Thanks Coach Folmar

[dave]

Just wanted to pass this along to the rest of you to show my appreciation to Coach Folmar and the kind of guy he is. I am speaking to a group of men next week about worshipping God through trials and pain. We all go through stretches in life that are especially difficult, even though they are not of our own making. Some last for a short while and sometimes they go on for long periods of time. I am going to compare those times when hitters experience a slump. I wanted to get a coache's perspective on how they help their players overcome a slump. So, I called Coach Folmar and left him a message with my request, fully expecting that he is probably crazy busy getting ready for the beginning of the season. Much to my surprise, he called me back. I wasn't in my office, so he left me a message and gave me his personal cell number. I called it and he answered it on the field, IN THE MIDDLE OF PRACTICE. I apologized for interrupting his practice and he assured me it was fine and kindly asked me how he could help. I told him what I needed and he responded very quickly, off the cuff, with four topics he and his coaches address when a player is going through a slump. Here is what he told me they want their players to focus on when going through a tough time in the batter's box, in the field or on the mound.

 Trust – in their preparation, in their ability, their decision making, their teammates, their coaches. 

Routine – establish and stay in a regular daily routine (warm-ups, drills, pre-pitch routine at the plate, when they get up, when they go to bed, when and what they eat)

Work – do the drills, don’t give up, continue to put in the effort, fundamentals, look at video (especially video that had good results) 

Control Emotions – don’t allow yourself to get too down, remember lack of success is not always failure, stay engaged, contribute in other ways, encourage others.

Not a word about mechanics. Now, I am sure they adjust mechanics as they go along. But these were the first things that came to mind. We talked a little about how easy it is to connect this approach to their spiritual life as well. I continue to be amazed and thankful for the coaches that ORU has guiding our student athletes. Coach Folmar mentioned how blessed they (coaches) are to work at a place like ORU and how unique it is to be able to incorporate their faith into their coaching methods. We always need to remember how special of a place ORU is.  May God continue to bless them with success in every sense of the word as they serve Him by serving others.

 

[Texasgrip]

That's outstanding, Dave. Thank you for sharing!

[dave]

Was listening to the Baseball Coach’s show from yesterday. I find it somewhat ironic that they have the show at the Golden Sombrero, considering that if a player strikes out four times in a game he is said to have "earned" the Golden Sombrero. I don't believe in karma, but if I did, I would not have picked that establishment for the Ryan Folmar coach's show.