Finding the Edge

On this episode we had on Kyle Dupic who recently was hired at Wartburg College as their new co-pitching coach. Kyle has spent the past 7 years coaching at the high school level. He has more recently been diving into applying an ecological approach to pitching and we had him on the podcast to discuss his coaching experience with this new approach.

Intro music by: Muellzy https://soundcloud.com/muellzymusic Support Us & learn more about Ecological Dynamics (links below) ⁠ Donate to Finding the Edge: ⁠⁠buymeacoffee.com/ftepod⁠⁠Ecological Dynamics Resources Resources from Emergence a movement skill education company dedicated to helping coaches learn how to apply an ecological approach to understanding and developing movement skill. Get 7% off most courses by using code: Edge7 Educational Products: ⁠⁠https://emergentmvmt.com/shop-2/⁠⁠ Social Media Twitter: ⁠⁠@Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠@Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Patreon:⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Follow Us! Join our Discord: ⁠⁠bit.ly/3a07z1B⁠⁠ Find us on Twitter: @gboyum01 @RobertFrey40 @Coachgbaker Subscribe on Youtube: ⁠⁠bit.ly/34dZ7

In this episode we had on Jared Slater a sports performance coach who go his BS in Exercise Science from Division II Missouri Western University, where he pitched for the Griffins. Since then he worked at TCU under Zach Dechant and most recently at Tred Athletics. Jared has recently integrated Square 1 a motor control restoration system to the work he does with baseball players with great success. Today we explore how Jared has integrated Square 1 into how he develops athletes. Intro music by: Muellzy https://soundcloud.com/muellzymusic Support Us & learn more about Ecological Dynamics (links below) ⁠ Donate to Finding the Edge: ⁠⁠buymeacoffee.com/ftepod⁠⁠Ecological Dynamics Resources Resources from Emergence a movement skill education company dedicated to helping coaches learn how to apply an ecological approach to understanding and developing movement skill. Get 7% off most courses by using code: Edge7 Educational Products: ⁠⁠https://emergentmvmt.com/shop-2/⁠⁠ Social Media Twitter: ⁠⁠@Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠@Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Patreon:⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Follow Us! Join our Discord: ⁠⁠bit.ly/3a07z1B⁠⁠ Find us on Twitter: @gboyum01 @RobertFrey40 @Coachgbaker Subscribe on Youtube: ⁠⁠bit.ly/34dZ7

In this episode we have on former guest of the show Max Bay. Max most recently worked for the Huston Astros in their R&D department. In this episode Max advocates for the use of mix effects models for gaining deeper insights for player evaluations and development. Intro music by: Muellzy https://soundcloud.com/muellzymusic Support Us & Learn More About Ecological Dynamics (links below) ⁠ Donate to Finding the Edge: ⁠⁠buymeacoffee.com/ftepod⁠⁠ Ecological Dynamics Resources Resources from Emergence a movement skill education company dedicated to helping coaches learn how to apply an ecological approach to understanding and developing movement skill. Get 7% off most courses by using code: Edge7 Educational Products: ⁠⁠https://emergentmvmt.com/shop-2/⁠⁠ Social Media Twitter: ⁠⁠@Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠@Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Patreon:⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Follow Us! Join our Discord: ⁠⁠bit.ly/3a07z1B⁠⁠

In this episode we have on Bill Miller, Tanner Pruett, and Yuji Suzuki to discuss the arm injury epidemic in baseball. The impetus for this conversation was the a podcast that Rob Gray did with Ryan Crotin which you can listen to Rob's podcast episode here ➡️ ⁠hhttps://www.youtube.com/live/IWgPTl2oAhs?si=GBEuAzC6Hle-DqcZ Intro music by: Muellzy https://soundcloud.com/muellzymusic Support Us & Learn More About Ecological Dynamics (links below) ⁠ Donate to Finding the Edge: ⁠⁠buymeacoffee.com/ftepod⁠⁠ Ecological Dynamics Resources Resources from Emergence a movement skill education company dedicated to helping coaches learn how to apply an ecological approach to understanding and developing movement skill. Get 7% off most courses by using code: Edge7 Educational Products: ⁠⁠https://emergentmvmt.com/shop-2/⁠⁠ Social Media Twitter: ⁠⁠@Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠@Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Patreon:⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Follow Us! Join our Discord: ⁠⁠bit.ly/3a07z1B⁠⁠ Find us on Twitter: @gboyum01 @RobertFrey40 @Coachgbaker Subscribe on Youtube: ⁠⁠bit.ly/34dZ7

In this episode we have on Ben Franks, a senior lecturer in applied coaching sciences at Oxford Brookes University. We discuss Ben's current work with cricket batters and how it can relate to baseball.

Intro music by: Muellzy https://soundcloud.com/muellzymusic Support Us & Learn More About Ecological Dynamics (links below) ⁠ Donate to Finding the Edge: ⁠⁠buymeacoffee.com/ftepod⁠⁠ Ecological Dynamics Resources Resources from Emergence a movement skill education company dedicated to helping coaches learn how to apply an ecological approach to understanding and developing movement skill. Get 7% off most courses by using code: Edge7 Educational Products: ⁠⁠https://emergentmvmt.com/shop-2/⁠⁠ Social Media Twitter: ⁠⁠@Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠@Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Patreon:⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Follow Us! Join our Discord: ⁠⁠bit.ly/3a07z1B⁠⁠ Find us on Twitter: @gboyum01 @RobertFrey40 @Coachgbaker Subscribe on Youtube: ⁠⁠bit.ly/34dZ7

In this episode, we have on Tanner Pruett discusses his coaching journey and how it has evolved over time. Tanner played baseball at Modesto Junior College in CA and Crown College in MN. He began his coaching career at Starters Sports Training and went on to coach at St Cloud State University, Tread Athletics and is currently a pitching instructor at Mash Baseball and a volunteer pitching coach at North Central University. In this episode we discuss the importance of allowing athletes to explore and find their own movement solutions, rather than focusing on perfect mechanics. Tanner also discusses how his coaching approach aligns with ecological dynamics and the Constraint Led Approach. He highlights the value of incorporating real game-like situations, such as facing live batters, into training sessions. We discuss how coaches can use biomechanics to guide an athletes search process to find more functional movement solutions. The conversation also explores the balance between exploration and consistency in training, as well as the role of constraints in pitching practice. Find Tanner on Social Media Twitter: @TJPruett2310 Instagram: @TJP_training Intro music by: Muellzy https://soundcloud.com/muellzymusic Support Us & Learn More About Ecological Dynamics (links below) ⁠ Donate to Finding the Edge: ⁠⁠buymeacoffee.com/ftepod⁠⁠ Ecological Dynamics Resources Resources from Emergence a movement skill education company dedicated to helping coaches learn how to apply an ecological approach to understanding and developing movement skill. Get 7% off most courses by using code: Edge7 Educational Products: ⁠⁠https://emergentmvmt.com/shop-2/⁠⁠ Social Media Twitter: ⁠⁠@Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠@Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Patreon:⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Follow Us! Join our Discord: ⁠⁠bit.ly/3a07z1B⁠⁠ Find us on Twitter: @gboyum01 @RobertFrey40 @Coachgbaker Subscribe on Youtube: ⁠⁠bit.ly/34dZ7

This week we talk about Cody Bellinger, Luis Arraez, Expected Stats, and Weighted Runs Above Average.

Intro music by: Muellzy https://soundcloud.com/muellzymusic

Support Us & learn more about Ecological Dynamics (links below) ⁠ Donate to Finding the Edge: ⁠⁠buymeacoffee.com/ftepod⁠⁠Ecological Dynamics Resources Resources from Emergence a movement skill education company dedicated to helping coaches learn how to apply an ecological approach to understanding and developing movement skill. Get 7% off most courses by using code: Edge7 Educational Products: ⁠⁠https://emergentmvmt.com/shop-2/⁠⁠ Social Media Twitter: ⁠⁠@Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠@Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Patreon:⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/Emergentmvmt⁠⁠ Follow Us! Join our Discord: ⁠⁠bit.ly/3a07z1B⁠⁠ Find us on Twitter: @gboyum01 @RobertFrey40 @Coachgbaker Subscribe on Youtube: ⁠⁠bit.ly/34dZ7

This week we had on Julian Gonalez who recently got hired by the Orioles as Hitting Coach in the Dominican Republic. In this episode we had very emergent discussion where we explored the psychological side of the game through an ecological lens. This led us to explore how breathing and arousal regulation play into performance and how can we incorporate them into our training environments.

Follow Julian on Twitter @ABRHitting

Resources discussed in this podcast were:

The Mental Keys to Hitting by H.A Dorfman

The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey

The Way of Baseball: Finding Stillness at 95mph by Shawn Green

Launch Angle Rope Calculator from Robert Lund - Iowa Hawkeyes Assistant Baseball Coach
https://twitter.com/Lunderton/status/1352680708129628160?s=20&t=mJRYCkBZ0SoFTBdnIopzfw

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This week we had on Max Bay to discuss some of his Twitter threads analyzing baseball. We discussed the pitching metrics he came up with Stuff+, Location+, and Pitching+ and their implications. We also discussed how to get started doing data analysis with baseball data using R. Other topics we covered were can you teach command?, Command vs control, what can spray angle tell us?, and much more. 

If you're not already, make sure to follow Max @Choice_Fielder

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In this episode, we had recurring guest of the show, Caleb Abney, back on to discuss one of his tweets on creating challenging practice environments that generated a lot of discussion and engagement on Twitter. In this conversation, we covered the art of coaching, how to introduce challenging task design, information scaling with using a pitching machine, thoughts and cognitions, as well as how the interaction of coach, player, team dynamics play into skill performance and development. Additionally, we recorded a video version of this episode! If you'd like to watch it please check out and subscribe to our Youtube channel linked below.

If you're not already, make sure to follow Caleb on Twitter: @Cabney18

Twitter Post Referenced: https://twitter.com/Cabney18/status/1418310283982950409

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In this episode, we have another emergent discussion that we record back in June after our spring seasons had ended. The discussion started with a reflection on our previous episode with Ted Monnich on how flow states can fit within an Ecological Approach to skilled behavior. We also explored the ecological concept of affordances and the role of thoughts and cognition play within the perception of affordances. We wrap up our conversation discussing the power of narrative to facilitate buy-in when presenting new information, especially data. 

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In this episode, we have on Ted Monnich a sport psychology consultant who is currently getting his PhD studying flow state. Our discussion was around flow state and what things coaches and athletes can do to help facilitate getting into flow on the field. We also touched on how to deal with performance anxiety, group flow, how this could fit within an ecological approach to movement skill, and more.


Ted Monnich's website: http://tedmonnich.com/index.htm

Book Recommendations

The Mind within the Brain: https://amzn.to/3r9plcj

The Performance Cortex: https://amzn.to/3r8QAnj

The Champion's Comeback: https://amzn.to/3uMczmg

Stealing Fire: https://amzn.to/3raCGRv

The Rise of Superman: https://amzn.to/2NJiZ51

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In this episode, we had George Zirkel Pitching Coordinator at MSI Baseball in PA, back on the podcast to discuss workload management. We had an emergent discussion where we also explored the potential limitations of an Ecological approach, co-designing training plans with athletes, player relationships, the importance of intrinsic motivation, purposeful catch play, the role of visualization in practice, Motus, weighted balls, and much more. Buckle up for this in-depth conversation with George Zirkel!

Twitter: @George_Zirkel

This week we have another emergent discussion from a month ago around a couple of hitting articles as well as a blog post written by one of the hosts of the show. Topics of discussion, the highest form of technique, pitching machines limitations, representative strike-ball percentages in batting practice, fostering competitive mindset, failure is a part of growth, and more.  

Articles mentioned in this podcast with links *Below* 

The Physics of Batting Practice by David Kagan 

https://tht.fangraphs.com/the-physics-of-batting-practice/ 

A Novel Idea in the Majors: Using Batting Practice to Get Better by Joe Lemire 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/23/sports/batting-practice.html 

What is the highest form of technique? by Garrett Boyum 

https://emergentmvmt.com/what-is-the-highest-form-of-technique/ 

Join our Discord: bit.ly/3a07z1B 

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@gboyum01 

@RobertFrey40 

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This week we have ASU professor and host of the Perception & Action Podcast Rob Gray back on the show to talk about his latest paper on baseball batting titled, 
Changes in Movement Coordination Associated With Skill Acquisition in Baseball Batting: Freezing/Freeing Degrees of Freedom and Functional Variability. Topics we explore in this episode include the degrees of freedom problem and 

the role of variability, good & bad variability, the 
uncontrolled manifold analysis, 
in-phase and anti-phase movement
, and how can coaches practically apply the findings Rob's latest paper?


Research Paper link:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01295/full

Rob Gray's website:
https://perceptionaction.com/

Rob Gray's Podcast apple link:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-perception-action-podcast/id994539742

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This week we have on Ethan Moore who is a student manager and analyst for the Cal Poly baseball program. This week we discuss the benefits of being a student manager, how to communicate data to coaches and players, sabermetrics, how to utilize technology on a budget, and more.

Twitter: @Moore_Stats
https://twitter.com/Moore_Stats

Articles mentioned:

https://www.businessinsider.com/batting-practice-experiment-and-learning-strategies-2014-6?amp

Contextual interference effects with skilled baseball players
https://www.gwern.net/docs/spacedrepetition/1994-hall.pdf

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This week we have on Garrett Baker Pitching Coach for American International College. This week we explore how he uses an ecological approach to developing his pitching staff at AIC. We discuss how to create an adaptable pitcher, the mental side of pitching, HRV and breathing, what specifying information do pitchers connect with, and what does representative design look like for pitchers and how can you use data to guide that design.

Products mentioned in this podcast:

https://www.oatesspecialties.com/dts-khaos-ball-set-of-four
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/inner-balance/id569278747
https://www.amazon.com/Constraints-Led-Approach-Constraints-Based-Methodologies/dp/1138104078/
https://www.amazon.com/Dynamics-Skill-Acquisition-Ecological-Approach/dp/1492563226/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Coachgbaker

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This week we have on Sam Bornstein former head of the student managers for Iowa’s baseball program. This week we talk with Sam about his experience as a student manager at Iowa and how they utilized technology to improve player development.



Twitter: @Sam__Bornstein

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This week we spoke with hitting coach and facility owner Chad Longworth. We talk about how he got into coaching, his early adoption of technology, how his coaching philosophy has evolved over the years, social media, entrepreneurship, innovative products he’s created, and more. To learn more about Chad be sure to check out his website, blog, and follow him on social media. Links below.




Website: https://chadlongworthonline.com/


Twitter: @clongbaseball

Instagram: clongbaseball


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This week we had on Kyle Lindley from Driveline’s R&D department and co-host of the Driveline R&D Podcast. We talked with Kyle about his background and experience and how got into R&D at Driveline. We also explore and discuss some of the gaze behavior research its application and future research. Make sure to follow Kyle Lindley work on social media and their podcast at the links below.





Driveline R&D Podcast link: https://bit.ly/36DEEAD


Twitter: https://twitter.com/kylelindley_

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This week we had a conversation with Alex Caravan from Driveline who works in their R&D Department and is a co-host of the Driveline R&D Podcast. Alex talks about how he got into baseball and working at Driveline. We also explore some basic statistical concepts as well as how that applies to player development. Make sure to follow Caravan on Twitter @Alex_Caravan and check out their podcast on Youtube or other major podcasting platforms.

Driveline R&D Podcast link: https://bit.ly/36DEEAD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alex_Caravan

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This week we bring back guests of the podcast Caleb Abney, Nick Ascue, and Brian Pozos to talk all things hitting. 

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This week we talk about what we have been learning from some of the various zoom calls we have been on while we all have been sequestered at home. Additionally, we discuss the journal club we did with Rob Gray in which Brock Hammit made a cameo. While once again talking about what we are doing with the Baseball Coaches Clubhouse discord server and some of the different events we will be facilitating with it.


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This week we were fortunate to have on the podcast Rob Gray professor at ASU and host of the Perception & Action Podcast. We discuss with Rob some of his research into virtual reality (VR) environments as well as how some of his research on drivers' perception could have implications for baseball batters. We also explore a variety of other topics as well. Rob has lots of great resources on the field of ecological psychology on his website: https://perceptionaction.com/


Additionally, Rob recommends at the end of the podcast to check out Sian Beilock's book How the Body Knows Its Mind, which can be found on amazon for those that are interested.

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This week Robert and I explore batters exit velocity based upon pitch location with R Studio. We ended up video recording a part of our podcast so you guys can see what Robert was talking about with the cool visuals he created in R Studio from Baseball Savant data on batter's exit velocity based upon pitch location. If you want to check that out link below. We also discuss the discord serve we created for coaches and athletic staff that work with baseball as a resource and place to interact, share ideas, have discussions, and grow the game of baseball. Link also included.

Video Part Only:
https://youtu.be/0MclQZrZ2GM

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This week we had Caleb Abney who this past season was the hitting coach for Covenant College and helped guide their offense to be one of the top offenses in the country at the D3 level before their season was cut short due to the pandemic. He has coaching experience from the high school level to the professional level working most recently in 2019 with the Minnesota Twins in the Gulf Coast League. Today we explore Caleb's hitting philosophy and how to develop adjustable hitters.

Make sure to follow Caleb on Twitter: @Cabney18

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This week we had Nick Ascue who is the Volunteer Assistant at Bowling Green University in Ohio in charge of catchers and hitters there. Today we explore how Nick develops catchers and hitters through both a games-based and ecological approach. We also explore catching through the perspective of the umpire and what their intentions and perceptions may be and how they contribute to ball and strike calls and how the catcher can exploit that information to their advantage.

Make sure to follow Nick on Twitter @Coach_Ascue

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This week we introduce Robert Frey as a co-host and discuss the intention behind the podcast and the direction moving forward. We also explore machine learning and how it could aid in scouting pitchers and how pitchers could counter it being used against them. We also touch on and give our thoughts on the cancellations of many athletes' spring seasons.   

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This week on the podcast we have Troy Rallings who was a stand out relief pitcher at the University of Washington where he accumulated numerous awards and records as PAC-12 Pitcher of the Year, the Louisville Slugger and Rawlings First  Team All-American Relief Pitcher, and West Coast Player of the Year. While at the University of Washington he set the single season ERA record, career appearances record, and tied the school's career saves record. In this episode we explore the mental side of the game with Troy and the mindset of a closer.

This week we have on Robert Frey. Robert has created a Shiny app in R that allows teams and players to analyze practice or game data. His Shiny app also allows teams to analyze opposing teams as well and generate scouting reports. In this episode we discuss with Robert what inspired him to get into baseball analytics, ways to use R to analyze data, and what projects he's currently working.

You can check out Robert's Shiny app at this link below.

https://robertlfrey.shinyapps.io/NAIABaseballStatistics/

This week we have on Shawn Sherman the Founder and Creator of the Square 1 System to discuss their motor control restoration modality that is aimed at restoring the motor function of joint actions that don't tolerate load and cause the body to compensate as result. We take a deep dive into what is Square 1 and how it can help get guys health and keep them on the field to how it can help improve performance for baseball players.  

On this podcast we interview George Zirkel Pitching Coordinator at MSI located just outside of Philadelphia. George is also currently pursuing his Master's Degree in Motor Learning at Columbia University. In this episode we explore how the motor learning research can be applied to improving pitching performance as well as how to program for a large group of athletes.