Atlanta Braves Hitting Coach Bobby Magallanes - World Series Champion, MLB All-Star, Father, Husband and Leader

 Coach Bobby Magallanes has been developing and refining his leadership and coaching for over 30 years. He is a leader whose journey is as rich as it gets. He joined the Atlanta Braves coaching staff as their assistant hitting coach in 2021 and was part of their World Series Championship run. This year not only are the Braves well in the hunt for another World Series title, but Coach Bobby Magallanes was also part of this year’s All Star Coaching staff in LA. Coach Mags is a lifelong learner who has a Masters degree in performance psychology and has a passion for coaching, leadership and mental performance (most importantly family). 

In this episode:

• The difference between internal and external focus
• There is no bad age to start with mental performance training
• Mental Performance lends itself to all aspects of life, not just in sport but in business, personal life and school
• As coaches, leaders, fathers and husbands it’s ok to not be ok but admitting you are not ok is the first step towards improvement.
• Finding your WHY in life - your purpose - your meaning
• Have your own mentors who you can count on to help and guide you.
• Find ways to get yourself more “life jackets” for when you are barely treading water
• Athletes who start applying the mental performance part of the game can take their abilities to new heights
• Having a growth mindset to expand your skills, both physically and mentally.
• Being stubborn about your success. Have a goal and let nothing stop you from achieving it.

Connect with Bobby:
https://www.instagram.com/magallanesbobby

We want to hear from you!
Where are you in your leadership journey? What's your WHY?
How are you chasing your 1%?
Connect with us:
https://linktr.ee/BenchmarkedPodcast
Thanks for listening to our show. We would be grateful if you chose to like and subscribe!
KEEP CRUSHING IT!

Mizuno


Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

Speaker 1
Hey, team. Welcome to Benchmarked. With Coach Mess and Coach Larocque. We have with us for this episode a leader whose journey is as rich as it gets. I absolutely love this coach's story and path to the major leagues. After playing and coaching his way through the ranks for over 30 years now, I believe. And developing his craft. He joined the Atlanta Braves coaching staff as their assistant hitting coach in 2021 and was part of their World Series championship run.

00:00:38:07 - 00:00:57:09
Speaker 1
What a start, what an introduction. What a rookie season in the Major Leagues this year. Not only are the Braves well in the hunt for another World Series title, fingers crossed their coach. But coach Bobby Yanez was also part of this year's all star coaching staff in L.A.. He is not just a talented coach. He's also a smart one.

00:00:57:09 - 00:01:15:13
Speaker 1
He has a master's degree in performance psychology and, like us, has a passion for coaching leadership and mental performance. Most importantly, I know, Coach, you're a big family guy. I could tell by your Instagram post family's very important to you. So that's fantastic, coach Mags, it is an honor to have you with us.

00:01:17:02 - 00:01:19:12
Speaker 3
Thanks. Appreciate it, guys. Thanks for having me on the show.

00:01:19:24 - 00:01:34:02
Speaker 1
And I know you're on the road right now, so this is what we've been trying to connect for months, trying to get you on the show. And we appreciate you making time for us. And we know you're you're on the road with the Braves and you and you're traveling around on the East Coast here. And you guys are in the stretch.

00:01:34:02 - 00:01:43:12
Speaker 1
So it's awesome. And as I was prepping for the show, here's a little known fact, but you almost played your pro ball up here in Canada. You were drafted by the Expos, were you not.

00:01:44:13 - 00:01:49:16
Speaker 3
Out of high school? Yeah. Oh, yeah. I was at that high school I'm on was with. Yes.

00:01:49:21 - 00:02:09:15
Speaker 1
That's amazing. I was I saw that on on your, you know, baseball portfolio. I was like that is that is an amazing just piece of information. And I know you selected the college route and then were selected again by the Seattle Mariners. Right? And that's right. And that was kind of the start of your professional baseball career, which is which is outstanding.

00:02:10:05 - 00:02:29:24
Speaker 1
But it coach, I love your background like that. The idea that you you spent a lot of time in Coach East, coached a lot in the minor leagues and you went up with the Braves. But it's to me, it's the background and I was excited to talk to you. And I know Gigi and I have been talking about it like, here's a person who's a true mental performance coach and I think you're in line.

00:02:30:00 - 00:02:59:03
Speaker 1
And baseball is a huge, huge sport for mental performance. And you're working with hitters, which is such a mental game. How how is it that you apply your your knowledge, your experience and your your your passion for mental performance to the hitters at the highest possible level of the game? Like it's one thing for Gigi and I when we're dealing with high school kids, you're dealing with athletes who are there.

00:02:59:16 - 00:03:03:03
Speaker 1
How do you how do you help them with the mental game?

00:03:03:03 - 00:03:34:14
Speaker 3
Well, yeah. I mean, that's that's important that it all starts there. The mental game is, to me, probably the most important part. Part of of hitting is being really good in your mind first. And but, you know, I, I do whatever I can be honest with you. It's like I, it's it's I'm there as a resource for these players if they want it, if they want to talk more about the mental part of, you know, again, it's their peer at the highest level.

00:03:34:14 - 00:04:07:23
Speaker 3
And in our sport, these guys are very talented. But man, it's, it's I see that just in my experience up here is is those who are consistently successful, not just ones who have a good season and a couple of bad ones, but the ones who stay consistent are very mentally strong. So now I'm there helping them any way I can be honest with you and have those conversations with them in the cage or even off the field and and while we sit down and eat, you know, it's just little conversations just to see, get to know them and get to see how they're thinking, how they're doing.

00:04:08:20 - 00:04:26:12
Speaker 2
At the at the beginning of the season, do you think there's a shift between you guys are talking so much technical and now you're talking more mental? Or is it just always kind of been a flow of things, I'm assuming, because it's just getting later in the season, some of the technical might be, you know, very little gas right now, those types of things.

00:04:26:12 - 00:04:31:18
Speaker 2
But is a mental always been a piece that's becoming more important in the structure. Where do you find.

00:04:32:10 - 00:04:58:16
Speaker 3
Yeah well you know you talk about the mental it's we give them a plan for a game plan for that day against that starting pitcher, against their relievers in the bullpen. So we're always strategizing and giving them plans and also in terms of the technical part of it, that that's that basic that's that's every day you got to stay on top of your swing because it can go south quickly and then that's when they get lost.

00:04:58:21 - 00:05:20:00
Speaker 3
Okay, what's going on? But mainly it's just calm them down and and get their focus back on not so much internal, but external focus when they're when they're hitting and when they're in the game, basically. But the technical part of is important. It all goes hand in hand. To me, it's not one or the other. It's you know, some people think it's all mental and it's not.

00:05:20:00 - 00:05:45:03
Speaker 3
You've got to have the technical part of it. But it you know, it's all it all goes hand in hand. To me, it's it's you got to be well here. You have to be it's no question that this starts there because that the mind is a one tells it really is the mass of the brain relays all the neurons and the messages to the muscles, to the body parts, to for what it needs to do to hit.

00:05:45:11 - 00:05:52:20
Speaker 3
But you got to be strong here and and really focus and really not be so tense up here.

00:05:53:15 - 00:05:55:09
Speaker 1
Coach. Oh, go ahead, Gigi.

00:05:55:16 - 00:06:05:23
Speaker 2
Sorry. We always that deep into that part of the game or is it something that evolved in you? And sometimes, you know, you may wish like, man, I would wish to pick this up as a player a long time ago.

00:06:06:12 - 00:06:33:12
Speaker 3
Oh, absolutely. That's what I was really hard on myself. I was a player. I was very good defensively. I felt like that was my strong suit. Defensively, I just felt so comfortable defensively. But that confidence didn't translate into the batter's box. I just overthought it in the batter's box and and I would overanalyze it. I if if I had a bad game, I was there the next day early because I knew what was wrong with my swing.

00:06:33:20 - 00:07:01:15
Speaker 3
And I just work, work. And it just got to a point where just overthought it and and I struggled with that and I would get frustrated with myself and go, Why can't I let this stuff go? It's like I just feel like I'm just just too, too tight. So that's what intrigued me to study performance psychology. And when I when that opportunity came to get a degree in it and this was later in life, I was like, all in I it was tough.

00:07:01:15 - 00:07:20:01
Speaker 3
It wasn't easy to do it, you know, getting a degree at the age in, in my fifties where we're raising a family and my husband had a full time job and full time student. It was it was pretty tough, but I thank God I did it. It was a sacrifice because I. I learned a lot and I wish.

00:07:20:01 - 00:07:36:19
Speaker 3
MAN Hey, Dad, your question. I go, man, I wish I would do this back then. I would have. I would. Who knows? It might have been a different story in my career. I don't know. But it definitely man, it just helps. And not only just in baseball, I mean, performance psychology, it's really it's the study of peak performers.

00:07:36:19 - 00:07:50:10
Speaker 3
It's it's the study of the best not only athletes, but it can be lawyers, doctors, teachers, businessmen. It's just a study of the best that they are in their field.

00:07:51:04 - 00:08:21:11
Speaker 1
It must have been interesting for you to be going through that while working in the professional ranks, because you had a sample, a great sample size to kind of apply what your are learning at that time, right. Wherever you were during your coursework for that. Because to me thinking these guys you're and you were coaching I think you're in I can't remember where you were at the time when you're taking your degree, but you would have had these these athletes that are trying to make their way to the big leagues.

00:08:21:20 - 00:08:48:07
Speaker 1
And you would have had the opportunity to really apply what you were learning to assist them to me, which is fantastic because it's one thing to work with people that are already there, but to have those those athletes that are hungry to try to reach that now you're really giving them an extra push. Did you find that the athletes that you were working with and working with now, are they open to what you're teaching them with the performance psychology stuff?

00:08:49:03 - 00:09:14:19
Speaker 3
You know what? That's another thing, too. Yeah, I question it and not all of them are open. I mean, it's it's not all want to apply certain things because it takes work to to to be strong mentally. To me, it's like working out, like going to the gym. It's like, you know, you, if you go once every month or once a week, it's not really going to help.

00:09:15:12 - 00:09:38:11
Speaker 3
You got to do the work and you got to stay on top of your mental game just the way you stay, on top of your of your swing. You stay on top of you of of of of your baseball game. You got to stay on top of your mental game. And and not all do that. You know it's yeah you know there be good conversations with like hey it's we got to put this in and what are you going to do here?

00:09:38:19 - 00:10:03:15
Speaker 3
You know, give them whatever tools mentally to practice and I guess and not not all really ask for that not are like, okay, yeah, that's great. You know, let me help me. Not all, but I tell you what, the very few who do, there's big time results in their game. And not only just hitters the pitchers as well, it's big time results when when they actually.

00:10:03:15 - 00:10:14:18
Speaker 3
Okay, I'm going to actually do that. And it's not just just talking about something. It's it's like, hey, there's there's certain skills involved. There's certain practices you got to do to to get better mentally.

00:10:15:12 - 00:10:30:18
Speaker 2
I'm going to guess your body, like the players probably only comes to you when something's gone sour, not when things are going good. Probably same thing with hitting when they're going well, unless they, you know, they need an ego stroke. But typically you're just getting them when they're starting to dip a little bit. I'm making a assumption.

00:10:31:21 - 00:11:02:01
Speaker 3
Well, I'm with them every day. I'm with the hitters, so it's like I'm seeing them in good and bad moments. So but I mean, there's there's other hitters that I've worked with more, more younger hitters outside organization in the off season. Their parents come in to ask me, Hey, can you help with my kids? And now that they know that that, you know, I that degree of performance and and I give mental performance coaching as well.

00:11:02:01 - 00:11:34:16
Speaker 3
Yeah. You give some of these kids information like, okay, let's, let's start, let's do this, let's I give them homework, I give them things to do and and it helps. I mean, the results are there. They it is it really helps out a lot. That's the thing is like, hey, if you work on your mental game it's it's it's game changing because they're going to see themselves like calmer they can see as a man like okay these thoughts now I think take them captive and be mindful of these negative thoughts or there's anxiety that I never had before that I didn't know how to handle.

00:11:34:23 - 00:11:57:21
Speaker 3
Now I'm learning how to handle because we we don't I was there. I didn't know how to handle that. Get where's my escape route? What do I do? Because it just those thoughts just kept racing my mind and it's not not so much worry because I worry too. It's just out thinking. It's like, okay, because we're always thinking like, how do we think it's really learning how to think?

00:11:58:20 - 00:12:14:24
Speaker 3
Because we're always thinking so. So yeah, it takes I mean, those guys are there and I'm with them all the time and it's on their to whatever they want to share. I listen to their hearts. I okay. You know, I'm here if you if you need me for anything. So I'm there for them. But yeah, it's I'm with them all the time.

00:12:14:24 - 00:12:16:17
Speaker 3
So yeah, we get to share all those things.

00:12:16:23 - 00:12:21:07
Speaker 1
Now I know you have kids, correct me if I'm wrong. You have four kids.

00:12:21:24 - 00:12:22:13
Speaker 3
I got three.

00:12:22:18 - 00:12:39:05
Speaker 1
Three kids and they range in age. And I know you have a son who's a ballplayer as well. Correct. And do you find that there's an age that you can apply the mental performance strategies? Is there an age of you're like too young? Not yet. Not old enough yet to accept this? Do you find that there's a starting point?

00:12:39:05 - 00:12:57:01
Speaker 1
And the reason I'm asking this question from your coaches, we have a lot of parents that listen to our show and we have a lot of young athletes that listen to this show. And part of our goal is engaging is we teach this to our young athletes in hopes that they're going to pick it up. Do you find that there's an age where people are like, no, this is this is not something I'm worth my kid.

00:12:57:01 - 00:12:58:14
Speaker 1
I just want to develop skill and talent.

00:12:59:17 - 00:13:23:21
Speaker 3
Well, well, to me, I'm not going to put a certain age on it. To me, it's where the parent feels that this kid needs it. But it's when I mean little leaguers, I have my my youngest is 12. He just got done playing his last year of Little League and I mean, you can help those kids out the age of 1211.

00:13:24:01 - 00:13:44:21
Speaker 3
You can't help those kids at that age is because when they hear him talk, they get so frustrated, like just calm them down. Okay. But, you know, whatever skills you can work with them might actually my 16 year old he's going to be a junior actually starting high school tomorrow junior year. His junior year of high school tomorrow.

00:13:45:12 - 00:14:02:18
Speaker 3
He's working with Zach Sorensen. As a matter of fact, Zach's been working with them. And and it's funny, like your podcast, the why isn't working with you since you also do this is because it's so tough to coach up your own kid. It really is. It's hard. So it's like I sent up the Zach and Jack's phenomenal and he's done a great job with them.

00:14:02:24 - 00:14:17:07
Speaker 3
And we have seen these all in my wife. And I say that we see results in him and and he and he love it because every time he has a session with Zach, it's like, Oh yeah, Dad, we talked about this and okay, what are you going to do? Yeah, yeah. How we doing this? I'll send a couple of days later.

00:14:17:07 - 00:14:42:12
Speaker 3
Hey, what did you do? Oh, yeah, I'm doing the homework. I'm doing this. And like you, I can see that that it helps. It does. It's it's proven. It's I highly recommend people work on it. It's like, you know, it's well worth it because not only it's not just for a sport, it's going to help you in your everyday life, you know, because even as adults, we're not perfect.

00:14:42:12 - 00:15:01:18
Speaker 3
As adults, we stress about things. As adults, we, we we have certain things that that that we're either it can be addiction, it can be it can be something that. May I just I just have these things where I don't know how to handle this pressure and it helps. It's great to perform. That's what we're trying to help you.

00:15:01:18 - 00:15:02:22
Speaker 3
Every person perform.

00:15:03:10 - 00:15:20:18
Speaker 2
Yeah. You don't need to explain to Mark and I about coaching your own kids how that sometimes works. But it's just sometimes having somebody else, not just somebody else, somebody else you trust in that role is a game changer because yeah, sometimes, you know, you could say the same thing exact same, but it's not coming out it, you know, it's kind of Zach's now.

00:15:20:18 - 00:15:23:10
Speaker 2
So it's the praise in out of your mouth. You're just dad.

00:15:24:04 - 00:15:27:24
Speaker 3
Yeah. Yeah, you're all right.

00:15:27:24 - 00:15:45:15
Speaker 1
They'll be. They'll have come a time, I'm sure. Stuff that you're doing with the Atlanta Braves, Zach's doing with your son and your son's like, Oh, yeah, I've heard my dad talk about this before. My dad's kind of smart guy. So can you without using names at all? Because I know we try to be as specific as possible.

00:15:45:15 - 00:16:19:12
Speaker 1
I know we're speaking general terms right now in terms of sports performance and psychology and and mental performance. Can you give us a a relevant example of something that you've applied with one of the major league hitters, that you've seen a change in that person over the course of this season or even last season? Like give us a specific that you've done, like an old talk about like J.G. We talk about grabbing the barrel of the bat because you're coming in and you're and your big your strong it what's what's something that you, you like to share with some of your hitters?

00:16:20:17 - 00:16:39:21
Speaker 3
Well, I said it, you know, I go to I ask a question, okay, give me your three key is to keep it simple. Whenever I see that starting to spin on them, okay, they come in the cage this and I because I have the ratio with them so I know them pretty well, gave me three keys to keep it simple.

00:16:40:14 - 00:16:58:11
Speaker 3
What are your three keys? And everyone's got different ones and I go, okay, so if these are three keys to keep it simple, then let's, let's focus on that because it can get to where that. Okay, it's my hand is my, it's my hip. It's, it's my feet. It's, you know, I got to get my shoulders square. It's, it's sole thing.

00:16:58:11 - 00:17:17:10
Speaker 3
On my contact point, they start thinking so much about internal body parts that it, it, it doesn't come out the swing doesn't come out smooth anymore. Everything's tense. So it's like, okay, what's the keys to keep it simple? Oh, well, you know, I just like to see the ball and hit it. I mean, it can be what could be a key for me.

00:17:17:10 - 00:17:50:02
Speaker 3
I don't know, everyone's different, so. Okay, so now it's okay. Let's focus on that today. Just keep it simple. Just to get their minds off of internal focus and more external focus, whether hitting. So those are examples of another example is that the thing that that I learned a lot in performance psychology was motor skill learning. That's a thing that was a game changer for me as a coach because it's how we learn how to transfer that skill to a game.

00:17:50:07 - 00:18:17:09
Speaker 3
That's the key. Okay, great practice. Players. There's a bunch of we're great practice players and they do. We tell them like they pick things up, but it doesn't transfer to the game. Why? And that's where we're not only performance psychology, but that's where motor skill learning comes in because you want to transfer that skill to the game. And again, I can elaborate more on that because to me that's a game changer in terms of having end game results.

00:18:18:00 - 00:18:38:07
Speaker 1
I played junior college and with a catcher, I was a catcher. Gigi was a catcher as well, and my platoon mate was unbelievable in the preseason. He was unbelievable in batting practice to the point where I was like, I may never see the game and he'd be a guy. They'd be hitting them like 400 feet in batting practice.

00:18:39:00 - 00:18:52:18
Speaker 1
And then as soon as the game came in, it'd be all four three with two strikeouts and like a pop up or something like that. And it was incredible. And I mean, again, I was 18, 19 at the time, so I didn't really think about like what's going on with this guy. And he could not play in the game.

00:18:53:00 - 00:19:19:19
Speaker 1
He couldn't play. He couldn't hit the ball. It was incredible to see. So, you know, I always consider that like what happened and you know, we call them the 4:00 hitters, right? They show up and they can hit at 4:00 and 7:00 shows up and they disappear. What is it that you think that happens? What's the transition from that mental state to the 7 p.m. when it's on ESPN in front of a national audience or the World Series?

00:19:20:08 - 00:19:23:18
Speaker 1
And you get to perform what's what what's that mental state?

00:19:24:21 - 00:19:49:08
Speaker 3
Well, you got to have a routine. So what's to me? I'm big on routines and what's what's what's your routine? Because there are some hitters that are great hitters that really don't take batting practice. They they just hit in the case before the game and they go into the game and and they hit like, man, then you've got those who are consistently working, preparing.

00:19:49:17 - 00:20:08:00
Speaker 3
I mean, working on their craft, taking batting practice every day, watching video of the opposing pitcher having the game plan. And they don't they're not succeeding like the other guys. Okay. So that's the thing. It's like that's why it's not one or the other guys. It's okay. What makes a great player? Great. It's like we can all say, Oh, you got practice.

00:20:08:00 - 00:20:29:22
Speaker 3
Yeah, but this guy doesn't practice that much, and this guy's going to going to be a Hall of Famer. But this guy who practices every day is hitting 220 for a career. It's like, so what is it? What's what's happening here? You know, they both have the same amount of skill. But why is one guy has success and one doesn't and and to me it's that a lot of it's the mental part they're very strong.

00:20:29:23 - 00:20:54:01
Speaker 3
The other guys outthink it. But to me it's I think that I believe the way you transfer that skill to a game, there's a thing called a motor skill. Learn is a thing called random practice in block practice. And let me explain this to you guys. BLOCK practice is when you do a repetition over and over of the same thing.

00:20:54:12 - 00:21:12:19
Speaker 3
So let me explain. Let's put the the the tee and I put a ball on the tee and I tell my head, okay, I want you to take what hit 20 line drive to the back of the cage. And I'm telling you, they might hit ten out of 20, you know, 15 out of 20 line drives. I mean, really good and great.

00:21:12:19 - 00:21:43:01
Speaker 3
And also, I just flip balls. I want you to hit these. I'm going to flip these balls and I want you hit line drives off the screen and they take ten in a row. Awesome. But in the game they strike out. They don't make contact on do well, but yet in practice they're hitting the line drives block practice when you just do one thing and repeated over and over okay random is when you do one thing in different in different shapes, different sizes, in different patterns.

00:21:43:07 - 00:21:58:10
Speaker 3
So in this case, it's like, okay, let's I do off a tee or I put the ball on a tee, he takes one swing, then I change, I get the tee and I put it away and down he hits it. Oh, I missed it. Let me hear it again. No, no, no. Go to the next one. I bring it up and then he hits it, pops up, and then he hit one more or no.

00:21:58:10 - 00:22:22:11
Speaker 3
And let me go down a way again. It's it's random. And then when I throw batting practice and changes, these are locations random is what prepares you for the game. Because the game is random. You don't see the same pitch, the same location, twice in a row in a game. So the random practice is proven. It's evidence based features proven is the best transfer of skill to a game, that type of practice.

00:22:23:00 - 00:22:52:02
Speaker 3
And you want practice to be difficult because you want the game to be easy. Baseball is the only sport that doesn't get practice game speed because we would blow out our pitchers. So what happens is have you guys noticed now lately the machines are coming into play more. There's a lot more machine batting practice. Even the big leagues, you've got big league teams using the machine as batting practice, not just because they're trying to do efficient breaks in the day, oh, this guy throws 95 plus with the slider.

00:22:52:02 - 00:23:14:02
Speaker 3
Okay, let's put on really fast. And the guys have found stuff off. Hey, that's too difficult. Yeah, we're preparing you for that pitcher. Now, let's put the slider now. Teams are starting to get it. Now they're starting to prepare it. Not all teams are doing it. I'm not saying it. Every single team is doing it. But it's it's proof of the fact that that type of practice, the randomness is the best transition to a game.

00:23:14:24 - 00:23:34:24
Speaker 2
I found a lot of that stuff with I think his name is Rob Gray. He does a lot of research on that stuff talking about it. But you're saying that many teams are doing it. Do you find just this is a personal thing and hopefully no one's putting over the calls for this one. But just baseball is such a traditional sport that people are having a hard time adjusting just because they know it's probably right for them.

00:23:34:24 - 00:23:39:21
Speaker 2
Like Donald, we've done like this for a hundred years. We're going to keep doing it for another hundred years.

00:23:40:16 - 00:24:01:22
Speaker 3
Yeah, again, it's, it's, it's, it's you have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. There's, there's a book by Carol Dweck called Mindset. She was a professor of psychology at Stanford University. And I got to remember books and it's great. And to me it's you can have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. A person with a fixed mindset says, Oh, this is the way we've always done it.

00:24:02:10 - 00:24:21:18
Speaker 3
I'll never get better because I don't have the talent of a growth mindset. Someone that says, If I practice and I learn, I can get better. And it's just the mindset. It's like, okay, I mean, again, you can have old school people when they talk about old schools like just fixed on their weight is like, this guy will never change.

00:24:21:18 - 00:24:36:00
Speaker 3
It's these are fixed on his ways. They said, why this the way I did it, I hit 300 this way when I played in the big leagues and this way and it was the same. It's like, man, you were good. But you know what? These guys don't have the talent that you had. It's like, how are we going to prepare?

00:24:36:01 - 00:24:59:06
Speaker 3
Plus, we did when we played back in the day, you know, I played in the nineties. We didn't we we're not facing the pitcher that's today. It is the average fastball, 94 miles an hour, 95, I think 90, 94.7, I think is the last I saw. So it's 95 miles an hour is the 94. 94 miles are is the the average fastball you know, we're facing?

00:24:59:06 - 00:25:17:10
Speaker 3
DEGROM Yes. Yeah. We faced a grind yesterday and he was at 100 not yeah. You average 99.8 IP on his fastball through on a how many pitches over 100 and the slider was at 95, 96 miles an hour. His slider, when the average fastball is 94, 95, his fly was higher. So it's like it was crazy. So that's what we're facing.

00:25:17:10 - 00:25:36:08
Speaker 3
And so it's not like, how are we going to get better? You know, how are we going to learn? We got to keep evolving because we just stay. We imagine if if no one tried to if there was no scientific research, if we just got stuck on our own ways, humanity, we would still be living in the dark age.

00:25:36:11 - 00:25:59:05
Speaker 3
We would still be riding horses instead of cars. We there wouldn't be airplanes. We wouldn't be having a zoom meeting because of fixed mindset. We just stay stuck on our old ways. We got to keep evolving. How are we going to get better? How? How are we going to beat the competition and you can't have a mindset of a fix on what is the way I've always done it and and have the old ways of thinking.

00:25:59:15 - 00:26:15:09
Speaker 2
Obviously pitchers have evolved, obviously, right? Because the average fastball probably was low nineties. I bet you five or six years ago I'm just all those numbers out there and they've obviously evolved evolved with with the way they do things. Obviously hitters gotta be able to make the adjustment do that themselves. Also.

00:26:15:20 - 00:26:34:18
Speaker 1
I was watching the other day, I just cut the tail end of the Blue Jays. I think they're playing Tampa and Kikuchi was on the mound and they're just talking about now the velocity of lefties are up too. Like they're seeing lefties throwing 100, which is I mean, there's been the odd lefty that used to bring such velocity.

00:26:35:01 - 00:26:53:00
Speaker 1
Now we're seeing, they say across the board, you're getting high velocity off the left side of the mound as well, which is incredible. So these players are having to make major adjustments. And I think one of the things that JJ and I coach a lot with our younger kids as well as yeah, there's the technical part of it, but it's dealing with the adversity.

00:26:53:00 - 00:27:13:15
Speaker 1
And I know that you said this earlier, coach, which is really good. This is outside of baseball. So we're trying to apply our mental performance tips to people say like, hey, you're down on two and a game on a on a terrific pitcher. So you have to have that mental mindset to be able to come back and bring yourself back into competition within that at bat.

00:27:13:15 - 00:27:32:06
Speaker 1
But the outside, the the stadium, outside the lines type of stuff is really important. And we had a show with a friend of ours, China Makani, who's out west, which Reagor sports and does a lot of work with that type of stuff. So I think it's important because they can apply this to their lives if they're going through something at home as well.

00:27:32:06 - 00:27:50:10
Speaker 1
Right. And I'm sure as a coach, like you said, you spend a lot of time with these hitters. I'm sure they come into the cage sometimes and things aren't necessarily great at home or they're on the road. They might be missing their families, I'm sure. I know you have some young guys on the Braves. That is probably their first time doing so much traveling.

00:27:50:10 - 00:27:56:17
Speaker 1
And there's a lot of stuff that comes into being a professional athlete that the average person might not understand. Right.

00:27:57:19 - 00:28:16:00
Speaker 3
Well, first of all, I've said it many times. I don't coach baseball players. I coach people. So I don't look at them as a baseball player. When I go in there, this guy is a husband. This guy is a father. Those who are married and have kids, this guy is a brother. This guy a son. I mean, this is high.

00:28:16:00 - 00:28:42:00
Speaker 3
Look at him. He's a human being. And we all have troubles. We all have something going on in our lives. So to have those conversations important to coach the heart is important. How are you doing? How are you feeling today? How's your family and everything? Good back home. Yo, you got to get some because those kind of all that stuff can affect like you said, the performance and and we all need help.

00:28:42:02 - 00:29:00:03
Speaker 3
That's the thing. It's we all need help. We weren't created to live life by ourselves. We weren't we were created to live life and community because we need one another. You know, you've heard the saying, you know, as iron sharpens orange, so one man sharpens another. It's a Bible verse and it's it's so true. We need one another.

00:29:00:18 - 00:29:19:22
Speaker 3
And so that's how I look at it. And not all of them open up. They don't, because a lot of times, as especially as men, we can be very prideful. We can be like, oh, I can, I can do this on my own because I don't want to show weakness. And to me it's like, man, that's, that's not it.

00:29:20:00 - 00:29:37:17
Speaker 3
It's like, not until you you get a little vulnerable now, until you open up a little bit. That's when you that's when the healing comes. That's when you get help is just let the pride down and say, You know what, man, I need help with this. You know, how do you do this? How do I how how do I get better mentally, emotionally?

00:29:38:00 - 00:29:56:12
Speaker 3
You know, how do the things that control my emotions, you know, that's hard. A lot of these guys, that's that's the battle. How do I control these emotions? Because the emotions can it can hinder my performance. So there's but there's there is help. I mean, to me, it's practice. You got to practice it. Something we don't we don't do.

00:29:56:22 - 00:30:21:21
Speaker 3
And but yeah, it's to me it's get letting the pride down and get help. It's it's okay. Open up, man. Do this. It's okay. We all fall short. We all need help. We are going through this. And if you have those conversation guys, they go and you know, you go through that too. When you realize that the greatest go through mental things like, like, hey, man, I don't have it all together either.

00:30:22:03 - 00:30:39:06
Speaker 3
Wow. You really you you work on that. You work on your mental game. You you have those fears. Yeah, you have those anxieties. Oh, yeah. I bet you'd be shocked, but they, they open up and they like they admitted it like, okay, I can help. Oh yeah. I'm working with them and I'm working with them with the, with the mental coach.

00:30:39:18 - 00:30:56:01
Speaker 3
And it's before that was like, Oh no, you're crazy, you know, now it's, now it's like part of like no, everyone's got one's like a lot of players have their own mental performance coach, which I highly recommend. So yeah, it's, it's just being vulnerable and being open to, to help.

00:30:56:21 - 00:31:12:12
Speaker 2
You've mentioned this a few times throughout the show and it's one of the tools, I'm assuming also. But you talked about internal focus and external focus. So for some of our listeners, can you give an example in life, sport, whatever you want to choose here, give me can you give us some examples of some internal focus compared to external?

00:31:13:01 - 00:31:33:03
Speaker 3
Okay. So internal focus is the body parts. So it can be like I'ma use it as in baseball. So when a guy's in the game thinking about his hands, thinking about his feet, thinking about, you know, I got to get my hands high or lower or, you know what? I've got to get a good position to hit whatever it is.

00:31:33:03 - 00:31:57:06
Speaker 3
Anything that has to do with internal, which is the body, that's internal focus. External focus is the baseball that's outside the body. External focus, as you know what, visualizing me hit a line, drive up the middle. That's external focus, you know. So I try to do external focus stuff just because it's you don't want to think internally because that's where you're going to be tight.

00:31:58:07 - 00:32:27:06
Speaker 3
External is when now your body can make moves natural because it's not thinking about the body. You know, I have a saying, don't let the mind tell the body what to do. Just let it go, because it becomes robotic and it becomes tight. It is it doesn't. Now internal focus in the batting cage you there's times you need it just because if you're working on a certain move like hey, you know what I was off your last couple of days.

00:32:27:06 - 00:32:41:09
Speaker 3
Okay, let's let's see what it is. Okay. We saw video. Yeah, you know what? I'm seeing that you're opening up. So now we're going to work on you staying a little bit more close, more square to the plate. We're going to work on that in the batting cage. So I do need internal focus here because we're trying to work on that movement.

00:32:41:17 - 00:32:50:05
Speaker 3
But after we get it, okay, now, game on. Now I want to just focus on baseball and let the scene play out. So that's an example of internal versus external focus.

00:32:50:08 - 00:32:52:08
Speaker 2
Thank you. Appreciate it.

00:32:52:08 - 00:33:15:09
Speaker 1
So I want to kind of ask you, Coach, you were a player before coaching and J.G. and I talk about this all the time. We both had that transition phase from being collegiate athletes to becoming coaches. Some people struggle with that. Some people make that transition very easy. How did you find that transition going from being a player to a coach?

00:33:15:21 - 00:33:24:00
Speaker 1
And I'm going to add to that question is if you could go back in time to give yourself advice during that transition, what would you say to yourself?

00:33:25:20 - 00:33:52:10
Speaker 3
Well, yeah, it's it's a it's a different game. It's being a player, being a coach is two different professions and a if I can go back because I look back now two over 20 years ago when I first started coaching, I made the transition from a player to a coach. I've come a long ways. Like I said about some coaches are stuck on their ways.

00:33:52:10 - 00:34:19:16
Speaker 3
At the beginning I was like that. I was like, okay, you know, I just played so I know what I'm talking about. And man, I'll tell you this right now, that first year of coaching I felt at the end of that season, I remember going home and telling my wife, I go, I feel like I don't know anything about baseball because I learned so much Coach, I'm going, Oh my gosh, I go, I learned so much.

00:34:19:16 - 00:34:38:17
Speaker 3
I thought I knew exactly 12 years professionally and all of a sudden now I'm like, It's a different game. Coaching is different and playing and being it. Before, I didn't have to think about it, not how to think about like, you know, Oh my God, I just did it. Now I have to actually research it and and teach and I got to give an answer.

00:34:38:22 - 00:34:54:04
Speaker 3
You know why I got to answer the walk it. Why do I need to have my hands this way? Why do I need to do this? Why do I need to have that approach? What? Like, I don't know. I just did it. Yeah, like that. So, you know, because I said so, but it's like now it's like, wait a minute, man.

00:34:54:04 - 00:35:16:14
Speaker 3
And and I a long ways because it's as I kept coaching, as the years went by, I realize it just how much I didn't know and and I can admit that because a lot of us that have played think we know it all well. I played well. I know it's because this it's like, you know what, man? Don't we don't know at all.

00:35:16:14 - 00:35:43:24
Speaker 3
And we got to keep learning. I'm a big believer that leaders are learners and and you got to learn. You got to keep learning. That's how we grow. So with me, it be evolving. I knew I had to get educated. So I start off with a bachelor's first as as I was coaching and I got it in a in a management, which is leadership.

00:35:43:24 - 00:36:02:10
Speaker 3
I got a bachelor's in that which helped me out because I managed my release for nine years. So that helped me out in terms of leadership and running the team. And then I ended in I really had an opportunity and it was hard to get a degree in national performance psychology. And I'm going, Man, I want to keep learning and educating myself.

00:36:02:10 - 00:36:24:05
Speaker 3
And that that to me that was a game changer for me. And my coaching was get that masters of performance psychology because I learned a lot not only about the mental game, but as I said earlier, the, the motor skill learning, which is huge in sports, motor skill learning is huge. And I'm like now it's like this is now the technical part and the science behind how to transfer skills into a game.

00:36:25:08 - 00:36:46:04
Speaker 1
It sounds like you really have a good grasp of your why. And I think we talked we've talked to a lot of outstanding leaders on this team or on this podcast, and we've talked a lot of outstanding athletes on this podcast and all the top performers that we've had on our show all have a very good grasp of their why and it seems no different for you.

00:36:47:02 - 00:36:51:22
Speaker 1
Can you elaborate on like if I if I were to ask you, coach Bobby, what is your why.

00:36:54:00 - 00:37:16:21
Speaker 3
My why is my purpose of what I'm here God has me on Earth to do. Number one, I'm a God fearing man. So that's my I'm here to impact people. I'm here to make an impact in the lives of the people that God puts in my life. So it can be a big leaguer, can be a little leaguer, it can be a parent, it could be a coach, it could be a colleague.

00:37:16:21 - 00:37:35:21
Speaker 3
It doesn't matter. That's my purpose, is that and regardless of where I'm at, it can be in the big leagues, minor leagues. It doesn't matter. That's I want to impact people. I want to help them out to be better in whatever area of their life. That's where I show up and that's I go with the passion of that.

00:37:36:22 - 00:37:54:15
Speaker 3
How can I help this guy today, not only in there hitting, but maybe, you know what, he's going through a tough time mentally. You know, what can I speak to him with? What? How can I get through that calm, calming down? I can I can help help him out. And that's my why. That's why I do it. Why do I coach?

00:37:54:15 - 00:38:11:24
Speaker 3
Because I love to teach. Number one, I have a passion for teaching and coaching. I have a passion for that because I like to help. I love to teach. I like to help. And and that's when I wake up every day. That's where I get up and I do. It's like, okay, how can I get better? And that's the thing.

00:38:11:24 - 00:38:38:07
Speaker 3
So if my passion is teaching, I want to be the best. That's another thing too. You know, when I've been asked like, okay, what do you see in the best players I know they're stubborn. The best are stubborn. It's not only just players, businessmen, it can be politicians, it can be lawyers. The best are stubborn. What I mean by that is that they have goals and they stick to it and nothing's going to stop them from achieving that goal.

00:38:39:00 - 00:38:55:20
Speaker 3
And and I'm a little bit stubborn in that way in terms like, okay, how can I get better? How can I help this player? So I will research that and I'll go through whatever I can to help them. That's the things like if I get better, they're going to get better, so I'm trying to get better for them.

00:38:55:20 - 00:39:12:03
Speaker 3
That's how I look at all this that I'm learning. All the education that I went through is to help them. That's why I want to get and I still I mean, I'm I'm reading a book right now. I have right actually it's called What Makes a Leader Great by Russ Cross. So that's a book I'm just reading right now.

00:39:12:03 - 00:39:15:06
Speaker 3
It's a so far I've read a couple of chapters. Phenomenal.

00:39:15:06 - 00:39:28:23
Speaker 1
But can you can you show it to us, please? There you go. Amazing. Amazing. We all that you know, leaders. Lee said leaders are learners. We always say leaders are learners, but they're also readers. Leaders.

00:39:28:23 - 00:39:56:16
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah. So they re reading reading as knowledge and I'm always reading but but we're always learning. We're learning, we're learning, we're learning. We got to keep learning. It doesn't. The learning never stops. And so so if I get better, the players are going to get better. And that's how I look at it. So I want to keep learning and I only just as a coach, but as a husband, as a father, I fall short every day.

00:39:56:16 - 00:40:10:16
Speaker 3
I screw it all up in my marriage, I screw it up. And in my relationship, my kids, it's like me, I want to be better. So I go seek help, but I want to show my kids that, Hey, man, you know, I don't have it all together, but I guarantee you that I'm going to do everything I can to be better.

00:40:11:10 - 00:40:28:08
Speaker 3
And I do. And I want my kids to see that, not only me talk about it with them. See, my dad's always looking for. He goes to conferences to to be a marriage conference. You know, I see my dad is he's written a book on how to raise kids, you know, see, my dad, he's trying to get better because I don't don't know at all.

00:40:28:08 - 00:40:47:19
Speaker 3
It's like I fall short because I'm a human, you know? And so that's why I, I want to preach that and teach that to not only the kids, but also to the players like, hey, it's okay, be vulnerable, it's okay, be open. Because we all we're all we all have our issues, man. But we need help in how to combat those issues.

00:40:48:08 - 00:41:06:22
Speaker 2
And that's I mean, that's that's very, very well said. I mean, we're going to clip that some way shape said what I think about that situation also you talk about we're vulnerable and we know we fall short what I find in that part and so I'm turning this into a me conversation here is how long you stay in the law basically.

00:41:06:22 - 00:41:24:20
Speaker 2
Right. That to me, that's a difference about somebody who has a mental performance or, you know, going to be successful is we're all we're all going to get some way, shape or form in our lives, in some facet of our lives. That's how long you're going to stay in the gully for. You guys stand for a minute, 10 minutes a week, a month, a year.

00:41:25:05 - 00:41:45:22
Speaker 2
So it's coming back. But I think to echo what you're saying, if you can have support or help or some knowledge and different things, that you're throwing yourself more life jackets. I just made that up. We're going to fix that one up. You're giving yourself more life jackets to support, I guess, to to be able to handle those situations and not not sink for too long anyways.

00:41:45:22 - 00:42:10:05
Speaker 3
Well, I have I have three men in my life that are my life jackets, you know, they're my but they throw them out for me and, and these are the ones that keep me accountable and I give them free reign to call me out in any area in my marriage. It would be me raising my kids, whether it be me and my everyday life would be me or my coach or whatever it is.

00:42:10:14 - 00:42:31:10
Speaker 3
I will go ahead and I need these guys because like I said, I don't have it all together. I have issues as well. But that's why I like to keep learning and keep and and and to have someone accountable to where I can share stuff with and open up and talk about things. Because now, because I guess we get fogged up our minds get fogged up, man.

00:42:31:11 - 00:42:49:18
Speaker 3
We have all this clutter in our minds that we can't see. We can't think things straight. I mean, we always think, but we're thinking the wrong thoughts. And that's where it starts spiraling. It's like, Oh, no, I need someone to bring me back. Clarity. It's like, okay, hold on, Bobby, you're not thinking, right, right. Hold on. Like, oh, man, thank you.

00:42:49:18 - 00:42:57:21
Speaker 3
Like mad. And no, it was like, you're right. You know, that's a good point. You know what? I've got to do that now. It's like, thank you. We need a support system.

00:42:58:12 - 00:43:12:20
Speaker 1
We we've always called it our accountability partners, and that's what it is. Somebody somebody that you trust that's going to tell you and maybe give you a little slap in the face to say, hey, shake it up here. You're you're heading down the wrong path with this right?

00:43:12:20 - 00:43:34:02
Speaker 3
Yeah. And that knowing someone that loves you, that's going to tell you the truth and love because. Because he cares about you, you know? And and you know, there's a Bible verses says among the counsel the wise there's wisdom like man, it's among the counsel of the wise. That's where there's wisdom. So we need counsel, we need counseling, need support, we need that.

00:43:34:02 - 00:43:52:04
Speaker 3
And and I'm a big believer in that. So but again, as men, especially as athletes, we can be powerful. We can be like have it all together because we're in the limelight. No, man, we don't we don't have it now. And it's okay, man. Let your guard down. Hey, let's talk about these things, man. We all. We. We need help.

00:43:52:04 - 00:44:04:18
Speaker 3
And and again, not all players want it. They don't not all players. They're not at that point yet. But the ones, the very few who have opened up to me, it's been a game changer in their careers.

00:44:05:08 - 00:44:08:19
Speaker 2
And so have you found those three people in your life? Have you found.

00:44:10:16 - 00:44:34:08
Speaker 3
God put them in my life, actually. It just the way they just came about. And it was first of all, there is trust being built. And once you get to know them and you have a relationship with with these guys, it's like, man, these guys are good. These guys are they care about me. And I see their life, too, you know, it's like I see the way that, you know what I want to I want to be like this guy.

00:44:34:08 - 00:44:56:00
Speaker 3
I can see that. Yeah, he falls short. He's not perfect, but, man, I can see how he makes a commitment to try to do things right. And and that's and the trust, as Mark said earlier, the trust is like, man, that you trust because it's not that trust is huge once you trust someone, okay, now you can open up with them.

00:44:56:00 - 00:45:18:16
Speaker 3
We need that. We we need we need men in our lives that can help us. They're they're they they care about that. Like, you know, to me, it's like I have three guys, but really, there's one guy out those three. There's one that I'm really close to. And this is the guy that that we meet once a week over the phone, once a week for the last ten, probably years, almost now that we meet once a week.

00:45:19:23 - 00:45:35:22
Speaker 3
You know, he we live in different states, but we meet once a week and hey, how are you doing? You know, he asked me the tough questions. It can be anything, any struggle, like, hey, how are you doing with this? How are you doing with that? Like, oh, yeah, what now? Not too well. And I mean, I can lie to him.

00:45:36:03 - 00:45:50:09
Speaker 3
It's true. It's like I can lighten up because. Oh, man, I don't want to hear it today, you know? And I'm all right, you know? But it's like we have that strong relationship. I'm going, You know what? Please pray for me, cause I'm struggling with this man. Last couple of days, I've been feeling this, okay? And man, I'm ten.

00:45:50:10 - 00:46:05:19
Speaker 3
When I open up and I profess those things, it's like I get freed up, like, man, now me, like, this is good. It's like, yeah, I just like a weight off my shoulder. And that's what we try to perform is we try to help people with that just, just to get that load off because we we don't know how to do it.

00:46:05:20 - 00:46:24:13
Speaker 3
That's why I always believe go get help. You know, it's worth the money. And you know what? We don't have the money to do it. Okay? Maybe there's a plan financially that that person can help you with, but go get help. It's well worth it. It's worth it. I tell people that you have no idea how much worth it is to go seek mental help.

00:46:24:13 - 00:46:45:06
Speaker 1
You said something really important there about like being open and honest and we talk about being self aware of like, hey, I'm not doing I'm not in a good spot right now. That to me is is step number one is being aware of your your certain situation that you're in, that you aren't right or you're not in a good spot mentally.

00:46:45:06 - 00:47:21:00
Speaker 1
And it doesn't have to be like super low, right? But it just has to be like, hey, I might have to bounce this off somebody and self-aware and self honest are two different things and being on and then being able to share that with somebody. And when you talk about seeking help, it could just be a friend, a man that you want, another man that you want to go and have a cup of coffee with, or like you say, a weekly phone call that can go a long way to getting you on the right track and and helping you with this game like and game of life really rate.

00:47:21:00 - 00:47:43:08
Speaker 1
It's basically what it is. So I think that's an important aspect of people that we have to watch out for one another and be there and be willing to be there for one another. And sometimes it's just about I got to remind myself to shut up and listen. This person might not necessarily need the advice, but it's just about to be there and then offer that ear for them to speak out.

00:47:43:08 - 00:48:06:14
Speaker 3
That's a great point you just made. It's listening and that's what I try to do. I'm there and I'm just listening because when I listen, as I'm getting to know them, I get to know their heart when I have when I want to give an answer to everything that listen to and listen to their heart. Now I'm giving them an opinion to show to show them what I know, listening to what they need, know.

00:48:07:02 - 00:48:30:23
Speaker 3
It's like that's where it's like, okay, I want to show them what I know because I study all this and know it's like sometimes sometimes sometimes just they just want to vent. And I don't say a word and then they give it a thank you. Thank you for listening. And I never give them advice. And now it's like by then all of a sudden they start hitting again like, oh my gosh, like they just got that weight off of them, you know, I didn't they ever gave me advice.

00:48:31:13 - 00:48:54:04
Speaker 3
And there is a book called This is years Ago I read it's called How to Speak so people Can Listen How to Listen So People Can Speak. Great book. And I learned that once there was a little a little dialog that the author said he had with a client and he says, so client comes in and says, Yeah, you know, I'm here because I have these issues, blah, blah.

00:48:54:19 - 00:49:12:12
Speaker 3
So, so here you got the the counselor is there. Listen to the guy. He goes, Yeah, you know, my wife, the snap, the snap, blah, blah, blah. And this now you. Yeah, this. But you know what? I did this, I did that, and the guy just kept going. The author's going as I'm listening. This guy never said a word, never let me say a word.

00:49:12:12 - 00:49:35:01
Speaker 3
All he did was talk the whole time he goes. And then after about ten or 15 minutes of him just talking the conversation, he was the author said, I never said a word. The conversation switched and the guy says, But you know what, I, I also screwed up because, you know, I, I treated her this way. You know what I think what I'm going to do now, you know what?

00:49:35:01 - 00:49:58:18
Speaker 3
Right now I'm going to go home. I'm Tobias. I'm going to apologize to her. And, yeah, that's what I'm going to do. You know what? Thank you, man. Thank you for the session. I'm you going? The guy never said a word. He goes, okay. You're welcome. Thank you. Let me know how it went. But that's the thing. It's like by talking it speak and before you know it, it's like we're we're talking to our own selves and it's like we just got it out.

00:49:58:18 - 00:50:09:07
Speaker 3
We just wanted to speak of that and that's all they needed. And now there's got the weight off of them. Now they can go play. Now they can go about their business and they're thinking more clear than they were before.

00:50:09:24 - 00:50:11:19
Speaker 2
I mean, any chance you know, the author of that book.

00:50:12:11 - 00:50:18:00
Speaker 3
I can't remember. I can't remember. I can't remember how but yeah the author that.

00:50:18:00 - 00:50:19:20
Speaker 2
We'll go to we'll go to Google. We'll find it.

00:50:19:20 - 00:50:39:07
Speaker 1
I've had I've had people come into my office and do that. Sometimes they come in and they're upset about something other, a colleague or even a student or an athlete. Like they'll come into my office and the door slams and then they sit on the on the comfy chair beside my desk and then they're like, mess, like, I got to tell you this and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

00:50:39:07 - 00:50:55:01
Speaker 1
15 minutes later, I'm just, I'm nodding. I'm like, Oh, wow. And they get on well, I feel really good now. And then they go about their day, right? And it's just like I said, nothing. And I think that's important that my daughter says it right sometimes, dad, you got to know she has a she has a degree in philosophy.

00:50:55:01 - 00:51:13:09
Speaker 1
So she says to me, you have to know when somebody coming to you for advice or they're coming to you and they need you and you're going to be a sponge. You have to recognize that difference. And that's a learned skill because as as coaches and as teachers, because you're a teacher, at the end of the day, Bobby, you're a teacher.

00:51:14:07 - 00:51:25:18
Speaker 1
You want to show people, Yeah, I know stuff, but you have to know when they want to know your stuff. And I think that's a very important skill. That's about us as leaders being self-aware as well. Right.

00:51:26:22 - 00:51:46:23
Speaker 3
And yeah, it's self-awareness and and it's true. That's that's you know, right now, as you're speaking, I'm thinking about, you know, my marriage and my relationship, my wife. I mean, I praise God for my wife. She's incredible woman. I mean, it's for for her to to be with me all these years trying to chase a dream. And and in baseball, which I'm away from home.

00:51:46:23 - 00:52:22:02
Speaker 3
She has done a phenomenal job, has been there's she's been probably the biggest support system for me. It's been incredible. So but we talk about that like we got to a point where, okay, let me just listen. And you want advice. You know, whenever I and I'll tell I just listen right now. Okay. And she won't say a word, you know, and vice versa, like, sweetheart, do you want me to to give you advice or, you know, I just want be like, okay, because right away our first instinct is to help out.

00:52:22:05 - 00:52:40:11
Speaker 3
And and we're not listen, we're not listening to them. We're weren't thinking, what am I going to say right here? And and then we don't listen. And sometimes people just want to vent. That's all they want. They just want to be they want they want someone that they can let it out and know that they're not going to be judged when they do tell you all the stuff.

00:52:40:11 - 00:53:01:13
Speaker 3
And that's the thing. You don't want to be judged. That's where the confidence comes. I know this person's not going to judge me. This person is just going to listen to me and have some empathy and have towards me because we just want to be heard. There's two things that men need and want and that's to be respected and to be heard.

00:53:01:17 - 00:53:09:00
Speaker 3
That is it. As men. Those are the two things that we need to be respected, be heard. And I'm here to get I'm going to hear these guys out.

00:53:09:15 - 00:53:26:15
Speaker 1
Yeah, we could we could go with this. Sounds like a whole other show with you coaches. This is an amazing conversation. But there is something and I want to be conscious of your time, but there's something I've been wanting to say. And yes, you are World Series champion. So we've gotten into this. We're talking about mental performance, but you've won a World Series.

00:53:26:21 - 00:53:49:02
Speaker 1
Let's go back to the World Series here for a second. But because it is a little bit related to what we've been talking about, and this is something that I ask everybody we've had Olympic champions on our show and we ask what is I'm trying to figure out how to rephrase this. I don't want you had talent. We know that your Braves were talented enough in 2021 to win a World Series.

00:53:49:14 - 00:54:05:21
Speaker 1
But if you Bobby wrote a book about all the things that didn't relate to baseball, that were part of that team, the outside the line stuff, the character, what would it be? What were those ingredients that led to a World Series championships for the Braves last year?

00:54:06:24 - 00:54:42:06
Speaker 3
One word perseverance. Where I can describe it. We lost our top players lost Acuna season ending injury. We lost Ozuna to to injury as well we we lost them our catcher, Travis Darnell. We lost him for like almost the whole season. He come to the last part of the season because he gets surgery in a plate. At the plate.

00:54:42:06 - 00:55:08:00
Speaker 3
He messed up a stomp. It was the if it's one thing that I can say is perseverance. We persevered and it was a story of perseverance because everything will go wrong. I mean, we're in the playoffs and in the world and game one, our starting pitcher line drive off is off his leg breaks his leg out for the remainder.

00:55:08:00 - 00:55:32:07
Speaker 3
World Series. Now going now what? You know it's like little things like that. It's it just seem like there's one injury after another just losing these top players. I mean, really good, impactful players. And it's like, how are we going to do this? And our GM did a great job of of getting the pieces that we needed to fill those roles.

00:55:32:07 - 00:55:34:15
Speaker 3
And the guys that came in were just outstanding.

00:55:34:22 - 00:55:36:15
Speaker 2
You're like GM, right?

00:55:37:04 - 00:55:38:18
Speaker 3
Yes. Alex Yeah.

00:55:38:19 - 00:55:39:13
Speaker 1
He's a Canadian.

00:55:40:04 - 00:55:40:23
Speaker 3
Yes, he is.

00:55:40:23 - 00:55:41:19
Speaker 1
He's a Canadian.

00:55:42:12 - 00:56:03:14
Speaker 3
Yes, he is. And he did a phenomenal job. And but it was perseverance, you know, and and that's how I can describe it. That's how you describe the season. It was just a season of perseverance because, I mean, no one gave us a chance either. We were out of the ten teams that that made the postseason in the major leagues last year, we were ranked 10th.

00:56:04:08 - 00:56:20:11
Speaker 3
We had the worst record of the ten teams and. We had a win it at all. And again, it's just that that what we were built off of and just how we persevered. And to me, I'm a big believer in perseverance because that's that's what strengthens you is what strengthens us.

00:56:21:03 - 00:56:53:09
Speaker 1
You would have had to have under those circumstances and Doug and I have our where we're our foundation for everything that we do. We have nine elements character, commitment and communication, effort, excellence and emotion prepare, perform and persist. And yeah, that persistence and perseverance doesn't happen without leadership. Right. And to me and watching and he knew you guys were low ranked going into the postseason, but you won it all.

00:56:53:09 - 00:57:11:06
Speaker 1
So to me, that's an indicator of leadership, character and a lot of those elements that we use, the people in the locker room must have stepped up after you lost some of those players to injuries. There must have been those those athletes that provided huge leadership and to fill in those gaps, correct?

00:57:12:05 - 00:57:33:10
Speaker 3
Absolutely. They step that. And you need those. You need guys that you didn't expect that big of an impact. Those are the guys that made a big impact. And and we need everyone to step up. That's the thing. It's it's guys, step up. You're right in. And again they played with that they played with like okay, let's let's go.

00:57:33:10 - 00:57:49:10
Speaker 3
We're, you know, we're out to prove something here. You know, people didn't give us the time of day. I mean, we one no one gave us a shot. No one. And that's like, cool. We want to be that. We want to be the underdog. It's okay. And and that's like a chip on her shoulder, which we went into the postseason.

00:57:49:17 - 00:58:08:23
Speaker 3
And I'm telling I, I said I made a comma in the cage on Saturdays, in September, and I said, If we make the playoffs, I will watch out for us. I said I and not only me, but there's other people say the same things, which is if we make the postseason teams better watch out. No one's going to want to open up with us because we knew they're going to have to open up with this.

00:58:08:23 - 00:58:25:00
Speaker 3
We're the last see the team and and we ended up winning it all. You know, it's just just one of those things where you have that mindset and you have that perseverance, you have that heart. We're like, you know, what is goal eight on the field and let's go kick some butt today.

00:58:27:09 - 00:58:46:11
Speaker 1
And you're in this year, you're an all star. Can you talk to us a little bit about that experience? Because to me, that's like every boy's dream. And what a stage at in L.A. the other thing to start before I jump into that, it seems like you've had the opportunity your family's been the Braves seem like a first class organization that looked like your family was a part of like the ring ceremony.

00:58:46:11 - 00:58:56:23
Speaker 1
Like it seemed like such a great thing. And I saw that you had pictures of your family at the All-Star Game. What a great opportunity to roll into your family with us. But can you talk to us a little bit about the All-Star experience?

00:58:58:03 - 00:59:21:12
Speaker 3
Phenomenal. It's you know, first of all, it's you know, you win a World Series, you know, first time really officially as a coach in the major leagues. And you win a World Series and then we participate in the All-Star Game. And in Los Angeles, where I grew up, I was born and raised there. What memories that that brought back, you know, and it was emotional for me because my dad passed away in March.

00:59:21:23 - 00:59:39:09
Speaker 3
And and so when I would go back to L.A., it was still raw, you know, in passing. And just I just remember my dad taking me as a little kid to Dodger games and all that was just taking it. And there was, it was it was emotional for me, but to be on there on that stage at Dodger Stadium where I grew up.

00:59:39:09 - 00:59:58:11
Speaker 3
And all of a sudden I'm going to All-Star Game there. Like I go, God, this is your great if God's ground goodness is incredible, I don't know where to look, where you have me. I'm like, it's a dream that you said I'm living a dream and and it's, it's it's like a little kid, you know? It made me feel like a kid.

00:59:58:20 - 01:00:21:23
Speaker 3
And to have my kids there, that's that to me, family number one is God. Then it's my family. And then it's this job and it's always been that order. And and wherever I go, whatever organization I've been with, that's how you live my life by. And and if it's not that order, I don't want to be working for an organization that way because my family is going to be way more important than this game.

01:00:22:09 - 01:00:51:11
Speaker 3
And I don't care what people say, it's always going to be that way. No, this game and my coaching is not going to Trump take over my family. It's not. And so with that said, to share it with my family, to share with my wife and my kids was incredible. Just to see them on the field. My kids that the home run derby, they were like does it all you know, bring them on the field and and my wife and my daughter, you know, taking pictures on the field, you know, before the game.

01:00:51:11 - 01:01:09:17
Speaker 3
And it just it's so cool that you can just share it with them. And I think, again, I'm blessed beyond measure. That's all I can say. It's like I said, it's a kids. It's it's we're playing a kids game and it's a dream. It's like, this is what you dream of, you know? It's like I'm actually living. This is like, I thank God for it.

01:01:09:17 - 01:01:15:17
Speaker 3
That's all. That's all I can say. It's like, this is incredible. I can't believe this happened, but we actually had a few of us felt that way.

01:01:17:13 - 01:01:40:14
Speaker 1
Wow. You seem like one of the conversations we've had as well with Coach Curt Hines, who's a football coach in Coronado, California. Some coaches will trade family for rings, but for many of us, we wouldn't trade our family for rings. And you seem like the person like, yeah, you're fortunate, fortunate enough to win a World Series, but you wouldn't trade that World Series ring for your beautiful family.

01:01:40:14 - 01:01:42:03
Speaker 1
I would. I would bet on that.

01:01:43:11 - 01:02:12:05
Speaker 3
No, no. Because obviously, you know, family's family. But as I've said this before, when we're talking about performance psychology, it's about people. So if coaching is about people, so we're making about people. It's not about the ring, it's about the person. Because I tell you what, we're going to impact a coach. Billy Graham has a quote says Coach will impact more people in one year than the average person does in a lifetime.

01:02:12:05 - 01:02:36:08
Speaker 3
And it's true. We get our it's like a coach. We can impact more people than our parents did. We can impact more people than our teachers did. It's like our friends. We impact more people as coaches. So I take that to heart. And because it's not it's not about the ring. The ring is great. That's that's like a byproduct of doing things well.

01:02:36:18 - 01:02:57:13
Speaker 3
But it's about the impact you're going to make in these people's lives it's going to be for eternity because I'm coaching husbands, I'm coaching fathers, I'm coaching these people, and they're going to be a husband and a father someday. So it's like, what am I going to impart in them? Because this game is going to be gone quickly now with this long life, how are they going to live their life?

01:02:57:21 - 01:03:11:19
Speaker 3
How can I impact these people? That's what I said was, okay, what's my why why I do something? It's because I want to impact lives and that's why I do it. And that's my perspective when I go show up. That's my perspective.

01:03:12:18 - 01:03:49:19
Speaker 1
That's outstanding. You got it together, coach. Which is which is what we love to hear and see. And in our show. So as we as we're being conscious of time here, but we one of the things that we do with our show weekly is we ask our guests to kind of share with our listeners their best piece of advice, whether it be coaching, leadership, mental performance, if There's one thing, one resource, one last bit of advice that you want people to carry through with them for their week on their commute to work, their day to day lives.

01:03:50:00 - 01:03:53:00
Speaker 1
What would you like to share with our listeners before we close up here?

01:03:54:06 - 01:04:16:04
Speaker 3
Live with the purpose, like you said, what your wife me is like? What's the purpose? Why am I here? Why was like why did that create me? We all have a purpose. We're not here just on accident. We're not here just to take up space and we're all here to impact lives. I'm big believer in that. So it's like live your life with the purpose.

01:04:16:05 - 01:04:36:07
Speaker 3
Hey, why do I get it? What's the reason why I got up this morning? What's the reason why I'm on this podcast? What's the reason why accepted me on this podcast? What's the reason why I'm reading this book? What's the reason why I'm watching TV? I mean, what is it? What's the reason why I'm alive today is not just to exist and to me live with the purpose.

01:04:36:11 - 01:04:54:15
Speaker 3
What is your purpose for why you're here? Owner And again, I guess I'm a God fearing man that that my purpose is what God has for me. So as a guy, I'm trying to I'm trying to honor him and I'm trying just to impact his kingdom. And this is what I try to do every single day. So I know what my purpose is, and that's how I live it.

01:04:54:15 - 01:05:12:21
Speaker 3
Because until you don't have that purpose, then that's not going to have any meaning, you know? It's like it's not like, why am I here? Then there's no meaning in it. Everything I do has a meeting, which is why I get excited about it. There's a purpose. Why I woke up today. Now let's go. Let's go. Fulfill that purpose.

01:05:13:22 - 01:05:14:20
Speaker 1
Dominate the day.

01:05:15:16 - 01:05:18:18
Speaker 3
Yeah, I like that. I like would say, dominate the day.

01:05:18:24 - 01:05:55:04
Speaker 1
Dominate the day. Oh, well, that's very well done, coach and I. I love that we are giving our listeners so, you know, for watching the Braves on TV, you know, I want listeners in our audience to understand there's so much more what's going on to that game between the lines, what we see on TV and what's going on in the preparation for the players, the coaches, their families, all of this, it's a big thing and I think it's important that we share that message that there's so much more to the game than just throwing and catching and hitting.

01:05:55:11 - 01:06:12:24
Speaker 1
It's just such a small percentage of the overall big picture. We didn't really talk about winning and losing today. We talked about what gets you to become successful as human being first and then as an athlete. Which is which is what I love. Coach LaRocca Anything else you'd like to ask for?

01:06:12:24 - 01:06:29:08
Speaker 2
Coach Bonner Yeah, we'll need you back for another. And the more things I want to dove into and honestly, not even baseball, like we got into some stuff, they're in a few rabbit holes that I need to keep going into. Yeah, I want to be constantly talking to you. Guys are on the road and you got things to do and you're back in the hunt.

01:06:29:09 - 01:06:32:24
Speaker 2
You're in the hunt, but keep pushing. So I appreciate your time. This is amazing.

01:06:33:18 - 01:06:37:08
Speaker 3
Now. Thank you, guys. Yeah, I'll be more than happy to come on again. I'll be great.

01:06:37:15 - 01:06:57:11
Speaker 1
I say we always say, you know, better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today. And I feel like when we have conversation like this, this is our 1% better. This is motivating me to go out and be a better husband, a better father, a better coach, a better teacher, having the opportunity to speak with people such as yourselves who are doing it at a great level.

01:06:57:21 - 01:07:17:23
Speaker 1
It's real and I love it and we appreciate that and we appreciate what you're doing for people, not just winning world championships, but just being a good father and a good husband and a great coach. Which is which is amazing. Well, that does it for this episode of Benchmark. Thanks for listening. Until next time.

01:07:18:23 - 01:07:21:16
Speaker 3
Keep crushing it.

01:07:21:16 - 01:07:22:12
Speaker 1
Right on.