Ryan K.

I have been training and coaching baseball players for about 5 years now, on and off. I worked as an assistant pitching coach at Throwzone Academy under Jim Wagner. I have typically worked with all age groups. When it comes to older players, it will be more based on getting them to play at the next level, whether that is college or professional. When I work with younger kids, it is all about development and keeping them healthy. I am currently the Pitching Coach at Valencia High School and work with the varsity team. I do lessons there from time to time and lead my group of pitchers to become better athletes on and off the mound as well as better men. When the game is said and done, kids will look back and appreciate all the coaching they have recieved and how that shaped them into the person they are today. Along with all my experience of coaching, I have a ton of connections to the College Baseball world, whether that is the coaches at LMU, Oregon, LSU, SDSU, Arizona, Irvine, San Diego, and many more.

I played 5 years of Division 1 baseball at Arizona, the University of San Diego, and UC Irvine. During my 5 years, we made 4 regionals, and I started one of the regional games against Oregon State. I was named to the WCC All-Freshman Team, my first year at San Diego. I have over 150 innings in Division 1 Baseball, along with 30 innings of summer ball. I played under some of the best coaches in America, Jay Johnson and Nate Yeskie, who have combined 3 national championships, 2 of those coming in the last 3 years. I learned most of my baseball knowledge from them and continue to practice what they currently teach at LSU when I train and coach kids. I also played for Ben Orloff at UC Irvine, who is one of the top coaches in the country. Irvine has continued to impress and be one of the best mid-major baseball programs in Division 1. My greatest accomplishments consist of all the great coaching I received over the years and my ability to connect with those that I train.

Pitching lessons will include a lot of different things with an emphasis on velocity and arm health. As kids grow older, they want to throw harder and harder, but sometimes neglect their arm health and get hurt. I put a lot of emphasis on arm health and making sure that each kid understands the importance of staying healthy. In addition to these, I also focus on mechanical improvements, pitch ability, pitch design, and overall baseball knowledge. I will be taking and analyzing video of their mechanics and giving certain drills that demonstrate better movement patterns. All kids want to have nasty pitches and have a better understanding of when to throw them, and I do just that. Hundreds of pitch grips and other cues that I have learned from my playing years will be put to use. For the hitters that I will train, it will consist of hitting mechanics, hitting approach, and understanding the strike zone. When kids tend to hit today, they lack strikezone discipline and an approach. By teaching kids different approaches, they will be better at playing the game of baseball at a higher level. Lastly, understanding the strike zone is a very undervalued tool in today's game. If a kid has a better understanding of the zone, they will strike out less, walk more, and get more hits.