June 16, 2025 • 33 mins
Pitchstock is more than an event, it’s a movement shaping the future of softball pitching. In this episode, Krista Stoker, Ashley Sunshine, and Laura McDonald take you behind the scenes to explore how it started, what makes it different, and why every coach should be paying attention.
Get a glimpse of the collaborative, action-driven energy that makes Pitchstock a can't-miss opportunity for softball coaches and leaders.
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#softballpitching #pitchstock #softballcoaching #ogxpodcast
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
All right, we're back for another episode and last week we
got to replay if anyone got to listen to it again, the Velocity
one. I was waiting, Ashley, for the
old clip to go viral again, but I don't think it has yet of the
11 year olds conversation. But we are going to today talk a
little bit about pitch talk. We are in June now and sort of
(00:27):
gearing up. Obviously we've been ramping a
bunch of summer athletes and we're doing a bunch of summer
training, but this is also kind of our like last runway into our
pitch stock event. And so just wanted to talk a
little bit of overview of what pitch stock is kind of the
journey of pitch stock over the past few years as we built it.
And then probably not every detail of what the speakers are
(00:50):
going to be talking about, but some of The Who the speakers are
and, and topics that we either know that we're going to hit on
or that will probably be some version of conversations we'll
have. So I will let you take it first,
Ashley, since you are the main pitching person of maybe just
pitch talk in general, the vibe kind of how we got to where it
is today, some of the back storyof it.
(01:13):
Sure. I think we've joked about it a
couple times in some episodes oflike we had no business starting
pitch talk in 2019, but we did anyway.
But. You know, that's pretty much for
some of many of our things. For sure.
Well, if you wait until you're ready for something to actually
do it, then it's probably too late.
I mean, there's a reality in life.
So, but I think that, you know, there was this like real feeling
(01:38):
in 2019 that like as we were starting to collect data at that
point, this wasn't just like we let's let's put on a conference
because we think we like know more than everyone or we have
most experience. We were already in the data
world. We were collecting information.
We were starting to, you know, we were in the infancy of it,
obviously, but starting to understand this concept of like
(02:01):
ball flight and its connectivityto patterns instead of just like
thinking every pitcher can throwevery pitch.
We were getting this stuff. And obviously the extent of the
information we had back then doesn't match, you know, it's,
it's so far from what we know now.
But we had this feeling of like,wait, we've got stuff we want to
share. We're like seeing stuff that I
think is different. And I think that's kind of just
(02:25):
been at like the core of pitch shock, right?
Is this like real energy around,wait a second, we're like, maybe
not cracking the code as if it'ssome like problem to solve, but
seeing things in a way that are like, whoa, that's not how we've
seen it in the past. That's not actually how we've
always done it. And this needs to be something
(02:46):
we bring up. I mean, at the heart of what OGX
is pitching or not is letting data show you that.
Like, maybe we're not seeing that the same way.
And we still do that now, right?We still let the information
tell us, like, I think we could be exploring more.
I think we're missing something.I think there's something else
to explore here. And we had that back in 2019.
(03:10):
And so we can joke all we want about like, who the hell did we
think we were about putting on aconference and like thinking
that people would come to a conference.
But they did, you know, I mean, there were enough people, even
if mostly it was local and it started.
It's an energy around like be willing to understand that
there's a lot you don't know, bewith no matter how many years
(03:32):
you've been in the game. And I just think traditionally,
you know, there's a difference between respecting the people
that have laid the foundation for the game.
That's a that's a just a constant, right?
Understanding all of the minds and all of the women that have
sort of like laid this frameworkfor us for our game to be where
it is now. But also recognizing that just
(03:54):
because that's the role that women like that have played in
the game, coaches, not just women, but coaches, that doesn't
mean that that's who we should still consistently put up on the
stage and listen to. And so, you know, I think we
like take a lot of pride. Like we started pitch stock off
(04:16):
when we were nobodies. And in my heart, we're still
nobodies, and I like that. Always think.
Yeah, I refuse to ever not feel like, I don't mean like a
nobody, but I guess I mean like,yeah, that's like underdog this
just like, why are you up on that stage?
That to me is like an identity piece.
And I think it's important because I think part of what OGX
(04:38):
is like you cannot just take thecoaches who were the best, you
know, X number of decades ago, the players who were the best
the past 10 years and just keep putting them on the stage.
And I don't mean that there's not things to learn from coaches
and athletes. Of course there are things to
learn from them. But what pitch stock is about is
(04:58):
about how the most up and cominginformation can be used
practically and applied into thegame to bring the game forward.
So how the most up to date information with data and with
tech is allowing us to grow it. And typically that is not being
shared by those same panelists that you're going to see like at
(05:19):
NFCA, right? And so I just think the root of
of pitch stock from 2019 is the same.
And I know that we are obviouslybeing seen more and more across
the national stage as being likepeople with information.
But I still take a lot of pride in this, like we're not the
people that you that have been up on that stage for X amount of
decades. We just pride ourselves in like
(05:40):
digging for the information ourselves, being willing.
There's no ego here because we never come from anything.
You know, we don't, we don't have this like legacy we have to
hold as if, you know, we it's we're afraid to challenge
something we've always done. That's what's allowed us to
catapult to the level of knowledge we have now.
And that's what I think we have a lot of pride and not only
(06:01):
being up on that stage giving talks.
That's for me. When I design A talk, I think
like that's where I want it to come from.
What is something that's challenged me this year, right?
What is something that's new to me this year?
And how do I really make sure because that I can, I can, you
know, give that to the whoever is listening.
And it can be, it can hit peoplewho are further along on their
(06:23):
journey in in coach development and those that are not.
But I think because that's the the heart of what OGX is.
That's the heart of why we deserve and belong in a room of
pitching minds, like leading a conference, like pitch stock.
Now, now. That.
We are in the business of running something like pitch
(06:43):
talk. You know, now we're kind.
Of the business to do that. I was going to say, I think
it's, it's not just, it's obviously about new information.
That was the heart of where it started was this idea of we're
going to conferences and I thinka lot of it was just one, some
of this information wasn't available.
(07:05):
You know, there wasn't a great way to get new information for a
long time. You know, there wasn't data,
there wasn't technology to measure it.
And also most of the conferenceson any topic and then, but on
pitching were run by people who from a competitive advantage
were not in there was not a goodincentive to really if they did
(07:28):
have a level of new information or something that gave them an
edge. The platforms that were being
put on. There was not an incentive to
share that information. Because now I'm sitting in a
room filled with my competitors and I what I want to share that
I've seen slight scope data for the very first time and I see
(07:48):
that this thing is true. Like there's just not there
wasn't an incentive to do that. So I think the other thing for
us and where it really started and, and the first pitch talk in
2019, this was definitely the case where it was almost all
private speakers and people who really didn't have any incentive
to withhold information and, and, you know, wanted to share
(08:11):
that information. And we've evolved a bit where it
is, you know, both private speakers, we have ourselves, we
had Uno in the past, we've had, you know, other people in sort
of the private sector space. And we've added sort of back in
college coaches with the understanding that we pick
(08:31):
topics or, or help them craft the topic if they feel
comfortable really sharing information on.
And so I think the other very big difference about pitch talk
is there's a a real sense of sharing of sort of not
withholding information that comes across in the
presentations. But it also comes across in that
environment, the questions people are willing to ask, the
(08:53):
conversation that the coaches are willing to have with each
other. It's a very like collaborative
experience. And I think that it's kind of
surprises me. I don't know, surprises the
right word, but takes me back every year because it is very
different. You know, it's a room of people
who are a room of people in the virtual room of people who are
trying to grow the pitching space together, who are willing
(09:14):
to be vulnerable about things they might not know and ask
questions about things they might not know.
And that makes it very unique. And it's something that we're
very careful about how we craft it to make sure that that stays
true. We speak a decent amount.
And that, and that's part of thereason is because we are really
able to share data, you know, research that we've done things
(09:38):
that are going to push the game forward and we don't have an
incentive to withhold that so wecan give it to everyone who's in
the room. And I think that is another
thing that makes it really different.
It's not always, you know, sometimes I don't know if like
last year we talked about Marissa Young's presentation.
I don't know if charting is new necessarily, but that her
willingness to share such an in depth way that she charts her
(10:01):
pictures and looks at things andhow she runs it, that's
different. And I think the conference just
breeds that level of sharing. And that's the really exciting
part to me is that you can collect all the data you want in
the world. And Laura, you obviously know
this from the academic side. Like you can do all the research
you want in the world, but if itstays in this bubble that no one
either wants to share or it's not shared in an applicable way,
(10:24):
then it doesn't do anything. And so that's really, you know,
one of the big things that we push for that I think.
Is really exciting. I'll tell you another thing that
I think I'm going to lift us up here for another moment that I
always say is our superpower, and it's really true, is our
ability to really, I guess it starts with a vulnerability to
(10:45):
be able to like dive into information knowing that like,
OK, this could really, I might not even understand this at
first. I might have to like sit on
this. I know for me personally,
sometimes I can just feel it in my gut that this is something
that's important, but I don't quite get it yet.
So I just like sit in the information with the information
just coming my way until I'm like, that is what you know,
like that's why it's important for us to know this.
(11:06):
But we know how to take really complicated information and
really humanize it and make it applicable.
So the reason why we put ourselves up on that stage so
much, it's not just this like self promotion, like from a
business standpoint. Also because people always,
every year, the survey is like more Ashley while they're off
there. Yeah, right.
(11:27):
And so, but I think the reason they say that is because we have
this incredible superpower and it really is this superpower to
take complicated concepts. I mean, this is, it's not an
episode to like bash other people, but the reality is there
were some other like panels and things that went on around NFCA
about, you know, other pitching related topics.
(11:48):
And across the board people werelike, are you there?
I'm like, no, I'm setting up a booth and hammering something
into the ground for, you know, like God knows what in the
exhibit hall. But they were like, we couldn't,
we're coaches, we couldn't take that information and like do
something with it in a bullpen. And that it's frustrating.
And I don't fault the people whotalk about stuff like that.
(12:09):
It is difficult to take really complex concepts to take
something like bio mechanics to understand, you know, like it's
something that's not just in game analytics, you know,
something that's like clearly when you see this information do
X enough, that's easy to understand, but there's clearly
a more of a direct, you know, connection into how to make this
applicable. That's not always the case when
you're talking about data and science, bio mechanics,
(12:31):
etcetera, etcetera. And we are incredible at that.
And so I think it's really important we take this
information. We're not up there.
Like listen to how smart we are.No one cares.
No one cares how smart you are if they don't know what the hell
you're talking about or if they don't know what the hell to do
with it. Does that help me?
Can I leave here and come up with like 3 things, five things,
(12:54):
10 things to literally do differently because of that?
If the answer is no, I don't care how smart you are.
And that's the truth. I feel that way about people all
the time, like make it help me. And so I think we really get
that and that's why we're up there.
And I think that's really, really important.
I also think like, I don't know,I just think our superpower also
(13:17):
and something that I love about our team so much is just like we
really are built off of authenticity.
Like we are not going to have some portrayal of or some masked
version of who we are as a business like on X or in some
promotion. It is a really like a what you
see is what you get. And I, I do think people feel
(13:39):
that. And I know that there's like
other pitching conferences, there's other pitching like, you
know, people, there's other likeentities.
And I think of like, I don't know, I just always think like
the best way for us, you know, Iknow there's always competition,
there's always other training facilities, there's always this.
But I just think that, like, at the end of the day, what I feel
(13:59):
most proud of and why I know like will be in existence
forever is because we are like so pure through through our
product is the most quality, I mean the highest level of
quality that you could possibly ask for.
And so I think like, man, I justfeel so confident in what we say
(14:20):
up there that there is no like, oh, we're trying to gimmick
this. We're not trying to like, yes,
we're a private entity, but we're not trying to like sell
you on X and tie it in a bow andmake you think it's awesome.
It's just that's so opposite of who we are and what we do with
the core of our business is to like find the freaking
information that matters, challenge ourselves, let it
(14:41):
challenge the community because of it.
There's just such a level of purity and authenticity to it
that again, I'm not, I'm not only like so proud of, but like
that's why it holds. That's why it sticks.
That's why people want to listento it.
And that's what want makes people want to share as well.
That's what like sits at the core of the conference and why
people are like, I want that. It's just very human.
It's really not competitive. It's not a like we're better
(15:04):
than this person, even though weare, even though we are the core
of it is not up there at the table.
Just like, let us tell you why we're better than this and why
we're better than that. It's not like that.
It is really just super raw and vulnerable and like very human,
super trusting a lot, really authentic.
And I think why I'm Marissa Young, you know, we were so, you
(15:27):
know, like felt really grateful for her to get up there and to
share what someone might feel like.
Are there like secrets to winning, how they do things,
what their systems are, the X's and O's.
It's just because she was like, well, that's what you do here,
right? It's what you do here.
Like, you're damn right it is, Marissa.
You're damn right it is. What you said Ash, about like,
you know, being sort of it's notcompetitive, like, yes, we are a
private business and yes, obviously, you know, making
(15:49):
money is the goal. But I think the the the reason
pitch talk is so unique is that,you know, the the social media
world, the influencers, they really in order to make a
product in that way, as a influencer, as a, you know, an
instructor who markets themselves significantly through
social media is, you know, therethere is sometimes a little bit
(16:13):
of not understanding yourself that that you kind of fall prey
to right from that influencer concept.
And that's not how we operate with pitched on the whole point
is to educate coaches of all levels.
Yes, you know, we do, you know, prioritize kind of that college
level, higher level of the game.But it is meant meant for
everyone to have the opportunityto build knowledge, not just be
(16:36):
told what to do. And you know, this is the best
way and the only way, but to generate more questions.
I just think that's the my most favorite part of pitch stock is,
you know, the, the conversationsthat I might have with, you
know, a coach I haven't met before or a coach I've known for
years. And they're just like what you
mentioned this and what do you think about this?
(16:56):
And it just starts to generate new questions.
And the generation of new questions is how we evolve as a
sport, right? And I, I just think the non
competitiveness, you, you know, it doesn't matter what level,
what stage, whatever, you know, the whole point is like we are
all there to share our knowledgeand you know, we're taking a
very authentic approach to that and, and not trying to prey on
(17:19):
people's lack of knowledge, right.
The goal is to bring everyone tothe table so that everyone can
can feel like you take away something like you said, those
top three things that I can takeaway as a coach immediately and
that maybe generate some questions in the long term that
help my future evolution as a coach.
And I think that's what I was getting at when I started this
podcast is like, man, the the level of respect for the, for
(17:40):
the coaches and women who have like literally paved the way for
this game is incredible. But there is this tradition.
Traditionally, what you can expect when you go to a
conference is like, here are thealmighty people and then here
are the lonely people in the audience, right?
And that's just. You just described the academic
conferences to a team. I would rather spend my time
(18:03):
doing anything else because I just really think like even like
a, a fundamental value for me. And that's what I mean, I don't
care how much, you know, if it comes across as if like this
elitist world to me, I, I just got it.
It's just like a shutdown, you know, because I think like to me
like a a core value of of mine personally, I know for Krista
(18:23):
and certainly then obviously forOGX as a whole, as a business
is, you know, is this to us, everyone belongs in a room with
everyone, right? There is not this world where
like I know more than you. So like you don't know X or
like, oh, you can't do Y. Let me show you what I know.
(18:44):
I hate that. I hate that.
You know, I think about years ago when we, we did something
with the alliance, it was aroundpitch stock.
Two years ago we did like like there are stars of tomorrow
event and they have us like comeout to some of their camps and
like run some data, whatever. And the next thing we know, like
I'm holding collecting data off their pictures.
(19:05):
We were going to give some of their pictures reports.
I can't remember the details, but the next thing I know there
was a couple of like coaches from other divisions and mid
tier D ones. This was a couple years ago.
So those coaches like didn't have rap Soto, didn't really
know what rap Soto was. And Tricia came out there.
Tricia Ford came out there to meet us and next thing I know,
like she was holding the rap Soto with all of these coaches
(19:25):
around about her and she was talking to them about like, OK,
this is what I usually look for.She was just showing them like,
OK, let me tell you like, OK, ifthe I was in the bull pen, this
was my picture right now. Here's what I'd be looking for.
Here's what it means to me. Here's what I might do.
And you're just literally sharing as if this was like her
Georgia or assistant coach in the bullpen with her right.
And I never like kind of taking a step back and watching that
(19:46):
circle happen. And I remember just feeling like
really happy inside because I thought to myself, this isn't
some someone on some elevated stage and platform and make
everyone feel intimidated by what they don't know.
This is legitimately like every one of those people felt
confident, as if like, you're mypeer in this moment, can you
teach me? And I was like, that's a pitch
stop concept right there. And so I think, yeah, this idea
(20:10):
of like, power and energy, we used to say a lot.
It's about it's about coaches who are early in their journey
with this real excitement for wanting to know that is true.
But it's met by this core energyof no one is above anyone else.
I don't care. You've been in the game for two
years, one year, but you've really stumbled upon something
(20:30):
interesting that's going to makeus have to think about it.
Or if you've been someone that'spaving the way the whole time.
We all belong in the room together and no one's, you know,
above anyone else. And that is there's so much
power in that. There is so much power in that.
And so I think that's what liftsthe game.
And 1st in that moment, I think everyone falls into that.
(20:52):
You know, I think people who arenormally competing against each
other all year long, who would never maybe sit at a table and
talk about XYZ, they are. And in those two days, it's
really, really important, I think for just like the growth
of pitching as a whole for us tobe able to do that.
Yeah. I was going to get into a little
bit. We obviously don't have every
(21:12):
specific topic yet and so that information will keep coming
out, but maybe just some of the speakers and some of the topics
we know we're doing. So Laura, if you want to start
first with what you are speakingon, I think this is a big one.
Obviously, injury is a common conversation unfortunately at
Pit Stock and pain and returningfrom pain.
So I'm going to chat a little bit about kind of what you'll be
(21:35):
presenting on at Pit Stock. Yeah.
So we've been working on preparing our return to pitching
protocol, which has been in place now for probably a year
plus at this point, at least where we have this a standard
protocol that we use, whether a pitcher has taken time off,
whether she's returning from injury.
We've had a previous podcast kind of talking about the gap
that exists between the medical community to no fault of their
(21:57):
own, but an understanding of pitching and what the
requirements are, especially post injury and especially post
surgery, particularly in that transition, you know, out of
physical therapy back to the circle, and how big that gap can
be for certain pitchers depending on the care that they
receive after they're injured after surgery.
And so I'm excited to share thisreturn to pitching protocol.
(22:18):
We have been obviously using this for a long time, but
working on the publication's part of it in terms of getting
it out of the scientific community.
But sharing this with the pitching community, it is not
something that we've ever reallykept a secret.
We just always felt that it it, it, it, we should have some
scientific validity, not that itnecessarily needs it because it
(22:39):
is rooted in very core principles of human performance
of, you know, dose response and stress.
And it's very thoughtful in thatway.
But, you know, we wanted to makesure that the scientific
community that that that gets tothat level of, you know, sort of
St. cred, so to speak. And, and we're doing that, but
we don't want to prevent that from being shared and being able
(23:00):
to be actionable and usable fromcoaches.
I think even the timing of pitchstock in early August and
knowing that a lot of teams are coming back obviously in the
fall, that, you know, if if you didn't do the summer program or
you didn't have a program over the summer that helped you to
feel ready for the fall, This protocol, even though it can be
based in injury, can also help that with your staff.
And so I, I really, I'm looking forward to be able to share
(23:23):
something so actionable, so immediately impactful and to
talk about, you know, our development of it.
Obviously, actually this came, you know, partially from your
brain as well of, you know, how it gets applied, the
thoughtfulness of it when we useit, the scenarios in which we
use it. And I'm excited to talk about
that. And the other side that I'm
excited to talk about is our HQ updates as we bring, you know,
(23:43):
sort of the next iterations of HQ, putting those in front of
our college coaches primarily. And I'm really excited about
because I think from a college standpoint, you know, it's no
pun intended, but it's a game changer in terms of management
of the data that you have or, you know, may want to invest in
because now you have a platform in order to make some use of it.
So I'm looking forward just to giving that as an update, but
(24:04):
also really talking about the return to pitching stuff.
I think it's such a critical conversation.
And I just, I hope coaches walk away and go back to their sports
medicine staff and their strength coaches and start
asking some questions of how they can integrate it even just
from, you know, returning from a, a winter break.
But it's it's going to be a veryactionable conversation.
(24:26):
Yeah, we also have our strength coach talking.
I got to hear a dry run. We are, as we said, we take our
storytelling very serious. So yeah, she's.
Already got a presentation prepared?
Good Lord, good for you, James. Yeah, yeah.
So he's working on making sure that it's super actionable for
the coaches, but it's on sort ofsome key trends that we have
seen in our movement, quality measurements for pitchers and
(24:48):
ways to communicate with your strength coach about sort of
trends that you might be seeing,how it's going to impact
pitching and why it matters. It's a great talk.
It has videos of exercises in it, which we all love, things
that you can kind of take right back to your strength coach.
So I think that one will be verywell received.
(25:09):
We really tried to make sure that the talks kind of bridge a
lot of different pitcher buckets.
So when we're talking about dataor we're talking about injury or
we're talking about strength andconditioning, but really making
sure that we're taking a holistic approach to pitcher
management. We got Tricia Ford to actually
speak this year. We usually only get her on the
panel, but I believe they're into speaking because that's
(25:29):
also feedback that we get often as people want to hear Tricia
speak more. I think Tricia and Ashley have a
lot of overlap in which we will probably.
I know what her presentation is on August 1st maybe so just
she'll surprise you as well Ashley, I'm sure.
To be fair, I know my categories.
I will take something from the bucket of the new bio mechanics
data that we have and something really applicable and then one
(25:52):
that's very in game database. They're like ball flight data in
game data relevant and I have some I have a few ideas in each
category swirling. But you know, until my insides
blow up like a volcano, I won't know that that's right.
And so the external timing of itno deadline for me, the deadline
is when my insides. Easily give you a topic like a
(26:13):
title and just so everyone knows, it's.
General, and it may be right, very general.
But the three days before that, that's when my insides will go
off. Like this is the topic.
This is what everyone needs to know.
Next year, we're just going to tell you it's a week.
Next year we're going to just tell you it's a week earlier, so
that your urgency case in a weekearlier.
(26:33):
Trigger we have. We have Ashley Chesting and Zach
Parson speaking from South Carolina together.
I think that will be a great one.
It's more and more common that there's sort of the head coach
that does do pitching but has sort of another coach on staff
that helps with pitching. So talking through some version
of their dynamic. I don't know exactly what the
(26:54):
topic will be, but that one willbe good.
We have Chelsea Cohen from Louisiana Tech.
I think another thing that is important for us is that and,
and some feedback we get is obviously when you're talking
about texting them in South Carolina, the level of resources
they have is really high. The fact that two coaches are on
stage that both do pitching, it's sort of like represents
(27:14):
that. And so making sure that we're
having people speaking from different levels who are have
been able to implement player development in different ways.
It's really important. We have booze speaking.
I'm excited for hers because I think she's been kind of on her
own player development journey. And so I think this goes back to
the thing that like everyone, even if you've been in the game
a long time, you know, you can and have so much success and
(27:38):
things to kind of go back for, of like having to learn this new
level of data and, and going back to that.
And so I'm really excited for that.
And then obviously our presentations, I'm sure we'll
throw some panels and things in there and some different things
that we'll keep getting announced over the next few
months, but it covers the the breath and that's what is
important for us. I think one year we had like
(28:01):
Cindy Bristow and, and Trisha onthe panel.
And you know, Cindy was like, wehave one strange coach for our
whole athletic department. And Trisha was like, I have no
budget, basically I can deliver.I want, you know, like there's
just the level and that is important and, and being able
and the, you know, I think the vulnerability and the openness
and all. Sure, we take Q&A and it's, and
(28:22):
these conversations of like, I hear what you're saying and also
what would be a version of this?And, you know, people ask those
questions in the room and then someone and the audience often
answers is like, this is this iswhat I did and this is how I
managed it. You know, this is how I took my
level of resources and did that.And I think that's what we're
kind of talking about with the collaboration, making sure that
(28:43):
it's actionable at lots of different levels and lots of
different ways. And I think, you know, last year
we had our whole staff there. And Kaylee are one of our
hitting coaches. She was like taking notes, you
know, Because that's the other thing is like, you know, these
are all the pitching people. So if you're the hitting people,
you might want to figure out what's going on over here so you
can prep for it. But there's really room for
(29:04):
everyone to learn. So I'm excited for it.
I always love it. I get excited for it.
I'm like, oh, another pitching talk for me, the hitting coach.
But it is really fun to be at and.
My cycle every year is the like 3-4 weeks leading up to him.
Like this is a terrible idea, It's too much.
We're all stressed. We're not event planners.
What are we even doing? And then I'm like, never again.
We're never doing this again. Every year for like 3 straight
(29:26):
weeks. And then the day of, I'm like,
this is the best, this is the best 2 days of the whole year.
And we sit in. Reflector like this was the best
thing we ever did. Why don't we do this every?
Week, we're going to do it again.
Right. And then the month leading up to
it, I'm like, I'm so pissed at us.
This literally, it's so hard. We have so much on our plate.
Why are we running an entire event?
(29:47):
Yes, like I'm stressed as hell. Yeah.
Then you want to know why the presentation gets done that
morning, you know, like, oh man.But no, it really is each year
it's just it's really, really great.
And there's a big virtual component to it.
Like we we know that in the postCOVID world and with budgets
where they are like people want the information, but they can't
always attend in person. So we do have a lot of people
(30:09):
that attend virtually and they get the video of it, they get to
watch and that's great. And then we cap like who can
come in person? You know, it's like this really
a smaller group that comes in person, but man, if you're able
to come in person, it's so good because there's just so many
side conversations. We're literally all at the same
place, the same hotel. It's not this conference of like
3000 people. So you were just like in this
(30:31):
sea of people you maybe don't know, like if you're in there in
person, we are all at the table talking, you know, and that's
really, really cool. So I think if you can and, and
come in person, it really has another layer to it.
But you know, there are times I get it.
Why some people just. Well, in the virtual one we've
taken, we've done a lot of work to make sure the virtual 1.
(30:52):
So most of the attendees who join virtually join live, you
know, via Zoom and they sit on there the whole time.
And, and we, the speakers, the camera follows the speaker, you
get the slides presented as they're going through it.
There's room for Q&A. So we'll, I, I am usually the
one who sits at the computer. And so if you have questions
(31:13):
come up, just as anyone in the room also gets the opportunity
to ask, we'll raise those questions for the speaker.
So it's a very if you wanted to and you're available in those
days, even if you can't make thetravel, you are able to to
watch. And then everyone gets the
recordings if that's how you have to do it.
And then, yeah, the room is typically closer to 60 people.
Yeah, that we kind of cap it at.And, you know, we eat lunch,
(31:35):
There's lunch served and there'sbreakfast served.
And so it's just basically like,we sit in this room for a day
and a half and we just talk bitching and everyone gets the
opportunity. Great.
No wonder why we leave there. Like like a like a retreat, like
a spiritual retreat. No wonder it's a 60 people in a
room eating all meals together, talking, pitching.
(31:56):
I'm like, remind me that that's what it is.
In the three weeks where I'm panicking that this was a
terrible idea. It's a stress special logistics.
Yeah. Even though Krista does 90% of
them, the 10 that I might be responsible for, I'm panicked
about leading into it. Yeah.
Well, that's like last year, Paul was like, I think we could
just get all the slides ahead oftime.
And I was like, Nope, stop. No, it's.
(32:16):
Not going to happen. No Paul Ashley is giving any
talk. It's also just coaches like,
yes, you and also coaches are sure you know as they're trying
to recruit. They're not like the weeks
before Paul. That was an excellent in the
audience. Listen, you guys know I do a lot
of work on the things about myself that I do not like.
I would do a lot of work to improve those things.
But there are simply some thingsthat other people don't like
(32:37):
that I do, and that's one of them.
And that's not changing. There you go.
And on that, though, come to Pitch Talk.
We hope we see you there either in person or virtually.
It's a great event. We'll be announcing more
specifically what the topics areas we go along here in the
summer. And yeah, I just think it's,
(33:00):
it's worth it. It's so it's fun, like we said,
I mean, it's also fun. And there's just a ton of
information to learn and it's always different topics and it's
always something that's going tokind of spark you.
You know, the reason we talk in game data, it's it's going to
keep being new every year. It's more information.
You learn something new. And yeah, I think hopefully
(33:23):
everyone can be there. So until August, we'll see you
then virtually are in person and.
All right, we're back for another episode and last week we
got to replay if anyone got to listen to it again, the Velocity
one. I was waiting, Ashley, for the
old clip to go viral again, but I don't think it has yet of the
11 year olds conversation. But we are going to today talk a
little bit about pitch talk. We are in June now and sort of
(00:27):
gearing up. Obviously we've been ramping a
bunch of summer athletes and we're doing a bunch of summer
training, but this is also kind of our like last runway into our
pitch stock event. And so just wanted to talk a
little bit of overview of what pitch stock is kind of the
journey of pitch stock over the past few years as we built it.
And then probably not every detail of what the speakers are
(00:50):
going to be talking about, but some of The Who the speakers are
and, and topics that we either know that we're going to hit on
or that will probably be some version of conversations we'll
have. So I will let you take it first,
Ashley, since you are the main pitching person of maybe just
pitch talk in general, the vibe kind of how we got to where it
is today, some of the back storyof it.
(01:13):
Sure. I think we've joked about it a
couple times in some episodes oflike we had no business starting
pitch talk in 2019, but we did anyway.
But. You know, that's pretty much for
some of many of our things. For sure.
Well, if you wait until you're ready for something to actually
do it, then it's probably too late.
I mean, there's a reality in life.
So, but I think that, you know, there was this like real feeling
(01:38):
in 2019 that like as we were starting to collect data at that
point, this wasn't just like we let's let's put on a conference
because we think we like know more than everyone or we have
most experience. We were already in the data
world. We were collecting information.
We were starting to, you know, we were in the infancy of it,
obviously, but starting to understand this concept of like
(02:01):
ball flight and its connectivityto patterns instead of just like
thinking every pitcher can throwevery pitch.
We were getting this stuff. And obviously the extent of the
information we had back then doesn't match, you know, it's,
it's so far from what we know now.
But we had this feeling of like,wait, we've got stuff we want to
share. We're like seeing stuff that I
think is different. And I think that's kind of just
(02:25):
been at like the core of pitch shock, right?
Is this like real energy around,wait a second, we're like, maybe
not cracking the code as if it'ssome like problem to solve, but
seeing things in a way that are like, whoa, that's not how we've
seen it in the past. That's not actually how we've
always done it. And this needs to be something
(02:46):
we bring up. I mean, at the heart of what OGX
is pitching or not is letting data show you that.
Like, maybe we're not seeing that the same way.
And we still do that now, right?We still let the information
tell us, like, I think we could be exploring more.
I think we're missing something.I think there's something else
to explore here. And we had that back in 2019.
(03:10):
And so we can joke all we want about like, who the hell did we
think we were about putting on aconference and like thinking
that people would come to a conference.
But they did, you know, I mean, there were enough people, even
if mostly it was local and it started.
It's an energy around like be willing to understand that
there's a lot you don't know, bewith no matter how many years
(03:32):
you've been in the game. And I just think traditionally,
you know, there's a difference between respecting the people
that have laid the foundation for the game.
That's a that's a just a constant, right?
Understanding all of the minds and all of the women that have
sort of like laid this frameworkfor us for our game to be where
it is now. But also recognizing that just
(03:54):
because that's the role that women like that have played in
the game, coaches, not just women, but coaches, that doesn't
mean that that's who we should still consistently put up on the
stage and listen to. And so, you know, I think we
like take a lot of pride. Like we started pitch stock off
(04:16):
when we were nobodies. And in my heart, we're still
nobodies, and I like that. Always think.
Yeah, I refuse to ever not feel like, I don't mean like a
nobody, but I guess I mean like,yeah, that's like underdog this
just like, why are you up on that stage?
That to me is like an identity piece.
And I think it's important because I think part of what OGX
(04:38):
is like you cannot just take thecoaches who were the best, you
know, X number of decades ago, the players who were the best
the past 10 years and just keep putting them on the stage.
And I don't mean that there's not things to learn from coaches
and athletes. Of course there are things to
learn from them. But what pitch stock is about is
(04:58):
about how the most up and cominginformation can be used
practically and applied into thegame to bring the game forward.
So how the most up to date information with data and with
tech is allowing us to grow it. And typically that is not being
shared by those same panelists that you're going to see like at
(05:19):
NFCA, right? And so I just think the root of
of pitch stock from 2019 is the same.
And I know that we are obviouslybeing seen more and more across
the national stage as being likepeople with information.
But I still take a lot of pride in this, like we're not the
people that you that have been up on that stage for X amount of
decades. We just pride ourselves in like
(05:40):
digging for the information ourselves, being willing.
There's no ego here because we never come from anything.
You know, we don't, we don't have this like legacy we have to
hold as if, you know, we it's we're afraid to challenge
something we've always done. That's what's allowed us to
catapult to the level of knowledge we have now.
And that's what I think we have a lot of pride and not only
(06:01):
being up on that stage giving talks.
That's for me. When I design A talk, I think
like that's where I want it to come from.
What is something that's challenged me this year, right?
What is something that's new to me this year?
And how do I really make sure because that I can, I can, you
know, give that to the whoever is listening.
And it can be, it can hit peoplewho are further along on their
(06:23):
journey in in coach development and those that are not.
But I think because that's the the heart of what OGX is.
That's the heart of why we deserve and belong in a room of
pitching minds, like leading a conference, like pitch stock.
Now, now. That.
We are in the business of running something like pitch
(06:43):
talk. You know, now we're kind.
Of the business to do that. I was going to say, I think
it's, it's not just, it's obviously about new information.
That was the heart of where it started was this idea of we're
going to conferences and I thinka lot of it was just one, some
of this information wasn't available.
(07:05):
You know, there wasn't a great way to get new information for a
long time. You know, there wasn't data,
there wasn't technology to measure it.
And also most of the conferenceson any topic and then, but on
pitching were run by people who from a competitive advantage
were not in there was not a goodincentive to really if they did
(07:28):
have a level of new information or something that gave them an
edge. The platforms that were being
put on. There was not an incentive to
share that information. Because now I'm sitting in a
room filled with my competitors and I what I want to share that
I've seen slight scope data for the very first time and I see
(07:48):
that this thing is true. Like there's just not there
wasn't an incentive to do that. So I think the other thing for
us and where it really started and, and the first pitch talk in
2019, this was definitely the case where it was almost all
private speakers and people who really didn't have any incentive
to withhold information and, and, you know, wanted to share
(08:11):
that information. And we've evolved a bit where it
is, you know, both private speakers, we have ourselves, we
had Uno in the past, we've had, you know, other people in sort
of the private sector space. And we've added sort of back in
college coaches with the understanding that we pick
(08:31):
topics or, or help them craft the topic if they feel
comfortable really sharing information on.
And so I think the other very big difference about pitch talk
is there's a a real sense of sharing of sort of not
withholding information that comes across in the
presentations. But it also comes across in that
environment, the questions people are willing to ask, the
(08:53):
conversation that the coaches are willing to have with each
other. It's a very like collaborative
experience. And I think that it's kind of
surprises me. I don't know, surprises the
right word, but takes me back every year because it is very
different. You know, it's a room of people
who are a room of people in the virtual room of people who are
trying to grow the pitching space together, who are willing
(09:14):
to be vulnerable about things they might not know and ask
questions about things they might not know.
And that makes it very unique. And it's something that we're
very careful about how we craft it to make sure that that stays
true. We speak a decent amount.
And that, and that's part of thereason is because we are really
able to share data, you know, research that we've done things
(09:38):
that are going to push the game forward and we don't have an
incentive to withhold that so wecan give it to everyone who's in
the room. And I think that is another
thing that makes it really different.
It's not always, you know, sometimes I don't know if like
last year we talked about Marissa Young's presentation.
I don't know if charting is new necessarily, but that her
willingness to share such an in depth way that she charts her
(10:01):
pictures and looks at things andhow she runs it, that's
different. And I think the conference just
breeds that level of sharing. And that's the really exciting
part to me is that you can collect all the data you want in
the world. And Laura, you obviously know
this from the academic side. Like you can do all the research
you want in the world, but if itstays in this bubble that no one
either wants to share or it's not shared in an applicable way,
(10:24):
then it doesn't do anything. And so that's really, you know,
one of the big things that we push for that I think.
Is really exciting. I'll tell you another thing that
I think I'm going to lift us up here for another moment that I
always say is our superpower, and it's really true, is our
ability to really, I guess it starts with a vulnerability to
(10:45):
be able to like dive into information knowing that like,
OK, this could really, I might not even understand this at
first. I might have to like sit on
this. I know for me personally,
sometimes I can just feel it in my gut that this is something
that's important, but I don't quite get it yet.
So I just like sit in the information with the information
just coming my way until I'm like, that is what you know,
like that's why it's important for us to know this.
(11:06):
But we know how to take really complicated information and
really humanize it and make it applicable.
So the reason why we put ourselves up on that stage so
much, it's not just this like self promotion, like from a
business standpoint. Also because people always,
every year, the survey is like more Ashley while they're off
there. Yeah, right.
(11:27):
And so, but I think the reason they say that is because we have
this incredible superpower and it really is this superpower to
take complicated concepts. I mean, this is, it's not an
episode to like bash other people, but the reality is there
were some other like panels and things that went on around NFCA
about, you know, other pitching related topics.
(11:48):
And across the board people werelike, are you there?
I'm like, no, I'm setting up a booth and hammering something
into the ground for, you know, like God knows what in the
exhibit hall. But they were like, we couldn't,
we're coaches, we couldn't take that information and like do
something with it in a bullpen. And that it's frustrating.
And I don't fault the people whotalk about stuff like that.
(12:09):
It is difficult to take really complex concepts to take
something like bio mechanics to understand, you know, like it's
something that's not just in game analytics, you know,
something that's like clearly when you see this information do
X enough, that's easy to understand, but there's clearly
a more of a direct, you know, connection into how to make this
applicable. That's not always the case when
you're talking about data and science, bio mechanics,
(12:31):
etcetera, etcetera. And we are incredible at that.
And so I think it's really important we take this
information. We're not up there.
Like listen to how smart we are.No one cares.
No one cares how smart you are if they don't know what the hell
you're talking about or if they don't know what the hell to do
with it. Does that help me?
Can I leave here and come up with like 3 things, five things,
(12:54):
10 things to literally do differently because of that?
If the answer is no, I don't care how smart you are.
And that's the truth. I feel that way about people all
the time, like make it help me. And so I think we really get
that and that's why we're up there.
And I think that's really, really important.
I also think like, I don't know,I just think our superpower also
(13:17):
and something that I love about our team so much is just like we
really are built off of authenticity.
Like we are not going to have some portrayal of or some masked
version of who we are as a business like on X or in some
promotion. It is a really like a what you
see is what you get. And I, I do think people feel
(13:39):
that. And I know that there's like
other pitching conferences, there's other pitching like, you
know, people, there's other likeentities.
And I think of like, I don't know, I just always think like
the best way for us, you know, Iknow there's always competition,
there's always other training facilities, there's always this.
But I just think that, like, at the end of the day, what I feel
(13:59):
most proud of and why I know like will be in existence
forever is because we are like so pure through through our
product is the most quality, I mean the highest level of
quality that you could possibly ask for.
And so I think like, man, I justfeel so confident in what we say
(14:20):
up there that there is no like, oh, we're trying to gimmick
this. We're not trying to like, yes,
we're a private entity, but we're not trying to like sell
you on X and tie it in a bow andmake you think it's awesome.
It's just that's so opposite of who we are and what we do with
the core of our business is to like find the freaking
information that matters, challenge ourselves, let it
(14:41):
challenge the community because of it.
There's just such a level of purity and authenticity to it
that again, I'm not, I'm not only like so proud of, but like
that's why it holds. That's why it sticks.
That's why people want to listento it.
And that's what want makes people want to share as well.
That's what like sits at the core of the conference and why
people are like, I want that. It's just very human.
It's really not competitive. It's not a like we're better
(15:04):
than this person, even though weare, even though we are the core
of it is not up there at the table.
Just like, let us tell you why we're better than this and why
we're better than that. It's not like that.
It is really just super raw and vulnerable and like very human,
super trusting a lot, really authentic.
And I think why I'm Marissa Young, you know, we were so, you
(15:27):
know, like felt really grateful for her to get up there and to
share what someone might feel like.
Are there like secrets to winning, how they do things,
what their systems are, the X's and O's.
It's just because she was like, well, that's what you do here,
right? It's what you do here.
Like, you're damn right it is, Marissa.
You're damn right it is. What you said Ash, about like,
you know, being sort of it's notcompetitive, like, yes, we are a
private business and yes, obviously, you know, making
(15:49):
money is the goal. But I think the the the reason
pitch talk is so unique is that,you know, the the social media
world, the influencers, they really in order to make a
product in that way, as a influencer, as a, you know, an
instructor who markets themselves significantly through
social media is, you know, therethere is sometimes a little bit
(16:13):
of not understanding yourself that that you kind of fall prey
to right from that influencer concept.
And that's not how we operate with pitched on the whole point
is to educate coaches of all levels.
Yes, you know, we do, you know, prioritize kind of that college
level, higher level of the game.But it is meant meant for
everyone to have the opportunityto build knowledge, not just be
(16:36):
told what to do. And you know, this is the best
way and the only way, but to generate more questions.
I just think that's the my most favorite part of pitch stock is,
you know, the, the conversationsthat I might have with, you
know, a coach I haven't met before or a coach I've known for
years. And they're just like what you
mentioned this and what do you think about this?
(16:56):
And it just starts to generate new questions.
And the generation of new questions is how we evolve as a
sport, right? And I, I just think the non
competitiveness, you, you know, it doesn't matter what level,
what stage, whatever, you know, the whole point is like we are
all there to share our knowledgeand you know, we're taking a
very authentic approach to that and, and not trying to prey on
(17:19):
people's lack of knowledge, right.
The goal is to bring everyone tothe table so that everyone can
can feel like you take away something like you said, those
top three things that I can takeaway as a coach immediately and
that maybe generate some questions in the long term that
help my future evolution as a coach.
And I think that's what I was getting at when I started this
podcast is like, man, the the level of respect for the, for
(17:40):
the coaches and women who have like literally paved the way for
this game is incredible. But there is this tradition.
Traditionally, what you can expect when you go to a
conference is like, here are thealmighty people and then here
are the lonely people in the audience, right?
And that's just. You just described the academic
conferences to a team. I would rather spend my time
(18:03):
doing anything else because I just really think like even like
a, a fundamental value for me. And that's what I mean, I don't
care how much, you know, if it comes across as if like this
elitist world to me, I, I just got it.
It's just like a shutdown, you know, because I think like to me
like a a core value of of mine personally, I know for Krista
(18:23):
and certainly then obviously forOGX as a whole, as a business
is, you know, is this to us, everyone belongs in a room with
everyone, right? There is not this world where
like I know more than you. So like you don't know X or
like, oh, you can't do Y. Let me show you what I know.
(18:44):
I hate that. I hate that.
You know, I think about years ago when we, we did something
with the alliance, it was aroundpitch stock.
Two years ago we did like like there are stars of tomorrow
event and they have us like comeout to some of their camps and
like run some data, whatever. And the next thing we know, like
I'm holding collecting data off their pictures.
(19:05):
We were going to give some of their pictures reports.
I can't remember the details, but the next thing I know there
was a couple of like coaches from other divisions and mid
tier D ones. This was a couple years ago.
So those coaches like didn't have rap Soto, didn't really
know what rap Soto was. And Tricia came out there.
Tricia Ford came out there to meet us and next thing I know,
like she was holding the rap Soto with all of these coaches
(19:25):
around about her and she was talking to them about like, OK,
this is what I usually look for.She was just showing them like,
OK, let me tell you like, OK, ifthe I was in the bull pen, this
was my picture right now. Here's what I'd be looking for.
Here's what it means to me. Here's what I might do.
And you're just literally sharing as if this was like her
Georgia or assistant coach in the bullpen with her right.
And I never like kind of taking a step back and watching that
(19:46):
circle happen. And I remember just feeling like
really happy inside because I thought to myself, this isn't
some someone on some elevated stage and platform and make
everyone feel intimidated by what they don't know.
This is legitimately like every one of those people felt
confident, as if like, you're mypeer in this moment, can you
teach me? And I was like, that's a pitch
stop concept right there. And so I think, yeah, this idea
(20:10):
of like, power and energy, we used to say a lot.
It's about it's about coaches who are early in their journey
with this real excitement for wanting to know that is true.
But it's met by this core energyof no one is above anyone else.
I don't care. You've been in the game for two
years, one year, but you've really stumbled upon something
(20:30):
interesting that's going to makeus have to think about it.
Or if you've been someone that'spaving the way the whole time.
We all belong in the room together and no one's, you know,
above anyone else. And that is there's so much
power in that. There is so much power in that.
And so I think that's what liftsthe game.
And 1st in that moment, I think everyone falls into that.
(20:52):
You know, I think people who arenormally competing against each
other all year long, who would never maybe sit at a table and
talk about XYZ, they are. And in those two days, it's
really, really important, I think for just like the growth
of pitching as a whole for us tobe able to do that.
Yeah. I was going to get into a little
bit. We obviously don't have every
(21:12):
specific topic yet and so that information will keep coming
out, but maybe just some of the speakers and some of the topics
we know we're doing. So Laura, if you want to start
first with what you are speakingon, I think this is a big one.
Obviously, injury is a common conversation unfortunately at
Pit Stock and pain and returningfrom pain.
So I'm going to chat a little bit about kind of what you'll be
(21:35):
presenting on at Pit Stock. Yeah.
So we've been working on preparing our return to pitching
protocol, which has been in place now for probably a year
plus at this point, at least where we have this a standard
protocol that we use, whether a pitcher has taken time off,
whether she's returning from injury.
We've had a previous podcast kind of talking about the gap
that exists between the medical community to no fault of their
(21:57):
own, but an understanding of pitching and what the
requirements are, especially post injury and especially post
surgery, particularly in that transition, you know, out of
physical therapy back to the circle, and how big that gap can
be for certain pitchers depending on the care that they
receive after they're injured after surgery.
And so I'm excited to share thisreturn to pitching protocol.
(22:18):
We have been obviously using this for a long time, but
working on the publication's part of it in terms of getting
it out of the scientific community.
But sharing this with the pitching community, it is not
something that we've ever reallykept a secret.
We just always felt that it it, it, it, we should have some
scientific validity, not that itnecessarily needs it because it
(22:39):
is rooted in very core principles of human performance
of, you know, dose response and stress.
And it's very thoughtful in thatway.
But, you know, we wanted to makesure that the scientific
community that that that gets tothat level of, you know, sort of
St. cred, so to speak. And, and we're doing that, but
we don't want to prevent that from being shared and being able
(23:00):
to be actionable and usable fromcoaches.
I think even the timing of pitchstock in early August and
knowing that a lot of teams are coming back obviously in the
fall, that, you know, if if you didn't do the summer program or
you didn't have a program over the summer that helped you to
feel ready for the fall, This protocol, even though it can be
based in injury, can also help that with your staff.
And so I, I really, I'm looking forward to be able to share
(23:23):
something so actionable, so immediately impactful and to
talk about, you know, our development of it.
Obviously, actually this came, you know, partially from your
brain as well of, you know, how it gets applied, the
thoughtfulness of it when we useit, the scenarios in which we
use it. And I'm excited to talk about
that. And the other side that I'm
excited to talk about is our HQ updates as we bring, you know,
(23:43):
sort of the next iterations of HQ, putting those in front of
our college coaches primarily. And I'm really excited about
because I think from a college standpoint, you know, it's no
pun intended, but it's a game changer in terms of management
of the data that you have or, you know, may want to invest in
because now you have a platform in order to make some use of it.
So I'm looking forward just to giving that as an update, but
(24:04):
also really talking about the return to pitching stuff.
I think it's such a critical conversation.
And I just, I hope coaches walk away and go back to their sports
medicine staff and their strength coaches and start
asking some questions of how they can integrate it even just
from, you know, returning from a, a winter break.
But it's it's going to be a veryactionable conversation.
(24:26):
Yeah, we also have our strength coach talking.
I got to hear a dry run. We are, as we said, we take our
storytelling very serious. So yeah, she's.
Already got a presentation prepared?
Good Lord, good for you, James. Yeah, yeah.
So he's working on making sure that it's super actionable for
the coaches, but it's on sort ofsome key trends that we have
seen in our movement, quality measurements for pitchers and
(24:48):
ways to communicate with your strength coach about sort of
trends that you might be seeing,how it's going to impact
pitching and why it matters. It's a great talk.
It has videos of exercises in it, which we all love, things
that you can kind of take right back to your strength coach.
So I think that one will be verywell received.
(25:09):
We really tried to make sure that the talks kind of bridge a
lot of different pitcher buckets.
So when we're talking about dataor we're talking about injury or
we're talking about strength andconditioning, but really making
sure that we're taking a holistic approach to pitcher
management. We got Tricia Ford to actually
speak this year. We usually only get her on the
panel, but I believe they're into speaking because that's
(25:29):
also feedback that we get often as people want to hear Tricia
speak more. I think Tricia and Ashley have a
lot of overlap in which we will probably.
I know what her presentation is on August 1st maybe so just
she'll surprise you as well Ashley, I'm sure.
To be fair, I know my categories.
I will take something from the bucket of the new bio mechanics
data that we have and something really applicable and then one
(25:52):
that's very in game database. They're like ball flight data in
game data relevant and I have some I have a few ideas in each
category swirling. But you know, until my insides
blow up like a volcano, I won't know that that's right.
And so the external timing of itno deadline for me, the deadline
is when my insides. Easily give you a topic like a
(26:13):
title and just so everyone knows, it's.
General, and it may be right, very general.
But the three days before that, that's when my insides will go
off. Like this is the topic.
This is what everyone needs to know.
Next year, we're just going to tell you it's a week.
Next year we're going to just tell you it's a week earlier, so
that your urgency case in a weekearlier.
(26:33):
Trigger we have. We have Ashley Chesting and Zach
Parson speaking from South Carolina together.
I think that will be a great one.
It's more and more common that there's sort of the head coach
that does do pitching but has sort of another coach on staff
that helps with pitching. So talking through some version
of their dynamic. I don't know exactly what the
(26:54):
topic will be, but that one willbe good.
We have Chelsea Cohen from Louisiana Tech.
I think another thing that is important for us is that and,
and some feedback we get is obviously when you're talking
about texting them in South Carolina, the level of resources
they have is really high. The fact that two coaches are on
stage that both do pitching, it's sort of like represents
(27:14):
that. And so making sure that we're
having people speaking from different levels who are have
been able to implement player development in different ways.
It's really important. We have booze speaking.
I'm excited for hers because I think she's been kind of on her
own player development journey. And so I think this goes back to
the thing that like everyone, even if you've been in the game
a long time, you know, you can and have so much success and
(27:38):
things to kind of go back for, of like having to learn this new
level of data and, and going back to that.
And so I'm really excited for that.
And then obviously our presentations, I'm sure we'll
throw some panels and things in there and some different things
that we'll keep getting announced over the next few
months, but it covers the the breath and that's what is
important for us. I think one year we had like
(28:01):
Cindy Bristow and, and Trisha onthe panel.
And you know, Cindy was like, wehave one strange coach for our
whole athletic department. And Trisha was like, I have no
budget, basically I can deliver.I want, you know, like there's
just the level and that is important and, and being able
and the, you know, I think the vulnerability and the openness
and all. Sure, we take Q&A and it's, and
(28:22):
these conversations of like, I hear what you're saying and also
what would be a version of this?And, you know, people ask those
questions in the room and then someone and the audience often
answers is like, this is this iswhat I did and this is how I
managed it. You know, this is how I took my
level of resources and did that.And I think that's what we're
kind of talking about with the collaboration, making sure that
(28:43):
it's actionable at lots of different levels and lots of
different ways. And I think, you know, last year
we had our whole staff there. And Kaylee are one of our
hitting coaches. She was like taking notes, you
know, Because that's the other thing is like, you know, these
are all the pitching people. So if you're the hitting people,
you might want to figure out what's going on over here so you
can prep for it. But there's really room for
(29:04):
everyone to learn. So I'm excited for it.
I always love it. I get excited for it.
I'm like, oh, another pitching talk for me, the hitting coach.
But it is really fun to be at and.
My cycle every year is the like 3-4 weeks leading up to him.
Like this is a terrible idea, It's too much.
We're all stressed. We're not event planners.
What are we even doing? And then I'm like, never again.
We're never doing this again. Every year for like 3 straight
(29:26):
weeks. And then the day of, I'm like,
this is the best, this is the best 2 days of the whole year.
And we sit in. Reflector like this was the best
thing we ever did. Why don't we do this every?
Week, we're going to do it again.
Right. And then the month leading up to
it, I'm like, I'm so pissed at us.
This literally, it's so hard. We have so much on our plate.
Why are we running an entire event?
(29:47):
Yes, like I'm stressed as hell. Yeah.
Then you want to know why the presentation gets done that
morning, you know, like, oh man.But no, it really is each year
it's just it's really, really great.
And there's a big virtual component to it.
Like we we know that in the postCOVID world and with budgets
where they are like people want the information, but they can't
always attend in person. So we do have a lot of people
(30:09):
that attend virtually and they get the video of it, they get to
watch and that's great. And then we cap like who can
come in person? You know, it's like this really
a smaller group that comes in person, but man, if you're able
to come in person, it's so good because there's just so many
side conversations. We're literally all at the same
place, the same hotel. It's not this conference of like
3000 people. So you were just like in this
(30:31):
sea of people you maybe don't know, like if you're in there in
person, we are all at the table talking, you know, and that's
really, really cool. So I think if you can and, and
come in person, it really has another layer to it.
But you know, there are times I get it.
Why some people just. Well, in the virtual one we've
taken, we've done a lot of work to make sure the virtual 1.
(30:52):
So most of the attendees who join virtually join live, you
know, via Zoom and they sit on there the whole time.
And, and we, the speakers, the camera follows the speaker, you
get the slides presented as they're going through it.
There's room for Q&A. So we'll, I, I am usually the
one who sits at the computer. And so if you have questions
(31:13):
come up, just as anyone in the room also gets the opportunity
to ask, we'll raise those questions for the speaker.
So it's a very if you wanted to and you're available in those
days, even if you can't make thetravel, you are able to to
watch. And then everyone gets the
recordings if that's how you have to do it.
And then, yeah, the room is typically closer to 60 people.
Yeah, that we kind of cap it at.And, you know, we eat lunch,
(31:35):
There's lunch served and there'sbreakfast served.
And so it's just basically like,we sit in this room for a day
and a half and we just talk bitching and everyone gets the
opportunity. Great.
No wonder why we leave there. Like like a like a retreat, like
a spiritual retreat. No wonder it's a 60 people in a
room eating all meals together, talking, pitching.
(31:56):
I'm like, remind me that that's what it is.
In the three weeks where I'm panicking that this was a
terrible idea. It's a stress special logistics.
Yeah. Even though Krista does 90% of
them, the 10 that I might be responsible for, I'm panicked
about leading into it. Yeah.
Well, that's like last year, Paul was like, I think we could
just get all the slides ahead oftime.
And I was like, Nope, stop. No, it's.
(32:16):
Not going to happen. No Paul Ashley is giving any
talk. It's also just coaches like,
yes, you and also coaches are sure you know as they're trying
to recruit. They're not like the weeks
before Paul. That was an excellent in the
audience. Listen, you guys know I do a lot
of work on the things about myself that I do not like.
I would do a lot of work to improve those things.
But there are simply some thingsthat other people don't like
(32:37):
that I do, and that's one of them.
And that's not changing. There you go.
And on that, though, come to Pitch Talk.
We hope we see you there either in person or virtually.
It's a great event. We'll be announcing more
specifically what the topics areas we go along here in the
summer. And yeah, I just think it's,
(33:00):
it's worth it. It's so it's fun, like we said,
I mean, it's also fun. And there's just a ton of
information to learn and it's always different topics and it's
always something that's going tokind of spark you.
You know, the reason we talk in game data, it's it's going to
keep being new every year. It's more information.
You learn something new. And yeah, I think hopefully
(33:23):
everyone can be there. So until August, we'll see you
then virtually are in person and.
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