Joined February 2026
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Apr 18
Free play might be the most underrated developer in sports. No coaches. No drills. No structure. Just kids figuring it out themselves — inventing rules, solving problems, competing, failing, and adapting in real time. That chaos builds creativity, resilience, decision-making, and a deep love for the game that structured practice often kills.
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“Having a sense for the game in baseball is not the same as having a sense to do well at a showcase.
One is about reading situations, knowing when to take the extra base, when to hold the runner, when to throw behind, when to give yourself up. The other is about looking good in a controlled environment with no pressure, no runners on, and no game on the line.
Tools get you noticed.
Feel keeps you in the lineup when it matters. ⚾🧠”
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Always be willing to adapt as a coach. Never think you know everything.
The game changes. Your players change. The moment you believe you’ve got it all figured out is the moment you stop growing. Stay humble. Stay curious. Keep evolving.
That’s how you stay relevant. 💪
#CoachLife #Adaptability #GrowthMindset
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Function Over Form retweeted
Jun 14
Mechanics matter, of course. But only in so much as how they are emerging within the performer-environment relationship to help you solve the problem the game is presenting you.
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Jun 12
Jalen Brunson was asked if it feels like the Knicks are one win away from a championship:
"0-0."
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Jun 12
The best players I know didn’t develop by being told what to do constantly. They developed because they had opportunities to figure it out. Less controlling. More exploring. Less instruction. More interaction. Don’t create dependent athletes. Develop adaptable problem-solvers.
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Function Over Form retweeted
Jun 11
For most young high school baseball players, travel ball just isn’t necessary. You can make a much larger debt in your development if you spent that time training, recovering, and hitting PR’s each week in the summer.
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Jun 12
Practice teaches athletes the real lesson: failure isn’t the opposite of success — it’s the fastest path to growth. Every missed shot, dropped ball, or imperfect rep is data. Analyze it. Adjust. Come back stronger. The athletes who learn to fail forward in training become unstoppable in competition. Embrace the grind. Fail often. Grow faster.
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Function Over Form retweeted
You can cheat your kid in hockey. More ice than everyone else, more privates, hockey only, year-round, starting at seven. And it works -your kid is better at 10, 11, 12. Then 13 or 14 hits. Physical development kicks in, and the kids who can actually train hard start training hard. The ones who are fresh take huge leaps. The ones who've been grinding for six straight years find out they're running on empty. You didn't give your kid an advantage. You borrowed against their future.
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Function Over Form retweeted
Jun 9
Jay Johnson on the responsibility coaches have to model the standards they expect from their players.
"The program is changed far more by what they see us do than what they hear us say...Your actions speak so loudly I can barely hear what you're saying."
Before players buy into your standards, they often need to see you living them first.
Whether you realize it or not, you're always teaching as a coach. Through both your words and your example.
If you want to know what a team values, watch its leaders.
📹: ABCA1945
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Same problem with a lot of youth sports in the United States
Jun 9
🚨 Landon Donovan didn’t hold back on the state of U.S. soccer:
“2002 World Cup is the furthest the men have ever been… we have only won one knockout game in our history. That’s pretty alarming. We’re not developing players like the rest of the world.”
“The bigger problem is our youth soccer in this country is a disaster… It’s all about winning. The kids get left behind because the clubs want to make money, the coaches want to make money… and the kids don’t develop.”
On the post-16/17 pathway:
“If you’re 16, 17 and you haven’t made it, you kind of fall into this abyss.”
His bottom line:
“I want to give the game back to kids.”
@SRUSA_Official
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Function Over Form retweeted
When observing practice, look for players who are:
- Consistently succeeding
- Consistently struggling
- No longer being challenged
Each group may need something different.
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Function Over Form retweeted
Jun 8
Northwestern field hockey head coach, Tracey Fuchs, on why her team doesn’t use the phrase “defend a championship.”
“We’re not defending anything. We’re going for it. We love to attack.”
Her and the staff’s emphasis on “attacking, not defending” is a small shift in language, but a powerful shift in mindset.
Defending can shift us into a protective mindset. As a result, some become concerned with a fear of losing what has already been earned.
Attacking, on the other hand, is proactive. It’s about hunting what’s possible in the future.
It’s not an accident her program is back-to-back National Champions for the past two seasons.
📹: Win More, Live Better Podcast (Ep. 255)
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Really enjoyed reading Gridiron Genius by @mlombardiuncgm!
Dives into some great lessons and stories from his days with Bill Belichick, Al Davis, and Bill Walsh.
🏈
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Function Over Form retweeted
Jun 6
If only there was a theoretical framework where we could try to help our athletes figure out how to repeat the same outcome without having to repeat the same process (a sort of "repetition without repetition" approach). 🤔
Jun 5
Hate seeing pitchers struggle in big spots. Cal Poly pitcher has been nails all year. Struggled with command today and it boils down to his back foot.
Pitch on the left is good pitch on the right is bad, where he was most of the game. It’s very hard to be consistent when you’re unplugging your back foot like that in leg lift, very easy to do on a turf mound and with some adrenaline. Hopefully he gets another shot to redeem himself
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Function Over Form retweeted
Youth sports is on life support.
If you think it’s fine, you’re not paying attention.
Kids age 10-12 are playing way too many tournaments and travel ball. Parents treat it like the World Series. They need less travel, more rest, fueling, and actual development. They’re 12 YO.
The data backs it up:
❌70% of kids drop out of organized sports by age 13.
❌Professionalization (year-round single-sport focus, heavy travel/tournaments) drives overuse injuries, overtraining, and burnout.
❌Nearly 1 in 10 youth athletes experience burnout; up to 35% deal with overtraining.
❌Early specialization before 12-13 raises injury and burnout risks significantly.
Multi-sport kids who rest and play for fun stick around longer and develop better.
Let them be kids. Prioritize recovery, fun, and long-term health over trophies. The best athletes often sample multiple sports early and specialize later.
Who else sees this?
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17 Apr 2023
Keep the Door Open
I noticed my 7yo son do something unusual at a recent game, something he has never been ‘taught.’
This thread will attempt to highlight why viewing skill from a lens of emergence can keep the door open for stronger skill acquisition.
🧵
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The range will lie to your face.
You’re out there piping 300yd lasers, feeling like a Tour player…
Then you get on the course:
• Pressure
• Awkward lies
• Wind
• Actual stakes
Suddenly you’re 40 yards shorter and chunking 7-irons.
Range form ≠ Course performance.
Golf is a cruel game 😂⛳
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Layup lines exist so it looks like something is happening.
It isn't.
No defense. No decisions. No game speed.
Half the players. Double the reps. Add constraint. Now you're warming up.
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Here are some examples!
1. Layup lines … space is not given in the game; space is only taken … (replace with 1-on-1 Around the Arc).
2. Mikan drill … removes the very information that guides real shooting behavior … (replace with 1v1v1 in the Smile).
3. Fast break pattern drill … turns the game into a memorization task … (replace with advantage transition games so the break becomes a search for advantage, not a scripted route).
4. 3-man weave … teaches players to pass because it’s their turn … (replace with live defenders looking to disrupt so passing becomes perception again).
5. Cone dribbling drills … cones don’t play defense; they never reach for the ball … (replace cones with defenders and the skill starts to become basketball again).
6. Partner passing lines … teach players to throw passes; the game requires players to discover passes … (replace with Rondo Passing, where the pass becomes a decision again).
7. Spot closeout drill … offense and defense know exactly in advance what is coming … (replace with “Hot-Cold-Body” closeout variations. Now the closeout has to think).
8. 5-on-0 walkthroughs … removes the thing that defines basketball: opposition! … (replace by adding defenders so players learn what to do when somebody is trying to stop them).
The CLA does not mean simply replacing drills with small-sided games. The deeper question is: What information is regulating the player’s behaviour?
If players can perform a skill without perceiving anything important from the environment, then the activity is not representative of the game.
Note: The activity shown in the reel is not one of these drills. In this reel, players had to gather a ball before two bounces and find a finishing solution in a full-court, contested transition situation.
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