My high-level playing days are surely over, barring some miraculous Marvel superhero type situation. With that being said, I plan on continuing to train and push myself to become a better pitcher, hitter, mover, etc.
For the last couple of months, I have been struggling to put my playing days behind me. I would be lying to say that is has been easy. After reading blogs and hearing guys like Tanner Reklaitis, Bill Miller and Ryan Faer talk about their transition into life after playing, a couple of things have become clear to me.
1. I will always still be a "player"
This is to say that being an athlete will always still be in my heart and head. I do not want to become just an average dude, I want to maintain a high level of athleticism and take care of myself as I would as a player.
And in regards to my coaching career - being able to stay connected to my experiences as a player is important - and I plan to do that by training. We have all been victims of coaches that forget how hard the game can be - I do not want to be one them.
2. I don't have to stop training because I am no longer a player
For some reason when I first quit I thought that I should not train anymore. Almost as if I was trying to make a statement and "prove" that I have "moved" on. But here's the thing: I fucking love training. And by depriving myself of it, not only am I making myself unhappy but I am also wasting opportunities to improve myself as a coach.
So here are a couple of things I plan to do with my training to improve as a thrower and coach of baseball.
1. Practice what you preach
I should not be willing to tell and teach my athlete's things that I will not do. Using my own training as a platform for learning and developing my skills as a coach is how I got here - why stop now?
2. Record everything
A mistake I made in my playing career was not recording and gathering information along my journey. This led to many months of being stuck using shitty training regimes - if I had been recording my progress (or lack of) I may have been able to make changes sooner.
By recording my training this time around I will be able to use it to inform my decisions with my players. While things that work for me certainly may not work for the guys I coach - at least it allows me to vet drills, cues, etc ahead of time. It also allows me to stay connected to the training process from a players perspective.
3. Have fun
At the end of the day, I am no longer playing at a competitive level. I love training and will continue to push myself, but I will remember that I am doing this to enjoy myself and learn - not to achieve anything grandiose.
There is still so much room for me to improve as a thrower, hitter and mover. Knowing the things I know now I can little by little work towards some of the big milestones I wanted to hit as a player. Not only is this a fun and rewarding process but I hope to use it to learn and self-educate.
So to guide my training for the Winter, I have made some goals for myself.
Goals:
- 82mph Peak Mound Velo (Historical best = 80)
- 86mph 5oz Pulldown (Historical best = 84)
- 85mph Exit Velo (Historical best = 83)
- 365lb Trap Bar Deadlift 3rm (Historical best = 330)
Not a ton of goals and nothing super insane. Once I achieve these I'll come up with new ones.
If you are interested following along with my continued training be sure to follow me on Instagram (@richardsbaseball) as that is where I will be sharing most of this journey.