Coach Tom’s Blog

Guided Discovery

My youth athletic training-room culture promotes free choices and personal responsibility for the athletes by giving them opportunities for guided discovery. While it is important to know and follow the specific instructions I give in circumstances where they are learning new and proper exercise form, and I would never leave them in a situation that... Continue Reading →

Thanks for a great Off-Season

This off-season I got to introduce a group of @stvrainfc young girls to fitness training.  We trained for an hour at a time, once a week.  It was less about building strength or weight lifting and more about body control, techniques and proper weight-room etiquette.  Although occasionally I did catch them flexing in the mirror! ... Continue Reading →

The Weight-Room Experience

Even though I was playing on an undefeated championship high school football team, I loathed going to the weight room. Working out was too much like work. I did it because I had to, and I did the minimum to get by. We were winning anyway, so what did it matter? Lifting is still a... Continue Reading →

Too Many Machines?

Weight machines, developed for bodybuilders 50 years ago and useful for targeted physical therapy after an injury or surgery, have gained an outsized place in many training rooms. Considering that most people imagine a bodybuilder’s body when they think of a strong athlete, this isn’t surprising – but it’s wrong. The bulging muscles of a... Continue Reading →

Goal Setting — Control What you Can Control

I work hard to create a youth sports performance culture that instills confidence in the athletes. Confidence comes from success – not just winning but achieving incremental goals. This is more likely and more frequent when focusing on outcomes the athletes can control. A kid cannot control how much they play. Playing time might go... Continue Reading →

My Story — Part 1

As an athlete, I experienced the highs of a record-breaking high school football team and the challenges of a rebuilding college team that won our conference senior year. In both cases, I was fortunate to have coaches who kept their focus on each individual player and on the game, not the score. I know the... Continue Reading →

Just Like That, Everything is Different

Wow, you never know how fast time goes until everything is gone. You also don’t realize how much things change and how certain things are subject to change. I just finished my last high school softball season and signed my letter of intent to attend North Florida University on a softball scholarship.  In a few... Continue Reading →

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