Winning Baseball: The Coaches Companion for Beginner to Intermediate Play – by Trent Mongero
Through
the years, Youth baseball has gotten consistently more competitive; and
high stakes. Due in large part to professional teams scouting younger
and younger, the demand for foundational skills that lead to pro-level
play is higher than ever. The level of baseball in the country’s top
youth leagues are improving to the point that kids not trained for elite
skills simply cannot compete.
Parents
and coaches strive for the best baseball experience for their kids, but
instructional resources are so scattered, and schools of thought so
varied, that nothing short of a detailed nationwide search will separate
the elite coaching tips from the rudimentary (and even detrimental
)ones. But now, a groundbreaking new resource is available to ensure
high-quality, elite play for your specific league, team and child.
The
Coach’s Companion: Winning Baseball for Beginner to Intermediate is the
first volume of a new series by Trent Mongero; a breakout multi-media
resource that boasts the most complete and comprehensive coaching
/drilling guide for youth baseball at any level. With a powerful visual
component—a live-action demo DVD—Mongero’s Companion is unmatched in
high-quality, elite baseball instruction for youth. Coach’s Companion is
“no frills, no fluff,” just pure pro-level knowledge that coaches,
parents and players can implement in their practice regimens
immediately.
Literally
packed with content, Coach’s Companion contains not only the highest
number of quality tips per volume than all other coaching guides on the
market, it has the most number of illustrations, and is the only guide
with an accompanying DVD containing over four hours of demonstrations;
allowing players and coaches implement every skill immediately. With its
comprehensive hitting, fielding, and pitching program, Coach’s
Companion builds the foundations for a winning baseball experience,
providing the tools for young players to excel now and/or prepare for
the college or pro level.
By Steve Leone
Two days ago, we had the 2011 Opening Day parade for my son’s Little League.
Last
season, both my son and daughter played Little League ball – she was in
Girl’s Rookie/Coach Pitch and he was T-Ball in the Spring and then
Rookie/Coach Pitch Baseball later in the Fall. It was their first year
of Little League.
In
2010, I was able to help out with both of their teams in an unofficial
capacity – assisting when needed at practices and coaching the bases
during Fall Ball.
This
season, only my son is playing Little League – again in Rookie/Coach
pitch. (He’s seven years old now.) And, I am officially a coach on his
team this season – having attended all the clinics and certification
classes that our league requires.
For
me, being a part of his team’s coaching staff in an honor and a thrill.
Related, I’ve been very interested in reviewing as many coaching and
training resources as I can these days – and was very pleased to have
recently checked out Trent Mongero’s Winning Baseball: For Beginner to
Intermediate Play
Trent
Mongero was a switch hitting shortstop at the University of North
Carolina at Wilmington (Division I). While there, in 1989, he was
voted the CAA “All-Conference” shortstop and “Conference Player of the
Year.” After college, he played a season in the Atlanta Braves farm
system.
Since
then, Trent has been coaching high school baseball for over 19 years
and currently is the head coach at North Hall High School in
Gainesville, Georgia. Mongero is also currently an associate scout for
the Atlanta Braves.
In
addition to his high school coaching duties, in 2001, he was co-head
coach of the American Legion Post 10 squad that played for the North
Carolina State Championship. Also in the summer of 2001, Trent was part
of the Wilmington Sharks coaching staff. (The Sharks play in the Coastal
Plains League which is a summer league consisting of many top college
players in the country.) When Mongero was there in 2001, the Sharks won
the CPL Championship.
Trent
also instructs at some of the top college baseball camps – including
the University of South Carolina, the USA National Team and the
University of Mississippi (Ole Miss).
Mongero
has coached many players – including 12 athletes who have signed
professionally and more than 80 student-athletes who have furthered
their baseball careers at the collegiate level.
Trent Mongero breaks Winning Baseball: For Beginner to Intermediate Play into four sections:
- Minimum Skill Expectations
- Outside The Lines
- Prepare To Coach
- Travel and All-Star Teams
Within
“Minimum Skill Expectations” there are chapters for “T-Ball” (Ages
4-6), “Coach or Machine Pitch” (Ages 7-8), and “Player Pitch” baseball
(Ages 9-10). In each chapter, Mongero details the fundamental offensive
and defensive skills for that level as well as providing information on
the mechanics that should be covered for that age group. He also
covers how to coach game skills at each level.
I
found the information in each of these chapters to be top-notch and
extremely useful. And, while the chapters included many excellent color
photos that aid the learning experience, this is a good spot to note
that Winning Baseball: For Beginner to Intermediate Play is not just a
“How To” soft-cover manual. Along with the book comes a 4-hour
instructional DVD. Between the text and photos in for each
instructional item, and the companion DVD, is everything you need to
know about teaching kids ages four to ten proper baseball skills
appropriate for their age.
However,
on top of that, within “Outside The Lines” there are chapters on
eliminating bad habits and keeping the game fun as well as highlighting
common hitting and pitching flaws (and how to correct them). Also
within this section is a chapter on “The State of Youth Baseball” that I
feel is a must read for anyone coaching kids baseball when it comes to
dealing with the players and their parents.
In
“Prepare To Coach,” Mongero covers coaching qualifications and a guide
to run a baseball practice. And, in “Travel and All-Star Teams,” he
covers everything associated to putting together such a team – in terms
of coaching, budgets, fundraising, procedures, etc.
When
you factor everything that is covered in Trent Mongero’s Winning
Baseball: For Beginner to Intermediate Play, and the quality of the
information therein, and how it is supported with excellent photos and
instructional DVD, I highly recommend this book to everyone who is
involved in coaching youth baseball. In addition, I feel that anyone
who has a child playing youth baseball would benefit greatly from this
product as well. Lastly, if you’re a baseball fan, regardless if you
have any interest in youth baseball, Coach Mongero’s book/DVD
combination may interest you.
As
a baseball fan, how many times have you heard about a pitcher “pushing
the ball” or “jumping out at the plate”? Or, how many times have you
heard about a batter “not loading” or “not staying inside the
baseball”? When hearing things like this, do you really know what they
mean? If you read Winning Baseball: For Beginner to Intermediate
Play you will know what they mean – because those types of matters are
no different at the big league level than they are at the youth level.
Lastly,
to get a taste of what the Winning Baseball: For Beginner to
Intermediate Play DVD (which is included with this wonderful book) is
like, check out Mongero’s YouTube channel.
I’ve
been getting more requests from publishers and publicists to review
books, so I’ll be posting “Book Brief” as often as I can. I can’t always
write full reviews for every book I receive, but I’d like to pass
information on to our readers and let people know about books I’m
looking at, especially because some of them are from small presses or
aren’t being reviewed in larger publications.
Coach’s Companion: Winning Baseball by
Trent Mongero is for coaches and parents who want to teach kids how to
play baseball. I am helping coach my son’s little league team for the
second time and was familar with some (but certainly not all) of the
techniques and drills the book contains. It seems like a good resource
for someone who wants to learn about coaching baseball. I showed the
book to our team’s head coach, who has way more experience at this than I
do (he coaches high school football as well), and he was impressed with
it. He’s familar with other books in the field, and said that Coach’s Companion was
superior to some others he’s seen. He noted that not all instructional
guides have color photos, and liked that the book showed more than one
angle on pitching grips. Coach’s Companion also comes with an instructional DVD.
Click on the cover of Book 1 (above) to purchase your personalized copy! Help your child or team get better today!