Gavin Birkhimer

The largest ROI in youth sports is finding the right coach. If he can teach, makes your kid want to come back to the yard, grows all the kids physically and emotionally, play. Being connected in the travel ball world is a nothing-burger.

Mike Trout's new(ish) swing step-back vs. Nolan Arenado's

Injuries made so many forget Mike Trout is one of the best baseball players to ever exist He’s reminding all of us… stay healthy king 🤴

One day somebody is going to put all these streaming services on one single platform for us. I think they should call it...cable.

Kendall Wells is absolutely on fire right now in the softball world. As a freshman for Oklahoma, she just broke the NCAA single-season freshman home run record with her 31st bomb — and there are still games left to play. Her initial stance looks pretty unique compared to what most players use. It stands out noticeably from the “standard” setup you see with a lot of youth and average-level athletes. So many young hitters think the secret to a powerful swing is copying an elite player’s starting stance — whether it’s open, closed, narrow, or wide. But here’s the truth: What really matters is how the athlete gets into a strong Launch Position. No matter how you start, your launch position is what sets up power and consistency. At launch (right when the front heel plants), focus on these 4 key points: ✅Hands up, front shoulder down ✅Bat at 90° to the spine ✅Weight back, hips coiled ✅Maintain the hip hinge (stay hinged) Here’s why each one is so important: Hands up, front shoulder down This creates upper-body connection. It keeps your hands loaded and ready while the lower half fires. It prevents casting (early barrel dump) and helps the swing stay direct to the ball. Bat at 90° to the spine This is your on-plane anchor. The bat should form roughly a 90° angle with the tilt of your spine. It locks the barrel into the right path so it stays in the zone longer and stays connected. Weight back, hips coiled This is the power-storage phase — your “rubber band” stretch. It creates separation between hips and shoulders and stores elastic energy so the hips can explode first for explosive rotation. Load into that back hip/glute without drifting forward. Maintain the hip hinge Don’t lose your athletic torso tilt as you stride. Staying hinged keeps your posture strong and on-plane. It gives you better adjustability to high or low pitches and prevents standing up (which kills power and leads to weak pop-ups or grounders). Elite hitters keep clear torso tilt at launch — never straight up and down. If your launch position checks these boxes, you can generate real power while staying consistent — no matter what your starting stance looks like.

Kendall Wells just broke the freshman HR record. 63% of her hits are home runs 🤯 The broadcast mentioned Motor Preferences — here’s what that actually means 👇 Motor Preferences = how your body naturally organizes movement. Some hitters are: – Terrestrial (more grounded, power from hips, prefer flexion) – Aerial (more rhythm, power from shoulders, prefer extension) Kendall organizes into her front side. Her front leg becomes her axis of rotation, staying slightly open and allowing her to rotate cleanly and keep her hands free out front. If she tried to rotate more around the back leg, her hands would get stuck behind her. That’s not a flaw. It's how she creates power. Different athletes need different solutions. #MPEFam

I’m all for emotion & excitement in the game of baseball, anyone that plays for me knows. But coaches mid air chest bumping players as they run around the bases is an absolute 🤡 show and sets a horrible example for players. And for players… there’s celebrating a HR w/ raw emotion and there’s straight up disrespecting your opponent. You do this in high level college baseball or MILB/MLB, you’re putting your entire lineup at risk to get thrown at or start a brawl. Real travel ball programs don’t allow this.

Middle infielders, we don’t want the runner at 2b to know we’re there. All that glove tapping and dirt kicking isn’t doing what you think it is. Be light on your feet and be quiet.

College baseball is chalked full of high school superstars who end up disappearing. It’s also chalked full of kids who didn’t have any hype in high school whatsoever who are the best players on teams. You may think that your son is a no-brainer to succeed in college, but I would advise you to be weary of those types of thoughts. College baseball is a completely different monster. No level of high school or travel ball can prepare you for the level of competition you’ll face when you get there. Enjoy the ride you’re on now. You never know if it’s the last one worth being on.

Is the new meta going to be catchers framing super poorly so that hitters challenge clear strikes

Avoid NCSA, Field Level or any profile based recruiting service out there. Twitter is your profile, it’s free ✅

Lightning McQueen meets Mater as an adult after going to Radiator Springs Boycott this show

A kid who’s always been told yes and that they’re daddy’s special boy who does no wrong will always lack toughness, eventually. Likely in the moment they need it the most. No amount of running or motivational speeches will allow you to out-coach soft parenting.

Whenever someone asks you which athletes have the best hand-eye coordination, show them this clip: Insane stuff from X

Bat tracking -- Mike Trout's 2 HR game Same bat speed for both HR: 77.3 mph 21° swing tilt for the HR at the top of the zone (flat swing) 37° swing tilt for the HR at the bottom of the zone (steep swing)

Watching Mike Trout and Aaron Judge go band for band is amazing sports

So Mike trout is constantly working and changing his swing 🤔. So comparing his one swing from 2008 and trying to make every hitter in a facility swing exactly like that would be foolish

“Why’d he swing at that?!?!?” Well Johnny it’s because for 45 feet it looked like it was going to be 95 right down the middle and then at the last second it yeets toward his back foot. This isn’t your JV slider you saw in 9th grade lol

There are many ways to throw 90, but there are progressively less and less ways to organize the body to throw 100 mph. That being said, once you do throw 100, there are progressively more and more acceptable celebrations. Throw 100 and you can (almost) do whatever you want.