fact that to all the people who have read the book, their memories also have come back to life. I believe I now fully understand, and appreciate, the fact that as a coach, or mentor, I have had an opportunity to help shape kid’s lives, to motivate them to give a little more, to inspire them to dream, and to bring out in them their passion. Baseball is the most beautiful game there is, and to have the opportunity to share it with so many people has been a blessing. I don’t know anyone who has more fun out there on a baseball field than I do. I have come to realize that a coach who does his job the right way is humbled by the kids that he coaches.
In a lot of ways, baseball has saved me. It has taught me more, humbled me more, and revealed the character of more people than anything else I have ever done.
It is more than a game. It is a way of life.
The Coach: “Jeff, Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, you have provided us with some valuable insight. I am encouraging all of our customers to purchase “Whatever Happened To Baseball” as I feel they will be a better parent and or coach because of the insight you impart in this book! We wish you much success going forward.”
Jeff Potter: Frank, thank you. I love the web site, and more importantly, I know what you are providing for baseball people out there comes from your passion of the game. Keep up the good work. Enjoy the book …………. I know you will.
