Climbing the Coaching Ranks with Johnny Washington - 166

In this episode of Patrick Jones Baseball, I interview Johnny Washington, Director of Hitting for the San Diego Padres. Johnny Washington discusses what he has learned about coaching, how he transitioned from a baseball player to a baseball coach, player communication, the importance of first base, and remaining open-minded.

Episode Highlights:

• Go to patrickjonesbaseball.com and sign up for 13 baseball training drills you can do by yourself. 
• Johnny Washington introduces himself and his background. 
• What got Johnny into his coaching role?  
• What would Johnny Washington do differently if he could start over as a coach? 
• Does having good timing come from experience or awareness?  
• How much contact with players is enough or too much? 
• Johnny Washington coached first base and gives tips on how to coach a base. 
• Remain open-minded with a growth mindset.  
• What is Johnny Washington looking for when watching pitchers?  
• How many hitters has Johnny worked with? 
• Does he keep notes on every player? 
• Johnny talks about working with major league baseball hitting consultant Craig Wallenbrock.  
• Does he relate what is happening in the real world to baseball with his players?

3 Key Points:

1. How coaches present information and choosing the right time makes a huge difference when communicating with players.  
2. Be a good listener and be observant and let the player show you where he is in his journey.  
3. First base is crucial because you touch first base more than any other. 

Tweetable Quotes:

• (Coach Carlos Subero) “He coached the player. He coached my actual dream. He didn’t coach what everyone else thought. He coached what I wanted to do, which I really, really respect.” – Johnny Washington 
• “I think over time, without the mistakes, without the struggle, without just the constant head pounding of how can I get guys better, there is no growth for us as coaches.” – Johnny Washington 
• “I was able to build good relationships and build trust, which I think is the most important piece to coaching because you are actually like a teacher. You are more of a teacher, a mentor, psychologist at times.” – Johnny Washington 

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