As you gain your athletes' confidence as a listener and accommodate their performance needs, they will start to open up about what they did not like about their experience in MLB camp or how other organizations were comparatively.  

Here, you do not pick a side—you listen and thank the athlete for their feedback, and you will work hard to make improvements.  

I always carried a clipboard with me and mentioned that I would like to write down notes, so I don't forget what they had said and will keep the feedback anonymous.  

The next phase in these interactions is determining where you can make changes and, when you can, privately letting the player know you have acknowledged their concerns and worked on the improvements.  

When positive change is seen by the player, further trust and buy-in will occur, which opens an opportunity to educate players on aspects that you believe are not contributing to their greatest success from the bits of information you uncover in #1-4 above.   

DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY – TAKE IT PROFESSIONALLY

One time a player was sent down from MLB camp and told me straight to my face that the MLB players at big league camp are evaluated too often in our organization.  

In my mind, you cannot have enough observation in preventing poor performance and injury, but in this athlete's impression, there was too much technology and too much for the players to do in Spring Training who are trying to make a team.  

I went further into this feedback and prompted the player to explain how that negatively impacted opportunities with the team. The issue in this player's mind was about scheduling, and there are many schedules players must follow during Spring Training, along with the extra time for early work or treatment or finding time to get in the weight room that best suits their time constraints.  

I peeled back the onion even further and asked them which assessments we ran impacted their schedule the most, and they mentioned joint strength dynamometry. The very thing that took us from the worst in the league for throwing arm injuries to becoming one of the best at preventing them.

THE RESPONSE

Listening to this athlete, I realized what was missing, where our organization and my leadership missed the mark.  

We failed to educate athletes, did not build value in our process, and needed to clearly communicate the WHAT, WHY, HOW, and WHAT features of joint strength testing.  

So, the following year, we created a series of 5-minute videos on the purpose of each test, why each test was important, how we tested, and the benefits of testing.  

We solved the education and value-building problem, but we still could not tackle the scheduling aspect that truly irritated our players – and that's where ArmCare.com would have come in.  

If it had been available, each player could have had their unit to test their arms whenever convenient. That would mean no early mornings, no waiting for staff to be available, and no one forgetting to come to test their strength. 

Instead, they would be self-sufficient, and we would be able to check if players had tested through the coaches portal keeping all of them accountable. 

OUR SOLUTION 

If you are reading this and have considered that your technology integrations may be inconveniencing your athletes and staff, let us take some of that time sink off of their plates and empower your players to look after their OWN bodies using the ArmCare platform.  

During my time with the Angels, our motto for our players was, 

"Your Body I$ Your Business," 

And if the body is bad, they are not making bank, and neither is the team going for the World Series and the financial rewards.  

To make it even easier for you, we have a free onboarding video that you use to better communicate all the vital elements in launching ArmCare.com with your organization that will give you solid information in making your own content for your team.  

Whether you are an MLB organization or a Little League team doesn't matter. The goal is to have fun, play lots of games, and not miss time to develop due to injuries.  

It's not rocket science that those who can log at-bats and innings pitched will improve at a greater rate as they are getting more game reps.  

Similarly, those who lose their jobs due to injury may never get their chance to be the hero again.  

Does the name Wally Pipp ring a bell? Probably not. He was a premier first baseman for the Yankees who was unable to play due to an ankle injury opening the door for Lou Gehrig, who went on to play 2130 games in a row before Cal Ripken Jr broke his streak.  

Wall Pipp faded into the background and did not play much longer upon his return with other teams.

The beginning of the season is near, and it is a critical time to reach out to us to inquire about our individual and team packages. We don't want players cut by the team nor the friendly neighborhood surgeon because they could have picked up on problems while the dude playing ahead of them did.

Be the hero you are meant to be by throwing hard, healthy, and often.

Ryan 

[email protected]