I see a lot of activity on Facebook, but most activity is from women. Is this something that may benefit GoWags?

Thanks,
Bret Wagner

Why is it, that in life,  people have a hard time  filtering out the “junk”?  Your either “all-in” or you’re either “all-out”.

Take my blog yesterday, for example.

Blog here

I was amazed how many positive responses I got. I was amazed how many negative responses I got.

Look. I understand not everyone can afford to train. I understand that. This wasn’t about the poor.  Filter them out.

This was about those individuals, who are perfectly capable, but have an incentive to not train.  In my language:

SELECT firstName + ‘ ‘ + lastName AS  Lazy FROM tblAllBaseballPlayers WHERE financialcondition <> ‘Poor’ and motivated = ‘FALSE’

Sincerely,

Bret Wagner

Year 2012 income brackets and tax rates

After looking at this table, GoWags has decided to implement an Excellence Tax on all parents whose kids hit over .300 and have an ERA of under 3.00

Look. We know that your child has shown an interest in baseball and you’ve decided to encourage it. That’s awesome. We also recognize that you are willing to make a financial commitment in your son’s development. Deliberate practice doesn’t just happen, right? Your son is becoming a better player this winter. And, the fruits of his labor will be evident as he takes the field this spring. Higher batting averages, faster pitching velocity, more power, more awareness, better body language. He’s a GoWags sponge and it’s going to show.

But, we’ve decided to tax you if your child does too well. It’s not fair to those kids who aren’t willing to make the commitment your child has. Hope you understand.

Those players not committed and thus hitting less than .300 or an ERA over 3.00 will receive a direct payout from GoWags for 96 weeks as a safety net that they don’t feel too badly about their performance.  After all, its not their fault that they are not committed.

Sincerely,

Bret Wagner

For those readers sarcastically challenged, that’s a joke.

Video Here

OK. So Bob Fisher is a basketball genius. Here’s my question. What do you think basketball coaches think of his learning style?

It’s so easy to watch that video and think he’s a “genius”. But, that’s only because he’s already got the plaques and awards on the wall.

Be honest. What would you have thought about him if he didn’t have the hardware? I thought so.

Daniel Coyle describes it best

There are lots of useful takeaways here, but what I like best is Fisher’s mindset. He’s active. He doesn’t rely on any one source of wisdom; instead, he reads everything he can get his hands on, tests it ruthlessly, keeps what works. His mindset is not one you typically find in an athlete or musician (who often have passive, obedient, “whatever you say, coach” attitudes).

Fisher’s mindset is like one you’d find in a hacker: searching, resourceful, always willing to invent and re-invent. He’s living proof that talent isn’t about obedience to authority — it’s about being entrepreneurial, about taking charge, seeking out good information, and hacking until you get where you want to go. As Fisher so beautifully puts it, “Anybody could do what I do, if they know what I know.”

Back to Lewis.  Here’s a gem from his book Mere Christianity.

“People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed. The real job of every great moral teacher is to keep on bringing us back, time after time, to the old simple principles which we are all so anxious not to see;  like  bringing a horse  back and back to a fence it has refused to jump or  bringing a child back and back to the bit in its lesson that it wants to shirk..”

I don’t think Lewis would mind me substituting the word baseball for moral in the quote above.

Sometimes our players don’t need new stuff. They simply need to be reminded of the importance of doing the same stuff correctly.  Focus and do it right. Focus and do it right.  Focus and do it right. Maybe that’s my new mantra.

Or….maybe I need to remind everyone what Full Reps really means!

Bret Wagner

Anyway…GoWags is using a brand new service that allows customers to pay for sevices or get discounts on services by allowing their customers to post favorable messages to Facebook. It’s called Pay Me With A Post. You can visit our page here http://www.paymewithapost.com/GoWags

Are you an innovator or an early adopter? If so, you may want to check it out for yourself. It’s pretty interesting.

www.PayMeWithaPost.com

Innovation Adoption Lifecycle

Bret Wagner

When it comes to your own children, it’s usually not an issue. Most parents will do whatever it takes to help their child.  Kyle, Billy, Teed, and I have given countless individual lessons to the children of accomplished coaches and accomplished players.  It’s all about the kid.  No ego.

But…Let’s talk about the random coach and HIS team. That’s a different story.  Call it pride. Call it ego. Call it whatever you want.  We can feel it. We can see it.  I think some of it stems from not wanting his players to see him in a vulnerable position. Not knowing or having all the answers.  I get that.

I’m reminded of the old saying, “a team will take on the personality of their head coach”.  Something to think about if  he finds himself complaining that his kids “aren’t coachable”.

Full Reps!

Bret Wagner

It’s not too late to help out. If you’d like to contribute to our cause, you can contribute online by clicking the link below.

Click Here to donate

And if you aren’t able to contribute, please consider sharing this message with your Facebook friends or Twitter followers.

Thank you,

Bret Wagner

I had a pitching coach with the Cardinals who would use that. It’s pretty good advice when your competing. Nothing paralyzes an athlete more than thinking too much.

But what about when your practicing? Deliberately practicing. Working on your known weaknesses.

Keeping it simple isn’t going to help you adjust to the inside pitch any better than you currently do. You need to focus. You need to be aware of how your lead shoulder literally acts as a hinge and allows your scapula to pinch. That pinch shortens your moment arm and allows you to stay inside the ball in a leveraged position.

Being able to adjust to a good inside fastball isn’t easy. Sure, you could K-I-S-S and try to be “quicker” but that only sets you up for failure on the outside pitch.

Don’t fool yourself. When it comes to becoming a good hitter. A very good hitter. Sometimes a K-I-S-S isn’t enough.

Bret Wagner