Michael M.

My baseball coaching experience has run the gamut and I have a lot of experience. My career in coaching/training began soon after I stopped playing baseball and I served as an assistant coach for a U16 AAU team in Vermont for one summer (2007). Following that, I coached a fall baseball team made up of my former high school's varsity team (2008). That following spring (2009), I was an assistant coach for the varsity team at CVU High School in Hinesburg, VT. After I moved to Washington, DC, it took me several years to get back into coaching. But a former co-worker of mine was coaching his 7-year-old son's team and I began helping out with that (2014). After about 3.5 years, I took over as the head coach as the team moved up age divisions and skill levels in several Bethesda Chevy Chase leagues. In Spring 2020, I took over as the head coach for a BCC Senior Select team of 13- and 14-year-olds, who I drafted, and coached that team as well as another senior select team in the same age group for the 2021-2022 season.

As a result of all that, I have experience coaching kids all the way from beginner/youth level (6-8 years old) up through high school age and into college.

I grew up in Vermont and played baseball, mainly as a catcher, pitcher, and outfielder, all the way through high school and into college. In high school, I played on several Babe Ruth teams, an AAU team, and played American Legion. As a senior in high school, I was all-state for Champlain Valley Union High School and subsequently looked at several Division III baseball schools in the New England area. I settled on the University of Rochester where I played on the team for a short period.

My typical sessions depend on what skillset we are working on. A session that focuses on hitting will start with some soft-toss/tee work in order to refine hitting mechanics. I then move to short-cage work, where I pitch underhand from behind a screen to start working on those mechanics at a faster speed. Finally, I move to long-cage work where we start throwing the ball harder and the hitter begins to fine-tune the things we worked on at full speed.

For a pitching workout, I would start with a warm-up and some long toss. Then I would move to flat-ground work to hone the necessary mechanics. This could include having one foot up on a chair to work on balance and a lot of work with the legs. I would then move to flat-ground pitching and then to the mound. This could also include special work such as additional pitch development and work from the windup and stretch.

For a catching workout, it could include any number of things: blocking, receiving, throwing, basics, etc. There are a lot of things to work on with catching but a catching session would include practice receiving/framing pitches with the bare hand (using tennis balls) or a glove from a short distance away. This would also include blocking with either tennis balls and no gear or balls with gear in the dirt. I would also incorporate some catching-specific fitness drills designed to build up the leg strength necessary for strong catchers. Catching throwing drills are also a part of a lesson and would work on balance, footwork, arm slot, and quickness.

I also do infield/outfield work, which I think is mostly repetition on ground balls and fly balls to better hone the mechanics necessary to be a successful infielder or outfielder.