The Trust Triangle – How Great Coaches Connect with Today’s Athletes
By: George Carralejo How do you connect with young players as a coach today? Why don’t young athletes “get it”? Young people just don’t care about winning like they used to. These are the types of questions and statements I hear coaches ask one another every day. While some of these comments are meant to spark reflection […]
The Best Recovery Techniques for Baseball Pitchers to Prevent Injury
After coaching high school and college pitchers for over 17 years, it has become evident that emphasis on recovery has increased in importance in recent years. You can be mechanically sound, have solid conditioning and a strong arm, but if you don’t recover properly between outings and workouts, you’re putting yourself at an elevated risk […]
The Importance of Mental Toughness as a Baseball Pitcher
Over my 17 years coaching high school and college baseball, I’ve learned that peak performance on the mound has as much to do with a competitive mindset as it does with physical gifts. You can have all the physical tools in the world, but if you don’t have the mental toughness it takes to succeed, […]
Velocity vs. Command: What Young Pitchers Should Really Focus On By George Carralejo
If you’ve been around youth baseball in the last 10 years, you’ve probably heard the same phrase a hundred times: “He throws hard.” Velocity is the hot topic. Every young pitcher wants to light up the radar gun, and every scout loves a fastball that pops. But after nearly two decades of coaching high school […]
The Science of Pitching: Mechanics Every High School Pitcher Must Master By George Carralejo
If I had a dollar for every time I heard a young pitcher say, “I just want to throw harder,” I’d be writing this from a beach somewhere. But after nearly two decades of coaching high school and college baseball, I can tell you this: velocity without mechanics is a short road to injury and […]
Championship Habits: What Coaching a CIF and State Title Team Taught Me About Building Winners By George Carralejo
When people see a championship team holding up a trophy, they often focus on the final moment—the celebration, the score, the confetti. But anyone who has coached knows that championships aren’t won on game day. They’re built in the months—sometimes years—of work that come before it. I’ve been fortunate to coach teams that reached the […]
More Than Velocity: Teaching Young Pitchers How to Compete with Confidence By George Carralejo
As a former Division I pitcher and a coach with nearly two decades of experience at both the high school and college levels, I’ve worked with hundreds of young arms. I’ve watched kids throw no-hitters and others fail to get out of the first inning. I’ve seen talent go unfulfilled and work ethic turn average […]