From the Coach's Mouth

Jay and Ken take a deep into what to do, and what not to do, during tryouts for players, parents and coaches. Among the topics discussed are the importance of projecting confidence by talking to the coaches/evaluators and looking them in the eye, what not to wear (you'd be surprised), what parents should do during tryouts, questions to ask, whether the team emphasizes player development versus...

Hall of Famer and longtime Central Michigan University head coach Margo Jonker joins Jay and Ken to talk about how she got started in fastpitch softball, some of the great coaches and mentors she had early in her career, what it was like taking over CMU's team in only its second year and building it into a national powerhouse, how she built her own knowledge base talking to coaches and going t...

University of Washington pitching coach and USA Men's National Team pitcher Brad Kilpatrick talks to Jay and Ken about growing up as an athlete in Australia, how his performance in on the Australian Men's Juniors team and a chance encounter by his father led to him playing for Team USA, his experience as an undergraduate assistant for Tim Walton at Florida, and how it led to his current co...

Renowned catching coach Bobby Humphrey, a volunteer assistant at Bridgewater College and conductor of catching clinics across the U.S., joins Jay and Ken to talk about all things catching. He describes his early years as a high school and collegiate baseball catcher, how an injury led him into coaching, how he transitioned from baseball to girls fastpitch softball (and why he would never go back),...

This week the podcast takes on a bit more of an international flavor as Michael Bastian, who spent time as a coach with Team USA in the first Olympics era and was head coach of the Chinese National Team heading into the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, joins Jay and Ken to talk about how he got started in coaching and how he rose to coach at the international level. He shares his thoughts about what he l...

In this week's episode, Jay and Ken talk pitching mechanics, starting with a deep dive into what exactly is internal rotation - and what it's not - as well as explaining the importance of a brush trigger/brush contact. They debunk the so-called "hybrid" model, then move on to the effect of good posture, proper use of the stride leg, and how the timing has to be just right. The ep...

In this week's episode, Dr. Rob Gilbert, a professor of sports psychology at Montclair State University in New Jersey, joins Jay and Ken to talk about how he got started in the field (at a time when it basically didn't exist), why he started his daily Success Hotline call-in series, which is currently in its 47th year with nearly 13,000 messages, and why he takes saying he offers "foo...

This week Jay and Ken are joined by Dee Abrahamson, the winningest fastpitch softball coach in Northern Illinois University history whose 1988 squad made it all the way to the Women's College World Series - the only NIU team to accomplish that feat. She shares how she became a collegiate fastpitch coach despite never having played the game herself, her coaching philosophy (which later carried...

We know that the recruiting process can be challenging and confusing for parents and players alike, so Jay and Ken were excited to welcome Ryan Renne and Tiffany Deering to talk about what it takes to get recruited, what coaches look for, and how to go about the process. They also shared some information on their new APS Recruits platform which consolidates and simplifies many of the tasks involve...

Award-winning journalist and content creator Steve Hendershot joins Jay and Ken to talk about his upcoming documentary-style podcast Uningrained, which looks at the way things are and asks if ingrained views might need to change. He talks about Season 1, which asks the question why baseball leagues for girls aren't more widespread. He shares what he learned about how fastpitch softball was enc...

Legendary pitching coach Rich Balswick joins Jay and Ken to talk about his years as a top men's player and what made him transition from being a hard thrower to a great pitcher. He also takes a deep dive into how to throw a great rise ball (and what's lacking in the way many of today's top pitchers are being taught) as well as sharing his thoughts on the importance of the thumb in vari...

This week Jay and Ken are joined by one of the all-time great fastpitch pitchers, the incredible Sarah Pauly. The former D1 and National Pro Fastpitch standout talks about how she came to play for Texas A&M - Corpus Christi, her long playing career in the NPF with the Connecticut Brakettes, Washington Glory, USSSA Pride, and Akron Racers, and what it was like playing in the Japan Pro League. S...

Red River High School and former University of North Dakota pitching coach Don Stopa joins Jay and Ken to talk about his career as a head and assistant coach at the D1, D2, NAIA and Juco levels. He shares what he looks for when recruiting players (beyond the numbers), typical mistakes players and parents make in the recruiting process, common mechanical flaws in pitching mechanics, why he prefers...

USA Softball National Hall of Fame umpire Joe Massaro joins Jay and Ken to share how he got started as an umpire and how he worked his way up through the ranks to call women's national fastpitch, women's international play, and National Pro Fastpitch league games as well as college games for more than 40 years. He also shares his insights on the shrinking strike zone, the use of instant re...

South Mountain Community College head coach Kelley Montalvo joins Jay and Ken this week to talk about her playing career at Alabama, where she earned multiple awards and recognition as well as being a finalist for the Collegiate Player of the Year, her eight years playing in the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) League, and how she transitioned into coaching. She talks about being featured in the &quot...

Jay and Ken once again have the opportunity to speak with a fastpitch softball legend. This time it's former men's international and national champion pitcher and pitching coach supreme Doug Gillis. Doug shares stories about how he learned to pitch by studying top international pitchers and imitating their movements, his experience having Mike White as his roommate when he was a teen, and...

We learned sadly late Saturday night that Bill Hillhouse had passed away after an eight-month battle with pancreatic cancer. We had the privilege of speaking with him in January in what we believe was his last recorded interview, which we are sharing now in his honor. In it he talks about happier times from his career as a top men's fastpitch pitcher and later a pitching coach, his thoughts on...

This week Jay and Ken make it a duo to talk about getting the most out of high school softball and what players can do if they didn't make them team they were hoping for. They also discuss some of the bad advice they've been given or they've heard coaches give to players over the years, why it doesn't make sense, and what players can do instead.

Chanin Billings, head coach at Maryville University in St. Louis, chats with Jay and Ken about her career as a four-year starter at the University of Kansas (as well as playing for the Mexican National Team), and her experiences coaching at the D1, D2, and D3 levels. She talks about how she became a turnaround specialist, helping teams that had been struggling find success, how what she teaches fo...

Tayler Onion, Ph. D. joins Jay and Ken to talk about her career as a D1 volleyball player, youth softball player, and most importantly her work around opportunities for women in sports. She also shares her thoughts on what constitutes good leadership (regardless of gender), the need for coaches and athletes to learn how to be resilient in tough situations, advice on how parents or other new coache...

Former Chicago Cubs/current New York Mets organization hitting coach Rachel Folden joins Jay and Ken to talk about her career as a top-notch collegiate and professional fastpitch softball player and what it's like to be a pioneer as a female coaching in men's baseball. She also shares her thoughts on what takes hitters (and players in general) from good to great to elite, what many parents...

Jay and Ken take a deep dive into the ins and outs of getting recruited to play in college with Brian Chidester and Brian May of College Bound Jocks. The Brians talk about what college coaches look for in a recruiting video, the persistence required to build and maintain a connection to college coaches, and the importance of "fishing in the right pond," i.e., understanding the level of p...

This week Jay and Ken share some of their favorite coaching tools for hitting and pitching, as well as some of the must-haves for every coach's personal coaching bag. It's a rapid-fire discussion that covers plenty of ground. For those interested, here are links to a few of them: OnForm: https://onform.com/ Pocket Radar: https://www.pocketradar.com/ PitchLogic Softball: https://pitchlogic....

Legendary men's fastpitch pitcher and private instructor Bill Hillhouse joins Jay and Ken for a discussion about his approach to teaching pitching, how the men's game has changed (and the lack of support it receives from USA Softball), why he doesn't take credit for or even talk much about the many high-level women's pitchers he's coached, and some of his experiences playing around the world. Bill...

Western Illinois University head coach Alisa Goler joins Jay and Ken to talk about her days playing at the University of Georgia, where she still holds many hitting records, her time as a player in the National Pro Fastpitch league, how she got started coaching, and what it was like to coach the Blaze in the inaugural season of the AUSL. She shares how her coaching has changed over the years, the...